Shooter charged with manslaughter in Clearwater stand your ground case

[Eugene]

Source: Tampa Bay Times

Prosecutors charged Michael Drejka, the man accused of killing Markeis McGlockton in a shooting that has reignited a debate around Florida’s stand your ground law, with manslaughter Monday.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Drejka was taken into custody Monday morning. He is being booked into the Pinellas County Jail, where he will be held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Drejka, 47, has avoided arrest since he shot 28-year-old McGlockton on July 19 because of the controversial self-defense law that eliminated one’s duty to retreat before resorting to force.

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri announced July 20 that his agency was precluded from arresting Drejka because evidence showed it was "within the bookends of stand your ground and within the bookends of force being justified," which provides immunity from arrest, the sheriff said. He forwarded the case Aug. 1 to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office to make a final charging determination.

-snip-

Kathryn Varn
Published: August 13, 2018Updated: August 13, 2018 at 11:50 AM


Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/Shooter-charged-with-manslaughter-in-Clearwater-stand-your-ground-case_170853729

[SWBTATTReg]

1. This is only the beginning of FL's mess that they created themselves...

There is no mental test or genetics test to check for excessive redneck disease, shouldn't be allowed to have a gun, otherwise, at any very slight provocation, you're going to get shot! This is very scary.

[pazzyanne]

9. IMHO "stand your ground" laws are simply a license to kill at will.

As a 75 year old woman who worked 30 years in a profession where I worked with violent people, I never once even thought about carrying a gun. We are in the process of returning to the "olden days of yore" in the wild west where the six gun was king. Talk about a lack of progress!

[SWBTATTReg]

18. Absolutely! nt

[jmowreader]

23. Like Detective Spartan said, "the Wild West wasn't even the Wild West."

In the towns of the Frontier West, they had SERIOUS gun control. When you came into town, you took your guns to the police station and checked them in like you do with your coat in a nightclub. When you got ready to leave town, you got them back. Carrying a gun in town would get you thrown in jail.

[pazzyanne]

24. Too bad we don't have those laws today!

Maybe we need old time sheriffs, huh?

[ScratchCat]

2. n/t

Manslaughter is not the correct charge under Florida law. Its 2nd degree murder. He intentionally pulled the trigger and shot the individual knowing it would likely cause great injury or death. That is 2DM under Florida law.

(1) The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification according to the provisions of chapter 776 and in cases in which such killing shall not be excusable homicide or murder, according to the provisions of this chapter, is manslaughter

(2) The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual, is murder in the second degree

IMO, this clearly demonstrates "depraved mind regardless of human life".

[Recursion]

17. Almost impossible to get a murder charge to stick when it's in hot blood and against a stranger

With very rare exceptions murder charges are limited to cases where the killer knows who the victim is.

[Hoyt]

3. This is good. Too bad it wasn't applied when George Zimmerman stalked, intimidated and murdered

Trayvon Martin.

[KWR65]

8. Umm Zimmerman was put on trial and he was aquitted n/t

[LanternWaste]

13. Umm No one argued otherwise nt

[Hoyt]

22. That's the point, he should not have been acquitted with SYG.

Glad to know you support Zman.

And for those who claim it was not a SYG case, why did the judge give the jury instructions on SYG law?

Zman set Trayvon up and murdered him, don't care what a jury said.

[lunasun]

26. Same lawyer- he is getting better at exposing this right to just kill

McGlockton family attorney was Benjamin Crump — the same lawyer for the family of Trayvon Martin

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Thank goodness!

This whole thing was a disgrace. If the situation had been the reverse and the "stand your ground" shooter had been black, he wouldn't have even made it to the station alive and if he did, every excuse possible would have been used to keep him from using that as a defense.

[hibbing]

5. The deplorables will be PO'd about this n/t

[Turbineguy]

6. Dang!

What's Florida coming to? Now you can't even murder somebody? Where will it end? Obviously the NRA better get on the case and write better laws. Maybe they need to give the DA some of that Russian campaign money.

[nwduke]

7. What about the girlfriend

Wondering why the issue of this white guy threatening Mcglockton’s girlfriend hasn’t been discussed! If some dope was in my wife’s face threatening her, I d come out and shove the guy as well!

[Historic NY]

28. That may have made them change ...

it was pretty clear in the video

[Mr.Bill]

10. He should be held without bail.

He is a danger to the community.

[ManiacJoe]

11. No surprise here.

The prosecutor got this right.
The sheriff dept needs to brush up on their training regarding this law.

Before one can claim "stand your ground", you first have to claim a legal self defense. The store video clearly shows the shooting was not legal.

[Sneederbunk]

14. Good. Jury not police can decide. Video not defendant's friend.

[Jake Stern]

20. That is not the way it goes in Florida

Florida's SYG law starts with the presumption that the deadly force was lawful and puts the burden of proving otherwise based on clear and convincing evidence on the State.

The sheriff is right: it is a very high burden to meet and he can be held personally liable if a judge ruled Drejka acted lawfully.

The sheriff did the right thing by handing it to the DA.

[KG]

12. dipstick w/ a gun, looking for a reason to use it

[csziggy]

15. He's been looking for a reason to use his gun for a long time

From the article linked in the OP:

"The Tampa Bay Times reported last week that he has been the accused aggressor in four incidents since 2012, including two in which he was reported to have shown a gun. He was not arrested in any of the cases and does not have a criminal history in Florida."

[lunasun]

27. They had a lot of people testify to his issues

A black man who drives a septic truck told Moffett he parked in the same handicapped-accessible spot three months before McGlockton’s shooting, the documents show. The man said Drejka began yelling at him and said he would shoot him. The driver said he left, but as he pulled away Drejka shouted racial slurs.
The man’s boss told Moffett that Drejka later called, telling him “that he was lucky he didn’t blow his employee’s head off.”

[moreland01]

16. Why is not consider . .

"Standing your Ground" when Mr. McGlockton went to the car and shoved Mr. Drejka away from "verbally assaulting" his wife and baby in their car? Mr. McGlockton had every reason to be fearful that Mr. Drejka (who had an actual gun!) might harm them and was just protecting his loved ones.

F*ing lawyers. I hope Mr. Drejka gets life behind bars!

[Judi Lynn]

19. CBS News:Florida man charged with manslaughter in "stand your ground" shooting

By JUSTIN CARISSIMO CBS NEWS August 13, 2018, 1:04 PM

. . .

Last month, Markeis McGlockton parked in a handicap spot with his girlfriend and three young children before going into a convenience store with his five-year-old son to buy snacks. Outside, Drejka approached McGlockton's girlfriend, Britany Jacobs. She said Drejka yelled at her for parking in a handicapped spot without a permit.

Surveillance footage shows McGlockton walking out of the store and shoving Drejka to the ground. Seconds later, Drejka pulled out his gun and fired a single shot at McGlockton in the chest. He later died at a nearby hospital.

Drejka has a concealed weapons permit and told police he shot McGlockton because he feared for his life. The sheriff's office declined to pursue charges last month, saying Drejka was protected by the state's "stand your ground" law, which allows people to use deadly force when fearing "imminent death or great bodily harm" without a duty to try to escape the danger.

Jacobs, however, told CBS News that McGlockton backed away from Drejka after he pushed him. "This is wrong," she said, "because what my man was trying to do was protect his girl like anybody else would."

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-stand-your-ground-shooting-clearwater-michael-drejka-charged-manslaughter-today-2018-08-13/




Drejka was afraid for his life from a man standing, unarmed, several feet away? Looks more like rage to me, rage and racism.



Markeis McGlockton
Rest in Peace.


. . .


Florida man who killed black man in parking lot charged with manslaughter
Michael Drejka’s killing of Markeis McGlockton raised questions about Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
By German [e-mail]@vox.com Updated Aug 13, 2018, 1:40pm EDT
. . .

Drejka also reportedly has a history of confronting people over handicap spaces, allegedly threatening to shoot a trucker in the past over the issue. But the sheriff said that, legally, Drejka’s history isn’t relevant to the July 19 shooting.

More:
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/13/17683850/michael-drejka-shooting-stand-your-ground-florida

[Trust Buster]

21. He did not fire in self defense. I am relieved that charges were brought.

[ck4829]

25. Kick

[lunasun]

29. When I first heard this case I thought is was an old feeble FLman . Now I see he is 47 able bodied!

He harasses a black woman who couldn't park in a reg spot because loading trucks were blocking her when she first pulled in and threatens her. Doesn't expect a husband to come out who pushes him away . I can see him getting up and continuing the fight but no he was just looking for the right time to shoot and get away with it.
Almost did too in FL
He has a history of attempts at his desire to use a gun and shoot so sorry the victim crossed his trap
Sick part in that state is so many imagine they can all do it with SYG