Re: Why did the FBI need a battering ram to get into the duplex (Jessie Davis cas


"scooter34" <momofpeanutLiz@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1182784636.855249.303900@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Jun 24, 2:52 pm, "MaryL" <stanco...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
This article said the FBI used a battering ram to break down the door of
a
duplex to search "a woman's home" (no other identification given). The
woman was not home, but Justin Lindstrom (who lives upstairs) said they
"confiscated bags of items." The raid took place several hours after
Jessie
Davis's body was recovered. Authorities also asked about a bed comforter
they found in the building's laundry room, but Lindstrom told them it was
his.http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/24/missing.woman/index.html

This is a very minor point, but why would they need a battering ram?
That
sure seems like deliberate destruction of property in a sort of "show of
force." Even a broken window would be better than that, and they could
probably have gotten through the lock.

MaryL


Law enforcement agencies have policies on how to serve warrants. If
you don't follow your policies every time, you leave yourself open to
endless criticism from courts and attorneys on differing treatment.

I did some Googling and found an FBI policy which states that the
courts have determined that "knock and announce" is all that is
necessary to satisfy a reasonable search and seizure when holding a
warrant. Some warrants are issued as "no-knock" which means no
announcement is necessary. However, the agency can also skip the
announcement if they have determined the house is unoccupied, or can
demonstrate that they reasonably believed evidence was being
destroyed.

Your point about breaking a window fails to take into account the
officer's safety. No agency is going to send a LE officer into a
house crawling through a window. What if someone inside shot him or
her while you're waiting for the next person to get in? What if the
glass cuts him? And as far as waiting for the key from a neighbor,
that's pretty unrealistic. How do they know that the neighbor isn't
involved in the crime?

Warrant service is one of the most dangerous jobs police do. They
will do it as quickly as they can in order to ensure the safety of the
officers, the suspect, and the neighbors. And keep in mind that Cutts
has been talking - do you really think that they don't have solid
evidence she's involved? Finally, in cases where the wrong door has
been broken down, the law enforcement agency takes care of the
damages.

scooter34



You make some very good points, and your comment about the dangers of
crawling through a window are well taken. My remarks were really directed
more at some other no-knock entries where officers have entered the wrong
house and took no action to prevent damage (including one case where the
homeowner was killed). However, I am familiar with some no-knock policies
and I do recognize that it is often reasonable. I was suspicious of this
one because the FBI had already been there several times in the last week,
and there doesn't seem to have been any reason to suspect that any evidence
was being destroyed (unless it had already been carted away and was being
destroyed that way -- which is a very likely scenario given the other
tenant's statement that the woman had left about 20 minutes earlier "with
cleaning supplies"). Mine was an "out of curiosity" question more than
anything else, but you really have given an excellent explanation. Thanks!

MaryL


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