There are not many unenviable situations worse to be involved in than having to stand your ground — not only because you are in a situation where you are implied to be at risk, but also because you may be in a situation where you have to take the life of another. Yet, it is important to understand what standing your ground means, and whether defending yourself in this fashion is justifiable or not. So today, we are going to look at three specific elements of the FL Stand Your Ground Law that you need to know.

What are the three important elements of the FL Stand Your Ground Law?

Determining whether someone legitimately “stood their ground” or not is certainly a bit of a blurry situation to assess. For instance, did the person standing their ground have the reasonable opportunity to leave the scene? Did they participate in the escalation? Did they do anything physical to provoke the violence? Did they misunderstand the situation and overreact? And one of the most important questions is whether your state has a particularly harsh reading on stand your ground or a more lenient one.

Were you engaged in any illegal activity that lead to the encounter?

When illegal activity is involved in whatever lead to someone to stand their ground, it becomes a lot greyer. Obviously, this is not to do with, say, a minor crime committed incidentally; for instance, you can still have stood your ground even if you were threatened while you were jaywalking. However, the real problem comes in when you are talking about more serious crimes, like violent crimes or crimes relating to drug dealing. If a person is dealing drugs and has someone attempt to rob them, shooting the robber in self defense does not qualify as standing their ground, as they are not legally allowed to be in the situation that they are in. Police officers operating in the capacity of the law also do not apply to the stand your ground law.

Do you have to flee if reasonably possible in such a situation?

A lot of states have variations on how one must reasonably react to a threatening situation. Essentially, in approximately half of the states in the United States, you are expected to make a reasonable effort to flee the situation and, ideally, disengage from the potentially violent situation. In these situations, if all reasonable nonviolent avenues have failed, only then can you take deadly force as an option. There is also the “Castle Doctrine” law in many states, which allows deadly force in your own home or private location if that person is trespassing or causes you to legitimately fear for your life or of injury. In the rest of the states, including Florida, the obligation to flee is not required if you have a right to be there, and thus, have the right to continue standing your ground and, if necessary, respond to the threat of force with force. It may be encouraged to disengage with such a situation even if you can, but the law does not impart a duty to disengage on people.

How culpable are you if you are partially responsible for escalating the situation?

This is where it gets particularly complicated, as culpability can be misremembered depending on bias. For example, the person standing their ground may feel that they were not culpable for the situation escalating to the point that it has, but the person may similarly feel threatened. One example of this was in the case of George Zimmerman, who pursued 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, believing him to be doing something illegal. Martin was not found to have done anything illegal, merely going to the gas station, but against the instruction of police, Zimmmerman continue to pursue him and eventually left his vehicle and approached Martin. They had an altercation, wherein Zimmerman wound up having shot and killed Martin. Zimmerman, in his defense, did not argue that he was standing his ground as much as he was defending himself, though he has been brought up as an example of someone who stood his ground and defended himself in the process. However, many, including CNN, have argued that under the stand your ground law, Trayvon Martin was actually justified in responding to Zimmerman’s behavior with deadly force.

Because Zimmerman escalated the situation, the Florida stand your ground law would not work as a defense for his actions, at least not reasonably. Not only because Zimmerman approached period, but also because he approached, knowing that the 911 responder he had called had told him that he should not do this, thus creating an altercation with express disapproval from an officer of the law. Another example of escalating the situation beyond the reach of the stand your ground law to apply would be if you were taunting someone or intentionally inciting them. If you cover yourself in salmon and throw yourself into the bear pit, it is unreasonable to expect anything other than negative consequences for yourself.

No one wants to reasonably be involved in a situation where they have to stand their ground, but for some it is unavoidable. If you need more information or input on the Florida law, contact us at Panella Law Firm today.

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