Cases where deadly force has been used - and self-defense is claimed - are drawing publicity and intense public reaction.
Florida is the epicenter of controversy. The Tampa Bay Times is analyzing cases where shooters explicitly claimed an SYG defense. Its conclusion:
Seven years since it was passed, Florida's "stand your ground" law is being invoked with unexpected frequency, in ways no one imagined, to free killers and violent attackers whose self-defense claims seem questionable at best.Part 1 of this Study Series on the Use of Deadly Force covered early common law principles (i.e. law from court decisions as opposed to being decreed in the legislature's statutes) of self-defense.Cases with similar facts show surprising — sometimes shocking — differences in outcomes. If you claim "stand your ground" as the reason you shot someone, what happens to you can depend less on the merits of the case than on who you are, whom you kill and where your case is decided.
• 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. ...
Part 2 covered the evolution of self-defense and described Stand Your Ground statutes, now the law in more than two dozen states. This Part 3 discusses cases with variations on the themes.
Once again: These diaries resort to broad generalizations. State laws vary significantly. Given cases are dependent on the facts of each situation, not to mention the prosecutor, judge and jury. That said ...
... let's talk about real life-and-death cases and trials beneath that funny little orange whatever.
