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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Lucy McBath is afraid many more people will die if Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs a bill making it harder to prosecute when people claim they commit violence in self-defense.

She already lost her son, an unarmed black teenager, when a white man angry over loud music and claiming self-defense fired 10 times at an SUV filled with teenagers.

The measure before Scott would effectively require a trial-before-a-trial whenever someone invokes self-defense, making prosecutors prove the suspect doesnt deserve immunity.

Scott hasnt revealed his intentions, but hes a National Rifle Association supporter, and this is an NRA priority.

If it passes in Florida, then they take that same legislation and they push it on the legislative floors across the country, McBath said. Her 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was killed by Michael Dunn outside a Jacksonville convenience store in 2012.

Many states have long invoked the castle doctrine, allowing people to use even deadly force to defend themselves in their own homes.

Florida changed that in 2005, so that even outside a home, a person has no duty to retreat and can stand his or her ground anywhere they are legally allowed to be. Other states followed suit, and stand your ground defenses became much more common in pre-trial immunity hearings and during trials.

The 2012 killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman opened a debate about the limits of self-defense, and it hasnt let up since Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder after jurors received instructions on Floridas stand your ground law.

Florida Republicans made this bill a priority after the state Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the defendant has the burden of proof before trial. If Florida starts a national trend to shift that burden to prosecutors, itll be just fine with Republican Rep. Bobby Payne, who sponsored the bill.

Only four of the 22 or more state stand your ground laws mention this burden of proof in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia and South Carolina and all place it on defendants.

Its about following our right of innocent until proven guilty, Payne said. Its about Fifth Amendment rights, its about due process, its about having a true immunity, for when folks really believe theyre in imminent threat of great bodily harm or death, to defend themselves properly.

Senators originally wanted prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt before trial that self-defense didnt justify a violent crime. The final legislation lowered the threshold to clear and convincing evidence.

Either way, it makes prosecuting violent crimes more difficult, experts say.

I think there will be more false stand your ground claims, said former Broward County prosecutor Gregg Rossman, who has tried 65 murder cases. The pre-trial hearings are very much going to be like a mini-trial.

Proving a killer didnt act in self-defense when there are no living witnesses would be particularly hard, he said: I worry the most about the one-on-one cases. You and I get into an argument and I shoot you. Who speaks for you?

But public defenders say it should help people who were simply trying to defend themselves. Prosecutors often use the threat of minimum mandatory sentences to coerce people into accepting a plea deal even if their use of force was justified, said Stacy Scott, a public defender in Gainesville.

Its going to force them to deal more fairly with citizens who are charged with crimes, and will help our clients either get better plea offers or exonerate themselves earlier in the process so they dont have to wait until a jury trial and risk everything they have in order to litigate their case, Scott said.

McBath, who lives in Marietta, Georgia, believes the guilty will more likely escape convictions. It took two trials to convict her sons killer of murder.

Were just one out of so many, she said. Because we won our case, I honestly, honestly believe thats the reason why theyre putting these additional measures into stand your ground.

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Altus Times | Florida could pave new changes in 'stand your ground ... - Altus Times

By Terri L. WilkinProgram Director for Legal Studies,AMU Special Contributor to In Homeland Security

On May 4, 2017, the Florida Senate passed, by a vote of 24 to 13, a new version of Floridas Stand Your Ground law, Senate Bill 128. The law had been approved by the Florida House in April.

One of the contentious points between the House and Senate bills was the standard of proof provision. The Florida Senate originally wanted the standard to be beyond a reasonable doubt, but the House approved the standard of clear and convincing evidence.

Clear and convincing evidence is the standard of proof between beyond a reasonable doubt (100% certainty) used in criminal cases and a preponderance of the evidence (51% or more likely than not) used in personal injury and tort cases.

This means that the state must produce evidence that is deemed substantially more likely than not (or more than 51% but less than 100%) that their case is true.

Florida Governor Scott Is Expected to Sign the Bill into Law

The bill is awaiting Governor Rick Scotts signature. If he signs it, the revised law will go into effect on July 1, 2017. Governor Scott (R) is a proponent of gun rights, making it a sure bet that he will sign the new version of the Stand Your Ground legislation into law. The law allows individuals to use deadly force if they reasonably believe that, by standing their ground and defending themselves with deadly force, they will prevent their bodily harm and/or death.

A JAMA Network study conducted from 2005 to 2014 found that since the inception of the law in 2005, there has been a 24.4% increase in the monthly homicide rates in Florida and a 31.6% increase in homicides by firearms. In states without a Stand Your Ground law, these rates remained flat, debunking the pro-gun advocates argument that the increase in homicides during the years under study was due to a crime wave.

The revised law shifts the burden of proof from the defendant to the prosecution. Moreover,

prosecutors may have to prove the case twice; once at the initial Stand Your Ground hearing and then again at trial if the defendant is not permitted initially to use that defense.

One of the problems prosecutors will face in cases when the defendant claims the Stand Your Ground defense and the individual he or she shot has died. How will the prosecutor prove that the defendant does not qualify for the Stand Your Ground defense when the victim is dead?

It is predicted that Florida will see a lot more shootings and an increase in defendants using Stand Your Ground as their defense. The statute is being dubbed the How to Get Away with Murder or the Shoot to Kill law.

About the Author Terri L. Wilkin graduated from the University of Marylands Francis King Carey School of Law in May 2007. Terri is admitted to practice law in the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia, and has been admitted in the Federal United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Prior to law school, she obtained a Master of Science dual degree from the Johns Hopkins University in Leadership and Finance/Accounting. Her 26-year career with the Maryland State Police includes assignments in patrol, criminal and drug investigations, white collar crime, intelligence work, training, the Deputy Director of the Planning and Research Division, and as the Department Prosecutor. She is also a Florida Licensed Private Investigator and a Managing Partner in an Investigative Consulting Firm.

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Florida Senate Passes New 'Stand Your Ground' Burden of Proof Law - In Homeland Security

Bill Cotterell 8:29 a.m. ET June 2, 2017

Bill Cotterell writes a column for the Tallahassee Democrat.(Photo: File)

A road rage incident near Disney almost six years ago resulted in a major piece of gun legislation awaiting Gov. Rick Scotts signaturein this years edition of a firearms panic.

It seems that almost every legislative session produces one. Recently, its been the guns on campus bills, aimed at letting concealed-weapon permit holders carry their weapons on college campuses. That one has failed in the past few sessions but its going to pass probably sooner, rather than later.

This years gun fright started with a family driving in Osceola County in 2011, when a driver almost sideswiped them and the driver stared at them in a threatening manner, subsequent court papers said. That driver aggressively swerved in front of them, slammed on the brakes, jumped out and advanced toward their car whereupon the tourist driver held up a holstered pistol.

The other guy, who was unarmed, returned to his truck, and it should have ended there. But another family member jumped from the back seat of the car with another gun and pointed it at the man in the truck, who called 911. So did the vacationing family and some passers-by.

When the cops arrived, they charged the gun-pointing man with aggravated assault with a firearm. He claimed immunity under Floridas stand your ground law, but lost in court.

Which brings us to Senate Bill 128. The man pointing the gun in that case presumably to keep the alleged aggressor at the scene until police arrived had the burden of proving that he was defending himself and others from likely death, injury or other criminal abuse.

It sounds like a common-sense defense but, you know lawyers.

So now the Legislature, at the behest of the National Rifle Association and other organizations generally described as Second Amendment defenders, has voted to shift the proof burden to the state in stand your ground cases. Assuming Scott signs the bill into law,state attorneys will have to prove, in future pretrial hearings, that defendants are not legally standing their ground, or defending their castles, against attackers.

The Legislature approved the change by roughly party-line votes, 74-39 in the House and 23-15 in the Senate. State attorneys want Scott to veto the bill, because theyve got the law the way they like it and dont want to change. Public defenders feel the other way, because theyd like any legal advantage than can get.

Whats lost in the discussion is that the bill will not free a bunch of murderers. If you stick up a liquor store and the clerk pulls a gun, so you shoot at him, you cant claim self-defense. You started it.

In fact, the words stand your ground dont even appear in the short statute bearing that name.

What does appear is language saying you cant legally use force to defend yourself against a cop who is properly detaining you. And SYG doesnt apply to anyone committing a criminal act, like a drug dealer safeguarding a stash, or robbing a competitor.

If the bill becomes law, it probably will result in more shooters claiming justifiable use of force. When youre facing a murder charge, why grasp at anything? When there are no witnesses, or the physical evidence is inconclusive, this will probably lead to some guilty people getting off.

But is that worse than what we have now innocent, or maybe-innocent, people having to choose between a prosecutors offer of three-to-10 on a plea deal, or risking 25-to-life, if they go to trial?

This is an old argument. Its interesting that the voices calling for a veto have been wrong before.

In 1987, when legislators passed the concealed carry law, they warned that Florida would become the wild, wild West. It wouldnt be safe to go outside, if law-abiding citizens were licensed to pack pistols in their pockets and never mind that criminals already conceal their guns.

Well, that didnt happen.

And in 2005, when they passed the stand your ground law, we heard it again. You could shoot the Avon lady. Panicky people would fire first, figure it out later, and walk free and never mind that the law says you must have a reasonable belief that you or others are in imminent danger, before using justifiable force.

Well, that didnt happen, either.

Bill Cotterell writes a column for the Tallahassee Democrat,part of USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA, which includes The News-Press. Cotterellcan be contacted at bcotterell@tallahassee.com.

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Latest gun bill changes 'stand your ground' - The News-Press

Getting away with murder may soon be easier in Florida.

Prosecutors certainly hope it wont be.

Victims family members are pleading with Gov. Rick Scott not to let it happen.

But unless Scott does something he hasnt done much before defy the National Rifle Association the governor will soon approve changes to the states stand your ground law that will make it harder for prosecutors to convict killers.

So, if your wife has her skull bashed in if your son is shot in the back if your mother is strangled their killers will now have a better chance of getting off.

All they will have to do is claim self-defense.

It wont matter whether their claim is bogus. It wont matter if the killer is a gang-banger, a spurned lover or an angry neighbor.

As long as the killers claim they were standing their ground, they will be granted something no other state in America gives them a pre-trial hearing where the courts are predisposed to dismiss the charges.

How? Well, instead of a defendant having the burden of proof in explaining why the killing (or assault) was justified, under this new law, the state will have to explain why it wasnt. Its a standard never before demanded in pre-trial hearings.

The state essentially has to convict killers twice.

Critics have dubbed it a gang members protection act. But its not just gang members who could benefit.

Remember the case out of Jacksonville where a man, angry about loud music, fired 10 times at an SUV full of teenagers and then later claimed he was firing in self-defense?

Well, had this law been in place then, it mightve been good news for him.

Thats what makes the mother of the unarmed boy killed by that man so mad. This law would be a gross miscarriage of justice for families like mine, Lucy McBath wrote in an op-ed earlier this year, adding that the change would promote violence, vigilantism and a general shoot first, ask questions later culture.

McBath and Florida prosecutors want Scott to veto the bill. That seems highly unlikely.

The NRA claims the bill is needed to protect those who act in self-defense. What the NRA has not done, however, is provide evidence that self-defenders are routinely being wrongly convicted in this state. Its a non-solution in search of a problem.

Instead, the campaign to pass this law appears to be just another issue for the NRA to rally members and donations in the face of a nonexistent threat. Yet anyone who questions the law is branded anti-gun.

But that simple-minded tactic falls apart once you realize that this bills No. 1 critic is Seminole Countys gun-toting, conservative, NRA-card-carrying state attorney, Phil Archer.

Archer isnt against guns. Hes against murder. And assault. And bad guys getting off. And putting victims families through two trials. And wasting taxpayer money. And giving criminals a reason to claim self-defense, even when its completely bogus.

So he repeatedly traveled to Tallahassee to explain the faults of this bill stressing that theres a reason no other state in America gives accused killers and batterers such an advantage.

But Archer was ignored by every single legislator from his home county. Seminole County Republican Reps. Jason Brodeur, Bob Cortes and Scott Plakon and Sen. David Simmons all voted to pass the bill in a largely party-line split.

To be honest, Im not convinced all of Floridas legislators really understood what they were doing. Ive seen legislators pass NRA bills sometimes without asking questions, sometimes over their own whispered objections simply because they lack the fortitude Archer displayed in challenging the NRA.

They may not realize their mistake until down the road after court costs skyrocket, after different judges offer conflicting interpretations of the law or maybe after someone who kills one their friends gets off on a technicality.

Sometimes politicians just dont contemplate the real-world implications of the laws they pass.

Last week, though, one of them got a pretty good wake-up call.

It happened after a candidate for Congress in Montana body-slammed a reporter. Some politicians, including Panhandle freshman Congressman Matt Gaetz, began joking about other journalists who deserved a good body slam.

It was all fun-and-games until a reporter reminded Gaetz via Twitter that, under the stand your ground law he supported as a legislator a law that says those attacked have no duty to retreat that reporter would be justified in responding to a body-slamming by shooting the congressman.

Gaetzs response: Good point.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com

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With 'stand your ground' change, getting away with murder in Florida could soon be easier - Orlando Sentinel

(Photo: Bill Day/Cagle Cartoons)

Critics of a defendant-friendly proposal say dust off the GunshineState moniker:Florida is blazing new legal territory in a quest to expand Stand Your Ground rights.

SB 128, which has yet to be delivered to Gov. Rick Scott for a final signature, establishes a new threshold for a homicide charge in pre-trial hearings when a defendant uses deadly force.

"If the governor signs it then every other state will be looking to Florida for all the wrong reasons," said Sen. Perry Thurston, D-Ft. Lauderdale. "There is a reason why every state attorney in Florida is against this. There is a reason why no other state has a law like this. It ties the prosecutor's hands. It's not just bad. It's bad-bad bad."

Second Amendment advocates, the NRA, and the Florida Public Defenders Association say state attorneys have routinely abused their prosecutorial authority in cases where citizens have defended themselves against an attack. They say SB 128 reins them in and protects the constitutional rights of people under investigation following a violent encounter.

"They ( prosecutors) are able to extract pleas from innocent people because ... in some cases you have to turn down a favorable plea offer and face life in prison if you even want to take a deposition in a case to find out what witnesses will say under oath," said Stacy Scott, public defender in Gainesville, which is part of the 8th Judicial Circuit.

Hiaasen opinion: New stand your ground rules offer creative opportunities for defendants

Victims mother: Stand Your Ground law emboldens shooters

The bill is in response to a 2015Supreme Court ruling that found a defendant must prove deadly force was allowed under the Stand Your Ground law - a 2005 measure that says one does not have to retreat when threatened.

Florida's Stand Your Groundlaw was the first in the nation about two dozen other states have followed suit. A 2016 study found the state's monthly homicide rate has increased 24 percent since. Critics faulted the AMA study for flawed methodology, pointing out that the data conflated justifiablehomicides and murder rendering the results misleading.

Lawyers in the Florida Senate where a third of the 39 members have law degrees, overwhelmingly sided with the defendants voting 10-3 in favor of SB 128. Senate President Joe Negron argued if the state wants to deprive someone of their freedom then it must prove guilt at every step of the proceedings.

"The highest legal standard in the world has served us well," Negron explained. "If the government wants to send you to prison, it has the burden beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt."

Scott has said the court ruling had tilted the scales of justice against domestic violence and battery victims;often citizens with low incomes are unable to match the state's resources.

"This bill by forcing the state to have the burden of proof at the immunity hearing, it gives meaning to the hearing," said Scott. "It gives teeth to the hearing and it gives the citizen a fair opportunity to negotiate with the state."

Prosecutors say Negron and Scott's defense is inaccurate and misleading to those unfamiliar with how the judicial system works. PhilArcher, Brevard state attorney, said the burden is often on the defendant in pre-trial hearings such as one claiming a violation of rights or to plead insanity.

Archer said SB 128 mandates such an extraordinary standard of proof that it creates a huge loophole for defense attorneys to exploit.

"Last year in my jurisdiction of a million citizens, we had four Stand Your Ground hearings," Archer told lawmakers during a committee hearing. "With this bill, I expect that to rise to more than 6,000."

Archer predicted every battery case, every one-on-one confrontation, every violent crime potentially will include an immunity hearing.

The measure cleared both the House and Senate along mostly party-line votes. Thurston, a defense attorney by trade, led the Democratic opposition and tried to killthe bill during four separate committee and Senate floor meetings. His best shot was that the proposed legislation fosters a"shoot to kill" mentality because "dead men tell no tales."

"This is simply kowtowing to the NRA," said Thurston, the lawmaker.

Thurston the defense attorney though has a different take. If the governor signs the bill, he said he will use it every chance he gets.

"I see an avalanche of motions; domestic battery, aggravated battery, homicide. Every violent crime, you name it," Thurston said. "It would be malpractice for a criminal defense attorney not to. It would be ineffective legal assistance not to file that motion in every case I can think of."

The bill has yet to be sent to the governor. When asked the governor's intentions a spokesman said the bill will be givena thorough review once it arrives.When it makes it to his desk, Gov. Scott will have15 days to decide whether to allow it to become law.

Reporter James Call can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee.

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Lawmaker plans to use "shoot to kill" bill every chance he gets - if Governor signs it - Tallahassee.com