Sorry folks, but when you initiate the fight you can’t claim “stand your ground” as a defense – PB/TK
Why Florida judge rejected the ‘stand your ground’ defense in movie shooting – David Iaconangelo March 11 2017
A retired Tampa Bay police captain will face second-degree murder and aggravated battery charges after a judge rejected his petition to dismiss the case based on Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
Curtis Reeves Jr., the former officer, was involved in a 2014 dispute with Chad Oulson at a suburban Tampa theater, over Mr. Oulson’s use of a cell phone during previews of the movie “Lone Survivor.” His trial date has not yet been set.
The ruling comes as Florida’s state senate prepares to vote on a bill that would force prosecutors to prove that a defendant was not acting in self-defense before cases are brought to trial. That would shift the burden of proof away from defendants, putting Florida at the vanguard of the two dozen states with laws permitting the use of force in self-defense – in some cases, deadly force – in confrontations where a person “fears death or great bodily harm.”
Mr. Reeves had argued that the dispute had quickly become a “life-or-death struggle,” claiming that Mr. Oulson had struck him with either his fist or cell phone and cornered him in his seat, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
But Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Susan Barthle rejected that account, finding that surveillance video clearly countered Reeves’ claims of being hit or menaced by Oulson. Reeves appeared to have “initiated contact with the alleged victim on at least three occasions.”
Continue to csmonitor.com article: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2017/0311/Why-Florida-judge-rejected-the-stand-your-ground-defense-in-movie-shooting
