Interesting "Stand Your Ground" Develpoment


B2Tall

Stirrer of the Pot
This one is going to be good and ties into what has been discussed on this forum numerous times.

In Miami yesterday a legal gun-carrier shot and wounded a lone unarmed man who apparently began a physical confrontation with him. Several things to consider:

1. The shooter was with his family including small children.
2. The alleged agressor apparently "made contact" with the children. That's what was said in the news report. No specifics given on that.
3. The shooter is an adult male in his early 30s (as was the "shootee").

And now for the most interesting part.....

4. The shooter is a retired deputy who was shot in the head while on duty 4+ years ago and had a long road to recovery.

Personally I don't think he'll be charged with anything, mostly because of #4 and a sympathetic police force/DA's office who'll probably give him the benefit of the doubt. Of course the words "disabled" or "post traumatic stress" could be tossed around (by a defense lawyer) with regards to the injuries he suffered if LE did start to go deeper with their investigation.

Other than #4, #2 is the most interesting aspect of this incident. Did he threaten his kids?? Was there physical contact with the kids and was it intentional or a result of the struggle between the 2 adults? I'll follow this one with great interest.
 

Hard to give an educated opinion with so much data missing.

I doubt sympathie will enter into this decision. The law should be followed regardless of this.
 
Hard to give an educated opinion with so much data missing.

I doubt sympathie will enter into this decision. The law should be followed regardless of this.

"Should" being the operative word. The most interesting thing about this is the presence of (and perceived threat to) the children. If the shooter had been alone then I think he might be in some serious trouble.
 
We do not have all the information I am sure. All the stories seem to agree that the ex-officer was retired from an "in the line of duty" injury. As he can not function as an officer due to physical limitations I am going to make one assumption. Disparity of force made this a clean shoot.
 
Witnesses, witnesses, witnesses. Still missing info but it would seem that in an ice cream parlor with his kids there were others there including the people who work there that can back up the aggressive behaviour of the shootee and validate the shooter's action. I would hope that being an LEO, who was injured on the job, had nothing to do with the final decision not should it ever have been the case.
 
We do not have all the information I am sure. All the stories seem to agree that the ex-officer was retired from an "in the line of duty" injury. As he can not function as an officer due to physical limitations I am going to make one assumption. Disparity of force made this a clean shoot.

I believe he did retire because of disability. It was a big story here back in '07. Apparently he tried very hard to resume his duties but was unable to. I'm not sure of the extent of his disability nor how it would affect his every day life or his ability to defend himself w/o a gun.
 
Retired BSO Deputy Will Not Be Charged In Shooting « CBS Miami

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I believe he did retire because of disability. It was a big story here back in '07. Apparently he tried very hard to resume his duties but was unable to. I'm not sure of the extent of his disability nor how it would affect his every day life or his ability to defend himself w/o a gun.

The man who was shot was known to bother other people in the area with apparent impunity. He messed with the wrong person this time and, being disabled, the former LEO probably feared for his life and the others with him, especially the children. I can't fault him for shooting the guy.
 
The man who was shot was known to bother other people in the area with apparent impunity. He messed with the wrong person this time and, being disabled, the former LEO probably feared for his life and the others with him, especially the children. I can't fault him for shooting the guy.

It is interesting that this guy had issues in the past, yet is at an ice cream parlor bothering people again. And while I wish someone would have been able to help the guy with his issues, assuming he wanted help, it doesn't give him free reign to bother people or their families.

However if you are stupid enough to mess with someones family, then... Stupid should hurt!
 
The man who was shot was known to bother other people in the area with apparent impunity. He messed with the wrong person this time and, being disabled, the former LEO probably feared for his life and the others with him, especially the children. I can't fault him for shooting the guy.

I have no problem with it either. Glad he's not being charged with anything. I hope there won't be any civil suit involved.
 
Messing with someone's family and you are disabled, IMO, does not give you the right to kill someone based on disparity of force. If you are going to say all these things and leave out "imminent danger" than, you are telling me that it is OK, if I am disabled, to shoot people who do not quite have both oars in the water and "slobber" all over my kid. I assume that this story has a considerable amount of "hands on" and other aggressive acts by this homeless guy, particularly regarding the retired police officer's children. I may not have young children anymore, but I do know if someone decides to put their hands on my wife I will intercede and if it rises to a level of my presumption of imminent danger (he knocks her down and punches her) alter ego will allow me to see that he does not ever do this again to anyone. Again, I think timing and place play into this--if in public, I would assume that there are people around who will "do something", in addition to myself--if in a closed area where we are alone, it will rise to another level of imminent danger.
 
Messing with someone's family and you are disabled, IMO, does not give you the right to kill someone based on disparity of force. If you are going to say all these things and leave out "imminent danger" than, you are telling me that it is OK, if I am disabled, to shoot people who do not quite have both oars in the water and "slobber" all over my kid. I assume that this story has a considerable amount of "hands on" and other aggressive acts by this homeless guy, particularly regarding the retired police officer's children. I may not have young children anymore, but I do know if someone decides to put their hands on my wife I will intercede and if it rises to a level of my presumption of imminent danger (he knocks her down and punches her) alter ego will allow me to see that he does not ever do this again to anyone. Again, I think timing and place play into this--if in public, I would assume that there are people around who will "do something", in addition to myself--if in a closed area where we are alone, it will rise to another level of imminent danger.
You can hope someone else would help but remember, this is Miami. Many would just turn the other way. Having disabilities like he has could very well kill him with just one blow to the head. It wasn't just verbal, it had risen to physical force. No sorrow felt for the person who started it.
 
Messing with someone's family and you are disabled, IMO, does not give you the right to kill someone based on disparity of force. If you are going to say all these things and leave out "imminent danger" than, you are telling me that it is OK, if I am disabled, to shoot people who do not quite have both oars in the water and "slobber" all over my kid. I assume that this story has a considerable amount of "hands on" and other aggressive acts by this homeless guy, particularly regarding the retired police officer's children. I may not have young children anymore, but I do know if someone decides to put their hands on my wife I will intercede and if it rises to a level of my presumption of imminent danger (he knocks her down and punches her) alter ego will allow me to see that he does not ever do this again to anyone. Again, I think timing and place play into this--if in public, I would assume that there are people around who will "do something", in addition to myself--if in a closed area where we are alone, it will rise to another level of imminent danger.

Disparity of force is a legal concept where the attacker is stronger than the victim. This can be through force of numbers or physical strength. A woman might be considered weaker than her male attacker. The elderly or infirm might also fall into this category. Disparity of force does not come into the equation if you started the altercation.

What I see here is a man that tried to stop an altercation verbally. The perpetrator then escalated the situation by assaulting the mans family. The victim then was then forced to defend his family. When a physical response was not working for him then the gun was his last recourse. The handicap comes into play this way, had this been prior to his being shot in the head the victim would probably have been able to toss the perpetrator out on his ear. Yes, the perpetrator may well have had a mental defect. I do believe that he perceived weakness in the victim and figured he could do as he pleased. For what ever reason he was on the street and this victim was forced to deal with the situation. I hope the next four years treat him better than the last four have.

You sound to me like a healthy young gentleman. Over the years I have experienced being "strong as an ox" and "weak as a kitten". The latter has given me an appreciation for the term disparity of force. I hope it is a very, very long time before you fully appreciate this term.
 
Hope this ex-deputy has some good years!. Sounds like he has had his share of troubles in life. May God look out after him and his Family!
 
I wasnt this guy defending me!:

In response to (and defense of) the number of shots that former deputy Hernandez fired in this incident, the president of the Broward Association of Defense Attorneys said "It's called use of deadly force, not use of wounding force".
 

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