Avantee Williams arrested

Here's an article from 2007 where a guy was prosecuted for firing 14 shots at 3 guys who were trying to run him over. The DA, Barry Krischer, tried to argue that the first 5 shots were self defense, but the next 9 constituted first degree murder.


Barry Krischer is a bit of a douchbag. Before he became DA, he was in private practice.
There was a murder in the Town of Palm Beach. Law Enforcement had no suspects. His client went to him and confessed. Krischer then went to the DA and told them he would not reveal his client unless they agreed to a plea deal before revealing the murderer.

Some might say brilliant defense counsel. Others might question his moral compass.
I felt the former, but also felt it made him questionable to be DA a few years later.
 
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What would first degree Murder Charge be if it’s not Shooting someone 6 times?
Sad, He had a Chance at a better Life & he Choose this road.
In Florida you can only charge 1st degree in an indictment, which you can only get from a Grand Jury. The State ALWAYS charges murder as 2nd degree initially until they get the Grand Jury return. Charge will likely be increased once they go to the Grand Jury.
 
Self defense generally provides that you can use an amount of force that is equivalent to the threat you are facing. For example, if someone is threatening to punch you, you cannot shoot them as your use of force is greater than the threat.

As to the gun, we will need a Florida attorney to tell us whether the legality of the possession removes the right to self defense. That is different from state to state. Georgia does not allow convicted felons who use a firearm to defend themselves to use self defense unless the firearm was possessed after the threat (think of grabbing your friend’s gun after being threatened).

But I would remind everyone to be slow to argue self defense or otherwise. A newspaper article will be 1/100 of all the facts in this case that a jury will hear.
Florida has stand your ground, its a whole different ball game (regular self-defense still exists, but much harder to prove). (Pre-trial) SYG asks whether the State can DISPROVE your claim that you reasonably feared for life or serious bodily injury by clear and convincing evidence.

You can also can't claim SYG if you were engaged in an illegal activity. If the gun was illegal -> no SYG.
 
Correct, 2nd degree murder is a first degree felony punishable by life, though use of the firearm reclassifies it to a life felony.
Yes it would be a mandatory minimum as a firearm was discharged and it hit someone.
 
Florida has stand your ground, its a whole different ball game (regular self-defense still exists, but much harder to prove). (Pre-trial) SYG asks whether the State can DISPROVE your claim that you reasonably feared for life or serious bodily injury by clear and convincing evidence.

You can also can't claim SYG if you were engaged in an illegal activity. If the gun was illegal -> no SYG.
That is virtually identical to Georgia.
When claiming self-defense, we have pre-trial hearings. The burden is on the defendant to provide by preponderance that he acted in self defense. But the defense is unavailable to convicted felons or those who were engaged in a felony at the time.

I had a client who was a weed dealer. The deceased was trying to rob him and pulled out a gun. My client got his gun out and won the shoot out. But because he was engaged in a marijuana deal, we were limited in what we could argue and what the judge would charge the jury.
And we didn’t get a pre-trial hearing as a result of the underlying crime.
 
Here’s my surprised face….😐
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I mean i dont like to judge a book by its cover but homeboy look like a killer and this the mugshot from when he best tf out his baby mom even made her say he didnt do it so he could stay at UM! #2 safety in America what a waste of talent
 
Barry Krischer is a bit of a douchbag. Before he became DA, he was in private practice.
There was a murder in the Town of Palm Beach. Law Enforcement had no suspects. His client went to him and confessed. Krischer then went to the DA and told them he would not reveal his client unless they agreed to a plea deal before revealing the murderer.

Some might say brilliant defense counsel. Others might question his moral compass.
I felt the former, but also felt it made him questionable to be DA a few years later.
I remember that. Hit and run. Drunk guy was run over because he passed out in the street. The cops took it personal. They found a fleck of paint and determined it was from a white Buick Riviera and tracked down every one until they found a couple who owned one and lived in the same condo as Krischer.
 
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I remember that. Hit and run. Drunk guy was run over because he passed out in the street. The cops took it personal. They found a fleck of paint and determined it was from a white Buick Riviera and tracked down every one until they found a couple who owned one and lived in the same condo as Krischer.
You have a good memory. I didn’t remember those details. I assume the cops were stumped because what they had was only circumstantial and that’s why Krischer was basically able to blackmail them into a plea deal, with no real way to prove it was them or which one was driving?
 
You have a good memory. I didn’t remember those details. I assume the cops were stumped because what they had was only circumstantial and that’s why Krischer was basically able to blackmail them into a plea deal, with no real way to prove it was them or which one was driving?
I worked at the Palm Beach Post at the time and it was a topic of discussion. He didn't get the deal. It took the cops 2 years to find the guy and they had 3 years to file charges.
 
What a *****. Shoots the guy after? Have fun in prison.
Didn't happen that way. The complete incident details were released in the Daytona Beach News Journal this morning:

-"Harris (victim) went to McCabe's bar, a little over 20 minutes later Williams arrived at the bae with Ramsey and another man".
-"By 1.25 am, Harris Harris grabbed a chair and began talking to Ramsey, a conversation that led to an argument".
-"Harris and Williams began fighting, with Harris landing a right to Williams' jaw. Ramsey stood up and punched Harris in the back
of the head. Williams, meanwhile, pushed Harris away and grabbed a gun from his right pocket, firing with two hands on the guns grip,
as Harris' left rib cage was exposed".
-"After Harris fell on his left hip and was motionless on the ground, the report states, Williams ran past him and shot him in the back before
running out of the bar with Ramsey at his heel."
 
That is virtually identical to Georgia.
When claiming self-defense, we have pre-trial hearings. The burden is on the defendant to provide by preponderance that he acted in self defense. But the defense is unavailable to convicted felons or those who were engaged in a felony at the time.
That's the logical way of doing it; you raise the claim, you carry the burden of proof. Florida flipped those burdens though, and the difference is pretty significant. Again, the State has to DISPROVE the claim of self-defense once the defendant has alleged it. The obvious follow up question is "why the h*ll is the burden on the State?" The answer is the Florida Legislature let the NRA write the law.

I've always said, if you know what you're doing, you can easily get away with murder in Florida.
 
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That's the logical way of doing it; you raise the claim, you carry the burden of proof. Florida flipped those burdens though, and the difference is pretty significant. Again, the State has to DISPROVE the claim of self-defense once the defendant has alleged it. The obvious follow up question is "why the h*ll is the burden on the State?" The answer is the Florida Legislature let the NRA write the law.

I've always said, if you know what you're doing, you can easily get away with murder in Florida.
The burden is always on the state everywhere, not just FL. That's the entire point of innocent until proven guilty.
 
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