A man accused of shooting his girlfriend’s brother last month was not acting in self-defense, a Henry County magistrate judge ruled Tuesday morning.
Marquez Marquis Bridges, 23, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless conduct in the April 26 shooting of Kirby Bullard during a birthday party in McDonough.
Bullard was shot once in the leg after confronting Bridges about his relationship with Bullard’s sister, said Henry County police Detective Joey Plemons during a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Henry County Magistrate Court.
Plemons said Bullard slapped Bridges in the back of the head with an open hand, and the two argued. Bridges left the room to get a gun and returned to shoot the unarmed Bullard in the leg, he said.
Bridges’ attorney
argued that his client’s smaller stature made him fearful of the larger Bullard. Jail records show Bridges to be 5 feet tall and weighing 115 pounds.
argued that his client’s smaller stature made him fearful of the larger Bullard. Jail records show Bridges to be 5 feet tall and weighing 115 pounds.
Henry County Chief Magistrate Judge Robert Godwin disagreed.
“I don’t know anything in the law that allows aggravated assault in response to a simple battery,” he said. “Being height-challenged myself, I see where you’re going, but I don’t see it.”
The defense attorney then argued that Bridges was defending either himself or his girlfriend and invoked the “stand your ground” law. But prosecutor Bill McBroom disagreed.
“‘Stand your ground’ doesn’t say you have to retreat, but it doesn’t say you can escalate to deadly force and use that as an excuse to kill somebody,” he said.
If you bring a gun to a birthday party, you are not a civilized human being.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good example of the "stand your ground" process. Just as Mr. Ayood mentioned, in these hearings, the burden is on the defendant to convince a judge by a preponderance of evidence that they were justified in using deadly force.
ReplyDeleteSomeone claiming protection under "stand your ground" doesn't mean you'll get it.
Gee, this worked a lot like we've been telling you how it works for years.
ReplyDeleteIf the standard of evidence is the fear in ones mind, that standard is lacking. What creates fear in ones mind differs greatly from one person to another. Some people are afraid to go out of their house, some are afraid of their own shadow, some are afraid of having popcorn thrown at them, but that does not constitute a right to kill.
ReplyDeleteAs this article clearly shows Anon, the man claimed fear, but the judge wasn't buying it. He didn't meet the standard needed to successfully claim the lawful use of deadly force. The system worked.
ReplyDeleteSUG is applicable to more than this case.
DeleteThat doesn't show the system works any more than the may issue system that you guys keep telling us is so abused.
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