If you haven’t been following the Cory Maye case there have been a couple of positive developments. Here is a very quick synopsis: Basically, Cory Maye is on death row in Mississippi because he shot and killed a police officer during a wrong-door raid. Maye was tried for murder and sentenced to death. However, there has been some serious efforts to get Maye off death row and the verdict over-turned.
The first bit of good news via Radley Balko is that they found the supposedly reliable confidential informant, Randy Gentry. It seems that Gentry isn’t quite as trustworthy as he was portrayed at the initial trial. After the defense team for Maye found Gentry he left the following message on Bob Evan’s, Maye’s lead attorney, answering machine,
Answering Machine:
Wednesday, 8:38 a.m.
Gentry:
Yeah, this is Mr. Randy Gentry. Hey, I got to thinkin’ about my friend. I got yo’ message this morning, Bob. Y’all — y’all threaten me all you want to and everything. I don’t like fuckin’ niggers from jump street but call me or whatever and I’ll — but the day I burn five cents on gas to help that fuckin’ cocksucker Cory Maye get out of jail is going to be a hell of a damn day. But — uh — if you want ot talk to me like a fuckin’ white man, you talk. But don’t threaten me on bullshit. Get your NAACP motherfuckers — I don’t give a fuck — niggers, bro, fuck niggers! But I’ll tell you what. That’s a good friend of mine they killed, buddy. I’ll — I’ll tell you anything. I’ll — I’ll be honest with you as fuckin’ gum (?) street. But I don’t like no motherfucker talkin’ shit to me or about my friends. Alright, well look here. Call me today and look here. Y’all buy my fuckin’ gas, the NAACP buy my fuckin’ gas I’ll come talk to y’all or whatever. But look here. I’m — I’m a poor-ass motherfucker too, bro. Call me. You got my fuckin’ number. Don’t piss me fuckin’ off.
Lovely, eh? I wonder how many other people Gentry has informed on that have, quite coincidentally I’m sure, have been black. And even more amusing is the fact that the prosecution is now trying to protray Gentry as unreliable and a “doper”. Apparently he was good enough to send Maye to Death Row, buuut not good enough to keep him there.
The second bit of good news is that the jugde on the case of whether or not to give Maye another trial has made one ruling that effectively gets Maye off of death row at least for the time being.
At the conclusion of the hearing today, Judge Michael Eubanks ruled on two of the defense team’s battery of arguments. Both rulings from the bench tonight dealt with Rhonda Cooper’s competence. Judge Eubanks found that Ms. Cooper was competent for the trial, but incompetent for the sentencing.
I have my quarrels with that ruling, obviously. But in the short run, it means that Cory will at the very least get a new sentencing trial. And until and if that happens, he will no longer be on death row — and for the moment is no longer condemned to die.
This is indeed good news.
Now to be sure, Maye did shoot the officer, the problem is that there is alot about the case that stinks. First, that the cops were incompetent and raided the wrong house. Second was the fact that they simply kicked in doors and whether they announced themselves is of some dispute. Further, there are additional aspects of the case that just simply stink (more here). So while Maye probably should have served some time for the shooting of the officer, the idea that he should be put to death is simply outrageous. Still, this latest news is good.
