Stand Your Ground Meets The Bush Doctrine
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.
Looking on the bright side, if this defense wins it just might shock Floridians enough to overturn the NRA’s signature legislative achievement.
I doubt it, but it is possible.
It all makes an absurd sort of sense – that this would be the next step. I don’t think he’ll get away with it, but this does seem to be the next phase of SYG.
This guy is the apotheosis of wingnut-ery.
“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.”
I’ll bet $100 that he is also a committed Christian who believes in the “Jesus Doctrine” of doing unto others before they do unto you.
The Bush Doctrine actually authorizes preventive strikes, not pre-emptive strikes.
In fact, I think a pre-emptive strike would probably have been ok in this case. That would be more along the line of the guy is loading a gun getting ready to point it at me vs. at some point in the next 48 hours he may or may not do something.
If this keeps up maybe all the gun nuts in Florida will kill themselves off that would be a great day for the rest of us.