Chesapeake police came to the Portlock home of 28-year-old Ryan Frederick on the night of 17 January 2008 to serve a narcotics search warrant.[1][2] As officers broke through his front door, Frederick, who said he had been asleep before an early shift, fired a handgun through one of the door’s lower panels, striking Detective Jarrod Shivers and killing him.[1][2]
The warrant rested on a confidential informant who said he had seen marijuana plants, lights and irrigation gear in a garage behind the home; after the shooting, police found gardening supplies but no plants, and only a small amount of marijuana that brought a misdemeanor possession charge.[1] Frederick, a soft-drink merchandiser with no criminal record, was charged with first-degree murder, later raised toward a possible death-penalty capital charge.[1][2]
Trial
On 4 February 2009 a Chesapeake jury refused to convict Frederick of capital murder and instead convicted him of voluntary manslaughter, recommending the maximum 10-year prison term; it also convicted him of misdemeanor marijuana possession with a 30-day recommendation.[2][3] The jury rejected the prosecution’s claim that Frederick grew marijuana for distribution, disregarding the police informant who had turned him in, and likewise rejected a jailhouse informant’s claim that Frederick knew police were outside.[2]
