I’ve found some pieces behind a subscription wall pertaining to the shooting death of Cheryl Lynn Noel, a case we’ve been following on this site.

All are from the (very) local paper, the Dundalk Eagle. Two are articles, the rest are letters to the editor. At risk of offending the paper’s copyright, I’ve included them after the break.

Based on these stories and the two Baltimore Sun pieces, the Noel case has all the signs of a botched no-knock commenced on the tip of a single anonymous informant. What’s clear is that Noel herself wasn’t a drug dealer, or even a user, though individual members of her family seem to have been recreational users. Even they were found only with marijuana, and charged only with misdemeanors. Hardly seems worth the violence expended to make the arrest.

Noel was likely startled and frightened by the flashbang grenades cops use in no-knock raids. She probably heard the police coming up the steps, assumed them to be unlawful intruders, and grabbed the handgun to defend herself. I’d guess that the shooting murder of her stepdaughter nine years earlier only added to her fears.

I don’t necessarily fault the police in this case. At least for the actual act of shooting Noel. Certainly if, in the heat of a drug raid, a cop confronts someone with a gun, he’s going to fear for his life and shoot.

Here, I blame the policy. To the extent that the cops had other options, they deserve blame for that, too. No-knocks force confrontation. They turn serving routine drug warrants on nonviolent offenders into highly volatile, violent confontations. It’s been going on for twenty years, now. The policy has taken (by a conservative estimate) dozens of victims. And nothing has changed.

Cops themselves should be against these things. They generally aren’t because, boys being boys, SWAT team members tend to like the rush that comes with playing soldier against (usually) unarmed civilians. But it’s dangerous for police, too. In fact, Baltimore County cops needn’t look further than their own city to see why.

Back in November 2002, Lewis Cauthorne was in the basement of his Baltimore home when heard the screams of his mother, girlfriend, and three-year-old daughter. Baltimore police were conducting a no-knock raid on his home, based on a tip from a single, anonymous informant. Police never announced themselves, and raided in street clothes. Cauthorne emerged from the basement with a handgun, shooting and wounding four of the invading police officers. Cops returned fire. Fortunately, no one was killed in the crossfire.

Cauthorne spent the next seven weeks in jail. Finally, in January of 2003, prosecutors dropped the charges against him, concluding that Cauthorne had reason to believe his life was in danger. Damn right, he did.

This is one of the few times some justice has emerged from a botched no-knock raid. But even here, a cynic might conclude that prosecutors were more interested in protecting the cops than in justice for Mr. Cauthorne. Turns out that police never documented exactly where they found the drug evidence they claim to have seized from Mr. Cauthorne’s home — reported at the time as a few bags with marijuana residue and a razor with cocaine residue. Worse, crime scene forensic experts were instructed not to photograph the evidence. Worse still, the police department hid the officers who conducted the raid from investigators for weeks after the incident tok place.

Look like a coverup? It’s certainly happened before.

Right now, I’m trying to get a copy of the search warrant pertaining to the Noel case from the Baltimore County Police Department.

Woman is shot, killed by police in drug raid

Her stepdaughter’s 1996 ’suicide’ later was ruled homicide

by Joseph M. Giordano

In the early hours Friday, the quiet neighborhood of Gray Haven awoke to gunfire and the booming sounds of a police raid that resulted in the death of a woman well known in the community.

Just before 5 a.m., officers from the Baltimore County Police Tactical Unit were serving a search and seizure warrant related to a narcotics investigation at a home in the 8100 block of Del Haven Road when two officers approached the bedroom door on the second floor, according to police spokesman Ofc. Shawn Vinson.

When they opened the door, the officers allegedly were met by Cheryl Noel, 44, who was pointing a handgun at them, Vinson said.

Fearing for his life, one officer fired three shots, according to Vinson, striking and killing Noel.

As of Tuesday, it was unknown how many of the shots fired by the officer struck Noel, pending the results of an autopsy, Vinson said.

There is much speculation within the Gray Manor community about whether Noel intended to shoot the officer or was afraid of a burglary. Vinson said the officers conducting the search announced themselves well in advance.

“Flash-bangs were set off before the raid,” Vinson said, referring to small explosive devices used by police to distract intended targets of a raid and to protect officers. “And the officers yelled ‘Police, police, police’ throughout the course of the raid as is procedure.”

But to some who knew Noel, her death came as a shock amid speculation of police error.

“I have to believe that Cheryl came to the door thinking someone was breaking into her house,” said Martin Porter, who worked with Noel at the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant. “I think the police overreacted. This was an absolute injustice.”

Porter remembered Noel as being religious and getting her life back on track.

“She led a Bible study group during her lunch break,” Porter said. “She was no drug user. Cheryl was getting back to the gym. It’s a shame.”

In her neighborhood, Noel’s alleged actions did not fit her personality, according to a man who lived three doors up from Noel’s home.

“It’s hard to believe that she would pull a gun like that,” said the neighbor, who asked that his name not be used. “She was a hard worker. I saw her every day.”

Another neighbor, Nick Moskos, recalled the events of Friday morning.

“I heard several random shots,” Moskos said. “We were all wondering what was going on. Then the police came by and told us about the raid.”

Though he barely knew Noel, Moskos was aware of her reputation in the area for being a good neighbor.

“Everybody said she was awesome,” Moskos said.

The officer involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the county’s homicide and internal affairs divisions, according to Vinson. Police did not identify him.

Vinson refused to comment on whether Noel was suspected of criminal activity as part of the investigation.

On Friday, police charged Noel’s husband, Charles, 51, with two counts of possession of black powder - possessing any amount over five pounds is illegal in Baltimore County, according to Vinson - and single counts of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Matthew Noel, 19, and Sarah Betz, also 19, were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, according to Vinson.

All were later released on their own recognizance, Vinson said.

Earlier death by gunfire

The Noel family is no stranger to violent, suspicious death.

In May 1996, the family lost Cheryl Noel’s step-daughter, Brandy, 16, to what at the time was ruled a suicide.

But after much speculation by her friends at Dundalk High School - police said the revolver used in the killing was found in her right hand, but classmates told police Noel was left-handed - and a tip by an informant, county detectives ruled Brandy’s death a homicide about a year after her body was found.

In April 1997, police arrested Nicholas Jachel-ski Jr., then 19, of Grafton W. Va., and charged him with manslaughter. Jach-elski also faced burglary charges in West Virginia in connection with the killing.

A then-16-year-old boy was who was at the home at the time of Brandy’s death was charged with second-degree murder.

An informant told police that the two suspects were playing Russian roulette when Brandy was shot by the juvenile holding a gun that Jachelski had allegedly stolen from West Virginia.

“It was a parent’s worst nightmare,” said Cheryl Noel at the time. “Now to deal with the fact that somebody killed her is something else.”

PETITION REFLECTS ANGUISH

Friends, family seek to protect Noel’s reputation

by Joseph M. Giordano

Neighbors and friends of Cheryl Noel, the Gray Haven woman who was shot to death by a police officer in January during a drug raid at her house, have banded together in an attempt to protect her character.

After reading and seeing media reports about the incident, a close friend of the Noel family and Cheryl’s supervisor, Robert Raspi of St. Helena, decided it was time to start a petition.

“Cheryl Noel was a great person,” Raspi said Monday. “The petition was to let people know that.”

In Raspi’s petition, which he began circulating on Jan. 28, seven days after the fatal shooting, he described the 44-year-old woman as “a co-worker you could depend on” and “a mentor to the children of her neighborhood.”

Raspi’s petition, he said, is a result of news coverage portraying Noel as someone who approached police pointing a gun.

“Only God really knows what went down in that room,” Raspi said. “But I believe the police may have overreacted.”

Just before 5 a.m. on Jan. 21, officers from the Baltimore County Police Tactical Unit were serving a search and seizure warrant related to a narcotics investigation at Noel’s home in the 8100 block of Del Haven Road when two officers approached the bedroom door on the second floor.

This is where Raspi and others - including Noel’s son, Jacob, who wrote a letter to The Eagle expressing outrage at the way police handled the incident - take issue with some news accounts of what happened.

“[Some accounts] reported that she came to the door with a gun,” Raspi said. “That was wrong.”

Raspi may be referring to statements by Ofc. Shawn Vinson, a Baltimore County police spokesman. In a WJZ-TV report on Jan. 22, Vinson said “When [police] were inside the house, they were approached by a woman threatening them with a handgun and subsequently she was shot,” according to an archived version of the broadcast on the station’s Web site.

On Feb. 21, the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office concluded an investigation into the shooting and ruled that the police were justified in their actions, according to Vinson.

Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Bailey, who handled the investigation, was on vacation earlier this week and could not be reached for comment, according to his offfice.

The now-official version of events, according to Vinson, states that “officers approached the door to the upstairs bedroom. When they opened the door, Noel was pointing a gun at them. One officer fired three shots, killing her.”

Police said the officers were acting on a warrant based on a tip they received, but have released no more details about the raid.

Raspi managed to gather 200 names, most from Noel’s office at the Back River Waste Water Treatment Plant, for his petition, which he hoped would let people know the real Cheryl Noel.

“It’s a sad injustice, the way [the raid] went down,” Raspi said. “But words alone can’t describe what a wonderful person Cheryl Noel was to those who knew her.”

Police charged Noel’s husband, Charles, 51, with two counts of possession of black powder - possessing any amount over five pounds is illegal in Baltimore County- and single counts of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Noel’s other son, Matthew, and Sarah Betz, both 19, were arrested during the raid and were also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana, according to Vinson.

All were later released on their own recognizance, Vinson said, and are scheduled to appear in Baltimore County District Court on July 14.

Charles Noel declined to comment on the petition or the incident.

Letter: How can woman be blamed for her death?

After reading Jacob Noel’s letter (”Shooting was unjustified,” March 17 By the People), I cried. Then I read George Karatzas’ letter (”Shooting tragic, but police officers can’t be blamed”), and it made me furious.

How can he say that “[Cheryl] Noel’s death is her own fault”? He commends the Baltimore County police - for what? Shooting her three times? Aren’t the police trained to shoot without killing? Why was it necessary to shoot her three times when she never fired her gun?

Did they give her a chance to realize they were the police? I can’t imagine what I would do to be woken up at 5 a.m. to a loud noise, yells and men barging into my bedroom. But I know that if they told me they were the police and they had a search warrant, I would put down my gun or weapon, as I’m sure she would have also if she had a chance.

Where is the police investigation if the tables were turned and a police officer was shot three times and killed? The case would be looked into a lot more than Cheryl Noel’s was.

Also, from what I understand, a small amount of marijuana and gunpowder were found. Since her husband hunts, there’s going to be gunpowder. It seems the police went way overboard for this.

What George Karatzas wrote is horrible, and I hope something like this never happens to him or a oved one. He should not be so quick to judge.

Barbara Robison
Kelmore Road

Letter

I’ve been reading all the letters and articles on the shooting of Mrs. Noel last January. I have three daughters who knew the Noels. George Karatzas stated it was Mrs. Noel’s own fault she died.

Did he know the Noels? How come in two different paragraphs he stated “probably”? Does he know all the facts? I think we should all read what her own son wrote in the same edition. I think he would know much more than Mr. Karatzas does.

If you think it’s a safer community for shooting a loving mother and wife for a very small amount of drugs and paraphernalia, then I would say you’re in the lower percentage of the way the other citizens feel.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m totally against any drug. But this wasn’t a massive drug raid with millions of dollars and so-called kingpins at stake.

I’m not condemning the officers. Maybe they were told differently. And Mrs. Noel shouldn’t have had the gun. But I think we should look at this very closely so it will never happen again, especially to a family like the Noels.

Steve Cartwright
Oakwood Road

Shooting was unjustified

On Jan. 21, Baltimore County police served a search warrant on my parents’ Del Haven Road home of a type that normal people think is used only against terrorists and drug kingpins. In the process of serving this warrant, a Baltimore County police officer shot my mother, Cheryl Noel, not once, not twice, but three times, killing her in her own bedroom.

The Baltimore County police have completed their investigation of the Baltimore County police and have determined that they were justified in killing my mother. Does that even sound right?

My mother was a good woman, she was a good mother and a loving wife. She was a true Christian and gave to her family, neighbors and community without reserve. She went to church on Sunday and was a substitute Sunday School teacher when needed. She led a Bible study group on her lunch break at work.

My parents had been together for 23 years and had just celebrated their 20th anniversary. They were a nearly perfect couple. The back door of my parents’ house was almost never locked. Neighborhood kids knew that it was a safe place if they needed to escape danger. Young people in the neighborhood also knew that they could come talk to my mother about anything and get advice and words of encouragement.

If the killing of such a kind, loving and wonderful person like my mother can be justified, who among us is safe? You may say that the police have no reason to attack you in this way. We didn’t think they had any reason to attack us, either, until Jan. 21.

Anyone who knows this family knows that the police could have knocked on the door and they would have been admitted without resistance. The search warrant could have easily been executed in a number of other ways that would not have put anyone in deadly danger.

I’ve been told that the decision to use such tactics is left in the hands of the officers serving the warrant, not a judge. If you read up on such things, you will find that these tactics are used to prevent the destruction of evidence, or “flushing” as they call it. There was virtually no evidence in my parents’ house to destroy, but evidently it was more precious than my mother’s life. …

I recently celebrated my birthday, my first one without my mother. Don’t let this happen to you or your loved ones. My mother would not want this to ever happen to anyone else.

If you would like to help, if you find this situation frightening, or if you knew my mother and want to see justice done, here is what you can do: Call all of your elected officials (state and local) and demand further investigation of this case and the decision-making process for using these tactics. Tell them that there is no place in our neighborhoods for this kind of excessive force.

If we change the process by which this warrant was served, we can save other innocent lives and we might be able to feel safe in our beds at night.

Jacob R. Noel
Barry Road

Raid designed to instill fear cost friend her life

I have been Cheryl Noel’s best friend for the last 33 years, and these are my thoughts concerning her unnecessary death on Jan. 21 at the hands of the Baltimore County police (”Woman is shot, killed by police in drug raid,” Jan. 27 Eagle):

Anyone who knew Cheryl Noel will tell you that she would never have knowingly armed herself against a police officer. She was the most nonviolent person I knew.

The officer said that he feared for his life. Mrs. Noel did not intentionally put him in fear. She didn’t know it was the police.

On the other hand, the entire operation carried out by the Baltimore County police was deliberately orchestrated to put her in fear for her life and, more important in her mind, the life of her youngest son. The object of such an operation is, by its very definition, to create panic and confusion.

Was it truly necessary to enter her home with a battering ram, guns drawn and ready to shoot? How many other homes in Baltimore County can be made to fit the criteria for such a warrant?

It seems to me that the danger in this situation was created by the police. It could have been done differently.

My friend died in fear for her life and the lives of her family at the hands of those who were supposed to protect her.

Debbie Howle
Merritt Boulevard

Does shooting of woman mean gun owners at risk?

Thank you for your fair coverage of the Cheryl Noel shooting (”Woman is shot, killed by police in drug raid,” Jan. 27 Eagle). You were the only news source that didn’t sensationalize the fact that Mrs. Noel had a gun.

According to the Constitution, we have the right to bear arms. Last I checked, it was still legal to have a registered gun in your home.

After this incident I am afraid that I should fear for my life if I own a gun for protection. Chances are that registered gun owners may be shot by the very people who are supposed to serve and protect them.

Any gun owner awakened at 3 a.m. to someone busting into their bedroom would reach for their weapon. If you are given the chance to drop your weapon before you are shot, you will be lucky. Mrs. Noel was not lucky.Will you be next?

Karen Modeski
47th Street

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 at 2:22 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Police Informants, Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.