According to Tampa Attorney, TJ Grimaldi, key changes to the law can cause higher prosecution costs and greater danger to the public.

1. StandYour Ground law changes will cost more, endanger public safety
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2. STANDYOUR GROUND LAW CHANGES WILL COST
MORE, ENDANGER PUBLIC SAFETY
Florida’s StandYour Ground law, which allows potential victims to defend themselves forcefully if they have reason to fear death or
serious injury, has made headlines since it was enacted in 2005. But key changes to the law promise higher prosecution costs and greater
danger to the public, according toTJ Grimaldi, Tampa attorney and partner at the law firm of McIntyre Thanasides.
The original law gained notoriety through high-profile cases such as the killing of unarmed teenTrayvon Martin in 2012 and the 2014
shooting of Chad Oulson in a movie theater. Oulson’s killer faced a pretrial hearing earlier this year. Grimaldi represents the victim’s
widow, Nicole Oulson.
Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed SB 128 into law on June 9. Under this new version of StandYour Ground, the burden of proof shifts
from the defendant to the prosecution. Supporters expect the shift in burden of proof to protect the rights of defendants, but opponents
of the change raise serious concerns. They call SB 128 the “Shoot to Kill” bill, and argue it will place a greater financial burden on the
prosecution, and result in an increased case load and more deaths by lethal action. Critics, Grimaldi among them, believe the new law
will increase costs for state attorney’s offices, putting additional pressure on prosecution resources.

3. STANDYOUR GROUND LAW CHANGES WILL COST
MORE, ENDANGER PUBLIC SAFETY
The negative public health effects of the existing law were already noted in a
study published last January by the Journal of the American Medical Association,
which concluded that gun-related homicides in Florida increased nearly 32
percent between 2005, when StandYour Ground became law, and 2014.
“From a public health perspective, we were shocked that in a given area, rates of
people dying changed so abruptly and in such a sustained way,” study co-author
DouglasWiebe told ScienceBlogs. “These are people dying who otherwise
wouldn’t have died.That is what is most profound about our findings.”Wiebe is
an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Perelman School of Medicine.

4. STANDYOUR GROUND LAW CHANGES WILL COST
MORE, ENDANGER PUBLIC SAFETY
The revised law will result in more plea deals offered, charges dropped, or defendants escaping prosecution due to
prosecutorial immunity,Grimaldi said. “Dangerous defendants will have a much better chance at walking free.The
change will cost the State Attorney’s Office, and in the end, the citizens much more to prosecute crimes.The State
Attorney’s Office has a budget.To force it to carry the burden whenever this defense is raised will require a business
decision, because the office cannot handle the increased costs.”
Grimaldi is intimately involved in StandYour Ground issues. He currently represents Nicole Oulson, widow of the man
who was shot and killed in a suburbanTampa movie theater by Curtis Reeves in 2014. Reeves’s defense sought and
was denied StandYour Ground in a pretrial hearing last March. But now the law has changed.

5. STANDYOUR GROUND LAW CHANGES WILL COST
MORE, ENDANGER PUBLIC SAFETY
Since the burden will now be on the prosecution, a defendant will have nothing to lose by raising a StandYour Ground
defense.The deck, Grimaldi said, will be more heavily stacked in favor of the defendant.
TJGrimaldi is an attorney and partner at the law firm of McIntyreThanasides Bringgold Elliott Grimaldi & Guito, P.A. He
has been a featured expert onTV and in major publications, including Inside Edition, Crime Stories with Nancy
Grace, Good Morning America, Nightline, TheView, The NewYorkTimes, TheTampa BayTimes, and DailyMail.com.
To speak with Mr. Grimaldi regarding the recent changes in StandYour Ground, contact him directly
at tj@mcintyrefirm.com.

6. TJ GRIMALDI
Mr. Grimaldi joined McIntyreThanasides Bringgold ElliottGrimaldi & Guito
P.A. in August of 2011. Mr. Grimaldi is admitted to practice before the
Supreme Court of Florida and the United States DistrictCourt for the
Middle and Southern Districts of Florida.
To learn more aboutTJ, you can view his bio here.

7. ABOUT MCINTYRETHANASIDES
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