Granny was murdered.

Report: Lies involved in no-knock warrant
>
> By BILL TORPY
> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> Published on: 01/11/07
>
> An Atlanta police narcotics officer has told federal investigators at
> least one member of his unit lied about making a drug buy at the home
> of an elderly woman killed in a subsequent raid, according to a
> person close to the investigation.
>
> In an affidavit to get a search warrant at the home Nov. 21,
> narcotics officer Jason R. Smith told a magistrate he and Officer
> Arthur Tesler had a confidential informant buy $50 worth of crack at
> 933 Neal St. from a man named "Sam."
>
> But narcotics officer Gregg Junnier, who was wounded in the shootout,
> has since told federal investigators that did not happen, according
> to the person close to the investigation. Police got a no-knock
> warrant after claiming that "Sam" had surveillance cameras outside
> the Neal Street residence and they needed the element of surprise to
> capture him and the drugs.
>
> The resident at the home, Kathryn Johnston, who is reported to be
> either 88 or 92, was startled by the sound of her burglar-bar door
> being battered in, and she fired her revolver at the officers. She
> was killed and three officers were wounded by gunfire or shrapnel.
>
> Buddy Parker, a former federal prosecutor, said that officers who
> lied to the magistrate could face serious charges in addition to
> making false statements to a judge.
>
> "If that was the case, you have a conspiracy," said Parker. "If you
> have a warrantless entry, you have no legal investigation. It can be
> either conscious disregard for the law and all conduct flowing from
> that is criminal — the entry, the homicide. It's no different from
> people going in to rob a bank and kill someone in a shooting."
>
> U.S Attorney David Nahmias declined to comment on whether Junnier was
> cooperating in the investigation.
>
> Rand Csehy, attorney for Junnier, an 18-year police veteran who
> retired last week, would only say his client has cooperated.
>
> Tesler's attorney, Bill McKenney, would only say, "My guy has told
> the truth." But the attorney would not say whom Tesler has spoken
> with or what he said.
>
> Smith's attorney, Ed Garland, did not return phone calls.
>
> All eight officers on the narcotics team were placed on paid leave
> pending the investigation by federal, state and Fulton County
> authorities.
>
> Junnier has told investigators the arrest of a suspected small-time
> dealer named Fabian Sheats that afternoon set the fatal set of
> circumstances in motion. According to police reports, Sheats, who was
> arrested for the third time in four months, told police that he had
> seen a kilogram of cocaine at the Neal Street home earlier that day.
>
> A relative of Sheats said Wednesday he is being held in jail as a
> government witness,
>
> The narcotics team tried to contact Alex White, who has worked as a
> confidential informant, to buy drugs at the house but was unable to
> get him to come quickly, the person told The Atlanta Journal-
> Constitution. "But they rushed it" and went to the magistrate,
> telling the judge the story about an informant buying the drugs, said
> the person close to the investigation.
>
> Alex White came forward to authorities a day after the shooting,
> saying narcotics officers were trying to tell him to lie and say he
> bought drugs at the house. White came to light after he jumped out of
> an Atlanta squad car Nov. 22 and called 911.
>
> On a 911 tape, an insistent and anxious-sounding man identifying
> himself as White told an operator, "I have two cops chasing me.
> They're on the dirty side, two undercover officers."
>
> Later, White, who acknowledged having worked as a confidential
> informant, told WAGA the cops told him "you need to cover our
> [rear]. . . . It's all on you man. . . . You need to tell them about
> this Sam dude." According to the WAGA report, the informant said Sam
> didn't exist and he never went to the house. Speaking Wednesday night
> at a town hall meeting where dozens of speakers railed against the
> police action in the Johnston shooting, State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-
> Atlanta) said he plans to introduce legislation to stiffen the
> requirements for no-knock warrants.
>
> "I'm outraged," Fort said, "about how things went down on Nov. 21."
>
> Staff writer Jeffry Scott contributed to this article.
>
>