Probable Cause Affidavit for Guerena household released
• Arizona Daily StarThe older brother of the man shot and killed during a SWAT raid [for possessing Saran wrap] was the primary focus of a long-term drug-trafficking investigation. Jose Guerena and an assortment of relatives and acquaintances are mentioned in a report t
The affidavit is full of innuendo and smears on Jose Guerena. But his only "crime" was being a passenger in a vehicle that had a large roll of Saran wrap in it. This justified a search warrant on his home?
The confidential informant Sheriff Dupnick was protecting by sealing the affidavit --- none.
One interesting claim was that in 1993, Jose failed to show for a court hearing and was convicted (in absentia?) of failure to appear and sentenced to 6 months in jail/ 24 months probation. This led the detective to getting an arrest warrant for him AND HIS WIFE(?!!!) issued 4/21/2011. Hummmm. The news media couldn't find this....
Whatever he may have been accused of, whatever his supposed crime, whatever evidence and proof there might have been against him... Jose Guerena will remain forever innocent. Why? Because of the actions of SWAT, he will never be able to face his accusers in a court of law, to be tired and convicted or freed by a jury of his peers, as due process demands. Innocent until proven guilty!
If SWAT members are so out of control that they can't keep from tripping and causing their weapons to misfire, so that their buddies open fire indiscriminately, what are they doing in the business? Is there more than gross negligence here?
The public shouldn’t be blind-sided with dishonesty. IT IS NOT TRUE that the affidavit filed by Detective Alex Tisch of which the SWAT raid warrant was issued by the Pima County Superior Court Judge was "full of innuendo and smears on Jose Guerema". Here is what’s on record about Jose Guerena:
"A criminal history check on Jose Guerena revealed arrest in Pima County for five felony counts regarding possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and misconduct involving weapons …" The arrest was not conducted because the arresting officers were merely having some fun.
Jose Guerena was also a "person of interest in an Immigration Customs Enforcement investigation involving Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana." He was not just an innocent "passenger" in the truck stopped by the police that contained "large rolls of saran-type wrap" for marijuana. In fact it has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that he was an active member of the drug-trafficking ring of his family, an ex-Marine with an arsenal of high powered weapons like AK-47 found by the side of his dead body that he was not able to use because the surprise SWAT raiding team was quicker on the trigger than he was.
Jose Guerena was also a "He was not just an innocent "" in the truck stopped by the police that contained "" for marijuana. In fact it has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that he was an active member of the drug-trafficking ring of his family, an ex-Marine with an arsenal of high powered weapons like AK-47 found by the side of his dead body that he was not able to use because the surprise SWAT raiding team was quicker on the trigger than he was.One hundred angels swearing that the dead drug-trafficking ring member was a clean and an honest nice guy who was just an innocent bystander during the police raid, would not change the truth the surveillance detectives knew what he and members of his family did in summer, so to speak. Think about the dead and the living dead – hundreds and perhaps thousands of those youngsters in the streets and school campuses hooked in drugs as a result of their criminal activities … and the least truthful people with a pain in their heart can do is to honestly state honestly and truthfully rather than obscure the truth about this unfortunate incident.
It is also true that criminal suspects who elect to shoot it out with the arresting or raiding law enforcement officers do not have the chance to claim their innocence until proven guilty.
That’s why I always maintain that it is so stupid for criminal suspects to do a Larken Rose advice of violence -- to resist with force the arresting or raiding agents of law. Shot dead like Jose Guerena, they forfeit their only chance to claim their innocence before they are proven guilty in the court of law.