Ga. reconsiders no-knock warrant rulesBy GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Mar 1, 8:39 AM ET
ATLANTA - A group of lawmakers wants to make it harder for police to use "no-knock"
warrants in the wake of a shootout that left an elderly woman dead after plainclothes
officers stormed her home unannounced in a search for drugs.
The measure would allow judges to grant the warrants only if officers can prove a
"significant and imminent danger to human life."
The measure was prompted by the Nov. 21 shootout between Kathryn Johnston and
three police officers during a no-knock search of her Atlanta home. When the officers
entered without warning, police say that Johnston, 92, fired a handgun at them and
that the officers returned fire, killing her. An autopsy concluded she was shot five
or six times.
-snip-Democratic Sen. Vincent Fort, a sponsor of the bill, said the case was a warning that
it has become too easy to obtain "no-knock" warrants.
"Every citizen ought to be safe and secure in their homes," Fort said. "A no-knock
warrant should be a special warrant, not a standard. And that's what it's evolved into."
-snip-