[fabsroman]

That is good news Valerie. Your attorney, who was present for the entire process and heard everything they had to say, will be the person in the best position to tell you how things are going. Keep your head up and keep on fighting this. As far as I am concerned, that convicted rapist/kidnapper should still be in prison, if not 6 feet under.

For everybody else:

The Castle Doctrine only applies to your home. Essentially, it allows you to shoot anybody that breaks into your home, without the need to attempt to flee your home first. In essence, a man's home is his castle. I think Florida takes this a step further and does not require a person to attempt feeling from danger (i.e., an aggressor using deadly force) before using deadly force outside of the home.

The problem with Valerie is that she was not at home when this occurred, so the Castle Doctrine would not apply, but the new law that Florida just passed might. Florida is pretty lenient about concealed carry, but I still think you need a permit for it. Now, if the weapon wasn't concealed, I have no idea what the law is about that. I have always wondered if I would get into any trouble if I were to just stroll down the sidewalk with a loaded shotgun on my shoulder. Sad thing is that I'm not willing to find out by doing it.

On the flip side of this, have any of you guys ever thought that some of these guys might be innocent? I'm pretty tough on crime myself, but more and more I have been hearing about how people have been wrongly convicted of rape. A man was set free in Texas just recently after doing 23 years for rape. A recent DNA test showed that the DNA evidence collected from the victim did not match his. I cannot imagine being locked up for 23 years of my life for a crime that I did not commit. There is also another story like this from Illinois. A bunch of guys were on death row for rape, and several years ago they were also released because the DNA evidence did not match. I think that was somewhere around 50 guys, but I could be wrong. Sometimes, you just have to wonder.