reasonable. now the state has to show that he wasn t reasonably justified. on that point just quickly, what happens now is a florida state s attorney has to decide whether or not to seek a grand jury indictment. right? how likely do you think that is? where does this legally go? legally what happens is, sheriff s office sends over all the information to the state attorney s office. the state attorney s office through their investigators conduct an independent investigation to determine what, if anything, to charge him with. they ll look at the facts, look at the evidence, possible prior history, look at the video most importantly and make a determination if they can meet their burden. one, can they meet their burden at a stand your ground hearing, meaning clear and convincing evidence. secondarily, can they prove at trial if they meet this burden beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not justified in using deadly force. they can either take the case to a grand jury or
reasons you ve just described, if she was beating herself, apparently, attempting to do damage to her unborn child, all the more reasons why she needs to be in an appropriate facility. it can be a lockdown facility. it s not going to be some kind, happy place. believe me. but it needs to be a place where she can be safe, where the unworn life can be safe, and where she s getting some kind of treatment for what are obviously some very serious mental issues. now, let s move to the case of marissa alexander, who s now seeking a new stand your ground hearing. the florida mother was sentenced to 20 years for firing what she says was a warning shot at her abusive husband in 2010. no one was hurt. on friday, her attorney submitted documents to reconsider a stand your ground defense, saying critical new information wasn t presented at the original hearing. and that new evidence profoundly undermines the testimony of
the attorney for the victim s family says stand your ground should not apply to this case. now, look at what florida has done withstand your ground law and self-defense in general. it is a part in the jury instructions in a case. even if you don t request a stand your ground hearing at the beginning of a trial, if you assert self defense you get that charge in front of the jury the jurors are told this person did not have a duty to retreat. either way it comes in and will be explained to the jury in that manner. now, ken, today reeves waived his right to a speedy trial. what does that mean and how important is that to the case? that is actually very common practice here in florida. you have a right to speedy trial. the first time the case comes up the defendant can waive the right and allow the attorney to properly investigate the case, look at the discovery, take depositions and so forth. so it it is actually a very common practice to have
was 21 years old who was shot down and another individual is claiming self-defense. so it is very, very clear that this is a problem. and even where the stand your ground law is not formally invoked or imposed, there is obviously this culture, this feeling in florida, again, that african-americans are some type of existential threat. it s interesting, though. not only do we need to change that law, but maybe we need to inform more juries because the fact of the matter is when you have a jury for a self-defense trial such as this it actually means that a stand your ground hearing was either not pursued or didn t prevail before a judge. it s kind of like premeditation. people need to be a bit more educated on what those matters are. premeditation does only take a matter of moments. but the bottom line is we still have to do all we can to let this family know and to let all of our young people know that we care about them.
and even where the stand your ground law is not formally invoked or imposed, there is obviously this culture, this feeling in florida, again, that african-americans are some type of existential threat. it s interesting, though. not only do we need to change that law, but maybe we need to inform more juries because the fact of the matter is when you have a jury for a self-defense trial such as this it actually means that a stand your ground hearing was either not pursued or didn t prevail before a judge. it s kind of like premeditation. people need to be a bit more educated on what those matters are. premeditation does only take a matter of moments. but the bottom line is we still have to do all we can to let this family know and to let all of our young people know that we care about them. jordan could have been my son. he could have been a son of any one of us. trayvon could have been a son of any one of us.