What De Selby (and admittedly many others) are missing is being an ahole, even a racist ahole, does not deprive you of your right to life, nor the right to defend your life.
One could in fact tell your room mate "I'm gonna go shoot me a black man!" and then go to the ghetto and walk up and down the street counting a roll of $100 bills until you are mugged, and still have the right to defend yourself. The trial would be more of an uphill battle, for sure, but with the right circumstances it's legal. Much like saying you're having an Art showing of Mohammad cartoons and
capping the terrorists that show up. Laws tend to be written against the person that initiates physical assault.
I'm unaware of a successful, modern, "Fighting Words" defense to shooting someone.
Drejka is almost certainly racist, and certainly has been intemperate in the past, with a firearm, but apparently not to the level of a conviction. He likely was spoiling for a confrontation. Had he shot the woman that he started abusing over a parking space this would be a very different conversation. But he didn't. He shot the guy that attacked him. Indeed, absent some evidence not in public McGlockton attacked him without any
legal provocation.
Unless the store clerk, or McGlockton's girlfriend or someone can show that McGlockton was acting out of a
reasonable fear for someone else's life or health, McGlockton is the aggressor and Drejka is the victim, regardless of Drejka's earlier acts and statements.
I suspect that's why the Sheriff's office kicked it up to the State Attorney, so they can fall on that hand grenade, ala Casey Anthony. Now, Drejka is almost certainly an ahole, and made some bad decisions, so the wrong jury (or right jury) could still convict him. They could find that his fear was unreasonable, and his previous statements and acts could add to that perception.
I think technically he's probably on the legal side of this shoot.
I think morally he's a racist ahole that was out looking for a fight.
I think practically there's no way to tell where the jury's going to go.
The points De Selby is harping on are, once again, wrong or irrelevant under FL law.
The one prediction I will make about this trial with a fair bit of confidence is that CNN will try to get and publicize the juror's names. That worked so well they won't be able to help themselves.
