CCW Safe

In Self Defense- Speical Edition: Stephen Maddox story

In this special edition of "In Self Defense", Don West and Shawn Vincent follow up on the Stephen Maddox case.  In this episode, the two hosts interview Stephen Maddox, CCW Safe member and Mike Darter, Co-Founder and CEO of CCW Safe.  

This is the first case in the industry that involved a full trial of a self defense case being charged with first degree murder.  CCW Safe defended Stephen in that trial, and ended up paying over $350k in the case.  Stephen was found not guilty after a deliberation that lasted just over one hour.  

In this podcast, they talk with Stephen and give an indepth interview of the incident through the veridct of not guilty.  

Inside CCW Safe Podcast- Episode 7: Interview with Don West

In this episode, Stan and Mike interview Don West, National Trial Counsel for CCW Safe.  They talk about an in depth history of Don's legal defense career, and talk about his role with CCW Safe.  Runtime 1:04:57.

 

Inside CCW Safe- Episode 6: Core Values Part 2

In this episode, Stan and Mike finish the discussion about the core values of CCW Safe.  They final two core values in this discussion are Experience and Leadership.  They talk about the experience and leadership of the founders of CCW Safe, as well as the employees of CCW Safe, but more importantly the attorneys, the panel advisors of CCW Safe and others that CCW Safe has aligned themselves wtih.  

Time: 56 minutes. 

Inside CCW Safe- Episode 5: Personal Safety Tips with George Holt

In this episode Stan and Mike talk with George Holt, George spent 25 years in law enforcement, and is now the preisdent of Solutions Group International, which provides specialized security services, tactical training, threat assessments and leading edge anti-terrorism / counter-terrorism applications to law enforcement, security, government, military, entertainment, and corporate sectors worldwide.

Mr. Holt is a co-founder and President of SGI. Mr. Holt provides direct oversight to our Special Operations and Tactical Training Division. He recently retired from a Los Angeles area law enforcement agency at the rank of Sergeant II, after 25 years of cumulative service. In addition to serving as a Team Leader on a full-time SWAT team, he has served as a departmental accreditation manager (responsible for policy development and review in accordance with CALEA accreditation standards) and a Patrol Division Watch Commander.

He is a graduate of the Rio Hondo Police Academy (basic recruit class) and the Los Angeles Police Department's Sergeant and Watch Commander Schools. He is a certified Range Master & Firearms Instructor, as well as a graduate of both the Fullerton Police Academy's S.W.A.T. Sniper School and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department S.W.A.T. School. Mr. Holt is highly decorated, having been awarded the Police Star Medal twice for heroism and bravery in the line of duty (1996 and 2001).

Mr. Holt has trained police and military personnel worldwide in various areas of tactical operations and enjoys an international reputation as a highly skilled instructor. Mr. Holt also has extensive experience in the private sector, having provided personal security for several high profile clients in the fields of business, politics and entertainment.

Mr. Holt is committed to utilizing his extensive training and experience to ensure that all of the services offered by SGI are of the highest quality and exceed industry standards.

Inside CCW Safe with Stan Campbell and Mike Darter- Episode 4: Core Values Part I

In this episode, Stan and Mike talk about the core values of CCW Safe.  They talk about how CCW Safe developed the core values for the company, and how important it is to the founders and to the company.  The core values of Commitment, Dedication, and Caring are discussed in this episode, and how they play a role in the day in, day out services of CCW Safe.  The two other core values of Leadership and Experience will be covered in an upcoming podcast.  

Inside CCW Safe with Stan Campbell and Mike Darter- Episode 3: "Critical Response"

In this episode of "Inside CCW Safe" Mike and Stan talk with Gary Eastridge, Critical Response Coordinator for CCW Safe.  There's alot more to CCW Safe's critical response program than just a call center when dealing with citizens who have been involved in a self defense shooting.  The three talk about critical incidents, what they are, and how they are handled by CCW Safe.  CCW Safe bases the handling of critical incidents on their experience as police officers, and experience they recieved after being involved in shootings themselves.  

Gary is a retired law enforcement officer. He started with the Oklahoma City Police Department in February 1979 retiring in 2000 as an Inspector in the Homicide Unit. Gary also served as a department firearms instructor after receiving his CLEET certification in 1986. After retirement he worked as a police officer with the International Police Task Force (IPTF) in support of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Gary worked homicides with counterparts from 53 nations as well as mentoring local Police officers. Gary was named Chief Investigator for the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s office in January of 2007 where he served until his retirement in April of 2017 to accept his position with CCWsafe. He reviewed all officer involved shootings occurring in Oklahoma County as well as in custody deaths and other significant and high profile investigations / prosecutions.

Inside CCW Safe with Stan Campbell and Mike Darter- Episode 2 "Training"

In this second episode of Inside CCW Safe Podcast, Mike interviews Stan on his history in law enforcement and his emphasis on training.  For 15 years, Stan was a trainer for the Oklahoma City Police Department, four years of that actually assigned to the police academy.  

The two discuss the importance of training for concealed carriers, the logging of training, and more. 

Stan Campbell has over 20 years of experience as a police officer in Oklahoma City. He retired as a Lieutenant over a street crime team, and spent over 10 years on the Tactical Unit (SWAT) and has spent 15 years developing and teaching self-defense curriculum. Stan is a certified National self-defense Instructor and has also instructed officers in British Territories. Stan has extensive experience and knowledge in the critical incident command system, officer involved shootings and use of force incidents. 

 

Inside CCW Safe with Stan Campbell and Mike Darter

In this first episode of Inside CCW Safe, with founders Stan Campbell and Mike Darter, they talk about the history of CCW Safe, the history of the founders, and the importance of structuring CCW Safe after the "Police Union Model".  

Mike and Stan were both former police officers with Oklahoma City, and Mike also worked for DOJ-ATF under a contract to manage of their violent crime programs in N. Texas and Oklahoma.  

This is the first in a weekly podcast talking about CCW Safe, the self defense legal industry, and the firearms industry.  

In Self Defense - Michael Dunn, the "Loud Music" Case

In this episode of "In Self Defense", Don West and Shawn Vincent talk about the "Loud Music" case involving Michael Dunn.  

Dunn fatally shot seventeen-year-old Jordan Davis at a convenience store parking lot after an argument over the loud music Davis and his friends were listening to in their red Dodge Durango. While Dunn claimed Davis made death threats, displayed a shotgun, and attempted to get out of his car to attack him, no evidence or witness testimony corroborated his account.  Dunn fled the scene and failed to contact law enforcement. A witness memorized Dunn’s license plate number, and detectives apprehended Dunn at his home the next day. He was eventually charged with one count of first degree murder for the shooting of Jordan Davis, and three counts of first degree attempted murder for firing at a car full of teenagers as they sped away. The state threw in a charge of throwing or firing “deadly missiles” for good measure.    

During the first trial, scrappy criminal defense attorney Cory Strolla, operating on a shoestring budget, made an impassioned argument that the state failed to disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, Dunn’s claim that he shot Jordan Davis in self-defense.  According to a juror who spoke to reporters after the trial, Strolla convinced two members of the jury that state had not met their burden.  They refused to convict Dunn on the murder charge and forced a mistrial on the central count.  The jury was unanimous, however, on the three counts of attempted murder, although the opted for the lesser charge of second degree, telling the state they believed the act was done in the heat of the moment, not as a premeditated plot to kill. They found him guilty for the “deadly missile” charge as well.  

The mandatory minimum sentence for second-degree murder in Florida is 20 years -- each.  Dunn would get 60 years in prison for the shots he fired that hurt no one, and he’d have to stand trial a second time to resolve the question surrounding the shot that took Jordan Davis’ life.

During the second trial, experienced public defender Waffa Hanania represented Dunn and worked methodically to convince the jury that “Jordan Davis escalated this situation until he ended up dead.” The jury didn’t buy it.  After a short deliberation, they gave the state exactly what they asked for: a guilty verdict for first degree murder.  The verdict meant that the jury didn’t just reject Dunn’s self-defense claim -- they felt that at some point in the argument, Dunn made a deliberate decision that he was going to kill Jordan Davis, and then he did.

Don West, veteran criminal defense lawyer and National Trial Counsel for CCW Safe said that the Dunn trial provides a “list of how not to act” as a concealed carrier.  Here’s a list of some of Dunn’s biggest mistakes:

When Dunn pulled into the convenience store, he heard the loud music. He could tell it was coming from the red Dodge Durango, and he chose to park right next to it anyway.  Had he chosen any other parking spot, Davis would be alive, and Dunn would be free.

Dunn chose to confront the teenagers in the SUV about their loud music.  While it was within his rights to so, a grown man shouldn’t be surprised that cocksure teens out with their friends might take umbrage at a request to turn down the radio. Dunn invited the argument that ensued.

Once Jordan Davis got angry and started shouting obscenities, Dunn could have disengaged.  He could have looked away or moved to a different parking spot. Instead, he rolled down his window and, stealing a line from Robert De Niro in the film Taxi Driver, he said, “Are you talking to me?”

Dunn told investigators, “I went over this a million times, and what I should have done is put the car in reverse . . . it was fight or flight. I don’t think there was any time for flight at that moment.”  Dunn did have enough time, however, to reach across the passenger seat, open the glove box, grab his holstered pistol, draw the weapon, and rack the gun before firing.

Dunn fired too many times.  The fact that the first jury failed to convict on murder says that the first round of bullets Dunn fired could have been considered justified.  But everyone agreed that the final burst of gunfire was without justification.

Dunn fled the scene and failed to report the shooting to investigators, Don West says there was no plausible scenario to explain why Dunn left the scene without reporting the shooting to authorities -- unless he had done something wrong.

Dunn spoke to police investigators without the advice of an attorney. His voluntary testimony was used against him in court.

Clearly there are many lessons here for the concealed carrier, but perhaps this is the most important: don’t confuse anger for fear. No one could present any solid evidence or witness testimony to bolster Michael Dunn’s claims that Jordan Davis produced a shotgun and was starting to get out of the SUV to attack him.  Without such evidence, combined with that fact that Dunn fled without calling the police, it must have appeared to most jurors that Dunn was inventing facts to justify the shooting.

The second jury, with their first degree conviction, said that Dunn’s actions amounted to pre-meditated murder.  Perhaps that’s true.  The jurors with dissenting votes on the first jury must have felt that Dunn’s fear could have been reasonable.  Perhaps that’s the truth.

Or perhaps the truth is somewhere in between, in a murky gray area where fear and anger mix.  Self-defense is a matter of life and death, but it’s not often black and white.  Should you ever find yourself suffering the tragedy of having to defend yourself with deadly force, people are going to look into your heart to determine whether its filled with fear or anger. Before you ever pull the trigger and take a life, you’d better be sure about what those people will find. 

 

IN SELF DEFENSE- THE HANDICAPPED SPOT SHOOTER- CLEARWATER, FLORIDA II

Michael Drejka, 47, has been charged with the July 19 death of Markeis McGlockton outside a Clearwater convenience store, Pinellas County State Attorney Bernie McCabe said. Drejka was being held at the county jail on $100,000 bail. It is unknown if he has an attorney.

This podcast is a follow up discussion on the topic since charges have been filed.  Don and Shawn discuss the case, and also introduce Mike Darter, co-founder and CEO of CCW Safe.