Writes Will Grigg:
Cory Maye, a young father from Prentiss, Mississippi, was asleep in his home when it was invaded by a pack of armed intruders. Maye grabbed a firearm and fatally shot one of the marauders, unaware that the intruders were a SWAT team conducting a narcotics raid on the wrong address.
Despite the fact that the police raided the wrong house, and Maye was acting in what he believed to be self-defense, Maye was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Persistent appeals by Maye resulted in commutation of the death penalty, but he remains in prison, potentially for life.
An individual is within his rights to use lethal force to defend himself when his life is threatened by police who invade a home without a warrant. This is recognized in both law and judicial precedents. Fortunately, Maye will have a chance to make that case: On November 17, the Mississippi Court of Appeals granted Maye a new trial.
