Bavle v. State
The Fifth District affirmed denial of a 3.850 motion alleging trial counsel was ineffective for failing to pursue a Stand Your Ground immunity motion and failing to introduce various corroborating evidence of the victim's threats. The court found no Strickland prejudice because the additional evidence might have justified the defendant's initial shots but could not excuse his continued shooting of the victim after he fell to the ground with empty hands, distinguishing Bouie v. State on the retreat issue. In a pointed footnote, the court declined to decide the deficient-performance prong but firmly rejected the argument that political pressure or racial dynamics surrounding a shooting could ever justify counsel's strategic decision to forgo a legally supported Stand Your Ground motion.
Key facts
- Defendant shot victim multiple times, initially and then repeatedly while victim was on the ground with empty hands; defendant claimed self-defense and Stand Your Ground immunity.
- Trial counsel failed to pursue a Stand Your Ground immunity motion and did not introduce corroborating evidence of victim's prior threats against defendant.
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Why it matters
This opinion is useful to postconviction practitioners for its application of the Strickland prejudice standard where a defendant's own conduct during a shooting (continuing to fire after the threat abated) undercuts… — full analysis with a trial
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