Today, Eric Korslund, the attorney for Ryan Frederick who was convicted of killing a Chespaeake police detective during a controversial raid by SWAT officers, began arguing his client’s appeal before the Virginia Supreme Court. Korslund maintains that the jury should not have been given the option of voluntary manslaughter because the facts did not support that charge.
In May, the Virginia Court of Appeals refused to hear the case.
Frederick has claimed self-defense against unknown attackers to explain why he fired a shot as police broke into his South Norfolk home in January 2008. Det. Jarrod Shivers, 34, was fatally wounded in the chaos.
The case drew national attention, and brought a great deal of criticism over the use of police informants, as well as questioning the use of no-knock warrants.
Frederick’s attorney, Eric Korslund said he would continue trying to win a new trial for his client. Korslund said: “Unfortunately, we’re not shocked by the decision by the Court of Appeals. This definitely isn’t over by any means.â€
On the night of January 17, 2008, a police SWAT team surrounded Ryan Frederick´s home in Chesapeake, Va., to serve a drug warrant based on a tip from a criminal informant.
As usual, 28 year-old Ryan Frederick had gone to sleep early in order to leave the house before dawn for his job with a soda distributor. He awoke to a commotion of screams and the distinct sound of someone breaking down his front door.
Frederick´s house had been broken into a few days earlier, being a slight man of only a little over 100 pounds, Frederick feared for his safety. After the break-in, he purchased a firearm.
Understandably frightened, Frederick grabbed his gun and when he got to the front of his house, he saw a man trying to crawl through the bottom portion of his door. Terrified that the intruders had returned, he fired.
The man he shot was not an aggressive burglar, nor a drug-crazed murderer, he was Det. Jarrod Shivers. The police detective and military veteran died almost immediately. Frederick was quickly charged with first-degree murder.
As for the pot-growing operation for which police were looking, nothing was found. Only a very small amount of marijuana was discovered on the Frederick property, only enough to charge him with misdemeanor possession. Frederick admitted that he uses marijuana occasionally, but claims he has never been involved with producing or selling the drug.
Ryan Frederick has no prior history of violence, nor any criminal history whatsoever. He took care of his grandmother until her death in 2007, had a full-time job, and was engaged. In his spare time, he worked in his yard and tended to his Koi pond…Not quite the typical behavior of a drug dealer.
However, based solely on the word of a criminal informant, police obtained a warrant and stormed into Frederick’s house in the dark of night. The information turned out to be false, a police officer and father of three is dead, and a decent young man sits in prison--forever branded a cop-killer..
Frederick was eventually convicted of voluntary manslaughter and is now serving a 10-year prison sentence.
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