Posted on 05/27/2011 9:15:42 PM PDT by marktwain
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – Video of the SWAT raid and deadly shooting of former Marine Jose Guerena has raised many questions from 9 On Your Side viewers who wanted to know how much force police are legally allowed to use when serving a search warrant.
9 On Your Side Reporter Steve Nuñez sat down with Criminal Defense Attorney Michael Bloom to show him the raw footage of the raid. The Pima County Sheriff's Department released the video to the media on Thursday.
"I'm sure everyone's reaction first of all, it's horrible," said Bloom as he watched SWAT officers fire 71 bullets at a person they identified as Guerena.
"It's a horrifying situation," said Bloom.
But Bloom, who has 34 years experience representing victims of illegal searches, wanted to make it clear: he is not connected to the case. Nor has he seen the search warrant or other key investigative documents.
"I'm not expressing an opinion as to whether or not the shooting was justified or not," said Bloom.
Instead, Bloom agreed to analyze the raw footage and provide his expertise on the legal interpretation of how police are supposed to serve a search warrant.
The video shows SWAT sounded its sirens for eight seconds while driving up to Guerena's house.
Nuñez asked Bloom if this eight second warning met the legal criteria.
"That probably technically complies with the law," answered Bloom.
However, Bloom said the sound of a siren does not identify the type of emergency vehicle it's coming from. And that's why the law says police have to identify themselves by yelling, "Police," before breaking down the door and entering.
Nuñez asked Bloom if the law defines how long officers are supposed to wait for someone to respond before they can force their way inside of a home.
"There is no specific case that says its six seconds or fourteen seconds or this or that," said Bloom. "It's a reasonable amount of time."
And as far as using deadly force when serving a search warrant? Bloom said by law, police are always justified to shoot anytime they are threatened with deadly force. And once police pull the trigger they are justified to keep shooting until they run out of ammunition.
"If in fact the gentleman points a weapon at police that justifies that they're not required to wait until he starts firing," said Bloom.
Bloom said because of the amount of force used by police the public has the right to know every detail surrounding the shooting and what exactly police knew about Jose Guerena.
God bless this Marine who made his family as safe as possible first and then died trying to defend them from unknown invaders to his property.
He is a hero and the cops, in this instance, acted like thugs and murders.
“They should have taken the necessary time to ensure who it was they were dealing with”
They did. They knew he was a combat vet, which is why they went in hot.
Ping to all vets: The thugcops consider you a threat and will preemptively kill you. Keep that in mind if/when it becomes the police state versus us, OK?
Same to you active duty service members. Which side will you choose?
Sadly, it’s clear what side most “police officers” (excepting a few such as my friend), BATFE thugs, nearly all SWAT, and the like will come down on. And terrifyingly. To them, we’re sheep to be intimidated and if expedient exterminated. Period.
My view...
I stand corrected, you are right.
Remember that Janet “Reno” Napolitano put out a report to “law enforcement” a few years ago identifying returning vets as a prime threat.
It’s starting to look like the AR15 was a throw down. Makes sense to me. After all, how many combat vets arm up and then provide an easy sight picture? They don’t. He##, I wouldn’t, and I’m a civi. I’d be prone or behind cover.
But he was tired? Sure. But a combat tested Marine shrugs off tired in a heart beat if the SHTF. Otherwise, he’d have been a combat killed Marine.
What I think happened? Idiot thugcop stumbled on the door jamb and pops off a round, the other thugcops panic and executed a man tiredly stumbling into the hallway wondering what was going on, the thugcops made sure he bled out, they assaulted and tried to intimidate his wife into shutting up, and now people are learning some facts. (The AR throw down and the assault on and intimidation of the wife are discussed in a link somewhere up thread.)
The question is, will there be justice? I doubt it in our police state nation. At least not through official channels...
Exactly! And this is a direct result of that memo IMHO!!!
Try using that as a defense as a civilian.
Self-defense is self-defense - as long a cops' lives are literally worth more to the Court than civilian lives, people will live in fear of the government.
I just want to say that I would hope to heck that no one planted a weapon at the scene. The widow’s recounting of events does make it sound like the weapon(s) could have been planted, but this would not be the first time a spouse was totally oblivious to the actions of a significant other. And people do lie and lie convincingly. I want to know more about the warrant and the evidence against Jose Guerena that led them to believe he was a serious threat.
We are gradually seeing a civilian police force morph into a modern version of the Vopos or Gestapo - a paramilitary elitist clique isolated from the population it should ostensibly serve - just another Civil Service Union with guns and an attitude.
bull puckies - private citizens are NOT zips in the wire
>> trying to show all of y’all the cops in this country are completely out of control...
These travesties need to be exposed, and you’re doing a great job of bringing them to the foreground. I’ll add, however, that not all cops are jackbooted assholes. Even the jerks that might write me a ticket for breaking 10 over the speed limit aren’t necessarily in the same camp as those we’re condemning.
As far as I’m concerned, the goal must be focused on the legal process that facilities the arbitrarily killing and intimidation of citizens around the Country; a process that involves lawmakers, the judiciary, and department officers. Criticizing the trigger happy assholes alone isn’t going to fix the problem.
An oversight by SWAT in their haste?
Nazis had SS and Gestapo train with dogs and prior to graduation had to kill the animal. In this manner you desensitize the man to killing "innocent" living things. If a man can kill a small animal and does so over and over, then a big, smelly, ugly, criminal or suspect getting killed is just a yawner.
Ask the cops that murdered the guy in Vegas at the Home Depot, the SWAT keystone donut munchers that killed a Marine in Arizona or any of the FBI/BATF heroes that were involved in Ruby Ridge or Waco.
They sleep like little babies, I'm sure. Collect their retirement check and disability check with not a care in the world after executing innocent men, women and CHILDREN.
The warrant was not specifically against Guerena nor for his property, it was some kind of bastard “blanket warrant” for the neighborhood (sorry, don’t have the reference handy, but this is on the KGUN website). Other than that, we know little else about the warrant because it was sealed. Also note that Guerena didn’t have one illegal item in his home and that even the cops admit that he would not have been arrested had they not executed him.
>> The warrant was not specifically against Guerena ...
bttt
Watch the video embedded on this page and then tell me that this is OK:
http://unclejimbo.com/blog1/?p=990
The YouTube page says that the pit bull was shot while in a crate and I'm guessing the vicious Corgi was gunned down just to be safe.
Just my thoughts on likelihoods.
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