The unintended consequences spawned
by the vague and amorphous “Stand Your Ground” law passed in 2005 by the
Florida legislature are not lost on state prosecutors. Palm Beach State
Attorney Michael Michael McAuliffe told me, via e-mail:
In 2007, our office prosecuted
defendant Robert Smiley for first-degree murder with a firearm. The sole
disputed issue was self-defense. The defense attorney filed a motion for
pre-trial dismissal based on the “Stand Your Ground” law. In that case, the 4th
DCA ruled that the issue of duty to retreat should be decided by a jury because
the “Stand Your Ground” law was not in effect at the time the case was
commenced. Our office moved forward with the prosecution. Subsequently, the
factual matters of self-defense were hotly debated between the jury members and
they were unable to reach a verdict. Our office chose to re-try the case. Again, a jury was unable to reach a verdict.
(Ultimately the defendant entered a guilty to manslaughter pursuant to a plea
agreement). The confusion that can
surround the “Stand Your Ground” law makes for difficult hurdles even in cases
where we have violent, aggressive conduct.
The law has the great potential to be misapplied and could well protect
violent criminals in specific cases.
Palm Beach homicide prosecutor Kirk
Volker of the Major Violent Crimes Division, with similar reservations, wrote:
In a close case, the new
instruction can be very difficult for the state to overcome. In the two cases that I tried, the defendants
went way beyond what was reasonable under the circumstances, in their use of
deadly force, and so, the instruction did not end up being too difficult for
the state to overcome.
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