The DA seems almost disappointed by that fact. Man won't be charged in December shooting death near Dunnellon, Florida
Prosecutors have declined to charge a man who shot and killed another man a few months ago in the Rainbow Lakes Estates subdivision in west Marion County, stating they are "unable to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that Shawn Niner's decision to use deadly force was unreasonable."
Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman, in a memorandum about the case, said if additional evidence or testimony is obtained, then "the decision may be revisited."
You can click thru for the details, but the shooter was down on the ground, held down by a man larger than himself, with his jacket pulled over his head, when he drew a gun and fired one shot.
Seems like self-defense to me, but I'm not a lawyer, and I'm really not a lawyer who measures my career against my ability to ignore justice and win, whenever I can.
Rainbow Lakes Estates is in an unincorporated area of Marion County, Florida. It about a 45 mile drive south of Gainsville, Florida or about a 100 mile drive northwest of Orlando.
As the video showed, "Niner defended himself when he used deadly force when he was on the ground, having been struck several times in the head by Robbins and possibly others immediately prior," the memo says.
Maybe I'm being too harsh on the DA's office, but the existence of that video seems to indicate that it shouldn't have taken two months to determine that they couldn't win.
In any event they did admit defeat, or at least that it was self-defense.
Take note of the verbage. They couldn't prove his actions were unreasonable. Not that they didn't want to....they just couldn't. Without video odds are good the prosecutor would have railroaded this man into prison.
ReplyDeleteI agree. DAs hate self-defense, even in places where they should know better. And the Criminal Justice System doesn't care anything about Justice. They want to win.
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