Florida Urgent: STOP Prosecutors from conspiring against your self-defense rights

SB-344 Burden of Proof  by Sen. Rob Bradley is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Rules Committee on Thursday, December 3, 2015, at 1:00PM

SB-344 Burden of Proof (current version) restores the Stand Your Ground law to the original intent of the Legislature by putting the burden of proof BACK ON THE STATE where it belongs. 

Make no mistake, some of the Florida State's Attorneys and prosecutors are conspiring against law-abiding citizens and your right of self-defense.  Some prosecutors want make it as easy as possible to convict people or force them to plea-bargain -- regardless of innocence.

Through court action, prosecutors and courts have knowingly reversed the self-defense law created by the Legislature that gives you immunity from arrest, detaining in custody, charging and prosecuting until and unless an investigation reveals there is probable cause to believe the act was not lawful self-defense.  They created a special "Stand Your Ground" hearing that forces the victim to prove innocence rather than the state prove guilt.  This bill stops that.

In other words, if you exercise your constitutional right of self-defense, and are forced to seek a "Stand Your Ground" hearing, you will be presumed GUILTY unless you can prove to a judge that you are innocent.

THIS IS A MUST PASS BILL AND WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Please EMAIL Committee members IMMEDIATELY and ask them to SUPPORT SB-344 Burden of Proof by Sen. Rob Bradley.

IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT:  SUPPORT SB-344 to restore self-defense rights

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Committee members need to hear from you.  

Please email Committee Members IMMEDIATELY. 

BACKGROUND:

Your right to a presumption of innocence has been hijacked. 

Without any legal or constitutional authority, Florida Courts & Prosecutors have over ridden the Legislature. They have willfully usurped the authority of the Legislative Branch because they did not agree with it.  They reversed the burden of proof from the state to the citizen in self-defense cases.

This bill reverses their self-serving action and restores the Legislature's intent. 

There is clear judicial support for this bill.  Supreme Court Justices Canady and Poltson, in a recent dissenting opinion, made it clear that the majority opinion "substantially curtails the benefit of the immunity from trial conferred by the Legislature under the Stand Your Ground law."

Additionally, Justice Canady wrote that the majority "cannot justify curtailing the immunity from trial under the Stand Your Ground law for those individuals whose use of force or threat of force is legally justified under the governing statutory standard."

And finally, he wrote that these issues "are a matter for the Legislature to consider and resolve."

This bill restores the Legislature's intent and once again – as it did in 2005 – reigns in the courts and prosecutors who have overstepped their constitutional authority.

In 2005, citizens who exercised a constitutional right – the right of self-defense – were being prosecuted like criminals.  And courts – through jury instructions which were unsupported by law – were imposing a "duty to retreat" in self-defense cases. 

Courts were actually instructing juries to find victims guilty of a crime if the victim had not tried to run away before fighting back against a criminal attack.  That is an indisputable fact.

To restore the constitutional right of self-defense and to stop this judicial system abuse, the Legislature created a specific, statutory right of immunity for people who defend themselves from attack. 

This bill restores the presumption of innocence and puts the burden of proof back on the state where it belongs.