Florida
once again brings us an update on Stand Your Ground laws. This time it was a bad man killing a badder
man. They were both members of biker
gangs. Paul “the Dog” Smith is a 49
year-old outlaw biker and former member of the Florida branch of the Warlocks. He had been kicked out of the gang and was a
member of the Philly Warlocks, a breakaway sect. If you follow anything about gangs,
ex-members don’t typically have a long lifespan if they don’t stand up to the
former members.
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| Paul "The Dog" Smith, outlaw biker in a suit |
The
Philly Warlocks were having an event at a VFW. It was probably going to be a
quiet affair for charity. You know,
barbecuing hot dogs, wet t-shirt contests, the like. I’m making that up. I have no idea what they
do at outlaw biker rallies at the VFW.
What I do know, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel, is
that the members of the Florida Warlocks, the old gang that he broke off from,
didn’t like that they were doing it. And a former badass truckdriver from
Louisiana who rode with the Outlaws showed up.
The
first one off his bike, to break up the fundraiser was Peter “Hormone”
Schlette, who was armed with a gun, meat hook, padlock, knives and brass
knuckles “among other weapons.” That’s a
lot of weapons to carry on a bike. Must
have been some full saddle bag. Smith shot at Schlette when Schlette got off his
bike and lunged at him. He shot Schlette
in the shoulder and eye. This didn’t
stop Schlette. It just pissed him
off. So he kept coming and got shot
again, until he was dead. Two other Philly Warlocks shot other old like
Warlocks. Those guys are facing life in prison, and 27 years (for
manslaughter). In the words of Ron
Burgundy, that escalated quickly
Which
brings us back to Stand Your Ground, and why do we need it. Standard self-defense ought to work. If you’re being attacked, you can defend
yourself. You can defend yourself with
the same amount of force that is being used against you. Stand Your Ground
allows a defendant to use deadly force against a perceived threat to life. It’s the perception that is the law. It allows things to escalate quickly. Of
course, when you’ve got an outlaw biker coming at you with a meat hook,
knives, brass knuckles and guns, things are going to escalate quickly anyway.
Whatever
it was intended for, whatever malady the law’s backers in the gun lobby were
trying to remedy by making this super-special self-defense, it likely wasn’t
meant for outlaw biker brawls.
The
jury was instructed on Florida’s Stand Your Ground law and heard from the defendant
that he was in fear of his life, from the beatings he took when he got out of
the gang. He heard that the Warlocks
were coming with violence. And when they
came, the evidence is that Smith started firing. That was enough for the jury. He perceived deadly force might be used, so
he responded with deadly force.
This
is likely to be one of those laws, where the intentions are met with facts on the
ground that the NRA and its backers don’t like. Sort of like when open carry of
long guns was the law in California until the Black Panthers in the 60’s showedup at the California state house with long guns, carried openly, and the law changed, at least in California.
Now,
you’ve got the yahoos at Open Carry Texas carrying long guns (AR-15 assault
rifles) in Chipotle, Target and Walmart and no one can tell who is trying to be
“normal” shopping for underwear or ordering a burrito with an assault rifle on
their back, and who is a crazy person about to shoot up the place.
We
had self-defense laws. We have self-defense laws. They’ve been in the common law and on the statute
books for years. We don’t need Stand
Your Ground. Because the law isn’t
supposed to be applied differently to folks whether they’re outlaw bikers or
ordinary folks. The law is the law. And
when the law doesn’t work the way we like it, it’s time to take a hard look at the
law. That applies to Stand Your Ground
and open carry of long guns. I don’t
want an AR-15 with my burrito.
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