Please help save an innocent man from execution

I know I am going to get a lot of grief over this, but hear me out. FIRST and foremost, I do not think this warrants a death penalty. But then again, I am not a big proponent of the death penalty.

I have a problem with just one aspect of this whole thing. It all hinges on whether or not the officers pounding on his door identified themselves. It seems both the police and Mr. Maye agree that they pounded repeatedly on his door for a bit of time (long enough for him to load his gun). IF, and this is a big IF, the officers identified themselves as such while pounding ( a reasonable assumption, although granted not a guarantee), then why did Mr. Mayes not at least respond to them? Why not shout out something along the lines of "What do you want" or some such. Anything that would indicate to the officers that someone was inside? I doubt the officers even knew someone was there since they came in with undrawn weapons, which would be unusual given the other circumstances if they knew someone was inside.

Think about it? If we are going to allow people to shoot at a police officer who has entered your home with a valid warrant (which they had) simply because a person doesn't believe it is a police officer, then you are asking for trouble. What were the police to do? Stand at his door all night pounding away? They had a warrant and if they identified themselves, Mr. Maye had an obligation to open the door and grant them access. Or at the very least to call to them and demand proof of who they were. But to sit there and shoot the first person coming through the door after they had identified themselves as police is at the very least irresponsible and prosecutable.

So it all comes down to me to whether or not the officers did indeed identify themselves. If not, Maye should walk scott free. If they did, then why load a gun and shoot the first figure to walk through the door when you know that there is a decent possibility that it could be a police officer?

Maybe I'm missing something here, but something just does not add up, at least if the officers identified themselves.

And if they didn't, then they screwed up and I can find no fault at all with what Maye did. Heck, I'd have done the same thing.

Ok, now I will sit back and let y'all throw stuff at me. Sometimes I think I just like being ganged up on.

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I don't know, but I will throw out a few ideas as food for thought. I had read somewhere that Mr. Mayes believed that the neighborhood in which he lived was not a safe one. What would YOU do, as an innocent person, in an unsafe neighborhood, if someone pounded on your door in the middle of the night?

Also, it was mentioned that he had fallen asleep, and was wakened by the pounding. I don't know about you, but if someone wakes me up during my first sleep cycle, I am not "running on all cylinders", especially for the first few minutes after I am awakened.

The thing is, I believe that this case has so many holes in it, that there is no real way of knowing what REALLY happened. For that reason alone, the death penalty is inappropriate in this case. Personally, I think that the case needs to be retried, in another jurisdiction, where the people in power have no personal axe to grind.

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I'm not going to throw anything at you, Coastal Rat.

I do think that if Maye had something to fear from the police your idea makes sense, but, since Maye didn't have anything to fear, it doesn't really wash.

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

I don't know, but I will throw out a few ideas as food for thought. I had read somewhere that Mr. Mayes believed that the neighborhood in which he lived was not a safe one. What would YOU do, as an innocent person, in an unsafe neighborhood, if someone pounded on your door in the middle of the night?

If someone pounded on my door in the middle of the night, AND IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS POLICE, then I think I would at least respond to the pounding by asking them what they wanted and asking to see some ID. Of course, unless one is actually in the situation, one never really knows.

Again, this whole thing hinges, IMO, on whether or not the police identified themselves during the time and immediately prior to forcing open the door and entering the home. IF they did not, then I think Maye was fully justified to shoot first and ask questions later.

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boomerang wrote:

I'm not going to throw anything at you, Coastal Rat.

I do think that if Maye had something to fear from the police your idea makes sense, but, since Maye didn't have anything to fear, it doesn't really wash.

I agree it seems strange Boom, which is why I believe there is a possibility that maybe the police did not identify themselves. And since that is a disputable contention, I believe at the very least the death penalty should have been off the table. And in that case, even the conviction would have to hinge on whether or not the jury believed the police did indeed properly ID themselves.

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I am not going to throw anything either. Actually, you make a valid point. I think that we are just all so shocked that he got the death penalty. And me, I'm all for time served Cory, go home. I would imagine some others are and some aren't.

Does anyone know if the trial transcripts are available anywhere? Online? Can they be ordered? I guess the only way to know all the known facts is to read the transcripts.

And Joe, there may have been dozens of other cases, as you said, but for whatever reason, I didn't hear about them or I just didn't know. That's not an excuse. I should have known. Fedral brought this to our attention and it grabbed me.

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CoastalRat wrote:

If someone pounded on my door in the middle of the night, AND IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS POLICE, then I think I would at least respond to the pounding by asking them what they wanted and asking to see some ID. Of course, unless one is actually in the situation, one never really knows.

Again, this whole thing hinges, IMO, on whether or not the police identified themselves during the time and immediately prior to forcing open the door and entering the home. IF they did not, then I think Maye was fully justified to shoot first and ask questions later.

I really don't think the police DID identify themselves when they went to Mr. Mayne's door.

By their own admission, they thought the door that they were entering was just another part of the house that they had aprehended their suspect in... a suspect that they knew was secured and handcuffed by their compatriots.

If you have already executed a no knock forced entry assault on a residence, do you then go to another door in what you think is the same residence and pound on the door announcing yourself ??

It doesn't wash in my book. I think that the officers involved are playing C.Y.A. to ensure that the conviction holds up.

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I have been trying to find an address so I can write to Cory. I can't find one. Does anyone know how to get an address of an inmate? Is it possible to get the address of a death row inmate? Does anyone know?

Also, would anyone else care to add to the letter? Perhaps we could all say something and send him a BIG letter of support? That is, if we can find the address?

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Fedral wrote:

If you have already executed a no knock forced entry assault on a residence, do you then go to another door in what you think is the same residence and pound on the door announcing yourself ??

I agree there is a big question about whether they ID'd themselves. But if what you say is true, why even pound on the door? By Maye's own admission they did that repeatedly and at least long enough for him to 1) wake up, 2) get his gun and 3) load his gun.

So if the police thought it was the same residence, why pound on the door? And if they pounded on the door, why would they not ID themselves? Again, maybe they screwed up and didn't. I'm sure it would not be the first time a police officer made a mistake.

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joefromchicago wrote:

I just don't understand why you pro-death penalty folks are getting particularly exercised about this case. As I pointed out above, it's barely distinguishable from dozens of other previous death penalty cases. Where was your outrage then?

Obviously this response gets ignored again.

I wonder, too, where all you folks have been with outcry when e.g. minors and mentally ill got the death penalty. Or really innocent.

I don't wonder, however, why no-one questions the shooting per se.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

joefromchicago wrote:
I just don't understand why you pro-death penalty folks are getting particularly exercised about this case. As I pointed out above, it's barely distinguishable from dozens of other previous death penalty cases. Where was your outrage then?

Obviously this response gets ignored again.

I wonder, too, where all you folks have been with outcry when e.g. minors and mentally ill got the death penalty. Or really innocent.

I don't wonder, however, why no-one questions the shooting per se.

Here is the only answer I have for you Walter and through this, to you Joe.

I am a supporter of the Death Penalty, I have been for a very long time.
I believe that some people like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dalhmer and the like , just need to be ended...

The world is a better place without their presence.

There are some people who are against the Death Penalty and they is their perogative. Our system of govenment allows each state to decide whether to allow the DP or not... some do, some don't but that decision is made by the people of that state. (Or their elected representatives.)

As to why THIS case ? I actually stated it earlier, if you bothered to read it...

I look at what this person did and ask if:
A) I thought what they did was wrong
B) Would I have done anything different.

My answer to it in the case of Mr. Maye was a double NO.

Ted Bundy:
A) Do I think what he did was wrong ? (Yes. Murdering all those young women.)
B) Would I have done anything different from him? (Well, I wouldnt have murdered innocent girls for sick perverted pleasure.)

My answer: Fry him.

Tookie Williams:
A) Do I think what he did was wrong ? (Yes. Murdering all those innocent people.)
B) Would I have done anything different from him? (I wouldnt have killed people to rob them or for 'rep'.)

My answer: Fry him.

It is as simple as that

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Momma, the link in the first post has a number of options on the upper left. One of them is court documents. The transcripts are available there. Also, from the same link, the current status is a request for a retrial, if that fails then it will go to the Appeals Court.

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Thanx so much, J_B. I appreciate it! I asked someone on the site where the petition we linked to if they had Cory's address. I will let everyone know if I hear anything.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

joefromchicago wrote:
I just don't understand why you pro-death penalty folks are getting particularly exercised about this case. As I pointed out above, it's barely distinguishable from dozens of other previous death penalty cases. Where was your outrage then?

Obviously this response gets ignored again.

I wonder, too, where all you folks have been with outcry when e.g. minors and mentally ill got the death penalty. Or really innocent.

I don't wonder, however, why no-one questions the shooting per se.

Had I heard about them, I'd be just as outraged. And any execution in which the person was mentally ill is just wrong.

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forever the pessimist,

will signatures REALLY help?

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

joefromchicago wrote:
I just don't understand why you pro-death penalty folks are getting particularly exercised about this case. As I pointed out above, it's barely distinguishable from dozens of other previous death penalty cases. Where was your outrage then?

Obviously this response gets ignored again.

I wonder, too, where all you folks have been with outcry when e.g. minors and mentally ill got the death penalty. Or really innocent.

I don't wonder, however, why no-one questions the shooting per se.

After recently busting momma's chops on anther thread for digressing into a philosophical discussion on a thread that pertained to a single case, I am trying my darnedest to not diverge here in a general discussion on CP. Maybe some others are as well, or maybe a general discussion of CP should be started (or bumped) in the legal or philosophy forums.

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Sorry

Quote:

I agree there is a big question about whether they ID'd themselves. But if what you say is true, why even pound on the door? By Maye's own admission they did that repeatedly and at least long enough for him to 1) wake up, 2) get his gun and 3) load his gun.

Could someone get me a link to this testimony?

Not that it matters, but having lived in some bad neighborhoods, you get your door pounded on at all hours by all sorts of sorts for a variety of reasons. Some people are just drunk or lost or both, some are the kind who'll beat the living hell out of you while taking the little you have so that they can get higher, some are just running from something or someone else, hardly any of them are beneath claiming aloud that they are someone else including the police.

On loading the gun: No one I have ever known who keeps a handgun keeps it unloaded, maybe there is not a round in the chamber, but that is not exactly unloaded. Time is the factor here, if all he had to do was retrieve the weapon and cock it, that is one thing, but CoastalRat is making it sound as if he had time to find the weapon, find the ammo, fill the chambers and then confront the yelling intruders.

I don't think that is what happened. Am I wrong?

Joe(in the dark?)Nation

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shewolfnm wrote:

forever the pessimist,

will signatures REALLY help?

I wonder that myself, shewolf, particularly internet 'signatures'. It seems to me that personal statements of support with signed letters to the court would carry more weight.

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Joe,

Here is a link to the court documents.

http://www.mayeisinnocent.com/maye5.html

J_B,

I think personal letters will be a bigger help then the internet but I don't think we should take the chance and NOT sign it. You just never know. I'm still waiting on hearing about an address. And I'm still trying to figure out how my name got on that Petition twice? Embarrassed

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Thanks Momma. I am so lazy.

shewolfnm wrote:

forever the pessimist,

will signatures REALLY help?

Noise gets attention, persistent noise gets focused attention, sometimes resulting in actions that bring about justice.

Joe(start here)Nation

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Please help save an innocent man from execution

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