"Stand Your Ground" Task Force Meets In West Palm Beach
WEST PALM BEACH (CBSMiami/AP) - A task force formed after the shooting death of 17-year Trayvon Martin in Sanford earlier this year is meeting Wednesday in West Palm Beach.
Gov. Rick Scott appointed the task force to review the state's so called 'stand your ground' after the man who killed Martin, neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, said he shot the teen in self-defense.
Zimmerman, who is charged with second degree murder, contends the shooting was legal because Martin threatened his life.
Though the discussions of the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection remained precursors to their ultimate recommendations to Gov. Scott and the Legislature, members voiced strong approval of the notion that citizens have no duty to retreat if seriously threatened.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley called the idea of redefining the law's "duty to retreat" provision "incomprehensible." The Rev. R.B. Holmes, the committee's vice chairman, said it was "a Christian virtue."
"There could be no more important right than to protect your life and the lives of your family members," said Miami defense attorney Mark Seiden, who said it was a "God-given right."
Absent from the first several hours of discussion was any mention of Martin or Zimmerman.
Allie Braswell, head of the Central Florida Urban League and a part of the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign, which opposes the law, said he was disheartened by the level of support voiced by the committee's members on Wednesday.
"I always remain open that the right thing will be done and this law will be repealed," said Braswell, who planned to address the committee in a second day of meetings Thursday in Miami, "but I really see that as a challenge with this group."
The day opened with a presentation by a University of Florida law professor, who presented data showing that since the "stand your ground" law was passed, the state has seen an increase in the number of homicides and an increase in the number of homicides ruled justifiable, but a decrease in the overall rate of violent crime. But the professor, Monique Haughton Worrell, said no conclusions could be drawn from the data and it was not known what correlation the numbers had to the law's passage.
The task force members acknowledged "stand your ground" cases were not uniformly handled across the state and that the public has shown some wariness to the way in which it has been applied. Joe Caimano, an attorney appointed to the committee, said Floridians have become skeptical of prosecutors' process of determining whether to charge an individual because of the self-defense law.
But participants seemed to be heading toward recommending tweaks of the legislation, not a repeal. Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, a sponsor of the law, echoed many of the participants in suggesting any problems with the legislation don't lay in the statute itself.
"The biggest problem is uniformity of application, not the legislation," he said.
That was little comfort to Sandra and David Boden of West Palm Beach, who gave tearful testimony of their son's killing and the subsequent dismissal of the case because they said prosecutors felt they couldn't be successful given the law.
"It is not self-defense when you kill an unarmed young man," David Boden said. "Their hands are tied because of such a vague law."
(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
