Florida Stand Your Ground analysis

Bruce M · 07-22-2012, 13:47

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/2...sed-often.html

Of 119 people who have used the stand your ground law some have been arrested a total of 327 times.

Gunnut 45/454 · 07-22-2012, 14:20

Bruce M
And what does being arrested have to do with shooting someone in self defense? Every American has the right to defend themselves!

Bruce M · 07-22-2012, 15:01

There is more to the article than just past arrests.

**RussP** · 07-22-2012, 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gunnut 45/454

Bruce M
And what does being arrested have to do with shooting someone in self defense? Every American has the right to defend themselves!

Did you read the article and the accompanying individual case descriptions?

What isn't said in the initial page of the article is the case outcome breakdown. Of the 119 cases where SYG was claimed or implied, there were 32 convictions, meaning SYG was not justified, 22 cases are still pending, and only 65 proved to be justified use of the law.

On the page showing the cases by victim, the first is a 9-year old killed during a gang shootout. One of the gang members claimed SYG. WTF?

You need to read the cases.

Chris Chris · 07-22-2012, 15:51

The SYG law is intended to allow a law-abiding Florida citizen who is in a place he/she has the legal right to be, and is acting in a lawful manner at the time, to defend themsleves if they are the victim of an unlawful attack that places them in emminent danger of death or serious bodily injury... WITHOUT THE LEGAL NEED TO FIRST RETREAT FROM THAT DEADLY THREAT.
They may meet that deadly threat to themselves or loved ones with the appropriate use of deadly force.

There is also a section about "preventing the commision of a forceable felony".. which does carry some legal hazards if used.

The law, basically says, you don't have to turn your back and run before you confront a deadly threat.

Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sure it has been wronglfully claimed as a 'defense' for illegal actions in the past. But, that's why we have courts and reviews.

unit1069 · 07-22-2012, 21:39

The Tampa paper didn't break down the specific number of arrests and I suspect a lot of those with past arrest records could include some individuals arrested dozens of times.

And wouldn't any decent lawyer representing a client try to use the best legal argument to win the case? I don't know how many times I've seen episodes of The First 48 where one gangbanger is attacking another gangbanger and the second one successfully defends himself, with the outcome being no prosecution due to the district attorney's office determining it self-defense.

The Florida media --- just like the national media --- are manipulating public opinion against the Second Amendment and Stand Your Ground statutes.

FireForged · 07-22-2012, 22:40

well of course the bad guys are going to claim SYG.. why not? Its not like the majority of offenders go into court and plead guilty to serious charges. These statistics mean nothing.

fuzzy03cls · 07-23-2012, 07:24

Quote:

Nothing more, nothing less. I'm sure it has been wronglfully claimed as a 'defense' for illegal actions in the past. But, that's why we have courts and reviews.

Or BS panels that see the need to cave into political BS to investigate the laws.

Patchman · 07-23-2012, 09:56

Quote:

All told, 119 people who are known to have killed someone have invoked “stand your ground.” Those people have been arrested 327 times in incidents involving violence, property crimes, drugs, weapons or probation violations. That does not include more than 100 traffic violations and other minor arrests not considered in the analysis.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/2...#storylink=cpy

Well, these ARE the people who would most likely need to defend themselves.

LoadToadBoss · 07-23-2012, 12:03

Louisiana law says that in order to use our SYG defense, you could not have been a bad actor in the situation that led to the need to use deadly force.

ranger1968 · 07-23-2012, 12:09

And the Florida law, which predates the ohter states, and which is the model that kmost of the others are based on, stipulates that the person must be engaged in a lawful activity for the law to apply;

It doesn't mean that people aren't going to try to claim self defense, it simply means that it's going to be rejected.

Patchman · 07-23-2012, 12:47

Drug dealers, violent criminals, whatever, aren't engaged in their job 24/7. They also hang around the house, watch TV, have BBQs, go shopping, surf the 'net and do a host of other legal activities.

In any 24 hour period, they're probably spending many, many more hours engaged in legal activities than not. No control over when their business rivals may decide to do a 'hostile takeover.'

What this study should have done (and maybe they did) is to also do a background on the "victims." Then compare the shooters' arrest records against the "victims'" histories and see if any correlation exists.

GlocknSpiehl · 07-23-2012, 13:16

That article was one of the most biased POS I've ever read. They tried to make it sound like people with many convictions and prison terms were using SYG while illegally armed to get off. Only when you get near the end of the article do they explain that the people they have been talking about may have been ARRESTED, none of them had ever been convicted of any crimes whatsoever and most had had charges dropped by the DA without ever going to court! If the article needed to blame someone, it should have taken on the DA's office for not prosecuting the SYG shooters for previous alleged criminal acts!

rvrctyrngr · 07-23-2012, 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlocknSpiehl

That article was one of the most biased POS I've ever read. They tried to make it sound like people with many convictions and prison terms were using SYG while illegally armed to get off. Only when you get near the end of the article do they explain that the people they have been talking about may have been ARRESTED, none of them had ever been convicted of any crimes whatsoever and most had had charges dropped by the DA without ever going to court! If the article needed to blame someone, it should have taken on the DA's office for not prosecuting the SYG shooters for previous alleged criminal acts!

Ummm....the Trib is not exactly known to be fair and balanced, brother!

The whole point of the article was to insinuate that SYG is used to let BGs off the hook. The numbers tell the true story.