Florida man who shot theatergoer for texting to invoke 'stand your ground'

[SecularMotion]

The lawyer for Curtis Reeves, a retired police captain who fatally shot a fellow moviegoer in 2014, is planning to use Florida’s “stand your ground” law to defend his client.

Mr. Reeves was arrested for the fatal shooting of Chad Oulson in January 2014. Police say Mr. Oulson threw his bag of popcorn in Reeves' face after the former captain criticized him for texting. Reeves responded by pulling out his gun and shooting Oulson in the chest, according to law enforcement. A bullet also grazed Oulson's wife, Nicole.

“I think we have a pretty solid stand your ground case,” Richard Escobar, Reeves’ attorney, told the Tampa Bay Times. Escobar plans to utilize a video taken at the scene to prove Reeves acted lawfully under Florida’s self-defense law and ultimately have the criminal charges dismissed. A five-day hearing is scheduled to begin on Jan. 25.

With strong support from the National Rifle Association in 2005, the "gunshine state" became the first to pass a ‘stand your ground’ law that allows citizens to use deadly force if they fear their own harm or death. Under Florida’s "stand your ground" law, “a defendant must be able to show that he had a ‘reasonable belief’ in a threat before using deadly force, not that the threat actually existed,” explains the Tampa Bay Times. If the judge determines the defendant had "reasonable belief" for using deadly force, the shooter is “immune from criminal prosecution and civil action.”

http://news.yahoo.com/florida-man-shot-theatergoer-texting-invoke-stand-ground-124807512.html