The July 4th Knucklehead of the Day Marathon Part Nineteen

This one may be a little controversial. Our nineteenth winner is U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. She gets the knucklehead award for a botched raid that resulted in a 50-year-old man with gout getting wounded.

When you break down a door in the middle of the night, what can you expect a person to do? If they have a gun, they may very well come out with it. An innocent man got shot, and Ms. Martin can't do anything but make excuses. This isn't justice but stupidity. Martin is a sorry ass prosecutor for she didn't bother to consult with local police as is reported here. If so, a man may not be in a hospital right now.

For failing the justice system, U.S. Attorney Alice Martin is our nineteenth Knucklehead of the day.

CAPSHAW, Ala. (AP) — Federal agents on a drug sweep through north Alabama shot and wounded a man during one of the raids, which resulted in the arrests of more than two dozen illegal immigrants.

Relatives of the man who was shot said authorities made a mistake busting into his house, but a prosecutor Wednesday defended the agents' actions.

Authorities fanned out Tuesday looking for suspects wanted on charges of importing drugs from Mexico. More than 30 people were arrested in Decatur, Hartselle, Huntsville, Madison, Limestone County, Cullman and Crossville, and at least 27 were illegal immigrants.

During the sweep, federal agents with a search warrant for a home in Capshaw burst into a residence and were confronted by an armed man identified as Kenneth Jamar, who was shot and wounded by officers, according to U.S. Attorney Alice Martin.

The same agents also were searching for 28-year-old Jerome Wallace, a nephew of Jamar, who was arrested after the shooting while talking with reporters outside the house.

"I think this is a damn shame," said Wallace, referring to the shooting. "They got three truckloads of SWAT here for a man with gout who can't even get up to make himself a ham sandwich."

The father of Jerome Wallace, James Wallace, said confusion among law enforcement led to the shooting. Agents entered the wrong home, he claimed.

"If they meant to arrest my son, they didn't take him into custody until way after the shooting. And I've never seen any evidence that Jerome was dealing drugs. He never had money," he said.

Huntsville Police Chief Rex Reynolds said the task force had a search warrant for 13355 Honey Way, which is the address of James Wallace, not Jamar.

But Martin denied that agents made a mistake while searching for Jerome Wallace.

"The agents didn't go to the wrong house," she said. "There was a search warrant for that house."

Authorities would have entered the house where Jamar was shot even had they arrested Jerome Wallace earlier, she said.

"They weren't there looking for Jerome. They were there to search that property. They also had an arrest warrant for Jerome," said Martin.

Jamar was hospitalized following surgery for what relatives said were gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.