RECORDS IN NO-KNOCK CASES ARE POORLY KEPT

Officers Regularly Fail to Report What Searches Found

In March, an Atlanta Police Department narcotics officer, later
involved in the fatal shooting of an elderly woman, got a "no-knock"
search warrant for a house on Evans Drive after determining that a man
named "Grill" was selling cocaine there.

How Officer Jason Smith came to that conclusion, how he persuaded the
judge to give his unit the exceptional warrant, and what police found
are hard to pin down, more than eight months later. That's because
State Court records contain only a judge's order allowing the officers
to bust in and search the place -- not the supporting documents that
are supposed to accompany the order.

And that's not an isolated case. Based on an Atlanta
Journal-Constitution survey of more than 40 narcotics search warrants
granted to Smith or fellow investigator Arthur Tesler, records are
spotty at best. Files from only seven cases included an officer's
sworn statement saying why he needed a warrant, the warrant itself,
and the "return" document, which lists what police found during the
search. More than a dozen files contained only the warrants, such as
the case with Grill.

Tesler and Smith were the investigators who secured the warrant that a
narcotics team used to crash into Kathryn Johnston's house Nov. 21.
The elderly Johnston opened fire on the officers and was killed when
they returned fire.

The judges who sign the warrants say they rely heavily on the honesty
of the officers, who frequently rely heavily on confidential
informants -- whose identities are often kept secret from the judges.

Many of the search warrant "return" documents, which are supposed to
list any evidence seized by police, are missing from State Court
records, according to a review of the search warrant log for 2006.

Under Georgia law, officers are supposed to file the returns with the
court within 10 days of searching a property.

The lack of supporting explanations may make it difficult to tell if
officers were justified in breaking down doors to gain the element of
surprise.

The no-knock tactics have come under scrutiny since Johnston's death.
According to court records, Smith and Tesler were looking for someone
else, a suspected cocaine dealer named "Sam." The FBI is investigating
the incident.

Rusty Mayer, a supervisor with the Fulton County public defender's
office, said it's possible the shootout could have been avoided if
police had given Johnston time to open the door.

Investigators still haven't filed documents showing whether they found
the narcotics and surveillance cameras they expected inside Johnston's
home. That paperwork should have been filed with court officials Friday.

Under Georgia law, officers must give a reason they believe evidence
would be lost or they could be in danger before a judge agrees to a
no-knock provision. But not all warrants secured by Smith and Tesler
appear to have that supporting paperwork.

Norris Arnold, a supervisor with Fulton's criminal warrants division,
blamed the incomplete records on police, who he said sometimes fail to
provide the required documents.

Scott Kreher, president of the Atlanta chapter of the International
Brotherhood of Police Officers, said there could be several reasons
why the affidavits and search warrant returns aren't filed.

Detectives may be reluctant to file affidavits detailing what they
know with the court, where defense attorneys, suspects and the public
can get them.

And while search warrant returns are supposed to be filed within 10
days, police often are busy, hustling on new cases, he said. "It is a
10-day rule," Kreher said. "Sometimes that's hard to do."

Asked for comment, Atlanta police spokesman Joe Cobb said the
department is reviewing all procedures and practices pertaining to
search warrants.

Though there is supposed to be careful screening by the judges who
issue such warrants, some Fulton County judges say they often must
trust officers' sworn statements.

Judges typically don't ask officers to tell them the name of the
confidential informant, leaving only the officers to weigh the
credibility of the source.

That's a common and controversial practice across the country, said
Jack King, spokesman for the National Association for Criminal Defense
Lawyers in Washington.

There's always a danger the confidential informant, many of whom have
shady pasts, could lie.

In the Atlanta case, the informant, Alexis White, 24, now says he
never bought drugs from "Sam" inside Johnston's home, as the agents'
affidavit filed with the request for the no-knock warrant states. He
also alleges that police asked him to lie to help them cover up their
mistake.

The death of Johnston could change the way some Fulton judges view
no-knock warrant requests by police.

Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter said, "I'm sure all of us are going
to ask a lot more questions and assure ourselves that there is
probable cause, legal justification to sign a warrant. But we rely on
the sworn testimony of the officer who comes in here, raises his hand
and swears under oath."

Baxter called Johnston's death "very disturbing." But he said that,
based on the testimony Smith gave to Magistrate Kimberly Warden, he
too would have signed the warrant.

"There's not a judge in the courthouse who wouldn't have signed that
warrant," he said.

State Court Judge Henry Newkirk, a former police officer, said he
gives all warrant applications a careful eye.

"We're the gatekeepers, to make sure police don't have unfettered
powers."