Frederick’s preliminary hearing just ended.
He was formally charged with first degree murder and with the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. So yeah. They really are going to go through with this.
The misdemeanor marijuana possession charge was nolle prossed. Which means the reason the police tried to ram their way into Frederick’s house in the first place is now pretty much moot. They didn’t even find enough marijuana to merit a charge. Now they’re trying to make him pay for the consequences of their mistake.”
(Via The Agitator.)
You can read about how this tragic saga all started here. The long and the short of it is this: cops executed a no-knock warrant on Mr. Frederick’s home in the middle of the night and Frederick, who thought his home was being invaded again, shot and killed one of the police officers. He was immediately arrested for first degree murder.
There are so many things wrong with this, one hardly knows where to start. First off, the warrant was issued on the word of an informant, who stated that there was an extensive hydroponic marijuana grow operation at the location. No corroboration, surveillance or anything. Secondly, if the operation were as extensive as it was made out to be, disposal would be all but impossible, meaning the cops could have just waited until Frederick wasn’t home to execute the warrant. Third, and most damning, once the warrant was “successfully” executed, there was no drug paraphernalia, or hydroponic equipment found. The cops did, however, find approximately 3 joints.
Here are all the links relating to Ryan Frederick’s case over at The Agitator. Much thanks to Radley Balko for all the investigative work – my blood pressure’s been far too low lately.
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