Green Beret Court Martialed For Self Defense.....

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:06 am

I love this story:

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

Taylor, at age 79, is one of the oldest members of Chapter XXXIII (The Larry Thorne Chapter) of the Special Forces Association. He was placed on trial by fellow Chapter XXXIII members 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 November.

The court martial, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. The event itself was deadly serious.

Taylor had been awakened in the early morning hours of November 5, 2007,when an intruder broke into his home. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand.

"It was just after Halloween, on Monday morning at 4:30," Taylor said. I heard this commotion at the door and grabbed my fishing gun, a little .22 revolver, to see what was going on. I got to the front door and this fellow had ripped my security door out of its frame.
He
said, 'you're going to have to kill me. I'm coming in.'"

When a warning to leave went unheeded, Taylor brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.

"I was about four feet away from him when I shot," Taylor said. "Looking back now, I'm glad he didn't die, but that boy had the hardest head I've ever seen. The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of the house then got up and ran down the street. Taylor dialed 911 and Knoxville police apprehended the wounded man about 200 yards away, hiding in a hedgerow.

Complicating the case, as well as the court martial, the offender was released on bail but failed to appear for his court date. Knoxville police said the man was homeless. They did not know his whereabouts or why he had been given bail.

The charges brought against Taylor by his fellow Green Berets 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, NC.

The trial was held at the Hampton Inn in Brevard, part of the group's regularly scheduled quarterly meeting. Long appointed a judge, Bert Bates, a defense counsel, Jim Hash, and a prosecutor, Charlie Ponds. All are retired Special Forces non-commissioned officers with extensive combat and weapons experience.

Ponds outlined the case against Taylor, emphasizing that the citizens of Knox County were going to be burdened with significant costs to again apprehend, and then prosecute and defend the would-be burglar.

"Proper choice of a larger caliber gun would have spared the citizens this financial burden," Ponds said, "while removing one bad guy from the streets for good. He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't big enough to get the job done. Hash 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. I believe the evidence shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."

Hash 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. The jury, consisting of all the members of the Chapter discussed the merits of choosing a larger caliber weapon as well as the obvious benefits to society of permanently deleting the intruder so he would never again threaten any private citizen.

The other side of the coin, that of accidentally causing injury to a completely innocent citizen if a more powerful gun had been used, also gained considerable support.

Following testimony from both sides, Judge Bates determined the charges should be dismissed. The decision was met with a round of applause. In fact, there was strong sentiment expressed that Taylor should receive an award for not only choosing wisely in picking up the 22, but for the accuracy of his aim under difficult and dangerous conditions.

After the trial Taylor said the ammunition was indeed old and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out the door.

"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."

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.
Tribune Editor Bill Fishburne is a member of the Larry Thorne Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association.
http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a ... 0001661001
GFD

crs · Post by **crs** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:18 am

Good story, thanks for posting it.

stormspotter · Post by **stormspotter** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:21 am

Well done Mr. Taylor.

Next time use a 38 Special, it will give him a bigger headache.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:26 am

Good stuff!

The chapter should make him turn in his 22 and buy him a 380 or 32H&R. Those rounds would be less likely to exit while still taking out the bad guy.

JimT · Post by **JimT** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:32 am

Sounds like the .22 did the job. The purpose in a self-defense shooting is not to kill anyone. The purpose of firing is to stop the attack. It did so with one shot.

jbm1968 · Post by **jbm1968** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:43 am

Thats my hometown: Knoxville!!! I grew up with my Dad having his Ruger Super Blackhawk stoked with 44 Special Silvertips hanging on his bedpost.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:52 am

Great story.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:08 pm

Bloody brilliant. There ya go again, a 22

JJ_Miller · Post by **JJ_Miller** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:49 pm

When I was working in Welch WV as a young Trooper in the early 80's I received a call of a shooting at a little town about 15 miles from the office. By the time I got to the scene there were about 20 to 25 people standing around an obviously deceased body which was laying in an ally between some houses. I asked what had happened and this fellow looked at me and said " he was cheatin' in our poker game so I was gonna scare him, I pulled this out ( he handed me a RG 22 revolver ) and shot beside his chair just to scare him ". I looked down at the deceased and told the fellow maybe you cut it a little close. I coulden't see any blood anywhere. By this time the EMS wagon arrived and they started working on him I noticed an entrance wound right at the belt line way off on the right side of his belly. The 22 bullet went in and out touching nothing but roll of fat above his belt.

The autopsy later revealed nothing vital was hit, just fat and skin. The ME told me sometimes folks think they should die when they get shot so they do.

That was just another bend in my learning curve as a young Trooper.

The guy who did the shooting gave himself up to me at the scene , admitted what he did and plead to a year ( involuntary manslaughter ) and was back home in 9 months playing cards again. No one in the little town seemed too upset as it was an accident......such is life in the coalfields.

22's are a strange round..................................JJ

505stevec · Post by **505stevec** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:13 pm

May we all use equally good judgement and skill when accosted by anyone.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:16 pm

JimT is right again. (Glad I read that all the way to the end; I was about to argue!)

And, again, in support of the .22, once it does make entry, it has a tendency to bounce around and cause all sorts of havoc. An inch, left or right would have put it thru the eyesocket, and he wouldn't have had to suffer the indignity of the "trial."

Kilroy6644 · Post by **Kilroy6644** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:49 pm

When I read "Green Beret Court Martialed For Self Defense.....," I expected something like the set-up for the movie Con-Air. This was much better.

miestro_jerry · Post by **miestro_jerry** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:54 pm

Those Green Beanies, they never could carry enough fire power for the job.

Jerry
Capt. USA
1/75 Infantry

KirkD · Post by **KirkD** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:18 pm

That's gotta be defective ammo, alright. No way would a normal 22 rimfire bounce off someone's head, no matter where you hit him. God must have His eye on the homeless fellow. Hope to see him in Heaven someday.

Gun Runner · Post by **Gun Runner** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:44 pm

Thats the nice thing about the little red light under the pistol bbl. Aim it at their croutch and tell them face down on ground or learn to Squat to "P"
be suprized how fast they can drop face down to the ground.

Gun Runner

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:07 pm

That's a great story.

piller · Post by **piller** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:44 pm

I wonder if the perp will have the sense to realize he was given a chance to clean up his act. If that didn't put the fear of GOD into him, nothing would.

Dastook · Post by **Dastook** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:27 pm

I have a guy I work with, well not exactly he's retired now. About 30 years ago he got in a fight in a bar in WV. The fellow he was beating up pulled a 22 and shot him in the forhead. What the fellow didn't know is my friend had been in a motorcycle accedent a few years earlier and had a metal plate in his upper right forhead. The bullit bounced off, but left a creece in his head that is still there today. Roscoe then beat the hell out of the fellow that shot him.

Mike Hunter · Post by **Mike Hunter** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:12 pm

Sometimes when its your time, then its your time. On the flip side when it aint then it aint. Good friend of mine , also former Special Forces Soldier (Green Beret) was shot execution style in the back of the head by an NVA officer using a 9mm. Lost some bone and a couple of teeth, still thanks the powers above the guy didnâ€™t have a .45

Mike Hunter
ODA582
ODA771

PPpastordon · Post by **PPpastordon** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:45 pm

JimT wrote:Sounds like the .22 did the job. The purpose in a self-defense shooting is not to kill anyone. The purpose of firing is to stop the attack. It did so with one shot.

Jim;
You nailed it! I have done my best to explain to others that a "one shot stop" in self defense has nothing to do with killing, just stopping aggression. Some can understand, others won't.
As John Taffin (the other JT) seems fond of saying, "If I have to explain it, you won't understand."
Grace and Peace,

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:22 pm

I bet that left a mark!

Scott64A · Post by **Scott64A** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:31 pm

Awesome story.

And yes, the whole point is to stop the aggressor. If that means he is unlucky and drops dead on the spot, well so be it.
That's one lucky homeless guy.