Man Faces Attempted Murder Charges for Firing at Armed Intruders

It was about dinnertime and just starting to get dark. Seventy-two year old Aaron Awtry had a dozen men in his illegal gambling house and another low-stakes poker game was getting underway. When he heard someone trying to gain entry into the house, his first thoughts were of a robbery. It wouldn’t be the first time his operation was broken into, and he yelled to the others while grabbing his gun, “We’re gonna be robbed!”

As the door shook on its hinges Awtry pulled the trigger, firing “at least once," according to one witness, and shooting the subject on the other side of the door in the arm.

Awtry didn’t expect what happened next. From the other side of the door came a barrage of gunfire -- at least 20 shots. He was hit in the hand and the arm. Between noticing the flashing lights on the surveillance monitor and finally hearing someone identify themselves on the other side of the door, the men realized they weren’t dealing with some robbers -- they were dealing with the police. “Why didn’t you tell me it was the cops?” Awtry would say.

Of course, there are two sides to every story. The deputies claim they announced themselves. And because one cop was injured, Awtry now faces charges of attempted murder.

Although it seems extreme to bring a battering ram to a poker game, this isn’t the first such raid. And Greenville is apparently a poker hot-spot, being referred to as G-Vegas. This particular raid, injuries aside, resulted in sherriff’s deputies confiscating $5,000 in cash, two poker machines, a few tables, cameras and less than 4 grams of cocaine. Oh, and eleven $100 tickets for gambling.

I wonder how much the raid ended up costing taxpayers when all was said and done.

It’s also interesting that Awtry would have intentionally resisted such a police raid, seeing as how maintaining a gambling house is a relatively minor crime. Awtry had previously been ticketed for illegal betting and had never offered such resistance before. By all accounts, a simple knock would have prevented the entire incident. “If he had known the police were at the door, I can assure you he would have opened it and told them they could come in,” says Awtry's attorney.

It would seem as if this is a case of a man defending his property against intrusion, something South Carolina law protects. The state’s “Castle Doctrine” law, says a person can protect him or herself and others on their property using even deadly force without fear of prosecution when they have a reasonable fear of “imminent peril of death or great bodily injury." The law goes on to say that this fear is presumed to be created when someone is forcefully and unlawfully entering a dwelling (battering ram anyone?). However, according to the statute, such force cannot be used against law enforcement when they are entering the property under official business and they identify themselves, or the person knows they are law enforcement without being verbally identified.

Whether or not the protection of the Castle Doctrine applies in this case boils down to whether Awtry knew he was shooting at the police. By all accounts, he didn’t. His words indicated he didn’t know he was being raided and his actions show he was clueless to the presence of law enforcement. The fact that Greenville poker spots had experienced a recent uptick in armed robberies further supports his decision to arm himself and even fire when he realized his door was being broken down.

If the South Carolina statute is applied to this case, there would be no legal basis for the charge of attempted murder. Sure, the gambling charges are appropriate—no one is saying Awtry didn’t break some laws. But attempted murder of a police officer? Not a chance. Awtry did what many other reasonable people would do if they believed their home was under siege—he defended himself and his friends and he acted in accordance with his rights. All parties involved are lucky the injuries weren’t worse and fortunate no one was killed. A similar case in Mississippi didn’t have the same outcome.

Show your support for Aaron Awtry by signing the petition below and tell the local district attorney to drop the unwarranted attempted murder charge.

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Photo Credit: ND Strupler