http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47986039#.T-uV2_VQRWoTexas man gets 40 years in Stand Your Ground case
Shooter was angry about noise from birthday party at his neighbor's home
Huston - A man who claimed Texas' version of a "Stand Your Ground" law allowed him to fatally shoot a neighbor after an argument about a noisy party was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years for murder.
Raul Rodriguez, 46, had faced up to life in prison for the 2010 killing of Kelly Danaher.
Rodriguez, a retired Houston-area firefighter, was angry about the noise coming from a birthday party at his neighbor's home. He went over and got into an argument with 36-year-old elementary school teacher Danaher and two other men at the party.
In a 22-minute video he recorded on the night of the shooting, Rodriguez can be heard telling a police dispatcher "my life is in danger now" and "these people are going to go try and kill me." He then said, "I'm standing my ground here," and fatally shot Danaher and wounded the other two men.
Rodriguez's reference to standing his ground is similar to the claim made by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who is citing Florida's Stand Your Ground law in his defense in the fatal February shooting of an unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin. Rodriguez's case, however, was decided under a different kind of self-defense doctrine.
Prosecutors called Rodriguez the aggressor who took a gun to complain about loud music and could have safely left his neighbor's driveway in Huffman, an unincorporated area about 30 miles northeast of Houston, any time before the shooting. Defense attorneys argued Rodriguez was defending himself when one of the men lunged at him and he had less than a second to respond.
At trial, prosecutors tried to show Rodriguez had a history of not getting along with Danaher and other neighbors.
One neighbor testified that Rodriguez, who had a concealed handgun license, bragged about his guns and told her a person could avoid prosecution in a shooting by telling authorities you were in fear of your life and were standing your ground and defending yourself. During the trial's punishment phase, neighbors, former co-workers and Rodriguez's ex-wife testified that Rodriguez was abusive, a bad neighbor and that he once shot a dog.
Rodriguez's attorneys did not present any witnesses before the jury convicted him on June 13. But during the punishment phase, they called more than a dozen witnesses, including his wife and sons. They and other family members testified that he was not abusive, always stressed the importance of gun safety and that he was not cavalier with his weapons. One son said Rodriguez shot the dog because it was attacking his family.
Texas' version of a Stand Your Ground law is known as the Castle Doctrine. It was revised in 2007 to expand the right to use deadly force. The new version allows people to defend themselves in their homes, workplaces or vehicles. It also says a person using force cannot provoke the attacker or be involved in criminal activity at the time.
And then...
Man was cleared under 'Stand Your Ground,' then shot to death on Miami street
A man who avoided a murder charge just months ago thanks to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law was one of two men shot to death in Miami Tuesday night.
The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m., Miami police spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz said.
Cruz said officers responded to the area and found a young black male lying on a side street shot and unconscious. A second victim, another black male, was found shot inside a black pickup truck just feet away.
The man found in the street was pronounced dead at the scene by Miami Fire Rescue. The second victim was taken to a hospital but died on the way, Cruz said.
According to the Miami Herald, the man shot in the truck was Greyston Garcia, who was granted immunity in March under the controversial self-defense law following a stabbing.
Garcia had chased down and stabbed a thief who had broken into his truck after the thief swung a bag filled with heavy car radios at him, according to the Herald. WTF?
Police believe Garcia was an innocent bystander in Tuesday's shooting, the Herald reported.
Family members identified the man found shot in the street as 16-year-old Ronald Jones.
"You know, seeing my baby brother laying out here and you know, that's just an image that I'll never forget," sister Ronchel Jones said. "Everybody loved him, he was loving, caring, funny."
Cruz said police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
"This is like a big puzzle we're trying to put together," Cruz said. "We're not sure if these gentlemen were shooting at each other or if we have a third party that's at large that is responsible for the shooting."
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/27/12441386-man-was-cleared-under-stand-your-ground-then-shot-to-death-on-miami-street?lite
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