Pubdate: Tue, 22 Oct 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Tim Talley, Associated Press

NO-KNOCK WARRANTS USED DESPITE DANGER FOR POLICE

Warrants that permit police to knock down a door or break a window to make 
an arrest or search a home are still used in Oklahoma in spite of the 1999 
shooting death of a state trooper who was issuing one of the warrants. 
Trooper David "Rocky" Eales, 49, was killed when his unmarked sport utility 
vehicle led a five-vehicle tactical team that was attempting to serve a 
so-called no-knock warrant to search for methamphetamine at Kenneth Eugene 
Barrett's cabin in rural Sequoyah County.

A mistrial was declared in Barrett's first-degree murder trial late Friday. 
Jurors said later that one of Barrett's 12 jurors believed he acted in 
self-defense when he fired a semiautomatic rifle on Eales' vehicle.

Officials said no-knock warrants create an element of danger for law 
enforcement authorities who are authorized to enter a residence without 
first knocking or identifying themselves.

A law that expanded guidelines for no-knock warrants was approved by the 
Legislature and signed by Gov. Frank Keating in 1999, the same year Eales 
was killed.
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