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A Lee County sheriffs detective is questioning aprosecutorsdecisionnotto charge James Taylor withthe homicide of a man who drunkenly attempted to get into his home in 2016.

Ryan Modell, 32,was drunk and mistakenly tried to enter Taylors condominiumat the Emerson Square development on Old Harmony Drivein south Fort Myerson March 20, 2016.

A year later,prosecutors withthe 20thJudicial Circuit declined to file charges against Taylor, then 45,calling Modells death a justifiable homicide under FloridasStand Your Ground lawbecause Taylor said he feared for his life.

Since then, Modells dad Sandy has filed a wrongfuldeath suitagainst Taylor and Taylor has countersuedModellfor defamation. Both cases were settled.

SandyModell, Ryans father, has fought to get the case reopened without success.

But, in aswornvideorecorded statement,Lt. DavidLebid, a17-year law enforcement officer assigned to the case,paints a different pictureof Taylor and the shooting of ModelltoR. Frank Myers,an attorney hired by Sandy.Lebidcalls into question Taylors claim that he was acting in self-defense.

I personally felt that what Mr. Taylor did was completely wrong and that it was a homicide,Lebidsaid. I believe he murdered this person.

Taylors attorney, Matthew S. Toll, said the case was reviewed and re-reviewed at least twice since then withthe result to not prosecute each time.

Enough already, Toll said. It is time to allow an innocent man who was defending himself and his wife from a violent attack in the middle of the night to move forward in peace.

The State Attorneys Office and the Lee County Sheriffs Officedeclined to comment for this story.The sheriffs officealsodeclined to makeLebid available for an interview. However,Myers, the attorney, said the sheriffs office gaveLebid permission to participatein the sworn interview.

The night of the incident,Taylor and his wife were awakened by a noise and went to check it out, Lebidtold attorneys.They went to thefront door wheretheyfound Modell trying to get into their home,prompting a phone call fromhis wifeto 911where she described Modell as confused.

At some point, the door was opened and Modell tried to get inside,Lebidsaid. It took some force, but eventually, the door was closed on Modell, injuring his foot in the process.

There was actual blood in the threshold of the doorway proving that Ryan was somewhere he didnt belong,Lebidsaid. And then Ryan left.

Thats where the facts of what happened that night get murky.When deputies arrived the night of the shooting, Taylor declined to provide a statementandaskedfor an attorney, Lebid said.

I dont understand why, because the goal was I dont want you in my house, you have the wrong house, and I thought, in my estimation, well, that was accomplished,Lebidsaid.

What makes the most sense,Lebidsaid, is Taylor closed the door on Modell, went to his bedroom to get his Glock 10mm, and came back and shot Modell.Taylor left his wife behind, told her to lock the door, and then went looking for Modell, which is not indicative of someone who is afraid,Lebidsaid.

When Taylor found Modell, he was about 100 feet away from his home,sitting on his butt washing his foot off with a water hose,Lebidsaid, adding that, at that point,Taylor was picking on a lesser person.

Its like kicking a dog or something, he added.

Lebidsaid he wishes investigators would have been able to test Taylors blood alcohol content. But by the time a blood warrant was drawn, it had been about seven hours,Lebidsaid. Any kind of blood evidence that would have indicated blood alcohol content wasnt going to be useful.

ToLebid, it was a homicide case, but Floridas Stand Your Ground law complicated things.

The Lee County Sheriffs Office turned in the investigation as an agency review which means facts gatheredwere turned over to the State Attorneys Office for a determination on the prosecution,Lebidsaid.

Lebidsaidhe doesnt understand why the case was not brought to justice.

I think thats kind of the design of what court is, asking a jury of your peers or authority figure in your area to reviewthese kindofactions,Lebidsaid.We have someone who was shot to death. We have someone whose life was taken from them.

I havent seen this before,Lebidadded.

Lebidsaid thesheriffsoffice once again presentedthe caseto prosecutorsin 2020and they received the sameresponse.

But, ultimately,Lebidsaid Taylor wasnt forced into the situation.

You sought this situation out, he said. You created this opportunity.

Full statement by Matthew S. Toll, the attorney representing James Taylor:

This matter has been reviewed, re-reviewed, and re-reviewed again. The State Attorneys Office, multiple candidates for State Attorney, prosecutors, detectives, numerous other police officers, Judges, an arbitrator, a mediator, numerous attorneys, and a number of members of the media have spent what must be thousands of hours of time in the aggregate considering and analyzing the decisions my client made over a few minutes during the night in question. There have been at least three lawsuits between the parties originating from the incident. All are now resolved, and the litigation costs have all but bankrupted my client and his family. Enough already. It is time to allow an innocent man who was defending himself and his wife from a violent attack in the middle of the night to move forward in peace.

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Sworn testimony: LCSO detective disagrees with prosecutors over 'Stand Your Ground' death - Wink News

After passing in the Arkansas Senate, a Stand Your Ground law has been voted down by the House Judiciary Committee.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. A Stand Your Ground bill in Arkansas was voted down by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday (Feb. 2).

This comes after the Arkansas Senate passed the bill two weeks ago with a majority of votes. It's a bill that has been met with a lot of opposition.

The bill loosens restrictions on the use of deadly force in self-defense.

After a committee meeting, the bill failed on a voice vote where opponents spoke against the proposal., our sister-station THV11 reports.

A similar Stand Your Ground bill failed in Arkansas two years ago.

Before the bill was voted down, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said a Stand Your Ground bill is important to protect Arkansans Second Amendment right to protect themselves and protect their families.

What this bill does is essentially clean up the language so Arkansans understand that if someone is attacking them using deadly force, then they can defend themselves, she said.

Republican Senator Jim Hendren is one of the senators who voted against the bill.

While I believe in the second amendment and I have my concealed carry, and I believe the right to bear arms, Im concerned about a law that everyone in law enforcement tells us is not necessary and the data shows may lead to more homicides, he said

25 states across the U.S. currently have Stand Your Ground laws in place.

This is a developing story.

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Stand Your Ground Law in Arkansas voted down by House committee - 5newsonline.com

Using evidence and Florida's Stand Your Ground law, it was determined the four deputies were justified in their use of deadly force, according to prosecutors.

RIVERVIEW, Fla. On Monday, the State Attorney's Office released the findings of its review of a deadly shooting case involving four Hillsborough County deputies.

According to a press release, it was determined that Sgt. Michael Hannaford, Cpl. Steven Schneider, Deputy Devin Wooden, and Deputy Timothy Miskell were justified in their use of deadly force.

Body-camera footage released in December shows a wanted man repeatedly ignoring commands to show his hands before being shot and killed by deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

According to the report, on Dec. 8 deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office were serving multiple arrest warrants on 27-year-old Dylan Scott when they approached his truck at a McDonalds parking lot in Riverview. Investigators say Scott then took off in his truck and crashed into another vehicle on Bloomingdale Avenue.

When deputies attempted to take Scott into custody, they say Scott told them he had a gun. At about two minutes and 46 seconds into the video, Scott can be heard saying the firearm was in his waistband when asked by law enforcement.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has since confirmed Scott did not actually have a gun with him, but his statements on camera gave deputies reason to believe he did.

According to the release, the State Attorney's Office's review determined that deputies spent several minutes attempting to de-escalate the situation and ordering Scott to show his hands.

Investigators say that although Scott was unarmed, he raised his arm toward one of the deputies "as if he was going to shoot him," and deputies shot Scott in response.

Deputies say there was a passenger in Scott's vehicle named Shelby Guy who was pulled from the truck after the crash but before the shooting.

Guy, who identified herself as Scotts ex-girlfriend, provided a statement consistent with the deputies' accounts, according to the press release. Investigators also say that Guy told them Scott "had made statements that he would not go back to jail and would force law enforcement officers to kill him."

In late July, "Scott's mother called HCSO when he left a note at her home claiming he wanted to die via suicide by cop," the sheriff's office said. Investigators say they also found Facebook messages that Scott sent to his mother confirming this.

According to the release, the State Attorney's Office determined that "the deputies reasonably perceived an imminent threat, which justified their use of deadly force" under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. It added that "restraint and professionalism" were exhibited by the deputies in "trying to convince Scott to peacefully turn himself in before resorting to the use of deadly force."

The State Attorney's office says the "exhaustive" review made use of all the available evidence including video evidence, autopsy results, civilian witness accounts, and interviews of the involved law enforcement officers.

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Use of force by 4 Hillsborough deputies involved in deadly shooting found to be justified - WTSP.com

Ethics

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 26, 2021, 10:57 am CST

Image from Shutterstock.com.

A Nashville, Tennessee, lawyer has been suspended for advising a Facebook friend on how she could use the castle doctrine to protect herself if she shot a former boyfriend she had accused of abuse.

In a Jan. 22 opinion, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended lawyer Winston Bradshaw Sitton for four years, with one year to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation.

Sitton had maintained that his Facebook post was dark humor and sarcastic, and his intent was to dissuade the woman from carrying a gun in her car. A hearing panel said a reasonable person would not perceive the comments that way. The panel recommended a 60-day suspension, but the Tennessee Supreme Court determined that the penalty was too light.

Posting the remarks on social media was an aggravating factor justifying an increase in discipline, the state supreme court said.

The Legal Profession Blog, Law & Crime, ABC News and the Tennessean have coverage.

Sitton wrote the Facebook post after the woman posted in December 2017: I need to always carry my gun with me now, dont I? Is it legal to carry in TN in your car without paying the damn state?

According to the ruling, Sitton responded: I have a carry permit, Lauren. The problem is that if you pull your gun, you must use it. I am afraid that, with your volatile relationship with your babys daddy, you will kill your exyour sons father. Better to get a taser or a canister of tear gas. Effective but not deadly. If you get a shot gun, fill the first couple rounds with rock salt, the second couple with bird shot, then load for bear.

If you want to kill him, then lure him into your house and claim he broke in with intent to do you bodily harm and that you feared for your life. Even with the new stand your ground law, the castle doctrine is a far safer basis for use of deadly force.

The woman responded: I wish he would try.

Sitton then wrote: As a lawyer, I advise you to keep mum about this if you are remotely serious. Delete this thread and keep quiet. Your defense is that you are afraid for your liferevenge or premeditation of any sort will be used against you at trial.

The woman deleted the post, but the former boyfriend brought screenshots to the district attorney, who reported Sitton to Tennessees Board of Professional Responsibility.

The Tennessee Supreme Court said the lawyers advice was clearly prejudicial to the administration of justice and a violation of ethics rules.

The social media posts fostered a public perception that a lawyers role is to manufacture false defenses, the court said. They projected a public image of corruption of the judicial process.

Sitton had contended that his remarks werent serious, as evidenced by the fact that he made them on a public forum.

There is no conceivable reason that petitioner, a lawyer with nearly 30-years of experience in New York and Tennessee, would have been stupid enough to publish such words openly in public view had there been any sinister intent or were this instruction to be taken literally, he wrote.

The Tennessee Supreme Court responded to the argument.

We agree with Mr. Sitton that it is hard to conceive of any reason why a lawyer, any lawyer, would offer instructions on how to commit murder and stage a concocted defense, the court said. But we disagree with Mr. Sitton that his publication of the advice on a public platform such as Facebook cuts in favor of his position.

To the contrary, the court said, Sittons decision to publish the comments on a public forum made his situation exponentially worse.

Sitton was administratively suspended from law practice in August 2018 for failing to pay the professional privilege tax and had not sought reinstatement. On his law firms Facebook page, Sitton said he didnt pay as a protest against an unconstitutional tax.

Sitton also commented on the new suspension.

I adamantly contest the finding that my gratuitous commentary offered in 2017 to a battered woman, who was being threatened and abused and harassed by her sons father, was legal advice as to how to commit a crime or in any way violated my duties as either a citizen or as a lawyer, he wrote on his firms Facebook page.

My intent in the offensive exchange, manifest in the context of the complete correspondence never considered as evidence, was to use sarcasm in order to emphasize the peril inherent in carrying a firearm without adequate training; as well as to underscore the additional danger that her extensive discussion of self-defense might be misconstrued to have a malign intent and used against her in ongoing litigation with her abuser.

I do admit that the language I used, albeit taken out of context, was intemperate and regret the way this utterance was phrased; however, I note that the comment was intentionally caustic and cynical as it was both offered as, and understood by the recipient to be, a sardonic, sarcastic remark made in order to convince the lady not to resort to lethal force and not to discuss any such matters in an open forum.

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Lawyer suspended for Facebook advice on how to shoot an abuser and avoid conviction - ABA Journal

Katie Nussbaum|Savannah Morning News

The killing of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, in Brunswick last year has led several state lawmakers to opposeGeorgias citizen's arrest and stand your ground laws. Savannah City Council is set to put itsvoice behind these efforts on Thursday as members voteon a resolution to support the repeal of the stand your ground legislation.

Both issues have been in the state and national spotlight over the past year after lawyers for the two white men accused of killing Arbery indicated they will cite the laws as a defense at trial.

Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-Garden City) said it was Arberys death that led him tosponsor House Bill 45, which would repeal the citizens arrest law. The lawcurrently allows those who witness someone committing a felony to detain the person.

As a nation, we saw a videotape that revealed that people were taking the law into their own hands and went bad, he said.

Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, have both been charged with murder in Arberys death and told prosecutors they suspected he was responsible for break-ins in their neighborhood, even though no break-ins had been reported in recent weeks. A third man, William Bryan Jr., was also charged with murder after he joined the chase and allegedly struck Arberywith his vehicle.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the repeal of the laws would help to legally protect Georgia residents.

"These stand your ground laws are associated with increased homicides," Johnson said.Right now our law allows the person to shoot and kill another person, even when they can clearly and safely walk away. There is not a retreat required.

In June, Johnson joined several other mayors from around the state in sending a letter to the Georgia General Assembly asking them to repeal the stand your ground law. Like Gilliard, they were moved to take action following Arbery's death.

"In order to prevent things like that from happening we have to prevent the opportunities for those things to happen," Johnson said.

Gilliard said other Georgia cities and counties have expressed their support for the measures, including Glynn County, Screven County, City of South Fulton and the City of Atlanta. If HB 45 moves to a committee, Gilliard believes it will be heard by the House Judiciary committee.

I think we've got a lot of good support with law enforcement because it's not anti-law enforcement its pro-law enforcement. Its saying that they are the professionals, theyre the ones that know more than Carl or anyone else, so we should allow them to be able to administer any arrest or any judgment, Gilliard said of the repeal efforts.

While citizen's arrest and stand your ground are two separate issues when it comes to legislation, both Johnson and Gilliard said they go back to the same factors.

What's happening is that when you think about stand your ground, you think about Trayvon Martin, unfortunately, who was taken away insensitively. A lot of times when we want to become law enforcement, but we can't, we're just not equipped and skilled enough, Gilliard said.

Even in the Trayvon Martin situation, if that individual had just let the law be the law with the 911 call maybe Trayvon Martin would still be alive.

Katie Nussbaum is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Contact her at knussbaum@savannahnow.com. Twitter: KmartSMN

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Savannah City Council considers taking stand on stand your ground law with resolution - Savannah Morning News