Source: Standard-Examiner, Ogden, UtahJuly 28--Concerned lawyers and the Libertas Institute are heading a planned lobbying campaign of the Utah Legislature to ask for limits on police use of battering rams to serve search warrants for minor offenses.新蒲崗迷你倉The effort is in reaction to recent high-profile cases involving police and aggressive entries, sometimes called home invasion raids by their critics.Libertas founder and president Connor Boyack said proponents feel "high-risk, forceful entries" should only be used in cases involving violence or sexual abuse and not until absolutely necessary."Currently, heavy force is being used in circumstances that don't fall within that scope," said Boyack, whose Provo-based activist group takes Libertarian stances on personal liberties and advocates the abolishment of income and property taxes.State law guiding the serving of search warrants is minimal, he said, while allowing any and all search warrants to be served via forceful entries, also called breaches, conducted with battering rams and crowbars -- "which we believe is horrendously broad.""We're getting plenty of reaction as the Matthew David Stewart case is still fresh in people's minds, as well as Todd Blair's, and Eric Hill. There is still a lot of concern from those incidents and others," Boyack said."The legislators we are talking to are eager to see something done. We're still in the early stages with no specifics yet, just ideas, nothing drafted."He and John Mejia, legal director for the Utah arm of the American Civil Liberties Union, said they didn't want to say which legislators are interested until one has agreed to sponsor the envisioned bill."We'll be looking at proposals as they come through," Mejia said. "It's a little early to say what the final proposal will be."Mejia expects defense attorneys and the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to be involved in the lobbying come January, when lawmakers convene."The Stewart case has raised a lot of concerns among the defense bar," Mejia said.A Jan. 4, 2012, shootout with police at the Ogden home of Stewart left him and six officers wounded, one fatally. In May, Stewart apparently hanged himself in his jail cell while awaiting trial. Stewart's death is under investigation.The slain officer, Jared Francom, was revered by his fellow officers and has since had the Ogden Public Safety Building renamed for him.The Stewart case is the most serious among five high-profile incidents involving aggressive police tactics in recent years."Reacting to the Stewart case with legislation won't prevent persons bent on killing police officers from trying to kill police officers," said skeptical Deputy Weber County Attorney Chris Shaw, one of Stewart's prosecutors.The Stewart warrant was a "knock and announce" warrant, he said."Let's not get confused here. It was not a 'no-knock' warrant where a suspect was completely surprised by a 'dynamic entry.' When people claim that legislation is necessary because of the Stewart case, or others like it, they mislead the public as to the real cause of the violence."The evidence, when examined critically, proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Stewart knowingly and intentionally chose to confmini storageont officers with deadly force."How in the world can legislation stop that kind of criminal conduct? Using the Stewart case as a basis for changing search warrant law or police tactics in the execution of a search warrant is an anomaly without equal."In September 2010, Todd Blair was fatally shot while brandishing a golf club when officers served a search warrant at his Roy home.In October 2012, a 76-year-old woman was victimized by a wrong-house raid by drug agents. Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank apologized for the no-knock snafu within days.In November 2012, a 20-year-old man fired at police breaching his home with a search warrant. No one was injured. He was subsequently found incompetent to stand trial because of developmental deficits.In December 2012, Eric and Melanie Hill and their two young daughters were startled by officers with M4 rifles massing at the door of their Ogden home with the wrong address looking for a military deserter.Officers rushed the home and handcuffed Hill when he answered the 2 a.m. knock at his door while holding a baseball bat. Ogden Police Chief Mike Ashment apologized for the mistake.Some of the legislators approached by Libertas so far are still "sitting on the fence," Boyack said. "Some want to know if this has been done anywhere else. We don't know of any other state that has attempted to restrain these police actions."Utah would have the opportunity to lead out, and these situations warrant Utah leading out. The Legislature, when appropriate, needs to delineate the boundaries regarding police use of force."Boyack also stressed the push for more restraint is not meant as any indictment of police."This conversation is being handled pretty broadly. We will be reaching out to appeal to those who justifiably mourn officer Francom's death."Our policy could have saved his life. We want to protect lives on both sides of the gun ... on both sides of the door."The proponents said discussions will also likely include the legal anomaly of evidence that isn't enough to make an arrest can be enough for a search warrant -- and a forceful entry with a battering ram.Defense attorneys say that oddity raises constitutional Fourth Amendment questions.Prosecutors argue they are different law enforcement tools, that arrest warrants are meant to detain an individual. Search warrants are tied to locations, not individuals, they explain, to develop the evidence to make an arrest.The scenario was raised by the Stewart case as prosecutors said evidence wasn't sufficient for his arrest but was enough for a search warrant of his home served forcibly.Boyack has contacted Randy Richards, Stewart's lead defense attorney."People are being put in danger, including the police," said Richards."It's a position I've taken all along. It endangers police as well as citizens. Half the population of Utah has guns in their homes. It's just a matter of time before someone gets shot again. We're losing good people."Case Files: More on the Stewart story: http://www.case-files.standardnetlive.com/Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) Visit the Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) at www.standard.net Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage
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