Sheriff's department settles with Strickland family

Well, when Peyton left this world, he left it a little worse than what it was as well

The middle-aged woman who admitted she has NO POLICE experience also stated she could have managed to bring in college students with no problem: Madam, you are delusional if you think being a law enforcement officer is easy. Officers and deputies put their lives on the line every single time they answer a call, and for you to trivialize what they do with your ridiculous statements is vile. Soccer moms like you should stick to the really simple stuff like picking up Junior from school and taking him to play with balls. Leave the hard, dangerous, difficult, and trying work to the professionals that are daily placed in positions that require them to make split-second life-and-death decisions. I think traffic to and from the soccer practice is about all your simple mind can handle.

They were also serving a search warrant on the residence. You would never arrest the suspects away from the location to be searched, because one phone call from a friend who saw an arrest to another friend could result in evidence being destroyed. It's also unrealistic to dedicate additional manpower to serve the search warrant while other teams were out arresting the suspects.

Well, you can really take or leave what his "friends" said, as Peyton isn't/wasn't here to defend himself. They could say whatever the heck they wanted to.

It's District Attorney Ben David's fault that nobody's in jail for this shooting. Just look at the charges he presented to the Grand Juries for consideration in this case. To the first Grand Jury, DA David presented a charge of second degree murder as the only charge those Grand Jury members could consider. But, a Second Degree Murder Charge would require proof that Long INTENTIONALLY fired his weapon through Strickland’s’ front door, and we know by Long's own statement that that's not how the shooting occurred. However, shooting 5 to 6 rounds from a sub-machine gun through the closed front door of a private residence IS a reckless act, indeed it's reckless in the extreme, and that's regardless of whether the shots were fired intentionally or not. The crime that Long actually committed that night, and it's also one that should have earned him a criminal charge, is Involuntary Manslaughter. That first Grand Jury had members who said they would have indicted Long if that had been the charge they had been giver to consider in the first place. Apparently, they didn't know that they could override the DA's choice of charges and consider a lesser charge that they felt actually fit the facts in the case, like Involuntary Manslaughter. Even at the second Grand Jury hearing, the charge presented for that panel to consider was Voluntary Manslaughter; which is yet another charge that requires proof of INTENTIONAL actions on Long's part. District Attorney Ben David should have to answer why he never presented a charge that corresponded directly to the facts in this case. If you read Long’s statement, you would know that his own words, along with knowledge of even the most basic facts in the case, were easily enough to indict him for Involuntary Manslaughter. District Attorney Ben David's unexplained actions are the reason nobody was ever indicted for a crime in this matter, and HIS efforts in controlling the charges presented to these two Grand Juries actually appears to have been intentional. He didn't want an indictment to come down against former Deputy Long, even though it's the DA's job as a public servant to present a charge that will not only secure an indictment, but in all likelihood, a conviction as well. His actions in this event have been a disservice to the Strickland family, and to justice itself.

...that can't tell the difference between a "True Bill" or "No Bill" but are asked to make decisions based on their feelings and what information a District Attorney presents. If I shoot someone, I've got to justify why. I can't just say oops, here's $2.5 and an apology a couple of years later.