after SWAT team fatally shot man while looking for cocaine".
Hopefully this will have some implications for similar incidents happening across our nation.
A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that Connecticut police cannot claim immunity to quash lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages from a botched 2008 raid by a SWAT team that severely injured a homeowner and killed his friend.
On May 18, 2008, a heavily armed SWAT — or special weapons and tactics — team unit knocked down Terebesi’s door, threw stun flash grenades into his Easton home and fatally shot 33-year-old Gonzalo Guizan of Norwalk as the two men watched television.
Guizan, who was visiting the home, died after being shot a half dozen times.
The SWAT team raided Terebisi's home because (I'm not kidding) a stripper told police she "had seen a small amount of cocaine in Terebisi's home". A small amount of drugs, but no guns were found in the search after the raid.
The SWAT team was made up of officers from five Connecticut towns-- officials in all five towns claim the "officers did not use excessive force, nor did they violate their constitutional rights".
In spite of that nonsensical claim, the towns agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Guizan's family.
Anyone here familiar with Darien or the other small towns in CT? I've done some business in Darien; not exactly a hotbed of terrorism or drug gang activity. What we're seeing here and across our nation is the total over reaction by police departments and SWAT teams. Excessive force is frequently being used for what turns out to be insignificant, minor crimes.
Also, chalk this one up to the failed war on drugs.
http://www.rawstory.com/...