A 'stand your ground' x-post.

[beevul]

Tampa man cleared in Ybor stabbing by 'Stand Your Ground' law

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/28225389/tampa-man-cleared-in-ybor-stabbing-by-stand-your-ground-law

During a night out this fellow started a fist fight while on a combination of Xanax, methylone, marijuana and alcohol and when he was losing pulled his knife and killed one of his assailants.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12629014

Lets now look at what the article actually says:

Tampa man cleared in Ybor stabbing by 'Stand Your Ground' law

Posted: Feb 27, 2015 8:58 PM CST
Updated: Apr 24, 2015 8:58 PM CDT
By: Josh Cascio, FOX 13 News

In a ruling Friday, Hillsborough Judge Gregory Holder wrote that “the court finds the use of deadly force was justified.”

The fight that ended Rankin's life happened August 17, 2013, when he a group of friends were out in Ybor City.

A run-in with another group of guys led to Amore getting punched and knocked out cold.

Less than 10 minutes later, Amore was attacked again. His attorney says while he was being badly beaten, he grabbed a pocket knife to defend himself.

One of the attackers, Joshua Rankin, would die after being stabbed three times.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/28225389/tampa-man-cleared-in-ybor-stabbing-by-stand-your-ground-law

Does anyone else see anything in the article or the court decision that factually indicates that the "he" started the fight, or that he pulled a knife only when he was losing?

Not to mention, it was the fella that was killed who was "on a combination of Xanax, methylone, marijuana and alcohol", not the fella defending himself.

Meaningless trivialities, I'm sure.

[DonP]

1. Just wait a few weeks, maybe some one will actually read it in Bansalot N/T

[Shamash]

2. Interesting

I guess the GCRA piece is either flat out lying or grossly incompetent reposting of the news. Given the track record of the person posting it, possibly both. Does not say much for the reading comprehension of the people who rec'd him either, though that makes the generous assumption they actually clicked the links and read the story.

[COLGATE4]

3. If you read what happened, he was originally

the aggressor but that encounter resulted with him getting cold-cocked. So THAT fight had ended when he was knocked out.

Some ten minutes later, a second fight took place, where Amore himself was the victim. He was being badly beaten when he pulled a knife to defend himself. The Court made a finding of fact that his reponse to the severe beating (with the knife) was proprortionate (i.e. justified) to the degree of harm he was exposed to. Being in the process of being beaten to death justifies a lethal response.

No trivialities here. Just the facts and the law, which in this case are consistent.

[Shamash]

4. Clarification

Reading the court papers, Amore was the "aggressor" in the first fight to the extent he did a "your mamma" joke at Rankin, who then proceeded to give him a grade 3 concussion. I'll agree with the court and say that Amore was not the instigator of the first fight either ("Mr. Rankin responded with surprising and unreasonable force and punched Defendant in the face.&quot , unless a "your momma" joke now meets the legal threshold for "fighting words".

[COLGATE4]

6. Agreed. But the point the poster was complaining about was

that Amore 'got away with it' due to some arcane 'technicality'. Not so.

[virginia mountainman]

5. You know they can't tell it like it is...

If they did, they would loose the rest of their support..

[benEzra]

7. Just how is this a "stand your ground" case

if he was actually in the process of being badly beaten when he defended himself? That would have been justifiable even under Florida's old "duty to retreat" statute, it would seem to me.

Is "stand your ground" now a media synonym for "any act of self-defense whatsoever"?

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

8. "stand your ground" is now a media synonym for "any act we say it is"

kind of like anything we say is an "assault rifle" makes it so

[Shamash]

9. To be fair

I think the defense in this case used a SYG defense, thus making "stand your ground" a legitimate news header.

[Eleanors38]

10. This needs to steep longer before it blends into Gun Control Narrative™. For now,

it seems like the ruling is proper in the eyes of most reasonable persons.

What's with this knife business?