Follow-up: Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law

About a month ago, I wrote about the first judicial challenge to Florida's "stand your ground" law (PDF), which states that "a person has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force if the person is in a place where he or she has a right to be and the force is necessary to prevent death, great bodily harm, or the commission of a forcible felony." As I said at the time:

The importance of the case, and the judge's eventual ruling, is its bearing on the extent or reach of the law. If the judge grants the defense motion, you can expect a rush to the courthouse as homicide defendants claim they likewise should avoid a trial because they were merely "standing their ground." If, on the other hand, the judge agrees with the prosecution that it should be left to the jury (as I believe it should), the standard at least retains some integrity, and the spectre of guns a-blazin' on the streets of Florida's cities and towns might be rendered just a little less likely.

Well, although I think it's an odious law, at least it's not a complete "get-out-of-jail-free" card.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge William Berger today denied defendant Norman Borden's motion to dismiss, so the applicability of the law will be an issue for the jury to decide.

Prosecutor Craig Williams said the Castle Doctrine law states that the use of force is permitted if "a reasonably cautious and prudent person" could believe that danger could be avoided only by the use of force.

Borden might have had a valid argument after firing the first five shots at the moving vehicle, he said. The nine shots he dispensed when the Jeep came to a stop gave police probable cause to believe that Borden did not act in self defense, he added.

"It's clearly a jury question," Williams said.

Berger agreed, saying that since factual issues are in dispute, a jury, not he, should decide them.

Had Borden succeeded in getting murder charges tossed because of the Castle Doctrine, he would have been the first defendant in Florida to do so.

One hopes that this means people won't be quite so hasty in unleashing deadly force in reliance on this ill-considered state law.

Hey, I said hopes. I also hope that Bush and Cheney are impeached, but I'm not holding my breath there, either ...