Defensible Actions

STUDENT REPLIES

STUDENT REPLY #1 Marshelle Owens

I would like to discuss Florida's "stand your ground law", and an incident that occurred in 2018. This law gives people the right to shoot someone if they feel threatened or fear for their lives. This incident took place at a convenience store in Clearwater, Florida. The victim was Markeis McGlockton and the suspect was Michael Drejka.

This incident occurred when Brittany Jacobs, parked in a handicapped parking space at the store. The sheriff said in his report that Michael Drejka approached Brittany when her boyfriend and 5-year-old son went into the store. He was arguing with her about parking in the handicapped parking space. The people who witnessed this incident said that Markeis McGlockton came out of the store and pushed Drejka so hard that he fell to the ground. When Drejka fell to the ground, within seconds, he shot McGlockton in the chest in front of his son and later died at the hospital.

The sheriff stated that the relevant issue was that the suspect shot the victim in fear for his life, not knowing what he would do next. In this case, Drejka was not charged for the murder or arrested. This case to me would be one of probable cause. Probable cause was in the Fourth Amendment that is normally cited before the police make an arrest, conduct a search, or get a warrant. In this case, Drejka was not arrested or charged for this murder. His defense was that it was in fear for his life and that is why he shot him. Causation is another term that can be used in this case in the suspect's defense because he felt he had a reason to shoot him in fear of his life. To this day he has not been charged and the state is looking into changing this law.

References:

Lippman, M. ( 2018 ). Contemporary criminal law: Concepts, cases, and controversies ( 5th ed. ). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Chapter 8, " Justification ", pp. ( 196-199 )

Vera, A (2018, July 25 ). Florida man could avoid charges in fatal shooting because of " stand your ground " law. CNN. retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/23/us/florida-stand-your-ground-fatal-shooting/index.html

Lil/Legal Information Institute ( 17 Sept. 2009. ). Probable cause. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/probable_cause

STUDENT REPLY #2

STUDENT REPLY #2 Samuel Nagy

Hello, I think determining guilt or innocence for this individual based on him shooting the burglar in self-defense, was ultimately defensible. And I agree it would be up to the criminal justice professionals to decide the man's fate, in a court of law. I think there is always room for the human element to persuade the outcome and sentencing decision. And deciding to pull the trigger as the man's home was being robbed may have been a split-second decision on his part to protect his family from the intruder. I think it is about intent and what the court can prove was intentional or not.

The duty of the Police, if there is probable cause that a crime has been committed, is to provide safety and protection to the community and make an arrest in that case. From the Learning Resources, it was clear that Police also can be allowed a search, seizure or receive a warrant during the interaction, with sufficient probable cause.

Ultimately the Judge in each jurisdiction has the decision to make if the defense is presenting a usable defense for the case or not.