Cory Maye - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Cory Jermaine Maye is a former prisoner

Prisoner

A prisoner is someone incarcerated in a prison, jail or similar facility.Prisoner or The Prisoner may also refer to:* Prisoner of war, a soldier in wartime, held as by an enemy* Political prisoner, someone held in prison for their ideology...

in the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was originally convicted of murder in the 2001 death of Prentiss, Mississippi

Prentiss, Mississippi

Prentiss is a town in Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,158 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jefferson Davis County...

police officer Ron W. Jones during a drug raid on the other half of Maye's duplex

Duplex (building)

The term duplex can be used to describe several different dwelling unit configurations:A duplex house is defined as a dwelling having apartments with separate entrances for two families. This includes two-story houses having a complete apartment on each floor and also side-by-side apartments on a...

. Maye has said he thought that the intruders were burglars and did not realize they were police. He pleaded not guilty at his trial, citing self-defense

Self-defense (United States)

In the United States, the defense of self-defense allows a person to use reasonable force in his or her own defense or the defense of others ....

. Nevertheless, Maye was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death

Capital punishment in the United States

Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...

. Maye's case attracted little attention until late 2005, when Reason
Reason (magazine)
Reason is a libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 60,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.- History :...

magazine senior editor and police misconduct

Police misconduct

Police misconduct refers to inappropriate actions taken by police officers in connection with their official duties. Police misconduct can lead to a miscarriage of justice and sometimes involves discrimination...

researcher Radley Balko

Radley Balko

Radley Balko is an American libertarian journalist, blogger, and speaker.- Education :Balko earned a B.A. in journalism and political science in 1997 from Indiana University.- Employment and publications :...

brought it to light on his blog The Agitator. Balko's research raised several questions about Maye's conviction and in particular about the reliability of medical examiner Steven Hayne

Steven Hayne

Dr. Steven Hayne is a forensic pathologist from the US state of Mississippi who has attracted significant controversy surrounding his medical practices and testimony in criminal trials, most notably those of Cory Maye, Jimmie Duncan, and Tyler Edmonds...

, who performed the autopsy on Jones and testified at the trial. According to Maye's supporters, his conviction also brought up issues such as the right to self-defense, police conduct in the War on Drugs

War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...

, racial and social inequities in Mississippi and whether he received competent legal representation.

On September 21, 2006, Maye's death sentence was unexpectedly overturned by Judge Michael Eubanks, who ruled that Maye had received incompetent legal representation during his sentencing phase, and ordered a new sentencing hearing. Maye was sentenced to life in prison. On November 17, 2009, the Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled that Maye's constitutional right of vicinage was violated when Judge Eubanks refused to return the case to Jefferson Davis County, where the alleged crime occurred. The en banc
En banc
En banc, in banc, in banco or in bank is a French term used to refer to the hearing of a legal case where all judges of a court will hear the case , rather than a panel of them. It is often used for unusually complex cases or cases considered to be of greater importance...

court reversed Maye's conviction and remanded the case for a new trial. The State of Mississippi appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. On December 2, 2010, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued its decision, in which it held that Maye was entitled to a new trial on the ground that the trial court had improperly refused to issue a self-defense instruction that would have highlighted for the jury Maye's right to act in defense of his infant daughter, who was present in the home on the night of the police raid that led to the shooting.

On July 1, 2011, Judge Prentiss Harrell signed a plea agreement in which Maye pleaded guilty to manslaughter; Maye was then sentenced to ten years in prison, time he had already served. Maye was transferred to Rankin County, Mississippi for procedural paperwork and out-processing and was released on July 18, 2011.

Death of Officer Jones

At 11 p.m. on the night of December 26, 2001, Ron Jones along with other police officers and an agent employed by the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force, a four-county police agency responsible for drug enforcement, went to Maye's duplex for the purpose of drug interdiction. Jones, though not a member of the task force, had received a confidential tip that large quantities of marijuana were being stored and sold in the apartment of Jamie Smith, who lived in the other half of the duplex. The officers obtained search warrant

Search warrant

A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....

s for both apartments. Whether the warrants legally allowed for a no-knock entry is still not clear.

Smith was arrested without incident. Although some illicit drugs were found in his home, Maye's former attorney, Rhonda Cooper, says Smith was never charged with drug possession or distribution. They found a little more than a gram of marijuana, most of it old and ashen—at worst a misdemeanor. Jefferson Davis County

Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 13,962 people, 5,177 households, and 3,768 families residing in the county. The population density was 34 people per square mile . There were 5,891 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...

District Attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

Claiborne "Buddy" McDonald says he does not remember Smith being charged or convicted.

There is disagreement about what happened next. The officers then either served the warrant on Maye's half of the duplex (later, prosecutors would say both were served simultaneously) or entered what they thought was another door to Smith's in search of more contraband.

Four of the officers who took part in the raid testified they knocked on Maye's door and identified themselves as law enforcement officers. Maye testified he heard neither knocks on his door nor anyone announce themselves. Maye testified he was asleep on a chair in the living room when he heard a crash, prompting him to run to his daughter's bedroom and ready a .380 caliber pistol that he kept boxed and unloaded on top of a tall headboard. When Jones burst into the bedroom, Maye fired three times. Jones was wearing a bulletproof vest

Bulletproof vest

A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...

, but one bullet hit just below the vest, and the injury proved fatal.

Jones, the son of Prentiss' then police chief, was not a regular member of the narcotics task force, but a K9

Police dog

A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...

officer for the Prentiss police department. Trial testimony indicated that when Jones exited the apartment and fell to the ground outside, his pistol was holstered.

Incarceration

After conviction, Maye was incarcerated in the State of Mississippi's male death row in Unit 32, a part of the Mississippi State Penitentiary

Mississippi State Penitentiary

Mississippi State Penitentiary , also known as Parchman Farm, is the oldest prison and the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi, USA....

in Sunflower County

Sunflower County, Mississippi

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,369 people, 9,637 households, and 7,314 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 10,338 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...

. Maye, Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) #100961, is currently incarcerated in the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Mississippi

Greenwood, Mississippi

Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...

. Maye entered MDOC on January 26, 2004. His location last changed on June 12, 2009.

Controversy

While researching related material, columnist and blogger Radley Balko

Radley Balko

ran across the Maye's case and blogged his initial findings. Other bloggers across the political spectrum picked them up.

Counsel

Maye's original attorney, Rhonda Cooper, had never tried a capital murder case before she represented Maye. Maye's family fired Cooper after Maye's conviction.

Maye is currently represented by Bob Evans, the original public defender in the case. Evans is the public defender for Jefferson Davis County, and was concurrently the public defender for the town of Prentiss, seat of Jefferson Davis County, until January 10, 2006, when he was fired by the Prentiss Board of Aldermen. According to the mayor of Prentiss, Charles Dumas, Evans' dismissal was directly related to his representation of Maye.

The Washington, D.C., law firms of Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling

Covington & Burling LLP is an international law firm with offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Washington, DC. The firm advises multinational corporations on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters...

, Pafford Lawrence & Ross, and the Vernia Law Firm, as well as professor Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr

Orin S. Kerr is a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, legal representation for the MySpace "cyber bullying" pioneer Lori Drew and a leading scholar in the subjects of computer crime law and internet surveillance. In the fall of 2006, he visited as an associate professor...

of The George Washington University Law School

The George Washington University Law School

The George Washington University Law School, commonly referred to as GW Law, is the law school of The George Washington University. It was founded in 1825 and is the oldest law school in Washington, D.C. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the...

represent Maye pro bono publico
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...

.

Terry R. Cox, Certified Legal Investigator (CLI) of The Lonewolf Group Legal Investigation & Consulting of Booneville, Mississippi, was engaged by Maye's counsel to assist in the post conviction investigation of the case. Cox was instrumental in tracking down the "unknown confidential informant" who acknowledged his involvement and later testified at a hearing in the matter which proved instrumental in the court setting aside the death penalty.

Discrepancies in police and court records

Since Jones died, it is impossible to know how thoroughly he investigated the tip he received before passing it along. He claimed he had observed unusually heavy traffic at the residence, but left no written record of when he made those observations (important since Maye had only moved into the apartment a few weeks before the raid). The credibility of the informant is not known beyond Jones' statement that information he had previously provided had led to a single arrest. It also appears that Jones and a colleague did not verify the tip, which is typically done by making a controlled drug buy.

Jones' affidavit for the warrants names Smith but not Maye, referring only to "person or persons unknown" in the other apartment. Both apartments are described using the same language.

Times have been changed on official records of when evidence was collected from both apartments. Characteristically for what was initially a major drug arrest, Smith's apartment was swept immediately afterwards. However, several changes made to the documents for Maye put the time of that evidence collection at 5:20 a.m., several hours after the raid.

Maye's family and his attorney also accused officers of beating him while he was in custody after his arrest. His mug shot, taken the day of the shooting, shows Maye with a prominent swollen and discolored right eye. Officers and prosecutors denied that any beating occurred.

Appeal

Maye's appeal was argued before the Mississippi Court of Appeals on June 4, 2009; on November 17, 2009, the court set aside his conviction and ordered a new trial on the grounds that he was denied his right to have the trial conducted in the county of the alleged crime.

On June 24, 2010, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted petitions for writ of certiorari

Certiorari

Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...

filed by both the State of Mississippi (arguing that the Court of Appeals' decision to grant Maye a new trial was erroneous) and Maye (arguing that the Court of Appeals erred in not vacating his conviction entirely and dismissing the charges for insufficient evidence, and advancing alternative grounds for a new trial).

On December 2, 2010, the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals' decision and granted Maye a new trial on the grounds that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury as Maye had requested on the nature of self-defense and defense of others (i.e., his daughter).

Plea Agreement

On the morning of July 1, 2011, Maye was offered and accepted a plea agreement. Judge Prentiss Harrell of the 15th Circuit Court of Mississippi signed the agreement under which Maye pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a ten year sentence, which was decreed to be time served. Maye was then transferred to Rankin County, Mississippi for procedural paperwork and out-processing, and was released on July 18, 2011.

Media coverage

Convicted Murderer Sentenced to Death
Railroaded Onto Death Row?
Radley Balko's feature on Maye for Reason
Radley Balko Interviewed About Cory Maye On Charles Goyette Show - Air America Radio
Air America Radio
Air America was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk programming...

Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

(December 16, 2005)

Internet coverage

Radley Balko's blog entries
Blog entry by William Norman Grigg
William Norman Grigg
William Norman Grigg has authored several books from a Constitutionalist perspective. He used to be a senior editor of The New American magazine.-Biography:...
Waiting for Death in Mississippi at TalkLeft.com (a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

), 9 December 2005
Maybe, or maybe not by Paul Jacob
Paul Jacob
Paul Jacob is an activist, organizer, and advocate for legislative term limits, initiative & veto referendum rights, and limited government in the United States. He writes a weekly column for Townhall.com and his short radio commentary feature, "Common Sense," is syndicated by the Citizens In...

, Townhall.com
Townhall.com
Townhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...

, 30 April 2006
The Drew Carey Project: Mississippi Drug War Blues: The Case of Cory Maye
Mississippi Appellate Court Video Archive

Legal documents

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.