Ex-prosecutor claims stand your ground in Howard Frankland stabbing

The former federal prosecutor charged with stabbing another driver after a traffic crash on the Howard Frankland Bridge plans to use Florida’s stand your ground self-defense law in a bid to have the case dismissed.

A court paper filed late Wednesday in the case of Patrick Scruggs formally declares his intent to claim immunity from prosecution under the controversial law.

On the books since 2005, the stand your ground law extended self-defense in Florida by removing what’s known as the “duty to retreat” when a person is faced with the threat of a violent confrontation. It permits the use of deadly force in situations where a person reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm.

If a judge determines that a case meets the criteria for the law, the defendant will be declared immune from prosecution. The law received strong support from the National Rifle Association when it passed.

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Scruggs, 40, is a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa. He was arrested in September 2023 after a bizarre chain of events amid morning rush-hour traffic on the bridge, which spans Old Tampa Bay.

It all started when Blake Sharp, who was driving a Lexus, stopped in traffic and slumped over into the passenger seat, according to court records. A fellow driver, Ahmed Gahaf, saw him and pulled over to try to help.

Sharp didn’t immediately respond and seemed to be impaired, according to the court paper. As Gahaf walked to get a tool to break the window, Sharp suddenly sped forward, crashing into the back of his car. He then backed up before veering into a left lane, where he collided with Scruggs’ Honda Civic, the paper states.

Scruggs got out, carrying a small pocketknife. The court paper states that he intended to use it to break Sharp’s car window. Sharp wouldn’t respond when Scruggs told him to get out, the paper states.

Sharp appeared “heavily intoxicated,” the paper states. His speech was slurred, his eyes dilated, his demeanor disoriented.

Scruggs found the car door locked, then used the back of the knife to shatter the window. As he reached to turn the car off, a struggle ensued. Sharp tried to accelerate, the paper states. It was then that Scruggs stabbed him several times in his arm.

As Gahaf spoke with a 911 call taker, the court paper states, Scruggs shouted into the phone, “He’s bleeding! I just stabbed him! He needs an ambulance!”

Scruggs was cooperative when police arrived.

He was taken to jail and booked on aggravated battery and other charges.

His attorneys, John Nohlgren and Lee Pearlman, argue in the court paper that Scruggs feared not only for his own safety, but for that of the general public. They argue that Sharp was trying to flee the crash scene because he had multiple arrest warrants. He is currently serving a two-year state prison sentence for a Hernando County battery conviction.

Scruggs, the paper states, believed Sharp might endanger others if he drove away recklessly.

In pretrial testimony, Sharp denied he was trying to flee the scene of the crash. He claimed that his behavior that morning was due to a diabetic emergency. Scruggs’ attorneys, though, noted medical records showing his blood sugar levels were normal. They suggested that he may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“(Scruggs) intervened to stop Mr. Sharp’s efforts to flee the scene,” the attorneys wrote. “If (he) had not done so, (he) and other morning commuters would have been in danger had the intoxicated Mr. Sharp been permitted to careen down the crowded Howard Frankland Bridge and beyond. Under these circumstances, (his) use of force was reasonable and necessary to protect against the threat of great bodily harm against himself and others.”

The case is set for a routine court hearing Wednesday, at which a judge will likely set a date for the state and defense to argue the stand your ground request.

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