Mississippi Drug War Blues
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At 11p.m on December 26, 2001 police in Prentiss, Mississippi raided the residence of Cory Maye, a 21-year-old father who was at home with his 18-month-old daughter Ta’Corriana.The cops were looking for drugs and smashed through the back door. In the ensuing chaos, Maye hunkered down with his daughter in a bedroom and when the police broke down that door, he fired three bullets, one of which killed Officer Ron Jones. Maye testified in court that the police did not identify themselves until after they had entered his residence; indeed, he testified that they did not identify themselves until after he had fired his shots. Once they did, he said he put his weapon on the floor, slid it toward police, and surrendered.
The police, who refused to talk with reason.tv, tell a different story. They claim that they identified themselves multiple times before entering Maye’s house and bedroom, and that there was no way Maye couldn’t have known who they were. A jury rejected Maye’s case that he was acting in self-defense and he was sentenced to death for the murder of Office Ron Jones.
“Mississippi Drug War Blues” is a story about the intersection of race (Maye is black and Jones was white); the war on drugs; the disturbing increase in the militarization of police tactics; and systemic flaws in the criminal justice and expert-testimony systems.
It is a tragedy in which one man is dead and another may spend his life in prison.
It is the subject of an October 2006 story in reason by Senior Editor Radley Balko, whose coverage of the case led to Cory Maye receiving new legal representation and his death sentence being changed to life in prison. To read the original story, please go here .In September 2006, Cory Maye’s new legal team of Robert Evans and lawyers from the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Covington and Burling was given two days to argue their post-trial motion that his guilty verdict should either be overturned or that he should be granted a new trial.
After the hearing, the judge ordered a new sentencing trial, determining that Maye’s trial attorney was competent during the guilt phase of his trial, but incompetent during the death penalty phase. He ruled against all of the remaining defense arguments, including concerns about confidential informant Randy Gentry, discrepancies in police testimony, the venue for the trial, and problems with controlling precedent in the state with respect to self-defense.
Prosecutors eventually agreed to drop their pursuit of the death penalty. Earlier this year, Maye was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Because of the delays associated with acquiring new representation, Cory Maye’s case in May 2008 is still in the early stages of his appeal. His legal team anticipate the case will be heard in the fall.
If the Mississippi State Court of Appeals denies Maye relief, he’ll then appeal to the Mississippi State Supreme Court. If he’s again denied relief, he’ll begin his federal appeal process in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Mississippi, and then to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In early 2008, a state district court judge in Mississippi denied attempts by Maye’s attorneys to bring in Dr. Steven Hayne for questioning (Hayne, who performed the autopsy of Ron Jones, was a key witness for the prosecution). Maye’s lawyers had hoped to question Hayne under oath about recent revelations about Hayne’s questionable autopsy procedures and questionable credentials, first reported in reason, then touted by the Innocence Project and its Mississippi chapter. Maye’s lawyers do plan raise their concerns about Hayne in the appeal.
Cory Maye is currently housed in Unit 32, the high-security wing at Mississippi’s Parchman Penitentiary. His daughter Ta’Corrianna lives in Covington, Louisiana with her mother Chanteal Longino. His son Cory, Jr. lives in Jackson, Mississippi.
Tags: Cory Maye, Mississippi
May 9th, 2008 at 9:37 am
this is the bs i was talking about the prosacution of an inocent man. but what really ticks me off is the fact cory only had a few roaches and yet the next door neighbor have a damned bowl i know im for the reformation of the laws but shit hes more guilty than nything hes fucking profiteerng wile an inocent man spends his lif injail im sorry i just dont see how thats right t all if it were just legal non of this shit would happe people wouldnt be affraid of damn dea or getting busted they wouldnt be violent they would all be stoned as fuck relaxing on a ouch wih some crunch berries and the fucking tv watching scooby doo and thees nothing wrong with that bu this man was like me he helped his community and he never asked twice when he was asked to do something so whats next we start to procacute the people who live on well-fair man i thought this country was headed for hell but i can see its already there
May 9th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
The war on drugs takes aonther life and this was seven years ago and the toll rise’s every year. This is one of the many reasons why the war on drugs should come to an end. This man lost his children and who knows what his children will think of him as they grow older, he’s in jail an for some thats hard to look past. What about the people in the town say about him to his kids being from a state that is still riddled with open racism. It’s a shame that a man has died i feel for his family as will. If things were planned better if they didnt take the word of a CI that is clearly racist that dosen’t care that he take Mr, Maye’s life and kids from him. So with an officer dead and a man is in jail were are all the drugs? I hope one day honesty we can stop the war on drugs for everyone who has and those who could lose their lives. It needs to stop.