1. When was the warrant against Cory Maye issued? Where is it now filed?

The warrant was issued from the City Court of Prentiss by Judge Kruger. It should be with the evidence exhibits either with the Clerk or the court reporter

My comment: I should be getting a copy of both warrants tomorrow morning by fax.

2. Was Maye actually named in the warrant, or just his address? Or both?

He was not named, it was person or persons unknown occupying the property.

My comment: A warrant needn’t name a specific person, but this is the first sign that Officer Jones exercised little due dilligence to verify the tip he got from his informant. Because Maye isn’t named, we don’t know for sure if Maye or Jaimie Smith, the other resident of the duplex, was the primary target of the raid. The fact that Smith was named and Maye wasn’t, however, at least suggests that Smith was the primary target.

3. Were separate warrants issued for Maye and for Jaimie Smith? Were their separate addresses on those warrants?

Yes there were separate warrants

4. Officer Cooley testified to the grand jury that Officer Jones collected information from a confidential informant saying that Cory Maye was selling drugs. Precisely what did the confidential informant say that led to the warrant for Cory Maye? And who was the informant? Was he a former felon? Did he have a proven record of reliable tips?

The informant’s identity and exactly what he told Jones died with Jones. If the Judge Kruger had not found the informant was reliable the warrant could not have been issued.

My comment: Judge Kruger should make this information public. The credibility of the informant is important. If Officer Jones and the narcotics task force commenced a late-night, volatile raid based on a tip from a shady informant, they exercised poor judgment, a comment on their credibility that an appeals court might consider when deciding whether to believe them or Cory Maye on the contested issue of whether or not they knocked before entering his apartment.

5. Was the warrant issued based only on the statements of one informant, or were there others? Given that he had no previous criminal record, did the task force attempt any controlled buys or surveillance of Maye’s residence before raiding it?

Jones was handling the case and he is dead exactly what he did in the course of his work on it died with him

My comment: This is critical information, and Prentiss police ought to find this paperwork and make it publicly available. If Prentiss police burst into Maye’s apartment in the middle of the night based on a tip from an anonymous informant who didn’t even know Maye’s name, with no corroborating investigation, that’s a practice that (1) shows the poor judgment of both Jones and the narcotics task force, and (2) one would think the citizens of Prentiss and surrounding communities would want to know about. Anonymous informants have a long and unfortunate history sending police off on these kinds of raids with bad information.

The information is also important because it would give us some indication of whether or not Cory Maye was actually a drug dealer. At the moment, all signs indicate he wasn’t. And whether or not Cory Maye was a drug dealer is important because it offers some evidence of his state of mind when the police broke into his home, the critical point in a capital murder case. A drug dealer — who knows he regularly breaks the law — would have every reason to think a late-night raid on his apartment might be the police. Someone with no criminal record, who isn’t in the drug distribution business, and who hasn’t done anything wrong, is probably less likely to think the police would raid his home in the middle of the night. He’s probably more likely to think it’s someone who might do him harm.

6. Is it common practice for the narcotics task force to break down doors to serve search warrants on suspects with no previous criminal record, and based on tips from a single anonymous informant?

If the issuing judge finds probable cause to issue the search warrant the officers serve it. If the occupants refuse to allow entry, as Maye did, entry is usually forced. The informant was not anonymous Jones knew the informant.

My comment: Clearly, if this raid commenced based on a tip from a single informant, and with no corroborating investigation, Judge Kruger shares some blame. This is yet another big problem with no-knock and short-notice drug raids: There’s no oversight whatsoever on the judges who issue the warrants. A judge who signs off on a no-knock warrant doesn’t really have to answer to anyone. Even cities that have civilian review boards don’t permit them to look into the specifics of why a judge issued the warrant.

7. Why did police wait until after raiding Martin’s apartment before raiding Maye’s? If police were certain that there were to separate residences, why not raid both at the same time? If Maye were a drug dealer, wouldn’t raiding the other end of the duplex first tip him off, and give him an opportunity to flush his stash?

Both apartments were raided at the same time. There were two teams one that went to the front door of each apartment. This is a small duplex. Occupants of Smith’s apartment allowed entry. Maye did not open up after announcement was made at the front door. Jones then went to the back door.

My comment: Maye’s former lawyer has a different account of the raid.

8. Was Cory Maye ever charged with actual drug distribution, the reason the warrant was issued in the first place? If not, why not?

Jones only knew the identity of the informant and when he died any further proceedings on that died. We did not know the name of the informant.

My comment: Wouldn’t Jones have kept paperwork? Seems unfortunate that we’ll never know whether or not this raid was legitimate in the first place.

9. Do you believe today that Cory Maye was a drug dealer? Based on what evidence?

All I know about any drug activity is what was in the search warrants. Maye was not tried as a drug dealer he was tried for killing Jones. The issues in the case are; 1.Did Jones have a warrant, 2.Was he serving the warrant as a law enforcement officer and 3. Did Maye know he was a law enforcement officer when he shot him. The jury decided these things. Whether he was a drug dealer was not an issue in the murder case.

My comment: No, but it is an issue in whether or not the raid was legitimate, and whether or not Maye had reason to suspect the people breaking down his door were police.

10. Why did police change their story on whether or not drugs were found in Maye’s apartment? And exactly how much marijuana or cocaine is necessary to comprise a “trace?”

I do not recall they changed their story. As to a trace it would be a small amount.

My comment: Police clearly did change their story. Immediate reports said police found drugs in Maye’s apartment. Police later say they found the “trace.” This is a relatively minor point, given that police may have found the traces aftera more thorough search of the place. But what’s clear is that they didn’t find enough drugs for Maye to even be labeled much of a user, much less a dealer.

11. If Cory Maye was a suspected drug dealer, and if he was named in the warrant as a suspected drug dealer, and if Officer Jones knew there were two, separate residences at the duplex, why was the unarmed Officer Jones the first to enter Maye’s home? Do police typically raid the homes of suspected drug dealers unarmed?

There were several officers there and they were armed. Jones was armed and his gun was still in his holster after he was shot as I recall. His hands were free so he could force entry on the back door as I recall. He had backup officers with him at the back door.

My comment: This differs with the account I was given by Maye’s former attorney. She says the other officer broke down the door, and Jones ran in. I’ll have to verify when I get the trial transcript.

12. Was Jaimie Smith ever charged with drug distribution?

I handled the murder case and off the top of my head I do not recall the course of the drug case on Smith

My comment: The case against Smith does have some relevance to Maye’s plight. If no drugs were found on Smith, either, then the entire raid was a fraud.

13. If you’re correct in stating that two separate warrants were issued on the same day for the raid on the Smith-Maye duplex, why was the search warrant naming Jamie Smith and his residence in Cory Maye’s criminal file at the Jefferson Davis County Circuit Court, but not the search warrant naming Cory Maye and his residence? When I asked clerk Jerri Landry, the Smith warrant was the only warrant found in Maye’s file.

I do not know that other than what I said in my last email. The court reporter may have them. The original of it was introduced in evidence at the suppression hearing along with the other search warrant on Smiths place. I will try to send you copies. There is no question the warrants exist because the judge could not have allowed the murder case to go to trial if the warrant had not existed.

My comment: I need to talk to Maye’s former attorney again on this. I find it odd that the warrant against Smith would be in Maye’s file, but the warrant for the raid on Maye’s separate address would not. Could be an oversight. Could be merely that the clerk didn’t recognize that there were two separate warrants when I spoke with her on the phone.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 11th, 2005 at 5:54 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Cory Maye. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.