Not exactly a botched raid, but another great example of Justice Scalia's "new professionalism in law enforcement."
An undercover cop's use of a stolen gift card was caught on a security camera and recorded in store receipts, and he admitted it in statements to investigators.
But after more than two full days of deliberation, an Oakland Circuit Court jury returned a not guilty verdict in the case of Richard Craze in Judge Colleen O'Brien's courtroom. He had faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
The 12-year Madison Heights Police veteran was charged with larceny in a building in the theft of a $125 Home Depot gift card he picked up during a Pontiac drug raid in March. He was assigned to the Oakland County Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET) task force at the time.
"We hoped the jury would weigh all of the evidence," assistant Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Walton said outside the courtroom. "But you can never predict an outcome
"You might have one person who, for whatever reason, just has trouble with convicting a police officer with a crime, regardless of your evidence. Here we apparently had two."
The quote from his attorney is bizarre. After reading it, I felt like one of us was living in the twilight zone:
"The card didn't have someone's name on it or an amount on it," said Rickel. "He wasn't trying to deprive anyone of anything. He picked it up, and when he went to the store he used it. The jury agreed that intent to steal from the homeowner was never established."
He will now sue to get his job back. I will withhold further comment, since this is a family forum.
