Tampa Bay Times: Search the SYG Law Case Files

[The Blue Flower]

Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law" provides some shocking outcomes

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/florida-stand-your-ground-law-yields-some-shocking-outcomes-depending-on/1233133

Sorry, couldn't copy and paste on this computer.

[Just Saying]

1. Well yeah

This law has been used as a license for murder. More of a burden needs to be put on those who take a life to PROVE their story. They are not innocent if they killed someone and should not benefit from the fact that they got rid of possibly the only witness to their crime.

[RockaFowler]

2. Look at those stats

Among the findings:

• Those who invoke "stand your ground" to avoid prosecution have been extremely successful. Nearly 70 percent have gone free.

• Defendants claiming "stand your ground" are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a white.

• The number of cases is increasing, largely because defense attorneys are using "stand your ground" in ways state legislators never envisioned. The defense has been invoked in dozens of cases with minor or no injuries. It has also been used by a self-described "vampire" in Pinellas County, a Miami man arrested with a single marijuana cigarette, a Fort Myers homeowner who shot a bear and a West Palm Beach jogger who beat a Jack Russell terrier.

• People often go free under "stand your ground" in cases that seem to make a mockery of what lawmakers intended. One man killed two unarmed people and walked out of jail. Another shot a man as he lay on the ground. Others went free after shooting their victims in the back. In nearly a third of the cases the Times analyzed, defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim — and still went free.

• Similar cases can have opposite outcomes. Depending on who decided their cases, some drug dealers claiming self-defense have gone to prison while others have been set free. The same holds true for killers who left a fight, only to arm themselves and return. Shoot someone from your doorway? Fire on a fleeing burglar? Your case can swing on different interpretations of the law by prosecutors, judge or jury.

[spin]

4. I will agree that there are some ambiguities and confusion caused by the wording of the law. ...

Therefore the law needs a good rewrite.

[spin]

3. This Tampa Bay Times article is excellent and offers a interactive data base which enables ...

the reader to view all the "stand your ground" cases since 2005 when the law went into effect that the newspaper was able to find. You can sort the cases by the race of the victim or the defendant or both as well as gender.

For example the report shows 11 cases where a white person killed a black person. One defendant was convicted, six cases were ruled as justified and four are pending.

There were nine cases where a Black person killed a white person. Two were convicted, four were ruled as justified and three are pending.

There have been three cases where a Hispanic person killed a Black person. All three, including Zimmerman, were ruled as justified.

Fifty six cases involved a white person killing another white person. Twenty one of the shooters were convicted, 30 shootings were ruled as justified and five are pending.

Thirty one cases involved a black defendant killing a black victim. Nine resulted in a conviction, seventeen were ruled as justified and five are pending.

The report also includes non-fatal incidents.

Not all the cases involved firearms. In some cases a knife was used.

You can view a report on the individual case if you choose.

What amazes me most about the report is that in Florida where almost 1,000,000 citizens have a concealed weapons permit, The Tampa Bay Times was only able to uncover somewhere between 200 and 250 cases where "Stand Your Ground" was used as a defense. The newspaper included the Zimmerman/Martin shooting although it could be debated if this case involved "Stand Your Ground" or just self defense. Remember that we are talking about an 8 year period of time. I would have thought that there would have been at least double or triple the number of cases. In fact the media had convinced me that such incidents were so common that 200 to 250 cases A YEAR were occurring.

Roll your own results. The report is interesting and educational.
http://www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/fatal-cases