Articles Posted in Violent Crimes

Much has been made of the Florida Stand Your Ground law since it made national news with the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. The Florida Stand Your Ground law generally stands for the idea that a person can use force to protect him/herself or another from the imminent threat of unlawful force by another person. A person can use deadly force to protect him/herself or another if he/she reasonably believes the other person is going to use imminent deadly force or commit a forcible felony. Essentially, it is a self defense law that allows a person to protect him/herself or another in situations where the law indicates it is reasonable and necessary. One difference between the Stand Your Ground law in Florida and self defense claims is that the Stand Your Ground law is an immunity from prosecution rather than a defense at trial. This means if a defendant has a successful Stand Your Ground law claim, the judge should throw the case out and it would never go to trial.

However, there are some cases where a defendant does not have the right to assert the Florida Stand Your Ground law immunity. In a recent case south of Jacksonville, Florida, the defendant was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm. The defendant claimed that two men rushed at him in a threatening manner while he was on his front porch so he pulled a gun and shot one of them.

The criminal defense lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the charges under the Stand Your Ground law because the defendant was in reasonable fear of serious injury from these two men. However, the Florida Stand Your Ground law contemplates a person who is “not engaged in an unlawful activity.” This defendant was a convicted felon, and he had a gun on him prior to shooting the alleged attacker. Possessing a gun as a convicted felon is considered “unlawful activity” under the Stand Your Ground law. As a result, the defendant’s unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon precluded him from asserting the Stand Your Ground law immunity claim. The defendant could still assert a defense at trial that he was justified in shooting the other person, but that defense must be made at trial to be decided upon by a jury. It cannot be made before the trial in an attempt to dismiss the charges in a Stand Your Ground law motion.

In addition to the regular crimes of violence from a misdemeanor like battery to a more serious felony like aggravated assault, there is a specific crime in Florida that deals with injuries to an elderly person. What would normally be a misdemeanor battery could become a more serious felony charge if the victim is considered an “elderly person” under the Florida law.

Abuse of an elderly person occurs when a person intentionally causes a physical or psychological injury to an elderly person. The crime can occur even where no injury takes place if the suspect commits an act that could reasonably be expected to result in a physical or psychological injury to an elderly person. In either case, the suspect can be charged with a third degree felony which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. If the suspect’s act causes a serious injury to an elderly person, the crime becomes a first degree felony which can carry a maximum penalty of up to thirty years in prison.

An elderly person is defined as a person 60 years of age or older who is suffering from the infirmities of aging or other physical or mental problems to the extent that the person’s ability to take care of, or protect, him/herself is impaired. If the state files an abuse of the elderly charge, the state must prove more than the fact that the victim was at least 60 years old. The state must also prove that the victim was impaired in his/her ability to take care of himself. There was a recent case of a 75 year old man who was robbed and beaten but the charge against the defendant was dropped because the state merely provided evidence of the victim’s age without any evidence of the victim’s health and ability to take care of himself.

The Florida Stand Your Ground Law has received national attention over the last several months because of the George Zimmerman case. The Florida Stand Your Ground Law was enacted in 2005 and provides immunity for defendants who qualify under the law. This immunity is not a defense at trial, but rather it is a way to avoid prosecution for a crime. The criminal defense lawyer representing a defendant who is asserting the Stand Your Ground Law immunity can file a motion with the judge and if successful, the case against him/her is dropped. The case never gets to a jury. At that hearing, the standard of proof is less than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard people are familiar with in criminal cases that go to a jury.

The Florida Stand Your Ground Law gives immunity from prosecution to a defendant who used force in a legally justifiable manner. Generally, a person is allowed to use force if he/she reasonably believes it is necessary to defend himself or another against the alleged victim’s unlawful and imminent use of force.

One factor that would disqualify a person from attempting the Stand Your Ground Law immunity is if the defendant was doing something unlawful to begin with. For example, if the defendant was burglarizing someone’s home and the homeowner came out and threatened his life, the defendant could not assert the Stand Your Ground immunity if the defendant used force against the homeowner.

The Florida Stand Your Ground Law has received a lot of attention over the last few months. When a criminal defense attorney tries to utilize the Florida Stand Your Ground law, the criminal defense attorney is alleging the defendant is immune from prosecution under the law. In other words, the criminal defense lawyer is arguing that the state cannot prosecute the defendant because the Florida Stand Your Ground law says the defendant’s conduct was justified under the law and the case must be dismissed.

In a recent case south of Jacksonville, Florida, the defendant was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after he shot the victim. Apparently, the defendant was a security guard at a club. Some guys left the club with beers, and the defendant told them they could not leave the club with beers. The guys concealed the beers and started drinking in the parking lot. The defendant confronted the guys about drinking in the parking lot. At some point, the victim became hostile, and the other guys started to surround the defendant. The victim threw a full beer bottle at the defendant and missed. He then grabbed a second beer bottle to throw at the defendant. At this point, the defendant shot the victim several times. The defendant called 911 and stayed at the scene until the police arrived.

The state charged the defendant with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon based on these facts. The criminal defense lawyer moved to dismiss the case arguing that the defendant was justified in using deadly force as he was reasonably in fear of death or serious bodily injury or being the victim of a forcible felony. The court agreed with the defendant and dismissed the case. The court found that the defendant was reasonably in fear of being hit by a full beer bottle, which could be a forcible felony. The defendant was also reasonably in fear of serious bodily injury or worse. If the victim hit him with the beer bottle and knocked him down, the victim and his friends could have taken his gun or otherwise caused him serious injury. As a result, the court found that the Florida Stand Your Ground law applied and dismissed the case.

In a recent case just south of Jacksonville, Florida, a defendant was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and the alleged deadly weapons were plastic broomsticks. After a trial on the aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge, the jury convicted him. In Florida, a person commits an aggravated battery if he/she touches or strikes a person without authorization with a deadly weapon. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. That is quite serious for touching a person with an object when “deadly weapon” is not defined by the Florida statute.

In this case, the deadly weapon consisted of two plastic broomsticks. Because “deadly weapon” is not defined by the Florida statute, the police, and then a prosecutor and then a jury all determined plastic broomsticks were sufficient to meet the definition of “deadly weapon.” At the aggravated battery trial, the prosecutor did not bring the broomsticks to the trial and introduce them into evidence so the jury never saw them. The prosecutor did not even show the jury pictures of the broomsticks. Apparently, the only evidence about the broomsticks was witness testimony that they were flimsy, bent and easily broken after one or two usages. There was even testimony that the broomsticks could not hurt anyone seriously.

The criminal defense lawyer moved for a judgment of acquittal after this evidence. While the Florida statute is vague about what constitutes a “deadly weapon”, in order to prove the crime of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant used an object that will likely cause death or great bodily harm when used in its ordinary manner. Under this definition, which was created by the courts, obvious examples include guns and knives. However, an assortment of other objects can be considered deadly weapons if they are used in a way that is likely to cause great bodily injury or death. On the other hand, many objects cannot be considered deadly weapons because they cannot cause great bodily injury or death when used in their ordinary manner. Flimsy, plastic broomsticks that break easily would seem to fall into this latter category. However, for some reason, the judge and the jury disagreed, and the defendant was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for hitting the victim with the plastic broomsticks.

In Florida, false imprisonment is a felony crime. False imprisonment is normally a third degree felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. However, the charge can become much more serious if the victim is under 13 years of age and the child is seriously injured or sexually abused.

In Florida, false imprisonment is defined as restraining another person against his/her will by force, threat or secretly confining him/her. This can cover a lot of different scenarios. Another important thing to note is that the false imprisonment does not need to involve a confined space, such as a locked room. Additionally, the false imprisonment does not need to take place over a long period of time. There is no set time limit for a false imprisonment crime to be complete.

In a recent case west of Jacksonville, Florida, a defendant was convicted of false imprisonment after he got into an argument with his girlfriend and ultimately knocked her to the floor and using his weight to pin her down.

With the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case getting so much attention along with the Florida Stand Your Ground law, we thought we would provide some examples of how the law works in practice. This is the second example we have discussed of a case where the Florida Stand Your Ground law was applied to give a defendant immunity from prosecution for a violent crime. The Florida Stand Your Ground law, when it applies, is a defense to a violent crime charge and gives the defendant immunity from prosecution. This means that the criminal defense lawyer can raise this issue in a motion with the judge and if successful, have the judge throw the case out so it never gets to a jury trial.

In this recent case near Jacksonville, Florida, the defendant was charged with aggravated battery, but the criminal defense lawyer was able to have the judge throw the case out based on immunity from the Florida Stand Your Ground law. In this case, the defendant and the alleged victim were arguing and ultimately got into a fight with each other. At some point during the fight, the defendant stopped fighting and retreated. At the defendant retreated, the alleged victim attempted to forcibly take a briefcase belonging to the defendant’s friend. The two began fighting over the briefcase again, and the defendant stabbed the alleged victim with a knife.

Under the Florida Stand Your Ground law, a person has a right to use deadly force if he/she reasonably believes the other person is about to cause death or bodily injury to him/her or to prevent the other person from committing a forcible felony. It did not appear that the alleged victim was about to use deadly force against the defendant, but the alleged victim was in the process of committing a forcible felony- a robbery. As a result, the defendant was authorized to use deadly force against the alleged victim to prevent the alleged victim from committing the robbery, which is considered a forcible felony in Florida.

The Florida Stand Your Ground law is getting a lot of national attention recently as a result of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case. The Florida Stand Your Ground law and justifiable use of force laws provide as follows: 1) a person can use nondeadly force when he/she reasonably believes it is necessary to defend him/herself against another’s imminent use of unlawful force, and 2) A person can use deadly force is he/she reasonably believes it is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to him/herself or another person or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. In these cases, the person does not have to retreat before using deadly force.

In other words, if a person reasonably thinks he/she is about to be the victim of nondeadly violence, he can use nondeadly violence against the other person. If a person reasonably thinks he/she is about to get killed or seriously injured by another, he/she can use deadly force against that other person to prevent it.

A person has greater protection if the incident occurs in his/her own home. Florida law provides that a person in his/her home is presumed to be in reasonable fear and in a position to legally defend him/herself if the other person is unlawfully entering his/her home.

In Florida, the crime of animal cruelty can either be a misdemeanor or a felony. Felonies are more serious and carry maximum punishments greater than one year in prison while misdemeanors carry maximum punishments of no more than one year. In Florida, misdemeanor animal cruelty is committed by killing, tormenting, depriving of food and water or unnecessarily mutilating an animal. The wording of misdemeanor animal cruelty clearly covers a lot of bad conduct that one might inflict upon an animal. In order for felony animal cruelty to apply, a person must cause a “cruel death” of an animal or cause excessive or repeated suffering to an animal.

There is generally a big difference between a felony charge and a misdemeanor charge. However, there is some overlap in the language of the two levels of animal cruelty. If a person torments an animal and/or deprives it of food to cause its death, that clearly would be a misdemeanor under the above language. However, it also could be considered repeated or excessive suffering or a cruel death, which would make it a felony.

When such an act of animal cruelty occurs, how does one know if the misdemeanor or felony charge is more appropriate? It is typically up to the police officer and the prosecutor. They make the decisions as to the charge for which the defendant is arrested and what charge is filed. As we have seen in Jacksonville, Florida, the police and the prosecutors typically err on the side of the more serious felony charge. In fact, we have seen cases where people kill animals by shooting them, resulting in quick deaths, and the felony charge is filed. These acts would seem to clearly fall within the misdemeanor animal cruelty definition, but the more serious felony charge is filed because people suspected of committing animal cruelty resulting in the death of an animal do not often get the benefit of the doubt.