'Stand Your Ground' Change Stalls In House

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TALLAHASSEE (NSF) – The House did not take a second shot at a proposal to change the burden of proof in "stand your ground" self-defense cases.

After his committee held its final scheduled meeting of the legislative session Thursday, Judiciary Chairman Charles McBurney said it was his decision not to bring up the proposal (SB 344), which was backed by Second Amendment groups.

"There were some concerns which were raised with the bill when we first got it," McBurney, R-Jacksonville, said. "I had concerns from the members. I had concerns from certain groups about the bill. I had concerns from victims' groups. So we kind of put the pause button on the bill."

McBurney said he also heard from influential National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, but the two "disagree" on the bill.

Hammer said in an email Thursday that McBurney is the only House member to contact her to discuss any concerns.

"I am waiting for the 'pause button' to be removed," Hammer said in an email. "The prosecutors' association opposes the bill, however, the public defenders' association supports it. NRA and the public defenders are looking out for people caught in a legal trap created in part by prosecutors. Prosecutors appear to be looking out for their own convenience."

The issue, which deals with pre-trial evidentiary hearings in "stand your ground" cases, appeared to die late last year in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee. But the Senate went ahead and passed the bill and sent it to the House, raising the possibility that the proposal could be revived before the legislative session ends March 11.

In "stand your ground" cases, pre-trial evidentiary hearings are held to determine whether defendants should be immune from prosecution.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled last year that defendants have the burden of proving during the hearings that they should be shielded from prosecution. The Senate bill would have shifted that burden to prosecutors.

A House version of the bill (HB 169) was defeated Nov. 17 in a 6-6 vote in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee. But the Senate last month approved its version in a 24-12 party-line vote.

The "stand your ground" law has long been controversial, which was reflected in the debate about the burden-of-proof issue.

Senate Democrats argued, for example, that the proposal would increase the likelihood of a repeat of cases such as the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old who was shot by neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Sanford.

Zimmerman, who said he shot the teen in self-defense, was not immediately charged. A jury later acquitted him of second-degree murder.

But Senate sponsor Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said during the Senate debate last month that a "fundamental tenet" of the criminal-justice system is that the state has the burden of proof in criminal proceedings.

House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, who assigned the Senate measure to the Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that the decision to hear the bill would be up to McBurney.

The measure joins other high-profile bills that had the backing of Second Amendment groups but failed to get through the Legislature this year.

Proposals blocked in the Senate would have allowed people with concealed-weapons licenses to carry firearms on college and university campuses and to openly display handguns in most public places.

The News Service of Florida's Jim Turner contributed to this report.