Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jul 2015
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2015 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Christian Boone
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

DEPUTY CHARGED IN RAID 'RUINED OUR FAMILY'S LIFE'

Toddler's Mom Relieved Charges Have Been Filed.

The mother of a toddler severely injured by a flash bang grenade 
expressed relief Thursday that federal civil rights charges were 
filed against a Habersham County sheriff 's deputy involved in the 
botched drug raid.

"This is a good start towards justice," said Alecia Phonesavanh, 
whose son, Bounkham "Bou Bou" Phonesavanh, then 19 months old, 
sustained severe injuries to his face and chest, along with possible 
brain damage, after a stun grenade landed in his playpen during the 
May 2014 raid.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday indicted Nikki Autry, 29, on four 
civil rights violations, accusing her of intentionally misleading a 
magistrate judge in order to obtain an arrest warrant for a low-level 
drug dealer.

"She ruined our family's life by not doing her job properly," Phonesavanh said.

Autry's attorney, Jeff Brickman, said his client did not 
intentionally mislead the judge, saying she has become the 
"sacrificial lamb in this case." She is set to be arraigned Tuesday 
in federal court in Gainesville where, Brickman said, she'll enter a 
plea of not guilty.

Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said without Autry's statements, 
"there was no probable cause to search the premises for drugs or to 
make the arrest."

According to the federal indictment, an informant, never before used 
by the multi-agency Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal and 
Suppression Team team, and his roommate purchased crystal 
methamphetamine from Wanis Thonetheva outside his mother's house, 
where Bou Bou, his siblings and parents were staying after their home 
in Wisconsin burned down.

Autry presented an affidavit to the judge in which she vouched for 
the informant as a "true and reliable informant" who had provided 
valuable information in the past, the indictment states. Claims of 
heavy traffic in and out of the residence were not verified, prosecutors said.

"It's been very difficult for us to obtain justice ... for police 
misconduct," said Mawuli Davis, attorney for the Phonesavanhs. 
"Today, we're more optimistic than we have been throughout this 
process that there will be justice for Baby Bou Bou and the 
Phonesavanh family."

Bou Bou has undergone 12 surgeries since the raid and is scheduled 
for another next month, his mother said. The family was awarded 
$964,000 in a settlement reached with Habersham's Board of County 
Commissioners and has civil suits pending against the other counties 
in the multiagency task force.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom