Jim Rosica
The Senate blinked in a fight over a standard of evidence, sending a fix to the state’s “stand your ground” law to Gov. Rick Scott.
The House on Friday voted to “insist” that the Senate accept its amendment to Sen. Rob Bradley‘s bill (SB 128), which aims to streamline claims of self-defense.
Last month, it OK’d the bill but changed the burden of proof to “clear and convincing evidence,” a lower threshold than the Senate’s “beyond a reasonable doubt,” to overcome self-defense.
By Friday evening, the Senate finally accepted the change on a 22-14 vote.
Bill proponents want the burden to be on “the party seeking to overcome the immunity from criminal prosecution,” usually prosecutors, requiring a separate mini-trial, of sorts.
In legal terms, clear and convincing evidence is a “medium level of burden of proof,” according to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
“In order to meet the standard and prove something by clear and convincing evidence, a party must prove that it is substantially more likely than not that it is true,” it says. “This standard is employed in both civil and criminal trials.”
The Republican majority in the Legislature wants to shift the burden to prosecutors, making them disprove a claim of self-defense. A state Supreme Court decision had put the onus on the defendant to show self-defense.
Democrats have inveighed against the measure, saying it would encourage bad actors to injure, even kill, and then claim self-defense.
The stand your ground law, enacted in 2005, allows people who are attacked to counter deadly force with deadly force in self-defense without any requirement that they flee.
2 comments
Ward Dorrity
May 6, 2017 at 10:44 am
Democrats want you helpless and defenseless. Now why is that, do you suppose?
“Never forget, even for an instant, that the one and only reason anybody has for taking your gun away is to make you weaker than he is, so he can do something to you that you wouldn’t let him do if you were equipped to prevent it. This goes for burglars, muggers, and rapists, and even more so for policemen, bureaucrats, and politicians.” — Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith, Hope (2001)
While the objectors to this change in law aren’t _explicitly_saying that they want to disarm you, this is _precisely_ the aim and intent of liberals and state supremacists. Any incremental step in that direction to further the agenda.
oatka
May 6, 2017 at 11:27 am
Shifting the burden of proof of innocence to the defendant is a Napoleonic law concept that is not acceptable in this country.
Florida just went back to the good old English Common Law which our forefathers gave us.
It is based on the common sense of mankind down through the centuries, therefore it is no surprise that the Democrats are against it.
I hope this trend continues, for the uniform criminal code adopted by the states has caused much harm.
Comments are closed.