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5/19/10
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Crist shows his colors on the Castle doctrine.Two of three men charged in the 2008 killing of 15-year-old Michael Jackson were declared immune from prosecution Monday under Florida's "stand your ground" law, and State Attorney Willie Meggs is calling on Gov. Charlie Crist to call a special session of the Legislature to repeal the controversial law.
In his seven-page order, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis found Jeffrey Brown and Andrae Tyler acted in self-defense during the Holton Street shootout that resulted in the death of Jackson. Brown and Tyler were charged, along with Jamal Taylor, with manslaughter with a firearm.
Jackson was a passenger in Taylor's truck when he was shot in the face with a bullet from an AK−47. Taylor did not pursue the immunity protection and still faces charges in Jackson's death.
At a hearing last month, Brown said Taylor and Jackson began shooting first at his Monte Carlo in the early-morning hours of Feb. 17, 2008. The incident followed another shooting minutes earlier between the men, who are affiliated with rival gangs, after an argument at Mount Zion Calypso Cafe.
Adopted in 2005, the "Castle Doctrine" law says people don't have a duty to retreat when attacked, but can stand their ground and use deadly force to defend themselves. In his order, Lewis wrote that the case may be a good example of unintended consequences of the law.
"What this means, as illustrated by this case, is that two individuals, or even groups, can square off in a middle of a public street, exchange gunfire, and both be absolved from criminal liability if they were reasonably acting in self defense," Lewis wrote. "… it is very much like the Wild West. Maybe that is not what was intended, but that seems to be the effect of the language used."
Meggs said the law needs to go.
"We've reverted back to the old Matt Dillon days, when you call somebody out in the street and draw down on them, and then somebody falls and the music comes up in the background," Meggs said. "We need a special session to get this stinking law repealed."
In his seven-page order, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis found Jeffrey Brown and Andrae Tyler acted in self-defense during the Holton Street shootout that resulted in the death of Jackson. Brown and Tyler were charged, along with Jamal Taylor, with manslaughter with a firearm.
Jackson was a passenger in Taylor's truck when he was shot in the face with a bullet from an AK−47. Taylor did not pursue the immunity protection and still faces charges in Jackson's death.
At a hearing last month, Brown said Taylor and Jackson began shooting first at his Monte Carlo in the early-morning hours of Feb. 17, 2008. The incident followed another shooting minutes earlier between the men, who are affiliated with rival gangs, after an argument at Mount Zion Calypso Cafe.
Adopted in 2005, the "Castle Doctrine" law says people don't have a duty to retreat when attacked, but can stand their ground and use deadly force to defend themselves. In his order, Lewis wrote that the case may be a good example of unintended consequences of the law.
"What this means, as illustrated by this case, is that two individuals, or even groups, can square off in a middle of a public street, exchange gunfire, and both be absolved from criminal liability if they were reasonably acting in self defense," Lewis wrote. "… it is very much like the Wild West. Maybe that is not what was intended, but that seems to be the effect of the language used."
Meggs said the law needs to go.
"We've reverted back to the old Matt Dillon days, when you call somebody out in the street and draw down on them, and then somebody falls and the music comes up in the background," Meggs said. "We need a special session to get this stinking law repealed."
Meggs said innocent people are being killed. Because of gang violence, he said, people in black communities are particularly at risk. Jackson was shot amid a hail of 30 bullets.
"It's absolutely ridiculous," he said. "I would defy anybody to point to one case where we prosecuted somebody for a justifiable shooting incident, defending themselves. I know we haven't in the Second Judicial Circuit."
Marion Hammer, former president of the National Rifle Association and head of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida, was contacted at the NRA convention in Charlotte, N.C. She said the Legislature is not going to repeal the law.
"I think Willie Meggs likes to take the easy way out. We'd never have had to pass the 'Castle Doctrine' if people weren't being prosecuted for defending themselves. Anything that's good for gun owners, Willie Meggs doesn't like. Innocent people were being prosecuted for defending themselves and we put a stop to that."
She said she's not familiar with this case but "the Second (Judicial) Circuit is not the entire state" and that there were legitimate self-defense cases being prosecuted before the law was passed.
"State attorneys don't like any law that tells them who they can't prosecute," she said. "They need to prosecute criminal cases and leave law-abiding citizens alone."
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