Cory Maye finally free after a decade in prison

In 2001, a group of police officers broke into Cory Maye’s home in the middle of the night looking for drugs. Instead of announcing their presence and giving Maye time to answer the door, the police forcibly entered their way into Maye’s home. Maye, thinking he was being robbed, grabbed his gun and shot Officer Ron Jones, killing him. Maye was arrested that night and charged with capital murder.

Though Maye’s shooting of Officer Jones was done in self-defense and the police had raided his house on a questionable search warrant, a jury convicted Maye and he was sentenced to die.

After spending a decade in prison, Maye was finally allowed to plea to a lesser charge earlier this year and released from prison.

Russia Today put together this great video about Maye’s case:

And this interview with Ben Vernia, one of Maye’s attorneys:

For more on Cory Maye, check out Radley Balko’s coverage at The Agitator. Balko has been the most important journalist writing about Maye’s case.