The Latest On Baby Bou Bou, Horribly Injured In Drug Raid Over A Reported $50 Drug Sale
Jacob Sullum writes at reason about parents demanding compensation for their baby's horrible injuries in a drug raid:
Last October a grand jury in Habersham County, Georgia, concluded that a botched 2014 drug raid in which local cops gravely injured a toddler, though "tragic," was not criminal. In a federal lawsuit filed last week, the little boy's parents, Bounkham and Alecia Phonesavanh, make the case that the paramilitary assault was nevertheless "reckless," "plainly incompetent," and "objectively unreasonable." It is hard to disagree. The Phonesavanhs, who are seeking compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost income, and emotional distress, also argue that police obtained the no-knock search warrant they were serving under false pretenses. The defendants--nine law enforcement officers who participated in the raid, helped set it up, or supervised those who did--should be anxious to make sure a jury never hears the case.At the time of the raid, the Phonesavanhs and their four children--a boy, Bou Bou, then 19 months old, and three girls, ages 7, 5, and 3--were staying with Bounkham's sister, Amanda Thonetheva, in Cornelia because their house in Wisconsin had been destroyed by a fire. Around 2 a.m. on May 28, "seven or more" members of a "special response team" that included Cornelia police officers and Habersham County sheriff's deputies burst into the room where the Phonesavanhs were sleeping, looking for Bounkham's nephew, Wanis Thonetheva, who allegedly had sold a confidential informant $50 worth of methamphetamine. Thonetheva was not there, and neither were the drugs or weapons that police expected to find. But as the cops stormed the house in the middle of the night, one of the sheriff's deputies, Charles Long, tossed a flash-bang grenade that landed in the portable playpen where Bou Bou was sleeping and exploded in his face.
The resulting damage included "blast burn injuries to the face and chest; a complex laceration of the nose, upper lip and face; 20% of the right upper lip missing; the external nose being separated from the underlying bone; and a large avulsion bum injury to the chest with a resulting left pulmonary contusion and sepsis." After the attack, the Phonesavanhs say, police forcibly prevented them from going to Bou Bou's aid and lied about the extent of his injuries, attributing the blood in the playpen to a lost tooth. The boy's parents did not realize how badly he had been hurt until they arrived at the hospital where police took him. Bou Bou, who was initially placed in a medically induced coma, had to undergo a series of reparative surgeries that will continue into adulthood. The family's medical bills so far total around $1.6 million. According to the lawsuit, a sheriff's deputy "told the medical providers that the Habersham County Sheriff's Office would be responsible for all bills incurred." Sheriff Joey Terrell (one of the defendants) publicly made the same promise. Later the county reneged.
The grand jury's cautions about drug raids:
The zeal to hold [drug dealers] accountable must not override cautious and patient judgment....This tragedy can be attributed to well intentioned people getting in too big a hurry, and not slowing down and taking enough time to consider the possible consequences of their actions....While no person surely intended any harm to a young child, quite simply put there should be no such thing as an "emergency" in drug investigations....No seizure of evidence or apprehension of a criminal for a drug offense warrants anything but caution and careful planning. There is an inherent danger both to law enforcement officers and to innocent third parties in many of these situations. The hard work and effort brought to apprehend suspects and seize evidence must always be tempered by the realization that no amount of drugs is worth a member of the public being harmed, even if unintentionally, or a law enforcement officer being harmed....
We recommend that whenever reasonably possible, suspects be arrested away from a home when doing so can be accomplished without extra risk to law enforcement and to citizens. Going into a home with the highest level of entry should be reserved for those cases where it is absolutely necessary. This is to protect both citizens and law enforcement officers. We have heard evidence that many drug suspects often initially believe a law enforcement entry is in fact a drug robbery. In an instant, they reach for a weapon or take an action that makes a situation escalate. This is dangerous to all involved, and neither the public nor law enforcement officers should be in this dangerous split second situation unless it is absolutely necessary for the protection of the public, which is the highest concern for our law enforcement officers under their duty.
At first, the mother was saying that she knew about the drugs, and tried to keep the kids away from that teas. The room they were in was a converted garage. Their apt in Wisconsin had burned down, and they were staying in motels before they went to Georgia. There's a lot more to this story, I think, besides the idiocy of paramilitary police.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/30/toddler-injured-flash-grenade-drug-raid/9758257/
kateC at February 14, 2015 11:32 AM
"There's a lot more to this story, I think, besides the idiocy of paramilitary police."
So what?
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 14, 2015 12:05 PM
Certainly, the child didn't deserve this; and no one is suggesting that he did.
But, what kind of idiot parent allows their kids to be in the same house as a drug dealer; Let alone live in the same house?
Sorry, yea, maybe the cops over-reacted; but, so what? The parents of that child, no matter what their circumstances (lost their house to a fire, etc.) should have not had their kids in the same house as a drug dealer.
If you engage in stupid criminal behavior; bad things can happen to you. If you associate with criminals; guess what? Bad things can happen to you as well.
This was also a problem that happened because of stupid parenting. They shouldn't get a dime.
charles at February 14, 2015 2:04 PM
But, what kind of idiot parent allows their kids to be in the same house as a drug dealer; Let alone live in the same house?
Great question. I have a better one though.
Given there was no drug dealer at that house, or drug being sold at that house, what is the point of your question?
lujlp at February 14, 2015 3:01 PM
If you'd like to skip a bunch of the argument here, you can just look up the term, "Tarika Wilson" in this blog.
The cops did this wrong, based on what I've seen so far. The moral argument is what has been covered before with the Tarika Wilson case.
Radwaste at February 14, 2015 5:14 PM
This was also a problem that happened because of stupid parenting.
Are you serious? Staying with relatives because your house burned down? Or was it being related to the alleged drug dealer?
That is an incredibly cold and callous remark, which demands the response that you are also the result of "stupid parenting".
Doesn't feel too good, does it?
DrCos at February 15, 2015 4:31 AM
OH, NO, NOT METH???
Why are there exploding meth labs? Because meth is illegal, and thus, the manufacture is out of the purview of regulators.
If somebody wants to become a worthless loser by taking a worthless loser drug like meth, so be it. More toys for me, when he cannot afford them, because of his habit.
mpetrie98 at February 15, 2015 11:54 AM
Drugs were sold at the house--the mother admitted it in her first statements.
kateC at February 15, 2015 12:16 PM
Also, the mother was arrested on shoplifting charges, and two days later, their apartment burns down.
http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=2858
Bad luck can happen to anyone, and I think the City's insurance should pay for the child's medical care, but this story is under-reported.
kateC at February 15, 2015 12:40 PM
"Drugs were sold at the house"
Exactly. The only way to save that baby from drugs was to burn its face off.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 15, 2015 5:38 PM
Stupid parenting?
No, the police are supposed to make sure there aren't children in the house. They fucked up.
Why all the violence to arrest non-violent offenders? How many innocent people and dogs have to die? There are always the police defenders who will say something like "why did the home owner run for their gun? It's his fault he got shot." Perhaps they thought it was intruders since the police don't announce themselves, they just set off a grenade and bash the door in. It's so stupid to risk the lives of the cops or the accused over $50 of meth or a few pounds of pot.
This happens far too often that they raid the wrong house, or have a huge raid over something small (oh they have a scale and some pot seeds!) traumatize the family, kill the dogs, turn the place over before saying woops! Nothing to see here. But they got to put in those nifty outfits, bang someone's door down and feel like badasses.
CatherineM at February 15, 2015 7:00 PM
From the USA Today linked above: "The information we had from our confidential informant was there was no children in the home. We always ask; that determines how we enter the house and the things we do," Terrell said. "(Police) had no way of knowing the child was in the house. The little baby was in there, didn't deserve this. These drug dealers don't care"
How about you watch the house? Verify the information the criminal you are counting on is telling the truth!
The way the cops tell this story, the confidential informant was in charge of the investigation. Pathetic.
CatherineM at February 15, 2015 7:05 PM
"(Police) had no way of knowing the child was in the house.
That is, unless they wanted to do their job (and what they swore, under penalty of perjury, that they'd done.)
They'd been there for 2 months.
http://waga.images.worldnow.com/images/3855911_G.jpg
(And if you were concerned about meth _production_, would _you_ be throwing _hand grenades_ into homes containing the chemicals usually used?)
Unix-Jedi at February 16, 2015 7:47 AM
"Sorry, yea, maybe the cops over-reacted..."
They did not "react". They were the actors, the motivators. They planned and executed the operation. And it's clear that they did so with reckless disregard.
It kind of surprises me that more of these criminal gang types don't set up traps for these no-knock raids. That may have less to do with motivation and more to do with the fact that the gang-bangers usually aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.
Cousin Dave at February 16, 2015 7:53 AM
Cousin Dave:
No benefit to them. Would bring down the Feebs in big style, and for what?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmP_KtmcB4
I'm surprised more lawyers aren't doing more of that sort of thing, other than I don't think they ever manage to win at trial, no matter how bad the perjury/misdeeds are.
Unix-Jedi at February 16, 2015 7:56 AM
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