Stand your ground

Florida passed the contraversial law in 2005 called Stand your ground law. Essentially this law allows you to meet force with force without the need to retreat.

A person isjustified in the use of deadly force and does not have the duty to retreat if:

He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.

The law presumes that there would be reasobale fear of imminent peril or death or great bodily harm if someone is to break into your house or an occupied car. This is known as the castle doctrine. You can prrotect your castle with deadly force from any intruder that may enter.

The law also provides for immunity from criminal prosecution if the person using the force was justified in doing so.

That's the case of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was shot and killed the night of Feb. 26 while walking back to the house where he was staying in a gated community. The shooter, George Zimmerman, 28, the neighborhood watch captain, was following Martin because he thought the 17-year-old, dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, looked suspicious. When the two got into an altercation, Zimmerman fired the gun he was carrying.

As astonishing as it sounds, Sanford police have refused to charge Zimmerman — although the state attorney's office now says it will convene a grand jury next month to investigate the case. The cops have been balking in large part because, under the stand-your-ground statute, they're virtually obligated to accept his argument that he was acting in self-defense — even if it was Martin who may have felt more threatened, according to recordings of 911 calls by neighbors that were released over the weekend.

If you have been accused of using deadly force and beleive you were justifiedin doing so you need an experienced criminal defense attorney to assist in your defense. Miami criminal defense attorney Michael Mirer has experience in these matters.