The Tampa Bay Times formerly The St. Petersburg Times has completed an unprecedented comprehensive investigative piece on Florida's 'stand your ground' law. The Tampa Bay Times has identified nearly 200 "stand your ground'' cases and their outcomes. The Times identified cases through media reports, court records and dozens of interviews with prosecutors and defense attorneys across the state. The results are stunning and reveal that even with cases with similar facts if you plead 'stand your ground' as defense what happens to you depends less on the merits of the case then on who you are, whom you kill and where your case is decided.

The controversial 'stand your ground' law has been in effect since 2005 when Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Florida Statute 776.013. It says a person “has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground” if he or she thinks deadly force is necessary to prevent death, great bodily harm or commission of a forcible felony like robbery. The law is receiving new scrutiny after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, by a Hispanic neighborhood watch captain.

I encourage you to read the entire piece in the Tampa Bay Times. Best work I've seen on the "stand your ground" law and the Trayvon Martin case.



Among the findings: • 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. The defense has been invoked in dozens of cases with minor or no injuries. [...] • People often go free under "stand your ground" in cases that seem to make a mockery of what lawmakers intended. [...] In nearly a third of the cases the Times analyzed, defendants initiated the fight, shot an unarmed person or pursued their victim — and still went free. • Similar cases can have opposite outcomes. Depending on who decided their cases,[...]. • A comprehensive analysis of "stand your ground" decisions is all but impossible. When police and prosecutors decide not to press charges, they don't always keep records showing how they reached their decisions. [...]



Criminologists say that when people with guns get the message they have a right to stand and fight, rather than retreat, the threshold for using that gun goes down. All too often, Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney for Pinellas-Pasco counties, sees the result. "I see cases where I'll think, 'This person didn't really need to kill that person but the law, as it is written, justifies their action,' " Bartlett said about incidents that his office decides not to prosecute due to "stand your ground." "It may be legally within the boundaries. But at the end of the day, was it really necessary?"

With the get out of jail free card "stand your ground" claims have increased, so too has the number of Floridians with guns. Concealed weapons permits now stand at 1.1 million, three times as many as in 2005 when the law was passed.Thanks to the Tampa Bay Times, an independent non-profit news source for their diligence and thoroughness in completing this comprehensive investigative project.



photo by MySouthSideStand