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[WaTcHeR]

Officer J.R. Smith


Officer Gregg Junnier


ATLANTA, Georgia -- A police officer and a former officer pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman during a botched drug raid last fall. Another officer still faces charges in the woman's death.

Officer J.R. Smith told the judge Thursday that he regretted what had happened.

"I'm sorry," the 35-year-old said, his voice barely audible. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation, making false statements and perjury, which was based on untrue claims in a warrant.

Former Officer Gregg Junnier, 40, who retired from the Atlanta police force in January, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements. Both men are expected to face more than 10 years in prison.

The charges followed a November 21 "no-knock" drug raid on the home of Kathryn Johnston, 92. An informant had described buying drugs from a dealer there, police said. When the officers burst in without warning, Johnston fired at them, and they fired back, killing her.

Fulton County prosecutor Peter Johnson disclosed Thursday that the officers involved in Johnston's death fired 39 shots, striking her five or six times, including a fatal blow to the chest.

He said Johnston only fired once through her door and didn't hit any of the officers. That means the officers who were wounded likely were hit by their own colleagues, he said.

Junnier and Smith, who is on administrative leave, had been charged in an indictment unsealed earlier Thursday with felony murder, violation of oath by a public officer, criminal solicitation, burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and making false statements.

The other officer, Arthur Tesler, also on administrative leave, was charged with violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process. His attorney, William McKenney, said Tesler expects to go to trial.

Tesler, 40, is "very relieved" not to face murder charges, McKenney said, "but we're concerned about the three charges."

In Junnier's and Smith's cases, prosecutors asked the judge Thursday to withhold sentencing until after a hearing later Thursday in federal court where both are expected to enter pleas.

U.S. Attorney David Nahmias told The Associated Press that the recommended federal sentence for Junnier will be 10 years and one month in prison, and for Smith, 12 years, seven months. The state and federal sentences are expected to run concurrently.

Both men could have faced up to life in prison had they been convicted of murder.

The deadly drug raid had been set up after narcotics officers said an informant had claimed there was cocaine in the home.

When the plainclothes officers burst in without notice, police said Johnston fired at them and they fired back. No cocaine was found.

The case raised serious questions about no-knock warrants and whether the officers followed proper procedures.

Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington asked the FBI to lead a multi-agency investigation of the shootout. He also announced policy changes to require the department to drug-test its nearly 1,800 officers and mandate that top supervisors sign off on narcotics operations and no-knock warrants.

To get the warrant, officers told a magistrate judge that an undercover informant had told them Johnston's home had surveillance cameras monitored carefully by a drug dealer named "Sam."

After the shooting, a man claiming to be the informant told a television station that he never purchased drugs there, prompting Pennington to admit he was uncertain whether the suspected drug dealer actually existed.

The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights activist who serves as a spokesman for Johnston's family, said the family was satisfied with Thursday's developments.

"They have never sought vengeance. They have only sought justice," he said.

Hutchins said the family is considering civil action against the police department.

"I think what happened today makes it very clear that Ms. Johnston was violated, that her civil rights were violated," he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/LAW/04/26/atlanta.indictments.ap/
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

All informants and police officers that works with informants should be hung by the neck until dead!!
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Lying cops and the "war on drugs" is a bad combination. I hope the cops get their throats slit in prison.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Probe into Atlanta drug raid unveils widespread corruption

ATLANTA — It started as a federal probe to determine how a botched police raid led to the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman but it has now expanded into a sweeping investigation into possible corruption in the Atlanta Police Department.

Federal indictments released Thursday assert that Atlanta narcotics officers - including others not implicated in the shooting case - repeatedly lied to judges in order to obtain search warrants, falsely claimed confidential informants purchased drugs and falsified warrants so they could meet goals set by police brass.

The allegations were part of the plea deals negotiated by prosecutors with narcotics officers Gregg Junnier and J.R. Smith in the killing of Kathryn Johnston, but they have implications beyond the three officers charged in the woman's death.

"When you look at the facts as they've developed so far, you have multiple officers involved in multiple actions on multiple occasions," said Gino Brogdon, one of Junnier's attorneys. "And that is systematic."

Federal officials seem to agree. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said prosecutors will "find out just how wide the culture of misconduct that led to this tragedy extends" and FBI Special Agent Gregory Jones said investigators may pursue more charges.

The indictment stemmed from a Nov. 21 "no-knock" drug raid on Johnston's home in one of Atlanta's roughest neighborhoods.

According to the plea agreement, Smith and other officers were alerted to Johnston's home by a suspected drug dealer Fabian Sheats, who was standing outside a nearby store. Smith planted bags of marijuana under a rock near where Sheats was standing, and later authorities found 10 bags of marijuana and two bags of crack cocaine with him.

When they threatened to charge Sheats, he promised he could direct officers toward a bigger bust, and pointed them to Johnston's home. Sheats said he spotted a kilogram of cocaine there when he went to buy crack from a man named "Sam."

The officers never got an informant to buy drugs at the home, but told a magistrate judge that a drug deal had been made so they could get a search warrant.

Around 6:40 p.m., Smith and another officer pried the metal bars from Johnston's wooden front door and rammed it open. On the other side of the door, Johnston fired a single errant shot from her .38 caliber revolver. It struck none of the officers. Smith, Junnier and four other officers responded by unloading 39 rounds at the woman, striking her five or six times, including a fatal shot to the chest.

Three officers were wounded, apparently by bullets fired by their fellow officers.

After searching the home and finding no drugs, prosecutors said the officers tried to cover up the mistake. Smith handcuffed the dying woman and planted three baggies of marijuana in the basement of her house. He then called informant Alex White and told him to pretend he had bought crack cocaine at the house.

Smith, 35, and Junnier, 40, pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements. Smith also pleaded guilty to a state perjury charge.

Arthur Tesler, a third officer charged in the shooting, faces charges of violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process.

Federal investigators will now be able to use Smith and Junnier to guide them through the department's policies.

One procedure that is sure to be scrutinized: Monthly goals the department asked its officer to meet. Defense attorney Rand Csehy called it the "nine-and-two system."

Csehy, who represents Junnier, said narcotics officers were required to make nine arrests and obtain two search warrants each month in an effort to show Atlanta residents that the war on drugs was working.

The indictment also raised more questions about the procedures under which officers obtain "no-knock" warrants - special warrants intended to prevent suspects from getting rid of evidence and to protect officers from potentially violent suspects.

Smith and Junnier claimed that police officers have repeatedly lied to judges to obtain the warrants by falsely claiming that homeowners have weapons, surveillance cameras or posed other threats.

Atlanta police officials did not immediately comment Friday, but Chief Richard Pennington told reporters Thursday that officers were not trained to lie and did not have performance quotas.

"I assure you that we will not tolerate any officers violating the law and mistreating our citizens in this city," he told reporters.

Junnier's attorneys stressed on Friday that the case is far from over.

"The lights are on now - and there's no place for the roaches to hide," said Brogdon. "I think they're going to find everything."

http://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/1240945/
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Cops lying to judges? Happens all the time in America. No knock raids, that's what the Nazi storm troopers did.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Atlanta's police chief announced more than 140 personnel changes in the department, including replacing the entire narcotics unit that was scandalized last fall by the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman during a drug raid.

The narcotics unit's training standards also will be rewritten to adopt federal drug agency practices, and 14 investigators are being added this month, with the goal of a new staff of 30 by the end of the year, Police Chief Richard Pennington said.

A lieutenant with experience in the department's office of professional standards, William Trivelpiece, will be taking over leadership of unit, he said.

"With new initiatives on the way to help restore confidence in the unit, we felt it important to start anew," Pennington said.

The narcotics unit faced heavy criticism after the Nov. 21 shooting death of Kathryn Johnston. Three officers had burst into her home with a no-knock warrant based on false information that an informant had purchased drugs at the house.

In court papers released when state and federal charges were filed last month against the officers involved, prosecutors alleged that Atlanta narcotics officers repeatedly lied to judges to obtain search warrants, falsely claimed confidential informants purchased drugs and falsified warrants to meet goals set by police brass.

Two of the officers involved in the raid have pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges and are awaiting sentencing. Another officer still faces charges.

The remaining narcotics unit officers will be given other positions within the police department as part of the overhaul, spokesman James Polite said Wednesday. "Everyone is being replaced," he said.

Overall, Pennington announced more than 140 police personnel changes Tuesday, including a number of key promotions, transfers and major changes in top leadership.

The leadership changes include swapping command of field operations and criminal investigations and appointing new heads of internal affairs and major crimes investigation.

The Atlanta Police Department has more than 2,300 officers and civilian employees in a city of 480,000.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[spd49]

There is no excuse for lying to a Judge or Magistrate to obtain a warrant. Doing things like this leads to mistrust of the police and causes tragedies like the death of this elderly woman. These men have plead guilty and must face the consequences of their actions.

I find that working with informants is a distasteful, but necessary part of police work. Informants must be handled carefully and their information must be corroborated through independent investigation.

I feel that "No Knock" warrants are neccesary in some cases. There should be a high burden of proof on the part of the officers requesting these warrants that "knocking and announcing" would create an unreasonable risk to their lives.

spd49

[WaTcHeR]

[WaTcHeR]

A "real" snitch is someone who selflessly observes others wrong doings and reports them to authority for the sake of obeying the law - is the polar opposite of the paid informant/rat. From a law enforcement perspective, "Snitches" or "C.I.s" are NOT average citizens who witness crimes, but people who've committed crimes for which they want to avoid prosecution.

Since the War on Drugs in the 1980s, law enforcement officials have relied more heavily on informants in their sting operations. Thanks to President Reagan the Government now forces large business to "invade you privacy" and force you to pee in a cup to be able to work. Sentencing laws have pushed more people to snitch to save themselves from spending years behind bars.

Reform is needed in the "snitch" institution. Snitch testimony should be corroborated and informants should have access to an attorney. Informant agreements are essentially informal plea bargains (where information is exchanged for leniency regarding criminal acts), so judges need better statutory tools to monitor and enforce snitch agreements and avoid the worst abuses.

Relying heavily on snitching, particularly in drug-related cases, law enforcement officials create large numbers of informants who remain at large in the community, engaging in criminal activities while under pressure to provide information about others.

Texas has pioneered recent efforts to rein in confidential informant abuses, especially after the infamous drug task force bust in Hearne, Texas, that led to ACLU litigation, and the Dallas fake drugs scandal. In 2001, ACLU of Texas and allies from the civil rights and religious communities helped pass a new law, the first-of-its kind in the U.S., requiring corroboration for testimony of confidential informants in undercover drug stings.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

COPS are against SNITCHING! Doctors don't snitch on other doctors. Lawyers don't snitch on other lawyers. Judges don't snitch on other judges.

Shouldn't you be against SNITCHING?

If COPS don't think it's a good thing to "SNITCH" on fellow officers, then why the hell do COPS always expect people to SNITCH on each other?

If COPS think it's wrong to SNITCH on other cops, then people should STOP SNITCHING!
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

A good snitch is a dead snitch!!!


The surveillance state has long been one reason for paranoid souls to always worry about when the government is watching them and what they’re doing. They’ve got money and technology, and the rumors that they can read email and phone calls have been going for years. It’s unclear how true those rumors may be, but there is at least a sense of understanding that the government probably isn’t big enough to actually keep an eye on all those communications.

So that’s why they have to deputize snitches to rat you out if you stray outside the lines. From Operation TIPS, to DARE officers encouraging children to rat on their parents for drugs, and actually giving 5th-graders little books on how to snitch on their neighbors for zoning violations. The government is not only trying to make sure that adults are willing to snitch on fellow citizens, they’re actively advocating for this to our children.

Now the IRS has expanded it’s whistleblowing snitching program by offering bigger rewards to those who snitch on tax “cheats” [Hat Tip: autoDogmatic]:

Under a newly amended rule from the Internal Revenue Service, ordinary citizens can help the tax man cometh, or at least collect. The new Whistleblower Office is the IRS’s attempt to give incentives for you to rat out the tax cheats you know.

That’s right. If your employer, co-worker, landlord, neighbor or father-in-law is raking in fistfuls of cash and bypassing Uncle Sam, you can anonymously report the abuse to the IRS and snag a windfall from their dishonesty.

As long as the total amount of tax fraud comes out to at least $2 million (including penalties, interest, and whatever else the government ultimately collects based on your report), you can get a 15 to 30 percent cut.

You got that? If you know of someone that is cheating on their taxes, and you report them, you can pull a nice big chunk of change.

Understand how insidious this is. It is bad enough that you cannot trust your government to protect your rights, and you can generally count on them to violate them. The government is now working to make sure you can’t trust your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors either.

This is purely an attempt to create fear, and by doing so, extend the government’s reach into your behavior. I choose to follow laws which I believe to be legitimate or laws which, though illegitimate, cannot be broken without being caught. When I live under the assumption that everyone is watching me, though, I cannot even break illegitimate laws.

What will happen when someone in an area of restrictive gun laws owns an illegal firearm to protect his family, and his shady brother-in-law rats him out to get the feds to overlook the illegal home poker game he’s running? What about the child with a grandmother like Angel Raich, who is illegally using medical marijuana, who reports this to the school principal because she’s been brainwashed by the public schools into thinking her grandmother is doing something wrong? What would happen if one of my neighbors decided to rat me out to the Georgia excise authorities for homebrewing more than the allowed 50 gallons of beer per year?

Is this a society in which we want to live?

http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2007/03/16/the-snitch-society-the-surveillance-state/
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Face it we live in a "snitch" society, just like in Nazi Germany.

There is a huge difference between "ratting" on someone for a minor infraction, and going to the authorities with information about bomb threats made against public buildings.

It's even more wrong when someone breaks the law and the prosecutor makes a deal for them to get off with a lessor charge and set back free on the streets, if they snitch on someone.

So Spd49 if you are a cop that uses's paid informants "snitches," don't ever fucking expect me to have any respect for you what so ever! In fact I believe you by now, know exactly what I feel should be done to cops like you! You should be ashamed of yourself coming to this board, claiming to be one of the "good cops." You're a traitor to this country!
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

"Since when do arrests, search warrants and convictions that result from informants giving information to cops make them reliable?" and declaring "The phrase 'reliable confidential informant' is almost a classic American oxymoron."

Don't hate the man in the blue uniform, hate what he stands for and believes in!
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Atlanta police have not sought a single "no-knock" search warrant since the November shooting death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid.

There have also been fewer warrants for drug searches.

In the six months since Kathryn Johnston died at the hands of police, Atlanta narcotics officers have not sought any "no-knock" warrants, court records show. They served at least 25 no-knock warrants during a comparable period a year ago.

The number of all warrants for drug searches has also fallen, from at least 125 to just 19 over the same two periods.

The FBI has subpoenaed several years of warrants from Fulton County Magistrate Court as part of a grand jury investigation into misconduct by the Atlanta narcotics squad, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Two weeks ago, U.S. attorneys ordered the court to turn over all electronic warrants granted to officers since Jan. 1, 2005.

Greg Jones, special-agent-in-charge of the FBI's Atlanta office, said his investigators were seeking to verify the truthfulness of information given to obtain the warrants.

In Johnston's case, two officers admitted lying to obtain search warrants for her home as well as others.

Police officials had different opinions on what the drop in search warrants meant.

A union spokesman said Atlanta streets were being ceded to drug dealers, while Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington called it a temporary lull in the war on drugs.

"Once the new narcotics team is put on the street, we are going to go right back into these areas that have a large concentration of drug activity," Pennington said. "We are going to work with the community. But we are going to make sure they do everything by the book."

Pennington said he had directed officers to seek drug warrants only in the biggest, most critical cases until two new narcotics teams are trained and on the streets.

But Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, said Pennington's directives to curtail warrants and reassign seasoned narcotics officers has crippled drug enforcement.

On Nov. 21, plainclothes narcotics officers burst into Johnston's home, using a no-knock warrant they obtained by falsely telling a judge an informant had confirmed drug dealing there, according to government prosecutors. Johnston, 92, was killed during the raid in a hail of nearly 40 police gunshots.

Officers J.R. Smith and Gregg Junnier have pleaded guilty in state court to manslaughter, violation of oath, criminal solicitation and making false statements, and in federal court to conspiracy to violate a person's civil rights resulting in death. Smith also pleaded guilty to a state perjury charge. Junnier, who faces more than 10 years in prison, retired from the police force in January. Smith, who faces more than 12 years in prison, agreed to resign as part of his plea.

Arthur Tesler, a third officer charged in the shooting, faces charges of violation of oath by a public officer, making false statements and false imprisonment under color of legal process. Tesler has said he will fight the charges.

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=93612
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[Ancap]

[KC]

Three Atlanta police officers have been suspended amid an investigation into the shooting death of an elderly woman during a botched drug raid, the city's police chief announced.

Chief Richard Pennington announced the suspensions Thursday after the FBI told him the officers had become part of an ongoing investigation into the death of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston at her home in November.

Two officers have pleaded guilty to charges including manslaughter in the shooting. Another officer faces charges including false imprisonment under color of legal process.

On Nov. 21, plainclothes narcotics officers burst into Johnston's home, using a no-knock warrant they obtained by falsely telling a judge that an informant had confirmed drug dealing at Johnston's home, according to government prosecutors. Johnston was killed during the raid in a hail of nearly 40 police gunshots.

None of the officers suspended Thursday was at Johnston's home the night of the shooting.

The lawyer for one of the officers, Brad Burchfield, an Altanta patrolman, said Burchfield was surprised he was being investigated. "He had nothing to do with what happened," said Page Pote.
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www.policecrimes.com

[ghs1141]

So all 1300 Atlanta cops are murders? Maybe we should disband the entire department and not have any police in Atlanta...idiots. This is an isolated incident where an asshole cop lied it doesnt mean an entire department is "corrupt".

[WaTcHeR]

[ghs1141]

Yeah I agree that there are more than 3 idiots in this department. I just think its unfair to say all 1300 officers are corrupt. The chief hasnt been there long, people come and go.

[tdb13]

[Ancap]