Should have seen this coming.
Attorneys for a man who police said shot three people at the culmination of a neighborhood feud have filed a motion demanding a jury determine whether William T. Woodward’s murder charges should be dismissed under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
The motion says Woodward had been the target of a variety of threats and “exercised his right under Florida law to defend himself and his family that night.”
“It’s probably best that you don’t make threats against people, they may take you seriously,” said Robert Berry, an attorney representing Woodward.
Officials say Woodward snuck up on a Labor Day barbecue and opened fire at about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2012. Police arrived and found Gary Lee Hembree, Roger Picior and Bruce Timothy Blake all had been shot. Hembree and Picior died of their injuries. Blake, who was hit 11 times, survived. (Emphasis mine)
He snuck up on a Labor Day barbecue? How is that standing your ground? Oh wait…
Woodward’s attorneys argue that an attack could have been expected based on the words of his neighbors. They go on to mention the “Bush Doctrine,” a concept that justifies a pre-emptive attack based on the need to defend from a threat.
And there you go.