Stand Your Ground probe: One third of people got away with killing after they started fight and more

[ck4829]

The Tampa Bay Times combed through more than 200 "stand your ground" self-defense cases in Florida to find that the new defense has worked even in cases where the suspect shot his or her victim in the back.

Florida's "stand your ground" law was passed in 2005. It goes beyond most states' self-defense statutes because it says that people in public places do not have a duty to attempt to retreat, if possible, before using deadly force if they feel threatened. In the high-profile shooting case of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman must prove only that he had a right to be where he was when he shot Martin and that he had a reasonable belief that he could suffer great harm or die by Martin's hand. (Zimmerman alleges that Martin beat him up after Zimmerman got out of his car to follow him. He's charged with second-degree murder.)

In 200 Florida cases where the "stand your ground" defense was invoked, 70 percent of defendants were let go, according to the Tampa Bay Times. These included cases where the defendant had shot someone in the back, or while the victim was lying down.

In a third of "stand your ground" defenses, the defendant started the fight that ended in the shooting and still went free. Read the whole investigation at the Tampa Bay Times site.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/stand-ground-legal-defenses-worked-florida-cases-where-183345434.html

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

Hey Florida, why not just cut out the middleman and legalize dueling?

[TheWraith]

1. Not this shit again...

"It goes beyond most states' self-defense statutes because it says that people in public places do not have a duty to attempt to retreat"

Wrong. 40+ states have no duty to retreat in their self defense laws, and Florida's is in no way broader than the rest.

"before using deadly force if they feel threatened"

This is simply an outright lie. There is nothing in Florida's self defense law, or that of ANY OTHER STATE, about "feeling threatened." The specific criteria is whether one has a reasonable belief--defined as what any theoretical reasonable person would feel in the same circumstances--that they are at risk of imminent death or severe bodily harm.

[AndyTiedye]

3. Some doozies from that article

• An 18-year-old felon, convicted of cocaine and weapons charges, shot and wounded a neighbor in the stomach, then fled the scene and was involved in another nonfatal shootout two days later, according to police. He was granted immunity in the first shooting.

Anthony Gonzalez Jr. was part of a 2010 drug deal that went sour when someone threatened Gonzalez with a gun. Gonzalez chased the man down and killed him during a high-speed gunbattle through Miami streets.

Before the "stand your ground'' law, Miami-Dade prosecutors would have had a strong murder case because Gonzalez could have retreated instead of chasing the other vehicle. But Gonzalez's lawyer argued he had a right to be in his car, was licensed to carry a gun and thought his life was in danger.

…

[GreenStormCloud]

2. From the same article you linked:

The new law only requires law enforcement and the justice system to ask three questions in self-defense cases: Did the defendant have the right to be there? Was he engaged in a lawful activity? Could he reasonably have been in fear of death or great bodily harm?

If I someplace that I have a legal right to be, and am engaged in a lawful activity, then why should I be required by law to obey a thug who threatens me? Thugs need to learn that it can be very dangerous to threaten citizens.