HappyGunner
June 29, 2008, 09:12 PM
Retired Green Beret shoots intruder,
gets court martialed
BREVARD, TN, 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 threatene d 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
gets court martialed
BREVARD, TN, 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 threatene d 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