Florida Man Cites ‘Bush Doctrine’ and Stand Your Ground After Pre-emptive Killing of Neighbors at Labor Day Cookout

From the Trenches Lawyers for a Florida man this week cited President George W. Bush’s pre-emptive war in Iraq and the “Bush Doctrine” as a defense after their client killed two neighbors and attempted to kill a third on Labor Day. Florida Today reported on Wednesday that attorney’s for William T. Woodward had filed a motion asking for charges against him to be dismissed under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which says that gun owners do not have a duty to retreat in the face of an “imminent” threat.   According to officials in Titusville, Woodward had snuck up on his neighbors while they were having a Labor Day barbecue. Police responding to the scene found that Gary Lee Hembree, Roger Picior and Bruce Timothy had all been shot. Hembree and Picior were later pronounced dead. Blake survived, even though he had been hit 11 times. In their motion, Woodward’s attorneys claimed that the victims had called him names and threatened to “get him.”