Last year, we told you about Bounkham “Baby Bou Bou” Phonesavanh, a toddler who was nearly killed when a stun grenade thrown by a Georgia SWAT team exploded in his playpen. On Friday, Bou Bou’s family got the equivalent of a punch in the gut. The former sheriff’s deputy whose warrant triggered the raid that nearly killed Bou Bou was acquitted on charges of violating his civil rights.
The raid was launched in the early hours of May 28, 2014–just hours after then-Habersham County deputy Nikki Autry obtained a no-knock warrant for the home where Bou Bou and his family were staying after their house in Wisconsin burned down. When a SWAT team from an anti-drug task force descended on the house, they threw a stun grenade into the living room that landed in Bou Bou’s playpen. The blast burned Bou Bou’s face, partially detached his nose, and tore a hole in his chest. Bou Bou is recovering very well, but has had to undergo several surgeries over the past year. Earlier this year, Habersham County paid his family $960,000 in a settlement.
A grand jury investigated the matter, but opted not to indict anyone. However, the grand jury was very critical of how the raid was conducted. It was particularly critical of Autry, and hinted it would have indicted her had she not resigned as a deputy and surrendered her peace officer’s certification rather than face being fired. Federal prosecutors, on the other hand, were not willing to let Autry off so lightly. In July, they won an indictment alleging that Autry had lied about the basis for the warrant, and thus violated the civil rights of Bou Bou and his family.
The deputy was trying to make a case against Wanis Thonethva, Bou Bou’s cousin. Bou Bou and his family fled to the home of Thonethva’s mother after their house burned down. Thonethva was suspected of being a meth dealer. Autry claimed that one of her informants bought $50 worth of meth at the house and saw weapons there.
Based on Autry’s claims, magistrate judge James Butterworth granted her request for a no-knock warrant. It turned out, however, that the person who actually bought the meth wasn’t an informant, but the informant’s roommate. No one saw any weapons, either. Prosecutors charged that Autry was well aware that her informant hadn’t bought any meth, and was also aware that the traffic in and around the house wasn’t nearly as heavy as she claimed. As we already know, the informant never went inside the house; had he done so, he would have seen ample evidence that there were kids living there. Butterworth testified that had he known what really happened during the buy, he would have never signed the warrant.
As near as I can tell, Autry’s defense contended that the wrong deputy was on trial. They contended that she wasn’t the only deputy in the investigation, and wasn’t in charge of the case. Her attorney, Jeff Brickman, claimed that his client was being made a “sacrificial lamb” for shortcomings in the now-dissolved task force’s policies. His co-counsel, Michael Trost, contended that Bou Bou was nearly killed not by anything his client did, but by “a pattern of excess” in obtaining drug warrants. Autry herself took the stand in her own defense. The former deputy conceded that there were some inaccuracies in the affidavit, but would never willfully risk her career or her freedom “for a $50 drug buy.”
WSB-TV in Atlanta was on hand to catch the reactions of Bou Bou’s family, as well as their spokesman, Marcus Coleman, and their attorney, Mawuli Lewis. Watch here.
Coleman found it “sickening and repulsive” that Autry was acquitted, and felt it sent a message that it was okay to obtain search warrants under false pretenses. Bou Bou’s parents were equally outraged. His father, Bounkham, Sr., said that until Friday, he had been led to believe that “America is built with the truth, not a bunch of lying and corruption.” His mother, Alecia, wondered loudly how Autry could walk, and answered her own question by saying, “Because she’s white!”
I’m not sure that there were any racial overtones involved, but one thing is clear beyond any doubt–this was a miscarriage of justice. It’s even more so because Autry is right–she shouldn’t have been the only deputy on trial. Even without the lies, the SWAT team should have seen a minivan with several stick figures depicting a family with children. There was a playpen in clear view of the deputy who threw the stun grenade. Had they taken two seconds to radio back to headquarters, this would have never happened. Let’s hope this isn’t the last trial related to this tragedy.
