LARGO — Charges against a 40-year-old man involved in a fatal scuffle outside a St. Petersburg bar were dismissed this week after his defense attorneys invoked the state’s new “stand your ground” law.
Bobby Ryan of St. Petersburg was charged with manslaughter after he was accused of punching Christopher Motlenski, who later died from complications of his injuries. On Thursday, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada granted his motion to dismiss the case.
Source: Pinellas judge tosses charges against man under new ‘stand your ground’ law | Tampa Bay Times
Again we have the mixing of SYG with Immunity from Prosecution. It is so embedded in their brains that they write about it and still do not get it.
“Under Florida law, a person “does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground” if they believe they or others could face imminent death or great bodily harm.”
Now, this is the narrative presented by the Defense lawyer to the judge:
“According to court records filed by Ryan’s defense attorneys, James Beach and Richard Watts, this is what happened the night of Feb. 10, 2016. At 2 a.m., Ryan and friend Torsten Simpson, arrived at Angelo’s Grill and Bar on First Avenue N in downtown St. Petersburg to pick up some sandwiches.
They were standing near the bar when Motlenski began an argument with them about their British accents. An employee escorted Motlenski, 53, outside. When Simpson and Ryan left the bar, Motlenski “continued to harass the defendant,” records stated. The men threw punches and Motlenski “bull charged” Simpson against a pair of doors, drawing other patrons’ attention.
That’s when Ryan punched Motlenski, who fell and hit his head on the pavement. Ryan was initially arrested on a charge of felony battery. After Motlenski died of complications, the charge was upgraded to manslaughter.”
So, unless the defense lawyer has cojones the size of ridding lawnmowers and lied to the court, we have a clear case of Self-Defense which begs the question why was the defendant arrested and charged in the first place or even better, once the investigation progressed, why wasn’t he released? So either the prosecutors did not have the clear evidence to get a conviction or they did not do their due diligence and prepared a basic minimum to show the judge “Hey, there is good evidence to take this to trial!”
The rights of the Defendant were sustained and public monies were not wasted. I can’t argue with that.
I’ve come to the conclusion from reading of many similar type incidents, that prosecutors are loath to not charge the survivor with something, even though they know a judge will see through the crap and throw out the charge.
They keep their record of being ‘tough on crime (You see? It’s those damn judges letting them off “on a technicality”) BS to maintain their ‘aura’ so in the future some poor schmuck is more likely to take a plea bargain – and I’ll bet this guy was offered such and told the prosecutor where to go and how to get there – than fight the charge.
I most certainly agree with you. Sure as hell we see that a lot in Florida.
“I’ve come to the conclusion from reading of many similar type incidents, that prosecutors are loath to not charge the survivor with something, even though they know a judge will see through the crap and throw out the charge.”
That was the MAIN reason that SYG law came into being. Prosecutors with absolute immunity being assholes and no way practical to stop their abuse. Voting them out sure wasn’t making them behave, definitely no penalty.