More info from the local news station
Here's more info from the local TV station... I guess we'll see how well the new law works...
Esc Co Man Dies after Allegedly Threatening Neighbor
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An Escambia County man admits he shot and killed his neighbor, but no charges have been filed.
The shooter claims the man forced his way into his home and threatened him.
As Channel Three's Mollye Barrows reports, Escambia Investigators and State Prosecutors must now decide if it's justifiable homicide.
Neighbors enjoying a quiet evening on Chatham Avenue were jolted by gunshots.
"We all of the sudden heard pop, pop," says Kim Sitton, who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred.
Bobby Piovesan was in his mobile home.
"I heard my brother holler, 'Bob, Bob,'" says Piovesan. "And then my mother ran to my door and said Rick went over to Robert's house and I just heard two shots."
57-year-old Robert Peaden told Escambia Sheriff's Deputies that 44-year-old Rick Piovesan forced open his trailer door and threatened him.
Peaden told investigators he shot Piovesan with a handgun to protect himself.
The two men were neighbors.
In fact, Peaden lives with Piovesan's sister.
"I immediately ran over to Robert's house," Piovesan says. "And he was at the front door and when I got there he still had the gun in his hand and I asked him, 'Did you shoot my brother?' And he said, 'Yes, I shot him.'"
Bobby Piovesan ran back to his trailer to find his brother collapsed in the yard, with a bullet in his chest.
Help soon arrived.
"I stood there praying while they were working on him because I didn't know what else to do and his parents were just absolutely numb and I could tell it didn't look good," Sitton says, choking back tears.
Piovesan was pronounced dead at Sacred Heart Hospital.
His family hopes investigators will find out what happened.
They have doubts that Piovesan threatened Peaden.
Investigators are forwarding their findings to state prosecutors who will decide if charges should be filed.
And still more.....
"Stand Your Ground" Law
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Robert Peaden's assertion to deputies that "he was threatened. . . and felt the need to protect himself". . . could lead to a test of Florida's new "stand your ground" law.
It took effect October first. . and gives immunity to people who use deadly force against assailants who threaten them with great bodily harm.
But as Greg Neumann reports. . . that law is open to a case-by-case interpretation.
(( Friends and relatives of Richard Piovesan say he might still be alive if it weren't for Florida's new "stand your ground" law.
[55:10] It just turns everybody loose like it's the wild, wild west.
[16:46] I want to see justice. I want them to change this law because that's not right just to be able to shoot somebody.
Escambia County sheriff's investigators are still trying to figure out exactly what happened in Robert Peaden's trailer last night. . . but they say the "stand your ground" won't apply to every such situation.
[7:57] I mean if you shoot someone unlawfully then you shoot someone unlawfully. And if you do it when you have fear for your safety and fear for your life, then, you're still gonna be justified.
[4:41] Once a "Stand-your-Ground" case goes to the State Attorney's office, prosecutors are then required by statute to automatically presume the would-be victim feared for their life.
[29:03] Once you review it though, if those conditions aren't met, then we would evaulate it and decide what charge would be appropriate.
But anti-gun groups say most people don't understand that. . . And they're warning visitors to florida that arguing with a local could get you killed.
The state representative from Crestview who sponsored the bill says he doesn't like that image. . . and calls it unrealistic.
[16:02 OF CNS TAPE] Certainly we don't want to be pictured as the wild, wild west...and if you read this bill as it was signed and passed into law, it doesn't create that atmosphere.
Local law enforcement agrees. . . But they say only time will tell for sure.
Greg Neumann, Channel Three News.
))
Copyright 2005 WEAR-TV
Copyright 2005 WEAR-TV
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