Los Angeles County Sheriff Sued for $50 Million for Killing 80-Year-Old Man in "Meth Raid" that Found No Meth

As I've written before, even law-and-order types should be concerned with reckless and murderous police tactics that lead to innocent citizens' deaths, because they can be expensive for local governments (that is, for local taxpayers) when aggrieved citizens fight back their only legal way: with lawsuits.

As Daily Caller reports today:

The widow of an 80-year-old man who was shot dead by police during a drug raid on their home is suing for $50 million.

On the night of June 27th, Los Angeles County deputies raided the home of Eugene Mallory and Tonya Pate. Authorities claim they had probable cause to search the premises because they could smell chemicals used to make methamphetamine while standing outside the house. Police suspected Mallory of being involved in an illegal meth ring.

Mallory was asleep in bed when police entered his home. Pate said her husband has bad eyesight, and couldn't tell that the men entering the house were police officers without his glasses.

What happened next is disputed by police and Pate. The deputies claim that Mallory pointed a gun at them, requiring them to take defensive measures. They shot him six times, and he died…

But Pate maintained…."He would never point a gun at officers," she said. "He was taken from me for no reason."