Beyond your property or auto boundaries, the “Stand Your Ground” section allows the use of deadly force without requiring you to retreat “if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
You can now use deadly force to repel an attack outside your property boundaries which is the rudimentary purpose of this law as it relates to self-defense. As an example when an individual tries to rob you while your standing at the ATM, in a store or tries to kidnap or carjack, you may use deadly force to repel the attack without attempting to retreat first.
“Stand Your Ground” has been controversial and the courts have been litigating these cases, some very high profile such as the State of Florida vs George Zimmerman. The State can and will file formal charges that involve situations where your use of deadly force in self-defense is not as clear cut; especially if you are in mutual fight or in the commission of a criminal offense or where there is a conflict in the evidence; the State Attorney may then seek to prosecute you for a violent offense, even if it seems you were protecting yourself. Remember this though, the State prosecutors are not automatons; their primary goal is to seek justice, not merely to seek a conviction. So if the evidence of self-defense is clear to them, they may not prosecute or present the case to a Grand Jury who may not indict.
There are two methods that the “Stand Your Ground” law can be used as a defense when criminal charges are being pursued by the State Attorneys Office. First and foremost there has to be some evidence that the deadly force in question was committed by a person who reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.” The court may not allow a Stand Your Ground motion in a situation were the only evidence and testimony show that there was not a reasonable likelihood your use of deadly force was to prevent death or great bodily harm or to prevent a forcible felony.
However, if evidence does exist of self defense to repel a deadly attack or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony, then upon a motion by defense counsel, the accused can ask the court to dismiss the case and the charges against him. It is likely that the Judge would dismiss charges if the evidence is not in dispute and the evidence was clear that this was an act of self defense; the second method is when the evidence is not clear cut or in dispute, then the Judge would allow the case to go to a jury. Your lawyer then must argue to a jury incorporating all applicable jury instructions that you are not guilty based upon the evidence presented to them; that you indeed defended yourself or others based upon the criteria in the “Stand Your Ground” law.
