Ex Green Beret tried for shooting burglar

[No105_Archie]

This is pretty good...but I can't say if it's true or not (From SimHQ)

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BREVARD, Jan. 19, 2008 - Retired Army Green Beret Smokey Taylor got his court martial this weekend and came away feeling good about it.

Taylor, at age 80 the oldest member of Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association, was on trial by his peers under the charge of "failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at his home in Knoxville, TN, in December.

The entire affair, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. Taylor had been awakened in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2007, when an intruder broke into his home. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand.

When the intruder threatened him with a knife, Taylor warned him, then brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.

"That boy had the hardest head I've ever seen," Taylor said after his trial. "The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of the room then got up and ran out the door and down the street. Knoxville police apprehended him a few blocks away and he now awaits trial in the Knox County jail.

The charges against Taylor were considered to be serious. He is a retired Special Forces Weapons Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the wars in Korea and Vietnam.

"Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter XXXIII President Bill Long of Asheville. "He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't big enough to get the job done."

Taylor's defense attorney, another retired Weapons Sergeant, disagreed. He said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to arm himself with a .22.

"If he'd used a .45 or something like that the round would have gone right through the perp, the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly injured some innocent child asleep in its bed," he said. "I believe the evidence shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He did nothing wrong, and clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."

Counsel for the defense then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced off the perp's forehead.

"He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea and again in Vietnam, when his units were issued ammo left over from World War II."

Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his peers to debate the matter. After the trial he said the ammunition was indeed old and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out of the house.

"I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through his forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."

Following testimony from both sides, Taylor was acquitted of the charges and was given a round of applause.

Meanwhile, back in Knox County, the word is out: Don't go messing with Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.

[Schatten]

Okay that rocks.

And made me laugh my ass off.

to Smokey.

[Donster]

What Schatten said!

[Stans]

Sorry, but I must side with the court marshal board in this incident. The purpose of defending one's self in the case of being confronted with lethal force is not to wound the attacker, but to eliminate the attacker. A wounded attacker may prove to be even more motivated to carry out their attack, a dead attacker... well... is dead and presents no further threat to the present victim or any future victims. I say if a target is worthy of a bullet, use a bullet worthy of the job. 38 Special as a bare minimum with a 9mm, 357 Magnum, 40 S&W or 45 ACP (all with expanding type bullets) preferable, lacking that, a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buckshot, 2 3/4 inch magnum shells. He is lucky the attacker fled, but now the tax payers are saddled with the cost of medical care, trial, and possible incarceration of said scum bag. I will give credit for outstanding bullet placement.

[Schatten]

I have to side with the defense and with the old ammo theory and not take any issue with the guy's choice of weapon though. First off a .22 Long Rifle round is plenty good enough for killing someone with proper bullet placement, and since Smokey was a Weapon's Sergeant we can assume (and the evidence supports) that he had the knowledge of where to place said bullet and well as the skill to apply said knowledge. The facts completely back this up.

There are plenty of guys laying around landfills in Jersey that were taken out by .22 LR rounds that were baddabing'd properly. Which would have happened to this intruder if the ammunition would have been up to date.

Furthermore all discussions of the lethality of this round or that round are moot, any bullet fired by any firearm can and probably has killed someone at some point. Hell I know a guy that could kill you with a folded newspaper. So yeah, I agree completely with the defense's arguments on this matter.

[mane_raptor]

As a well armed homeowner, I must point out here that the best all-around defensive weapon for confronting an intruder is the trusty 12-gauge pump action shotgun loaded with double ought buckshot and 3/4 ounce hollow point sabot slugs (buckshot round followed by slug). Not only is the firepower more then enough to do the job, but the sound of a round being racked into the chamber is well known and will, in most cases, strongly suggest to said intruder that he vacate the area at once.

Words are thus not needed.

[Stans]

Many years ago, a round being racked into the chamber was considered the warning shot during a boarding by the USCG.

[Whizkid]

In order to provide a balance to this discussion, I'm going to give the viewpoint of a much maligned group of Patriotic citizens, the ACLU. I'm sure I don't have to present their credentials, as their work speaks for itself!

The ACLU feels, and rightly so, that the perpetrator of this alleged "break-in" has been given short thrift, and will present his defence at the coming trial, where, if the headache he has been suffering from, due to the heinous and willful and totally un-called for aggression by the Plaintiff, has subsided to a dull roar, he will, with the assistance of several Attorneys from the office of the ACLU (appearing without pay) show that he was simply going to request the use of the Toilet Facilities of the Plaintiff, having imbibed a large quantity of Beer during a celebration at the local Lions Club where he was being feted as "Lion King of the Month". Since his release from incarceration at the State Penitentiary last year, the defendant has led an exemplary life, having only been falsely accused of armed robbery once and jaywalking twice, both charges which were dismissed by the Court as he was under Psychiatric care at the time. Counter charges will be filed by the ACLU against Mr Smokey Taylor claiming that his actions in promptly shooting the Defendant instead of inquiring in a reasonable voice why the Defendant was present in the Plaintiffs' home at 2.30am dressed in a black sweater and black trousers, wearing a Richard Nixon mask, constituted cruel and unusual punishment, and has brought great mental anguish to the Defendant. Also included in the lawsuit will be the local Lions Club, for aiding and abetting the Defendants state of mind during the above celebrations. Action may also be brought against the Manufacturer of the Handgun used and the Ammunition which obviously should have been collected by said Manufacturer at its expiration date. The ACLU will also bring a Class action for all Citizens who have been struck but not killed by said Ammunition in the last 10yrs.

[Stans]

Probably far closer to the truth than to fiction, Whiz, and that's why a larger caliber should have been used. No whiny scum bag of a plaintiff, no trial. Fortunately, this incident, if it really occurred, happened in Florida. Florida has a new law called the castle law or castle doctrine which, in a nutshell, allows the owner/legal tenant of a residence or vehicle to kill an attacker. Virginia lacks such a law and it is at the discretion of judge and jury if self-defense actions will result in a prison sentence. In Virginia, the victim must always retreat until there is no possible exit.

[Red]

In Virginia, the victim must always retreat until there is no possible exit.

Well Australia might have the strongest gun laws in the world but if you break into my house , and i own a firearm you better be at peace with your choosen god because here , if i feel threatened or my family is threatened i will blow you away and the law will stand behind me.

And the calibre of choice in my neck of the woods would be double barrel shotgun or .222 or higher.