William Andrew Sheets
Posted on 07/18/2018 4:38:59 PM PDT by servo1969
I’m often asked to describe the most common way people screw up their self-defense claim. The truth is there isn’t a single most common way. Too many people manage to find an apparently infinite number of ways to step outside the bounds of the law. Often, there were a bunch of exits off that jail-bound freeway that they could have taken, but didn’t.
For most normally law-abiding people this is not done out of malice, but ignorance. I mean ignorance not in a derogatory sense, but in a technical sense–they didn’t know where the legal boundaries were, and stepped over them without even knowing it.
In their minds they acted lawfully. “I can’t believe I’m being prosecuted for self-defense,” may be amongst the most common statements I hear from clients.
Indeed, it’s not unusual to see a defendant fail not from a single error, but from a cascade of errors, each building atop the mistakes already made.
A good example of this kind of cascade occurred in a case out of Virginia. The case ended in some social media outrage when the “defender” was compelled to take a misdemeanor plea deal after using a gun to fight off a pair of home invaders. (Source: Prosecutor responds to article, outcry about sentencing of man who shot intruder.)
Stated in that fashion, this certainly seems outrageously unjust. Perhaps not surprisingly, however, the actual facts of the case shed light on why a misdemeanor was not as unreasonable as it might first appear.
The facts viewed in the light most favorable to the “defender” are as follows: 35-year-old William Andrew Sheets was in his backyard when he saw two strangers enter his home from the front door. His home had just recently been burglarized, and Sheets decided to intervene and stop what appeared to be yet another burglary.
Sheets, who was armed with a handgun, entered the home through the back door and confronted the two burglars, resulting in a fight with one of them. The burglar was subsequently shot in the face by Sheets and then was shot twice more. Both burglars were ultimately arrested, charged, and convicted of felony burglary.
So, how did the “defender” end up getting charged and taking a plea deal requiring 30 days in jail, two years of supervised release, and five years loss of his gun rights? Well, for several reasons.
First, the “home” in question was not actually Sheets’ home, at least not any longer. Although he had previously lived in the house, he had since moved to a new residence. He had, however, also left some of his personal property behind, planning to pick it up at a later date.
It was during this delay that the previous residence was burglarized and some of his property was stolen. Reasonably enough, Sheets reported the burglary to the police, but because he was unsatisfied with the police response he made another in a cascade of errors.
That second error was to decide to take the law into his own hands, by arming himself and setting up a tent in the backyard of his former residence, in the expectation that the burglar would return to steal more stuff.
When he observed two men entering the home, presumably to burglarize it again, instead of calling the police to report a burglary in progress Sheets decided to enter the house—which, remember, is not his home—and confront them with a firearm.
When he did so he ended up in a physical confrontation with one of the burglars, shooting that burglar in the face. Incidentally, Sheets would later concede that he knew neither of the men was armed. The two burglars then fled from the house. Folks, remember, when you go to the fight, rather than the fight coming to you, that’s not going to look much like self-defense to a lot of people.
His fourth error was to then pursue the fleeing burglars out of the home and to their vehicle, continuing to fire at them as they ran, shooting one of the burglars twice in the buttocks. Incidentally, these rounds are flying around a residential neighborhood. Pro-tip: if you’re pursuing, you make it pretty easy for a prosecutor to argue that even if the person you’re chasing initiated the confrontation, you’ve now become the active aggressor in a second fight.
But he didn’t stop there. His final error occurred after the two burglars were in their vehicle and driving away. Sheets ran up to the car and fired two shots into the vehicle. There may be circumstances where it’s allowed to shoot into another guy’s vehicle—if he’s using it as a weapon to drive over you, for example, or he’s shooting at you from within the vehicle—but when the other guy is using the car to escape from you, that’s not one of them.
As is often the case in these kinds of use-of-force encounters gone wrong, Sheets continues to have a genuine, good faith belief that his conduct was lawful. As the news article reports, “During his sentencing, Sheets reiterated that he did not believe what he did was wrong and was outwardly angry at the prospect of incarceration.” In truth he’s lucky to get a misdemeanor plea deal. In many jurisdictions an attempted murder or felony aggravated assault charge would not have been out of the question.
William Andrew Sheets
When it’s a crime to stop a crime then our country is ruled by criminals.
I would recommend that anyone who carries for self defense read a lot of Branca. Self defense is considerably more complex than some think.
#1 rule I was taught in law school.
Say “I feared for my life. It was self defense. I wish to speak to my attorney”.
Say absolutely NOTHING else.
GMTA!
Him and Mas Ayoob.
In a perfect world, Sheets would be free to hunt and kill the burglars at his leisure. Criminals in the commission of a crime should forfeit all protections of the law. Break into a home and steal someone’s property? Expect to get killed.
I have zero sympathy for criminals and a great deal of sympathy for Sheets.
My Great Grandpa killed a man in a gunfight in the early 1900s.
Grandpa went to repossess an ox which the guy never paid for. The man had a reputation for a violent temper so Grandpa brought along his Winchester 32-20.
The man came out of his house, fired one shot into the air then the next 5 at Grandpa. After the last shot Grandpa jumped out from behind behind a gate, shot him once, killing him. At the time, Florida did not have a “stand your ground” law and he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years.
At Raiford, Grandpa started a Sunday School class. He later told Daddy that he was well treated in prison.
After a year, the Governor, realizing an injustice had been done, gave him a full and total pardon.
"...realizing an injustice had been done..."
Thanks, Grandpa Bill as I knew him, was a fascinating man.
” he/she threatened me, I felt in fear of my life. I defended myself. I would like to speak to my lawyer”.
Keep it simple, less is more.
CC
GMTA x3.!
CC
And Then explain your
Medical history of
Heart disease.
“Him and Mas Ayoob”
Yep, Ayoob for the how and Branca for the why (or why not).
“Say “I feared for my life. It was self defense. I wish to speak to my attorney”.
Say absolutely NOTHING else.“
Don’t forget the ever popular “I think I’m having a heart attack”. That’ll get you away from the situation quick and make you basically incommunicado for a while.
His problem was he acted like the police.
“Law of Self Defense: A Self-Defense Cascade of Failure”
Ninety percent of so-called conservatives don’t get it.
You have to get off your fat, useless, mammon-worshipping ass and elect a pro-2nd amendment, constitutional sheriff in your county.
Then elect a pro-2nd amendment, constitutional DA in your county. That also requires getting off your fat ass as recommended above.
That way, after you shoot some dirtbag, you won’t be indicted by some leftist prosecutor who hates armed citizens defending themselves.
"...I am experiencing chest pain and need a doctor..."
Although I believe he was in his right to shoot the dudes dead...he acted stupidly on several levels.
We gun owners carry a serious responsibilty not to act stupidly...as doing so gives ammo to the tyrants that want our firearms.
We also carry a responsibilty to own every round from shot to terminus. Im sure when dude was pursuing the bad guys flinging rounds at their car he did not have full control of where those rounds went.
His actions were hot headed and immature. He shouldve done better.
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