It was one year ago—September 19, 2015—that Carlos Garcia was shot and killed by Nick Julian IV. Julian lived with his parents in Tampa, Florida, next door to Yaileen Ayala. Garcia and Ayala had divorced six months earlier and Garcia had shown up late on this night to get his two children for a weekend visitation. Garcia and Ayala were arguing while his car stereo played loudly, when Julian confronted Garcia about the music.
Julian became the focus of the argument. He had initially come out of his house—concerned that Garcia’s music would wake his girlfriend and her daughter—without his gun. According to Julian, he returned to the house but heard the music playing loudly again, so he went back outside. Julian went back into the house for a third time. That time, retrieved his .45 automatic weapon, and left again to confront Garcia. Julian’s father says he saw his son running back toward his porch with Garcia chasing him. That’s when he heard the shot. It was Julian who called 911 to report the shooting:
"Yes, ma'am. I just had a man attack me in my front yard," Nick Julian IV told a 911 operator on Sept. 19, 2015.
"He attacked me and I had to use force," said Julian. "I was afraid for my life."
"Well who used the gun?" the operator said.
"I did," Julian said.
In the background, Garcia's ex-wife screamed: "Why would you do this?"
" 'Cause he charged me and I was in fear of my life," said Julian, then 26.
But Julian made another call that night—to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), one of several organizations in the U.S. which helps people strengthen their self-defense claims. The USCCA provides its members with “a 24-hour hotline, an attorney on retainer, bail money and a wallet-sized card instructing members on what to say after a shooting—starting at just $13 a month.”
"If you need to take the time to THINK about these decisions, there's a good chance you'll make a choice that will put you in jail . . . or worse," Tim Schmidt, founder and CEO of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, wrote on the organization's website. "You need to have these decisions programmed into your brain BEFORE you leave your house with your gun!"
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Stetson University law professor Charles Rose fears such groups could actually inflame armed confrontations: giving gun owners legal advice beforehand and financial reassurance afterward could make them "more comfortable" pulling out a firearm.
Rose was also troubled by the instructions those groups offer to give only basic information to 911 operators.
"Describe to them what you look like and what you're wearing," read a U.S. Concealed Carry booklet, "but apart from that, simply repeat that you were in fear for your life and that someone has been shot."
The organization gives members a wallet-sized card to hand to officers after a shooting. It tells police the member will not consent to any searches or speak until they have talked to an attorney. And it says: "As a lawfully armed citizen, I ask for the same courtesy that you would show a fellow officer who was involved in a similar situation."
"As a lawfully armed citizen, I ask for the same courtesy that you would show a fellow officer who was involved in a similar situation."
Wow. Really?
Officers investigating the shooting found that Nick Julian IV had previously brandished his gun at three people during an argument. They were also neighbors who had been very loud. Julian told them not to step on his property, that he would shoot, and that he “knew the law.” Arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Julian would not go to trial on the charges. And he wouldn’t go to trial for the murder of Carlos Garcia, either.
Ayala asked when Julian would be arrested.
The case would be decided by a board of prosecutors, a detective told her.
Two months later, on Nov. 16, Ayala learned Julian would not be charged.
"The evidence is insufficient to rebut Nick Julian IV's claim that his use of deadly force against Mr. Garcia was an act of self-defense," read a letter from the office of Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober.
Groups such as the USCCA are said to belong to what is being called the “stand your ground industry.” The “stand your ground” laws, which state that persons faced with a threat do not have a duty to retreat, have been applied unevenly in the 30 or so states in which they have been passed. The use of cue cards, 24-hour hotlines, and lawyers on retainer don’t necessarily mean bad things are on the horizon. Let’s hope that remains the case.