Florida stand your ground law cases

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Location details: Outside the defendant's home in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, on Jan. 01, 2009

What happened: Bartholomew Letthand had an argument with his girlfriend in January 2009. The woman's two sons showed up at his house soon after and appeared to be vandalizing Letthand's car. Letthand, then 40, came out of the house and shot the sons, 19 and 21. Terry White was hit in the neck and died as he was driving away. Letthand then went to ex-girlfriend's home, where he argued with her father and shot him in the head. The father survived. Letthand argued self defense in two of the three shootings.

The outcome: A judge rejected self defense argument and a jury found Letthand guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Investigating agency: Pinellas County Sheriff

Case decision made by: Jury

Trayvon Martin’s death became controversial because circumstances leading up to the shooting cast doubt on who was to blame. The Tampa Bay Times reviewed other “stand your ground” cases for similar circumstances. The Times relied on available information, some of which may not tell the whole story. When the situation was unclear, that was noted.

	Yes	No	Unclear/ disputed
Did the victim initiate the confrontation?
Was the victim armed?
Was the victim committing a crime that led to the confrontation?
Did the defendant pursue the victim?
Could the defendant have retreated to avoid the conflict?
Was the defendant on his or her property?
Did someone witness the attack?
Was there physical evidence?

Source: Pinellas County Clerk of Court case progress docket, Jan. 2, 2009.

Source: Sixth Judicial Circuit Court, Pinellas County, Nov. 1, 2011.

Source: Tampa Bay Times, March 28, 2012. Link to original source

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Case last updated: July 3, 2012