Judge: Using Helicopters, National Guard, and New Mexico State Police to Raid 72-Year-Old Man's House Was "Excessive"

A New Mexico Court of Appeals judge has ruled that a 2006 raid in which the National Guard partnered with the New Mexico State Police to raid the home of then 72-year-old Norman Davis was "excessive," reports the Albuquerque Journal. 

The police officer leading the raid on Davis's Taos County property didn't have a search warrant, but told Davis that the National Guard helicopter had spotted what looked like marijuana plants growing on his  property, and that if Davis didn't consent to a search, police would "secure the residence" and have a search warrant within 30 minutes.

Davis's attorney has argued that the raid was thus "the product of duress and coercion or acquiescence" and that Davis's "refusal to consent was futile." A District Court judge ruled against Davis's request that evidence against be thrown out, calling the raid "just barely permissible." The Court of Appeals overruled the District Court's ruling, and the case will now go to the New Mexico Supreme Court. 

[Hat tip Radley Balko]