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The Senate Judiciary Committee next week is expected to take up a proposal that would shift the legal burden of proof in stand your ground self-defense cases but the panel is not slated to consider a controversial measure that would expand the ability of people to carry guns in public.

The Judiciary Committees agenda for a meeting next Tuesday includes the stand your ground bill (SB 128), filed by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.

The bill stems from a Florida Supreme Court ruling in 2015 that said defendants have the burden of proof to show they should be shielded from prosecution under the stand your ground law. In stand your ground cases, pretrial evidentiary hearings are held to determine whether defendants should be immune from prosecution.

The bill and an identical proposal in the House (HB 245) would shift that burden of proof from defendants to prosecutors. But the Judiciary Committees agenda does not include a gun bill that has drawn wider debate.

That bill (SB 140), filed by Judiciary Chairman Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to openly carry handguns in public and also would allow them to be armed on college and university campuses.

Under the bill, they also could carry guns at airport passenger terminals; in elementary and secondary schools; and at legislative and local government meetings.

The committee had been scheduled to consider Steubes bill Jan. 10, but the meeting was canceled.

by The News Service of Florida

Written by William Filed Under News

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Senate Panel To Take Up 'Stand Your Ground' Law - NorthEscambia.com

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Key West gunman who wounded three invokes Stand Your Ground law FlKeysNews.com A Louisiana man who shot three people outside a Key West strip club last year wants a judge to toss charges of attempted murder by invoking the state's Stand Your Ground self-defense law. Derek David, 34, pulled out a .380 handgun while on Charles ...

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Key West gunman who wounded three invokes Stand Your Ground law - FlKeysNews.com

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Key West gunman who wounded three men invokes Stand Your Ground law FlKeysNews.com The Louisiana man who shot three people outside a Key West strip club last year wants a judge to toss charges of attempted murder by invoking the state's Stand Your Ground self-defense law. Derek David, 34, pulled out a .380 handgun while on Charles ...

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Key West gunman who wounded three men invokes Stand Your Ground law - FlKeysNews.com

A bill to shift the burden of proof in Stand Your Ground cases has found a House sponsor, sealing the deal for a sequel in the Florida Legislature this year.

Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka, filed the legislation last Friday. HB 245 would shift the burden of proof in Stand Your Ground self-defense cases in the Sunshine State.

If passed, HB 245 would give defendants more protection from prosecution in Stand Your Ground cases by requiring prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether a defendant is entitled to immunity at a pretrial hearing in order to disprove a claim of self-defense immunity.

The legislation would flip the responsibility onto the prosecutor to prove why a defendant shouldnt be allowed to use the Stand Your Ground defense in court.

Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, filed the companion legislation (SB 128) to shift the burden of proof in self-defense cases last month. Now with joint legislation, the bill has the beginnings of what it needs to become a law in Florida.

Bradley filed identical legislation during last years legislative session and the bills future seemed promising initially. The measure had a relatively easy time making its way through the Senate, but it did not fare as well in the House, where it stalled out in the House Justice Committee, flopping due to a 6-6 vote.

The measure came on the heels of a Florida Supreme Court last summer which ruled defendants would be responsible for the burden of proof showing they shouldnt be prosecuted in Stand Your Ground cases.

Supporters of the bill said the its crucial to protect Floridians right to self-defense. We have an obligation to zealously guard the protections granted us all in the Constitution, Sen. Bradley explained.

The legislation had, at the time, gathered significant support from pro-gun groups like the National Rifle Association, which said the bill was vital for gun owners who may use their weapons to protect themselves in potentially harmful situations.

Floridas Stand Your Ground law has been on the books since 2005, but it garnered national attention in 2014 during the Trayvon Martin case, where defendant George Zimmerman claimed he was using self-defense when he shot the black teenager to death in Florida. Zimmerman was acquitted for the crime. The legislative session begins in March.

Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email atallison@sunshinestatenews.comor follow her on Twitter:@AllisonNielsen.

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Florida House Reloads Stand Your Ground Burden of Proof Bill - Sunshine State News

Florida's Stand Your Ground law led to a "abrupt and sustained" increase in homicides, according to a study published by the American Medical Association.

Since the law's passage, gun-related homicides have increased nearly 32 percent from when the law passed in 2005 and 2014.

"These increases appear to have occurred despite a general decline in homicide in the United States since the early 1990s," according to the study authored by two professors at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and one from the University of Pennsylvania.

Florida was the first state to enact the law and 22 other states have followed suit.

The study, "Evaluating the Impact of Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' Self-defense Law on Homicide and Suicide by Firearm" found that the state's homicide rate was higher compared to states such as New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia that do no have Stand Your Ground Laws.

The law, which says a person has "no duty to retreat" when he or she believes that force is necessary to prevent harm to themselves or others, gained notoriety after neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford in 2012. Zimmerman claimed self-defense.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings who is also the president of the Florida Sheriff's Association, that supported the law said the study falls short of "objective reason."

"The Florida Sheriffs Association ... believes that the reasons why individuals commit homicides are a complex matter which cannot be attributed to a single factor," he said in a statement. "As such, the report should be narrowly interpreted and falls short of objective reason."

Gary Kleck, a criminal justice professor at Florida State University and expert on use of force, called the study arbitrary because there can be many other reasons for the rise in homicides.

"It's very weak methodology," he said.

dharris@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5471

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