SC man sentenced for shooting DEA agent in no-knock raid on wrong house

[FunkyPertwee]

http://rare.us/story/this-mans-life-...e-unannounced/

Joel Robinson of Orangeburg, South Carolina, was home alone one morning in October of 2014. It was 6 a.m.—still dark out—when suddenly a group of men burst onto the property, armed and yelling. Alarmed and assuming he was experiencing a home invasion, Robinson grabbed his gun and fled out the back door. As he ran to safety, he shot one of the men he thought was a burglar in the arm.

It was then that Robinson realized that the home invaders were actually federal agents, officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who were executing a search warrant on his home on the suspicion that he’d been manufacturing the drug PCP. Robinson, who had never shot anyone before, immediately dropped his weapon and was arrested.

Ultimately, to escape 30 or more years in prison, Robinson accepted a deal in which he plead guilty to the shooting, was sentenced to eight years in prison, and agreed to pay the officer’s $82,000 medical bills (despite the fact that they’d already been covered by insurance).

[Altarboy]

What the hell? I'm no hater of cops by any stretch, but this needs to be overturned.

[imanaknut]

I think the attorney that brokered the plea deal should spend the time with the poor guy.

[Helen Keller]

fled out the back door. As he ran to safety, he shot

[Schuetzenman]

Sounds fucked up.

[TEN-32]

I doubt any one of us here would have reacted differently. As a law abiding homeowner you don't expect folks to crash through your doors.

[jet3534]

I think the attorney that brokered the plea deal should spend the time with the poor guy.

This is a case that should have gone to a jury. I don't understand why this guy would cop a plea. Surely at least one person on the jury would have some concept of our Constitutional rights.

[alismith]

According to what I was taught in my DE CCW class, the one with the CCW must be in fear for his life and must be in the process of retreating when he fires.

From the sounds of this so far, Mr. Robinson was following the correct procedure as far DE is concerned, plus it sounds like the DEA agent, who might not have identified himself, was chasing him after he left the house.

Either way, as far as I'm concerned, he had every right to shoot the agent IF they didn't identify themselves and broke into his home.

I agree, something's fishy with this whole story.

[FunkyPertwee]

According to what I was taught in my DE CCW class, the one with the CCW must be in fear for his life and must be in the process of retreating when he fires.

From the sounds of this so far, Mr. Robinson was following the correct procedure as far DE is concerned, plus it sounds like the DEA agent, who might not have identified himself, was chasing him after he left the house.

Either way, as far as I'm concerned, he had every right to shoot the agent IF they didn't identify themselves and broke into his home.

I agree, something's fishy with this whole story.

In SC you have no obligation to retreat whatsoever.

Someone down the road from me shot through the back window of the car of a person who pulled up into his driveway and burglarized his car. The man had to go to the hospital and home owner who did the shooting was never even arrested.

[nfa1934]

the DEA agent, who might not have identified himself,

Of course he didn't identify himself. Too many law enforcement (God, I'm growing to despise that term) think that shouting "police!" is identification, as if it is reasonable to expect someone to surrender control of themselves based solely on a shouted demand. Presenting credentials and a warrant is identification, not yelling while breaking and entering. Anyone can yell "police!", and people shouldn't have to make a judgement call when faced with a home invasion. This "no knock" bullshit has to stop.

[Sherman]

There is always more to the story. The DEA should be removed.

[nfa1934]

The "war on drugs" has caused the loss of more of our civil rights than any other factor in the last forty years. The Fourth Amendment is virtually nonexistent at this point.

[T2K]

I agree, should have gone to jury trial on this one!

"No Knock" raids are egregious and should only be used / authorized in the most extreme circumstances, if ever.

[Krupski]

http://rare.us/story/this-mans-life-...e-unannounced/

WTF did the DEA expect? A bunch of armed soldier wannabe thugs break into the guy's home unannounced at 6:00 AM and expect - what? A friendly greeting?

It doesn't matter who gives these guys their paychecks. Break into a home and ANYONE should EXPECT to be met with legitimate force in self defense, and lethal force if need be.

Unfortunately, what screwed this guy was the fact that he was fleeing the scene and therefore at the moment he pulled the trigger, he was not in imminent mortal danger and therefore did not have a right or reason to shoot.

TECHNICALLY, the guy was in the wrong, but to use a cops favorite catch-all explanation for everything, "he made a split second decision".

MAYBE they guy should get a monetary fine for shooting when not in imminent danger, but NO WAY IN HELL should he get any prison time. The DEA fucked up. They didn't follow procedure and as a result, they caused the whole mess.

[Krupski]

This is a case that should have gone to a jury. I don't understand why this guy would cop a plea. Surely at least one person on the jury would have some concept of our Constitutional rights.

It's not even a matter of "constitutional rights". He has a natural GOD GIVEN right to defend himself. No judge, jury or government gives him that right. He was BORN with it.

As I said, maybe a small fine for shooting when not 100% necessary, but PRISON? Are you kidding me???

[FunkyPertwee]

WTF did the DEA expect? A bunch of armed soldier wannabe thugs break into the guy's home unannounced at 6:00 AM and expect - what? A friendly greeting?

It doesn't matter who gives these guys their paychecks. Break into a home and ANYONE should EXPECT to be met with legitimate force in self defense, and lethal force if need be.

Unfortunately, what screwed this guy was the fact that he was fleeing the scene and therefore at the moment he pulled the trigger, he was not in imminent mortal danger and therefore did not have a right or reason to shoot.

TECHNICALLY, the guy was in the wrong, but to use a cops favorite catch-all explanation for everything, "he made a split second decision".

MAYBE they guy should get a monetary fine for shooting when not in imminent danger, but NO WAY IN HELL should he get any prison time. The DEA fucked up. They didn't follow procedure and as a result, they caused the whole mess.

The Feds were apparently unaware or just didn't care that local culture dictates return fire.

[alismith]

The Feds were apparently unaware or just didn't care that local culture dictates return fire.

A few things come to mind:

1) They were aware and went ahead anyway. They might have an agenda to spread. They want to be perceived as just as powerful as the IRS, in that whatever they do, right or wrong, you are the one who loses. Courts or no courts; you lose.

2) They had every intention of drawing return fire so that they could help the administration push its gun control agenda. They can go on record as stating it's getting too unsafe for them to effectively do their job with all the civilian guns out there.

3) Their leaders wanted to create a dangerous situation, and if one of their agents got killed, they could use that as a much stronger case for calling for the disarming of citizens. (Don't forget the goals of "Fast and Furious.")


With so little info to go on, there had to be something else that made Robinson cop a plea. Everything he did, that was stated, seemed to be legal, yet, he took a plea and got prison time. Something else had to come into play here that the article didn't mention....

[TEN-32]

There seems to be some conflicting "facts" in the original article. Apparently it was not the wrong house. And apparently it was not a dynamic no-knock entry. Seems as though the guy was a PCP cooker. Also he apparently wasn't fleeing, he opened the back door after the DEA knocked and announced and aimed a laser equipped firearm at the uniformed officer in the back yard and fired. The cops did not return fire, but took him into custody. His lucky day. 8 years is a gift.

https://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-re...-special-agent

[T2K]

Those details would change things IF they are accurate.

[FunkyPertwee]

There seems to be some conflicting "facts" in the original article. Apparently it was not the wrong house. And apparently it was not a dynamic no-knock entry. Seems as though the guy was a PCP cooker. Also he apparently wasn't fleeing, he opened the back door after the DEA knocked and announced and aimed a laser equipped firearm at the uniformed officer in the back yard and fired. The cops did not return fire, but took him into custody. His lucky day. 8 years is a gift.

https://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-re...-special-agent

Good points.

Based upon the article you posted, a few ideas come to mind. One is that they were looking for PCP chemicals. I have no idea what you need to make PCP, but I know that the normal work equipment and shooting supplies that I use are probably enough for the police to claim that I have rape kits and bomb making materials (pipe fitting tools and parts + shooting supplies = bomb factory).

The second point is that the police method of announcement seems like it would be very likely to illicit a negative response. As someone else mentioned in this thread, you can't just expect people to roll over and put their hands behind their back when unidentified men break in your door and scream "police!".

On October 20, 2014, DEA agents executed a search warrant at Robinson’s Orangeburg, South Carolina home for chemicals used to manufacture PCP. The agents announced their presence by sounding sirens, flashing lights, and yelling “Police, Search Warrant!” When the agents entered, Robinson grabbed a laser-sighted pistol and fired it into a wall without ever identifying a target.

https://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-re...-special-agent

Now that being said, as far as I know the guy is a PCP cook and the cops did their best job. But still, that tells me that current warrant serving methods have some serious flaws, and that this entire event could have been prevented by redirecting PCP users to a legal private business which could aid them in their slow suicide without contributing to violence on the supply end (vs the user end).