Florida Man Claims Self-Defense After Hopping A Fence To Shoot, Kill 21-Year-Old In A Hoodie
Source: ThinkProgress
BY NICOLE FLATOW ON JANUARY 21, 2014 AT 2:57 PM
On Thursday, an Orlando man shot and killed a 21-year-old who was fleeing his yard. He didnt appear to be stealing anything, according to witness accounts. He didnt appear to be threatening anybody. But Claudius Smith said he feared he was a burglar, followed him over the fence to a neighboring apartment complex, where he shot him after he said he felt threatened, according to a confession documented in an Orlando Police Department report. Smith even said he feared victim Ricardo Sanes was armed because his pants were falling down and his hands were in his hoodie pockets, according to a report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
Now, questions are emerging about whether Smith will also invoke the states Stand Your Ground law, which gained notoriety over the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, shot in a Florida residential development while wearing a hoodie. Law enforcement officials dont seem to believe Stand Your Ground applies. Smith has already been charged with second-degree murder. But that doesnt stop a judge from granting Stand Your Ground immunity later. In one of the most recent Florida court decisions on Stand Your Ground, an appeals court granted Stand Your Ground immunity to a man who went to his car to get a gun before the fatal incident.
According to statements by Smiths girlfriend, Angela Kemraj, to police, the incident started when she saw a man in the yard on surveillance cameras and reported it to Smith. She said they saw the individual in dark clothes and a hoodie leaving their yard without anything in his hands, and climbing over the fence to a neighboring apartment complex. Smith then left the apartment and climbed over the fence. Two minutes later, Kemraj said she heard gunshots. Soon after, Smith came back to the apartment and said Sanes tried to rob him, without mentioning the shooting. During initial police questioning, Smith later denied knowledge about the shooting, and only later confessed, claiming he shot in self-defense.
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Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/21/3187451/florida-suspect-says-believed-man-killed-armed-pants-falling/
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)cosmicone
(11,014 posts)blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)rafeh1
(385 posts)Everyone shoots anyone running inside their yards dont'ch no?
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Vile and disgusting.
Journeyman
(15,031 posts)erpowers
(9,350 posts)I realize I am saying the obvious, but this law is being abused. If someone get caught shooting someone they can just claim Stand Your Ground. If someone get angry and decides to shoot someone they can just claim Stand Your Ground. The law at least needs to be changed. There definitely needs to be limits on who can use this law and under what circumstances.
Kingofalldems
(38,458 posts)Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)ck4829
(35,077 posts)"I HAD to chase him down and kill him... in self defense by the way, all because he was wearing a hoodie and his pants were falling down!"
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)And the victim lays dead -- again. So I don't see much difference between this case and the other case where the restaurant manager went out to his car to get a gun before coming back to shoot and kill the two guests that were hitting on the help in the bar after they had already been kicked out of the restaurant.
Here it looks like somebody was just cutting across a property, taking a short-cut and since he was black he had to be up to no good. Sounds like George Zimmerman reasoning to me with the same outcome. And instead of a hang-man's noose they now simply use guns.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)It's horrible.
spin
(17,493 posts)your attorney will do his best to make sure you get off.
In Florida neither the self defense law or the stand your ground law allow you to pursue, confront and kill a person who has broken into your home and runs when you confront him.
According to the article, the victim hadn't even broken into the house but was merely in the yard. He wasn't threatening anyone and according to the article didn't even appear to be stealing anything. The homeowner decided to pursue the victim after he climbed over a fence and eventually confronted and shot him. The shooter does claim that the victim tried to rob him, but the article doesn't mention any witnesses or any injuries suffered by the shooter in the incident because the victim attacked him.
It would be my bet the shooter stands trial and most likely will be found guilty of second degree murder.
It is also my opinion that Zimmerman should be in prison today but I fault the prosecution in the case as they failed to prove Zimmerman guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)However, the facts as reported do not support self defense therefore cannot support SYG.
valerief
(53,235 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)brett_jv
(1,245 posts)During the process of chasing this kid down and putting a bullet into him?
I've always thought it's just a matter of (short) time before some other sociopath decides to do the same thing, and tries for the same defense.
Some people think it's now 'open season' down there, looks like ... and if this guy walks, too? Shit, man. I shudder to think ...