http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...rgument-over-handicap-parking-space_170174041
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced Friday that his agency will not arrest a man deputies say shot and killed another man during an argument over a handicap parking space.
The incident falls under Florida’s self-defense law known as "stand your ground," the sheriff said during a news conference. The law gives immunity to those in fear of their lives who use force to defend themselves.
The shooting "is within the bookends of ‘stand your ground’ and within the bookends of force being justified," the sheriff said, later adding, "I’m not saying I agree with it, but I don’t make that call."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin...lockton-trayvon-david-whitley-0723-story.html
But here’s the complicated part.
The store owner said Drejka regularly hassled people for parking in handicapped spaces. So it could also be reasonable to assume Drejka was looking for trouble.
Does Florida’s Stand Your Ground law facilitate such thinking?
Is it too easy to bait somebody into making them fear for their life?
The law was changed in 2017, shifting the burden from defendants to prosecutors to prove whether self-defense claims are justified. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri took pains to point that out when he announced his office “cannot make an arrest.”
sigh...seems if you are the instigator you can still call the shooting event where you injure or take a life an ‘i feared for my life’ yada yada yada, and walk scott free!
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced Friday that his agency will not arrest a man deputies say shot and killed another man during an argument over a handicap parking space.
The incident falls under Florida’s self-defense law known as "stand your ground," the sheriff said during a news conference. The law gives immunity to those in fear of their lives who use force to defend themselves.
The shooting "is within the bookends of ‘stand your ground’ and within the bookends of force being justified," the sheriff said, later adding, "I’m not saying I agree with it, but I don’t make that call."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin...lockton-trayvon-david-whitley-0723-story.html
But here’s the complicated part.
The store owner said Drejka regularly hassled people for parking in handicapped spaces. So it could also be reasonable to assume Drejka was looking for trouble.
Does Florida’s Stand Your Ground law facilitate such thinking?
Is it too easy to bait somebody into making them fear for their life?
The law was changed in 2017, shifting the burden from defendants to prosecutors to prove whether self-defense claims are justified. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri took pains to point that out when he announced his office “cannot make an arrest.”
sigh...seems if you are the instigator you can still call the shooting event where you injure or take a life an ‘i feared for my life’ yada yada yada, and walk scott free!
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