Woman Claims Self-Defense in Agent's Murder

[larrymeyer]

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Woman-Claims-Self-Defense-in-Agents-Murder-/1$44513

Woman Claims Self-Defense in Agent's Murder


Posted: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Updated: December 10th, 2008 11:18 AM EDT


PITTSBURGH --

The case against a woman who killed a Pittsburgh FBI agent during a drug raid at her family's home has been moved to federal court, where her defense will claim that she thought she needed to act in self-defense.


Christina Korbe made her first appearance Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell on a second-degree murder charge and several firearms charges. A detention hearing -- when the judge will decide if she gets bail -- is set for 10 a.m. Monday in U.S. District Court downtown.

"She's totally distraught," defense attorney John Elash said. "All she cares about and all she mentions is she wants to be home with her children. Can't imagine that she won't be home for Christmas."

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan was in the courtroom Tuesday as an observer -- which is a rare occurrence -- and declined to comment afterward. Also present were an FBI official and Allegheny County police Superintendent Charles Moffatt.

Elash said Korbe is "extremely remorseful" about the death of Special Agent Sam Hicks, but he questions whether she heard law enforcement identify themselves when they entered her house with guns drawn.

"I don't believe my client's guilty of any crime. I think the evidence will show that," Elash said. "... It's obviously a self-defense or a defense of others, and the others that she's defending are a 5- and 10-year old that were with her when she was on 911, making the call to the police that somebody had broken into her house."

Hicks was part of a task force serving drug warrants in a coordinated operation throughout the Pittsburgh region on the morning of Nov. 19. He was shot at Korbe's home on Woods Run Road in Indiana Township, where a warrant was being served on her husband, Robert.

The maximum penalty for a jury conviction on Christina Korbe's charges is life in prison.

"I think it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy for everybody involved -- for my client, for her family, for the victim and his family," Elash said.

Christina Korbe's former attorney, Sumner Parker, has said that the woman fired a gun because she thought people were breaking into the house. Parker is defending Robert Korbe on his drug charges.

"Was this, something, everybody's yelling at one time, so that nobody could understand what's being said?" Elash said. "Could it have been heard by somebody that was asleep or just woken in an upstairs bedroom in a large home? If, in fact, she did hear it was a police officer or an FBI agent, why would she fire one shot at one of them and not continue to fire?"

In Sharpsburg, residents are circulating a petition for Christina Korbe's innocence and holding a collection for the family's children. Some do not believe the woman knew it was law enforcement breaking through her front door.

"I honestly believe that she couldn't possibly have known that it was a cop," friend Angie McCarrison said. "I think she heard glass break, and she thought, 'Oh my God, my kids,' and that was the end of that."

Court documents say that the FBI agents shouted "police" and warned that they were serving a warrant, and that Robert Korbe told investigators he heard the agents and knew a raid was happening.

The FBI has said that the agents and police officers clearly identified themselves and announced their presence when they broke into the house.

"She thought she was being attacked, thought that she had to defend her children," Elash said. "That is what was going through her mind. Only pulled that trigger for one reason, because she thought she was going to get killed or that her children were going to get killed or seriously injured."

Christina Korbe is being held without bail, as is Robert Korbe, who's one of about 35 people charged in a federal drug indictment.

[HiredGoon]

... her defense will claim that she thought she needed to act in self-defense.

... "All she cares about and all she mentions is she wants to be home with her children. Can't imagine that she won't be home for Christmas."

... Korbe is "extremely remorseful" about the death of Special Agent Sam Hicks, but he questions whether she heard law enforcement identify themselves when they entered her house with guns drawn.

"I don't believe my client's guilty of any crime. I think the evidence will show that," Elash said. "... It's obviously a self-defense or a defense of others, and the others that she's defending are a 5- and 10-year old that were with her when she was on 911, making the call to the police that somebody had broken into her house."

Hicks was part of a task force serving drug warrants in a coordinated operation throughout the Pittsburgh region on the morning of Nov. 19. He was shot at Korbe's home on Woods Run Road in Indiana Township, where a warrant was being served on her husband, Robert.

The maximum penalty for a jury conviction on Christina Korbe's charges is life in prison.

"I think it's a tragedy. It's a tragedy for everybody involved -- for my client, for her family, for the victim and his family," Elash said.

Christina Korbe's former attorney, Sumner Parker, has said that the woman fired a gun because she thought people were breaking into the house. Parker is defending Robert Korbe on his drug charges.

Yeah...right. All this concern of hers for her kids...how about the fact that she is raising these kids in an environment where her husband is selling drugs???

She should be prosecuted for child endangerment as well as murder.

She expects a jury to see her as a "good mother"?

[LorDiego01]

She should walk away free, and the asshole that approved AN ARMED BREAKING AND ENTERING INTO A RESIDENCE WHERE CHILDREN RESIDE should do life in jail.

I've said before and will say it again, armed and loaded adrenaline junkie jack-booted thugs busting into ANY residence are WAY more dangerous than any drugs that could have been found.

[o1dakota440]

+ 1 lor i don't care who it is atf, fbi, cia or santa himself. if i hear a bunch of shouting and someone bust through my front door. they are getting they business end of a mossy 500.

[CarolinaGuy]

She should walk away free, and the asshole that approved AN ARMED BREAKING AND ENTERING INTO A RESIDENCE WHERE CHILDREN RESIDE should do life in jail.

I've said before and will say it again, armed and loaded adrenaline junkie jack-booted thugs busting into ANY residence are WAY more dangerous than any drugs that could have been found.

Yup.

Anyone busting into anyone's residence for ANY reason should expect just this.

How many hundreds of times have innocent people (wrong addresses) been killed because of these goons?

Now the kids have no parents. Gee, thanks gubment.

[WhiteFeather]

All of these dynamic entry raids used to be rare, now they are the norm. In lots of cases there use are out of line to all of the possible charges of supects to justify it in my opinion.

All paramilitary effort to catch an alleged drug dealer? You got to be kidding?

All of this effort and danger to put everyone officers and suspects (with children present) just so the DA can plead down the charges, convict them of something and release them early from jail so the cycle to begin again.

If some uniformed officer can’t go up and knock on a door at a reasonable time of the day (not when people are sleeping) and say we have a warrant signed by a judge to search the buildings, what were these people doing on the street before this anyway?

Hey if they resist a lawful warrant, shoot at an officer when served, go ahead bring in the swat team, smoke em out (do almost) what ever it takes to bring them to justice, till then dynamic entry raids shouldn’t be allowed as a everyday event.

Anyone serving Justice also shouldn’t be wearing ski masks or not having personal names proudly displayed on their uniforms or do they do that to hid their mistakes. I thought only criminals wear ski masks or only criminals have something to hide by wearing a mask so they can’t be identified.

If these people were suspected of murdered someone, on a top 10 most wanted list, or something to justify all of this night time assaults with a swat time tactics, so be it I could at least rationalize a dynamic entry raid then.

IF this was the case here, I don’t know for sure one way or the other, then to bad agent, after waco I lost the illusion that all law enforcement is always the good guys all the time.

These same SWAT team have gone to the wrong peoples home and killed INCOCENT people, sorry its just not worth it to me....and no one is brought to justice, its always a mistake sad when the INCOCENT are murdered... so when agent get killed well lets put in the same class its a sad mistake and move on.

[1861]

yeah , I see when they arrested the governor of Illinois , they called him on phone and asked him to come outside to be arrested so as not to disturb his wife & children.

[General Geoff]

Christina Korbe's former attorney, Sumner Parker, has said that the woman fired a gun because she thought people were breaking into the house.

That's because people WERE breaking into her house. Badges aren't bulletproof, and the FBI needs to learn this, and stop doing raids. Petty drug charges aren't worth anyone's life.

[jerkin]

No one at fault here besides the law. If they were serving a warrant for the husband all they had to do was sit outside in a van until he came out of the house and arrest him. Why they pull this kind of stupid shit is beyond me.

I have a decent sized house and have had plenty of people beating on my front door while I was upstairs and never heard them until the dog started barking. I'm kind of surprised that anyone here thinks this lady was in the wrong.

[Penguini66]

No one at fault here besides the law...

Couldn't agree more.

She believed her life was in danger. She pulled the trigger. She should be allowed home.

Yea, they may have "identified" themselves. But what if she was hard of hearing then all of a sudden was surprised by an invader?

Whoever ordered that style of raid should be the one going to jail. And the lawmakers that allow that type of raid should be going to jail.

I'm sorry the FBI agent was killed. But don't blame her. Blame the people who created the policy that put him in that situation that day. Blame the "war on drugs" for putting him there that day.

Looks like she gets to test out the old adage "I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6".