FL Man Cleared in 'Stand Your Ground' Stabbing

[Bearco]

Original Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/tagblogsfindlawcom2012-blotter-idUS416295476820120329

By Andrew Chow, JD at FindLaw.com
Thu Mar 29, 2012 1:17am EDT

A Miami man who chased a thief and stabbed him to death cannot be prosecuted because of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, a judge said in a written opinion released Wednesday.

Greyston Garcia, 25, "was well within his rights" when he chased a man accused of stealing his car radio and stabbed the man to death, the judge ruled. The Miami policeman who supervised the case was stunned.
"How can it be Stand Your Ground?" the officer said to The Miami Herald. "It's on [surveillance] video! You can see him stabbing the victim."
Greyston Garcia's Stand Your Ground stabbing is getting national attention in the wake of Trayvon Martin's shooting death. Martin's killer, neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, is also claiming self-defense under Florida's Stand Your Ground law -- though Martin was unarmed, and Zimmerman was apparently chasing him at one point.
Florida's law allows the use of deadly force if a person reasonably feels it's necessary to prevent death, serious bodily injury, or the commission of a forcible felony. However, ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who signed the law, has said it shouldn't apply when a person chases a victim.
But in Greyston Garcia's case, a judge disagreed. Garcia chased the alleged car-radio thief -- Pedro Roteta, 26 -- for more than a block, the Herald reports. Roteta, carrying a four-pound bag of car radios, swung the bag at Garcia's head; Garcia blocked the bag with one hand and stabbed Roteta in the chest.
Roteta's swinging of the bag could have caused serious bodily injury or death, and placed Garcia in fear for his life, the judge wrote.
Still, after the fatal stabbing, Garcia did not call 911. Instead, he hid the knife and sold two of Roteta's car radios, then initially denied the killing when interviewed by police. None of those facts played into the judge's decision.
It's not clear how Greyston Garcia's Stand Your Ground stabbing may affect how the law is applied in other Florida cases. A grand jury is set to convene April 10 to consider charges in George Zimmerman's killing of Trayvon Martin.

 

[cperron]

WOW!! I guess I can understand how the judge ruled on the fact that the perp swung a sack of metal at the guys head and that he was protecting himself, but after hiding the knife and selling two radios it seems that he should have at least been charged for hampering an investigation by hiding the weapon. And staying and selling two radio's???? It's a crazy country we are living in these days! In other states people are sent to prison for protecting their homes. I don't know about this one.

 

[Yrdawg]

Still laughing...a judge that gets it. People are tired of revolving door criminal courts. Judge must have said oh well, the other charges are less than the original so fergit about it.

And maybe the Judge needed a really nice radio for his truck ??

 

[jimdana1942]

Still laughing...a judge that gets it. People are tired of revolving door criminal courts. Judge must have said oh well, the other charges are less than the original so fergit about it.

And maybe the Judge needed a really nice radio for his truck ??

I agree.

 

[Trey@IG]

i agree too on letting him off on the murder charge but i wonder if he'll get charged for selling stolen property or something else

 

[Russo]

i agree with the above... we need to show criminals that if they are caught, they need to give up and face the punishment regardless of the level of authority stopping you...

 

[Speedlace]

But Bloom, in her order, said that under the law, Garcia “was well within his rights to pursue the victim and demand the return of his property . . . the defendant had no duty to retreat and could lawfully pursue a fleeing felon who has stolen his property.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/27/2717572/miami-dade-issues-ruling-in-stand.html

 

[Emperor]

This ones bears watching! This is the kind of thing that could get that law re-visited by pressure from civil libertarians.

Florida is my kind of town!

 

[cperron]

This ones bears watching! This is the kind of thing that could get that law re-visited by pressure from civil libertarians.

Florida is my kind of town!

+1

 

[JLouv]

You all know what the leftists are going to say...."he only stole some radios. Is that worth his life?"

 

[Yrdawg]

You all know what the leftists are going to say...."he only stole some radios. Is that worth his life?"

It's true that "they" will say that

I will say, stealing radios and attempted murder are two separate things...was keeping stolen radios worth a life ??? Decisions...all about decisions

Thats what some are missing about the Z vs M deal, one has the right to ask a simple question or walk behind someone else...if DF ensues it's on the offender ( first to use DF )...act civilized, thats where M failed it appears