From the news report this looks like a bad shoot:
A Florida man arrested for chasing down – and fatally shooting – a suspected burglar in Orlando is claiming self-defense in what legal experts say is likely to become the latest Florida “stand your ground” case… the Sentinel writes a preliminary examination revealing gunshot wounds Sanes sustained to his upper back and the back of his neck suggests he had been shot while attempting to flee from Smith….Armed with the .45-caliber handgun for which he reportedly owns a conceal and carry permit and is wont to keep handy while sitting at home, Smith then jumped the fence into the Fountain at MetroWest apartments – as his girlfriend had watched Sanes do moments before – in pursuit of the suspected burglar.
Once there, Smith reportedly told police he saw Sanes, “looking into windows of apartments as he walked past them,” before he confronted him at gunpoint and grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt when the man tried to walk away.
Now the article is citing Trayvon Martin shooting, but there are some big differences. The shooter did NOT attempt to call police, the victim was shot in the back multiple times indicating he was fleeing, and there is no notation of injury to the shooter.
Like the Martin shooting this is NOT a Stand Your Ground case, as the shooter didn’t stand his ground, he gave chase. But as we know from the public lynching of George Zimmerman, none of the facts may be accurate.
Man, they sure are hard-up for any excuse to attack SYG. First with the obligatory reference to the Zimmerman case (which wasn’t a SYG case anyway, but that doesn’t stop them). Then with a reference to an actual SYG case, saying that this case “somewhat parallels” that case (except, it doesn’t. The two cases aren’t anything alike).
With what has been reported here, I’m not sure why they are bringing up SYG at all. If this report is factual, SYG doesn’t apply to this case for a number of reasons. That doesn’t stop Smith from requesting a SYG hearing of course, but if what is here is true it would be a waste of time and money.
With how unreliable the media has proven to be, I don’t think we have enough info to really KNOW what happened. It sure doesn’t look good for Smith at this point though.
s