Police have arrested a suspect in connection to a deadly restaurant shooting.
You may have heard about this in the news. A couple of weeks ago, there was a shooting at Las Curvas Cafe near Southwest 88th Avenue and 40th Street in West Miami.
The 53-year old accused man surrendered to police last week. Officials released surveillance video showing four men getting into a verbal dispute with the accused on November 20. Officials said as the dispute escalated, Torres took out a gun and shot the victims several times.
Now we know very little about the facts of the case so far, but it seems that this may have been a four against one dispute. Florida's Stand Your Ground law permits the use of lethal force if you are in a place where you have a legal right to be, you are confronted with force or the threat of force, and you reasonably believe that lethal force is necessary to save your life.
The man has been charged with murder. With the use of a firearm, the charge carries a 25-year mandatory minimum.
Stand Your Ground is a law that protects the rights of citizens in self-defense situations. Whereas some jurisdictions require you to retreat from danger, Florida permits you to literally "stand your ground" when faced with a life-threatening situation.
Based on the facts, this case could be ripe for a Stand Your Ground defense if it was a four against one confrontation. It is reasonable that a 53-year old man against four other men would feel like his life was in danger. If they threatened him or made advances toward him, he may have been legally justified in shooting them.