Gunman avoids a life sentence with 'stand your ground' defense in fatal 2020 shooting
WEST PALM BEACH — Carlos Hernandez crawled out of his Nissan, his legs paralyzed and dragging on the pavement behind him. His friend of 10 years remained in the passenger seat of the car, bleeding from a bullet wound to his back.
" 'I'm dying,' " Angel Vargas said, his last words repeated by Hernandez to jurors at a murder trial four years later.
Hernandez testified last week that he and Vargas drove to Lantana from Miami with $7,000 in hand and hopes of buying a truck from a man named Albert Clark. When the sale went sour, Hernandez said Clark lured them to a secluded parking lot and demanded the money anyway, killing one and wounding the other as they tried to drive away.
Clark testified that the opposite was true — that the men followed him to the empty lot after he called off the sale and trapped him there, giving him no choice but to draw his rifle and shoot.
His argument, given first to police, then years later to Circuit Judge Howard Coates, hadn't helped him avoid the charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. It did, however, make an impression with jurors.
Urged by prosecutors to find him guilty of murder, they convicted him of manslaughter instead. Their decision put an end to Clark's hope for an acquittal but spared him an automatic life sentence in prison, too.
The 'stand your ground' defense: They thought it would save them. Only once did a judge agree.
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Clark fought the murder charge at a trial once before this year. Before jurors could either convict or acquit him, one juror came down with COVID-19 and was ordered by a doctor not to return to court. The judge declared a mistrial, paving the way for this month's do-over.
Over the span of a week, prosecutors and Clark's team of public defenders offered competing versions of what happened on May 27, 2020. Both began in a crowded Kmart parking lot along Federal Highway, where Hernandez and Vargas met with Clark to inspect the Ford F-150 he had listed for sale online.
By all accounts, the sale did not go through — the reason remains in dispute.
According to Hernandez, he and Vargas decided against buying the truck because of how much rust was on the frame. Instead of parting ways, he said Clark suggested they follow him to his home 10 minutes away, where he said he had another car for sale.
Clark denied Hernandez’s account and told jurors that the men from Miami were adamant about buying his truck, rust and all. He said it was his decision to call off the deal, in part because of the "suspicious glances" he said they exchanged while inspecting the pickup.
Clark said Hernandez became angry and said he wanted the truck “right then and there,” motioning as though he had a gun concealed at his waist.
Assistant State Attorneys Marci Rex and Jo Wilenski maintain that this a lie — one of nearly 50 that Clark told police in the aftermath of the shooting. Investigators found no evidence that either Vargas or Hernandez was armed.
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Clark said he apologized to the men for wasting their time and told them he no longer wanted to conduct the sale. He got back into the truck and began to drive out of the parking lot, he said, alarmed when the men in the Nissan followed close behind.
Certain that the men behind him intended to take his truck by force, Clark said he drove several blocks before making a sharp turn into what he thought was a gas station where he could find help.
It was an empty lot, deserted and encircled with an overgrown fence. Prosecutors pointed out that Clark passed several populated parking lots where he could have sought help before turning into the deserted one.
He wasn’t fleeing from the men, Rex said. He was luring them there.
Shooter initially lied to police, hurting his defense
Hernandez, too, maintained that he and Vargas were victims, not aggressors. Once they pulled into the empty lot behind Clark, Hernandez said Clark stepped out of his truck and aimed a gun at their Nissan.
"Give me your money," Hernandez said Clark told him before firing three times into the back of their car.
Shot and paralyzed, Hernandez said he threw a Prada bag containing the $7,000 they'd brought to buy the truck on the ground. He said Clark scooped up the bag and then fled in his truck.
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A person riding a bike saw Hernandez crawling across the gravel and called 911. While first responders worked to save the two men's lives, Clark returned to his home in West Palm Beach and began playing video games. It was the wrong choice, Clark said later.
When police arrived at his home at 1 a.m. and began to pat him down, Clark fled on foot — another bad choice, but one Public Defender Carey Haughwout said was born out of fear, not guilt.
About 90 minutes later, Clark called 911 and turned himself in. Even then, he wasn't cooperative, telling officers he didn't own a gun and had been home all evening.
Had he known about self-defense laws in Florida, Clark said he would have called the police immediately after shooting into the Nissan. Instead, the Ohio native said he began to mull over the “stand your ground” notion during his police interrogation.
Investigators never recovered the money, nor the Prada bag, that Hernandez said Clark stole from him. Prosecutors theorized that he hid the cash during his 90-minute run from police, but jurors ultimately found him not guilty of armed robbery.
For the charges of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and shooting into an occupied vehicle that they did convict him of, he faces up to 35 years in prison. Coates is scheduled to sentence him on May 23.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Jurors deem Florida fatal shooting to be manslaughter, not murder
