Are "Stand Your Ground" laws going to far
Kern
2012/04/14 01:29:23
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Judge Cites "Stand Your Ground" to Clear Greyston Garcia in Little Havana Stabbing
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| Greyston Garcia |
the midst of the Trayvon Martin controversy, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge
Beth Bloom has cited Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law to
drop charges against Greyston Garcia after he fatally stabbed a car
radio thief in Little Havana on January 25th. Though, Garcia apparently
initiated the violence, never called police, hid the knife, and then
later sold two of the car radios the man had stolen.
In the early hours of January 25, Garcia spotted Pedro Roteta and
another man rummaging through his truck and taking off with his car
radio according to the Miami Herald.
Roteta and his accomplice had apparently been on a radio stealing
spree, and Roteta was carrying a bag filled with three car radios.
Garcia
decided to chase after Roteta with a knife, and caught up to him.
Roteta swung the bag of radios at Garcia's head. Garcia blocked the bag,
and then countered by lunging a knife in Roteta's chest. The stabbing
killed Roteta. Garcia then took off with the radio, even those not
belonging to him, and never called police. Garcia hid the knife used and
sold the two car radios that did not belong to him.
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| Judge Bloom |
eventually contacted by police Garcia denied involvement, but
eventually admitted that he was involved. He said he feared for his life
because Roteta had a screwdriver in his hand, but eventually recanted
that account and merely said he feared for his life because of the bag
of radios.
Prosecutors charged Garcia with second-degree murder,
but his defense was able to successfully argue for the charges to be
dropped under the Stand Your Ground law.
Judge Bloom apparently
agreed with a medical examiner who testified that a bag of radio swung
at a head could cause serious harm or death, and that the defendant
Garcia "was well within his rights to pursue the victim and demand the
return of his property."
"The law does not allow for you to use
deadly force to retrieve your property. She, in effect, is saying that
it's appropriate to chase someone down with a knife to get property
back," Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague tells the Herald.
Prosecutors plan to appeal Bloom's ruling.
Read More: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2012/03/jud...
I think these stand your ground laws are not needed. If someone breaks into your hosue, sure you have a right to protect yourself. But, situation like one listed or the case where the guy went outside to shoot two kids robbing his neighbor's house are misuses of the law. If you have to pursue someone, you are not standing your ground.
There is no need to have a gun on your everywhere you go, but that's the liberal in me coming out. I don't care for guns, don't want any, and really don't see the need. But, I also don't beleive that just because I don't like them I should force my beliefs onto others. I'm not going to lobby to take guns away but I will lobby to restrict where they can be taken. There's not need to carry a gun into a college. There's no need to carry a gun into a resturant, but, like I said before, it's the liberal in my coming.
You're right, for the most part, we agree.
I'm really sorry you had to kill someone to protect your home. The obvious answer from my side is, if we took guns away from everyone, we wouldn't have this problem. That is an unrealistic position to take in this country.
I grew up on the South side of Chicago and in some really bad neighborhoods. When I was younger we would hear about a shooting and go to the spot to see if we could find the pool of dried blood. I've had gang bangers point a gun at my head a few times. I've never thought that I needed to get a gun to protect myself. I think it's more because I still believe I can avoid most trouble. I've never been in a situation that you were in. When the gang bangers pulled a gun on me it was because of an argument when they were drinking. Lucky for me their friends where there to talk them down.
I think that we are loosening the gun laws to a dangerous point. I don't want to live a society where everyone is carrying a gun. Guns are too dangerous and too many people are too careless with them. On the other hand I don't want to take them away from people, not because of the 2nd amendment but because at this point, I think most people who are gun owners are petty careful.
My brother is an alcoholic who loves gu...
I'm really sorry you had to kill someone to protect your home. The obvious answer from my side is, if we took guns away from everyone, we wouldn't have this problem. That is an unrealistic position to take in this country.
I grew up on the South side of Chicago and in some really bad neighborhoods. When I was younger we would hear about a shooting and go to the spot to see if we could find the pool of dried blood. I've had gang bangers point a gun at my head a few times. I've never thought that I needed to get a gun to protect myself. I think it's more because I still believe I can avoid most trouble. I've never been in a situation that you were in. When the gang bangers pulled a gun on me it was because of an argument when they were drinking. Lucky for me their friends where there to talk them down.
I think that we are loosening the gun laws to a dangerous point. I don't want to live a society where everyone is carrying a gun. Guns are too dangerous and too many people are too careless with them. On the other hand I don't want to take them away from people, not because of the 2nd amendment but because at this point, I think most people who are gun owners are petty careful.
My brother is an alcoholic who loves guns. I still trust him with guns because he's so careful with them. Before his son was allowed to shoot he had to understand how to break down the gun, put it back together and understand that they are never stored loaded.
It good to meet a gun owner who is responsible and educated. I would let you take a gun anywhere.
A few minutes later we started to hear this very loud boom, boom, boom.
We went over to investigate. We found a guy teaching his 13 year old daughter how to shot a .45. She was really good.
A friend of mine asked if he could try the gun. The guy obliged him. He fired the gun and the kick back was so strong he almost clocked himself in the head. This guy was pretty big and very strong. He panicked and grabbed the barrel of the gun and went to aim. Luckily the guy who was teaching his daughter to shoot stepped and told him not to grab the barrel. Well a few shots later he gave up. He couldn't control the gun.
He handed the gun back to the 13 year old girl who effortlessly started to shot and hit the target.
The moral of the story I took away from the incident is, A man has to know his limitation.
:~)
I am sure you would like shooting if you got in to it. Nobody enjoys doing something their not good at. Find a place where you can shoot in privacy so you aren't self conscious. Start with a little .22. It's cheap to shoot so you can shoot a lot without spending a bunch of money. You may enjoy shooting a rifle more. A rifle is easier to learn with.
It's a bunch of fun hitting a can around on the ground. Get someone who can shoot well to shoot it first to make sure t...
I am sure you would like shooting if you got in to it. Nobody enjoys doing something their not good at. Find a place where you can shoot in privacy so you aren't self conscious. Start with a little .22. It's cheap to shoot so you can shoot a lot without spending a bunch of money. You may enjoy shooting a rifle more. A rifle is easier to learn with.
It's a bunch of fun hitting a can around on the ground. Get someone who can shoot well to shoot it first to make sure the sights are on target. Nothing more aggravating than trying to shoot something with a gun that doesn't shoot where it's aimed. Get your brother to work with you. Most important is to remember you there to have fun. In no time at all you will be shooting at smaller targets or moving the targets further away from you to increase the challenge as your skill improves. Some people cringe when I say shooting is a great family activity but, it really is. My wife, both of our grown children have spent 100's of hours shooting .22 rifles and now we shoot pistols to increase our abilities and also add to the challenge. Ranges are also a good place because you can go and not be around people acting foolish or using foul language. I have never been to a range and witness poor behavior. I believe this would be your experience too.
When I visit my brother in Tennassee we sho0t .22 rifles in his backyard. He live in middle of nowhere so it's save. He's very safe with his guns. I'm on good with a rifle if I can rest it on something. I'm not that good of a shot with a rifle either but then like you said, I don't practice at all.
I've tried shooting enough to know that I would never be an enthusianst. But, that's no reason for me to take guns away from people like you who enjoy.
I practice Jiu Jitsu and only had to use it once. For the most part, I don't run into trouble. I do live in a part of Colorado that is pretty libreral so I don't see too many people with guns.
We get some of the UFC guys in our gym every now and then. They are really nice guys but I wouldn't fight them unless I had you by my side to shoot them, because as you already know, I'm terrible shot. Just kidding. They're all nice guys.
I used to life a lot when a friend of mine owned a personal training gym. All of his friends had keys so we would work out when it was empty. I was never really strong but I learned then that lifting is very improtant. I ran cross country in college so I was alway petty skinny. After lifing for a few years I learned how important it is. You power lifing guys are a tough bread. An ex boss of mine set the bench press record for men over 40 in colorado. He put 417. I couldn't imagine being that strong.
I hope you shoulder heals quickly. Two friends of mine blew out their shoulders in their lat 30's when we were all lifting heavy. That's a painful process. I feel for you my friend.
I have only one point of disagreement with you and the way you worded it I'm not sure we disagree. If you have a garage or out build on "YOUR" property and you see someone in it, I do believe you have the right to go out and tell them to get out. If you get threatened at that time I feel as a last resort you are allowed to use appropriate force. Going after someone is never a stand your ground defense. In WV, we are also allowed to use our firearms to stop a felony. If I get off work and stop by a store and there is an armed robbery in process, I can use my gun to stop the robber. I cannot shoot him unless he turns towards me or I believe he is or has shot someone. I know of no cases where that has happened and I would never go into a store to stop a robbery. The only way I would get involved is if I walked into the situation unknowingly.
While I cannot understand why the judge let this guy off, I am also lost on why this guy wasn't charged with selling stolen goods.
Now these would not be my actions, I would not endanger my life, the lives of bystanders or even the theif's life for any property, but the legal finding by the judge isn't hard to understand.
I do however agree with you that the man should have been charged with selling stolen property and possibly some charges associated with not reporting the incident.