Stand Your Ground Law

Stand your Ground Law

Introduction:

In light of recent events, the state of Florida has been under media scrutiny because of their controversial Stand your Ground law even though, it isn’t the only state to have such a law, it seems that this law comes under fire a lot in this state.

The stand your ground law states “a person may justifiably use force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of an unlawful threat, without an obligation to retreat first.” It is unclear whether this applies to all unlawfully occupied locations. This law is tied to the “Castle Doctrine” which states “a person has no duty to retreat when their home is under attack”.

I will start by presenting two different cases where the Stand your Ground law was one of the main factors and the effects on Florida crime rate.

The Marissa Alexander case

Back in August 2010, Marissa Alexander, a mother of three was attacked in her home by her husband Rico Gray due to suspicion of infidelity on her part. Her husband was allegedly strangling her so, when she managed to get out of his grip, she ran to the garage and got her gun. She returned in the house with the firearm and threatened to kill her husband, to prove her point, she let off a warning shot into the air. Gray left quickly with their two children in tow. Despite no one being hurt in the incident, Alexander was detained faced charges for three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The Stand your Ground role: in attempt to beat the charges, Alexander’s attorney filed a motion for dismissal under the stand your ground law. Even though her husband backed up most of her story, he is quoted saying “I told her if she ever cheated on me, I would kill her”, admitting to have been physically abusing Alexander. Even going as far as saying, “If my kids wouldn’t have been there I would’ve probably put my hands on her.” During the disposition, Gray lied saying “I begged & pleaded for my life when she had the gun”. Which resulted in the denial of the motion by the judge, Alexander was offered a plea deal but refused it, opting to go to trial. Within twelve minutes, a jury found her guilty.

In this case, we can see that even though there were all the factors needed to use the stand your ground law, Alexander was still sentenced to twenty years in Duval County Jacksonville prison, in Florida, on the 11th of May 2012.

The Trayvon Martin case

On February 26th 2012, occurred the fatal shooting of a seventeen year old named Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman who was the neighborhood watch in the gated community where Martin was staying temporarily. Beforehand, Zimmerman driving in his vehicle noticed Martin walking in the community with a hooded sweatshirt in the rain with his hands in his pocket and found the behavior suspicious. He phoned 911 while pursuing the teenager after the phone call ended, Zimmerman confronted Martin and there was struggle. Martin was shot fatally in the chest at close range. When police & EMTs arrived on the scene, Zimmerman was detained for five hours in which he was questioned and then released without charged.

The Stand your ground role: in this case, Zimmerman was not charged

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