Valrico father shot and killed in front of daughter - Defended skateboarders in park

[RamboLiberal]

Valrico, Florida - Sunday afternoon around 4 p.m., 41-year-old David James, nicknamed DJ, was shot and killed in front of his eight-year-old daughter. It happened in the 3200 block of Partridge Point Trail in Valrico during an argument over skateboarders.

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Sergeant George Mosher with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office say David James was on the basketball court when a neighbor started to complain about skateboarders skating on the tennis courts. James took up for the skateboarders and, according to Sgt. Mosher, the neighbor pulled out a gun.

"The individual, who was basically protecting the skateboarders, they became entangled in a tussle over this weapon and the individual was shot," Mosher said.

William Myers is a friend of the victim's family who says, "His first instinct was to get everybody out of harm's way and, apparently, they fell to the ground and that's when the trigger was pulled. DJ was probably instantly killed."

http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=147978&provider=top

William Myers, a neighborhood skater, said he was at the park when the shooting occurred. He said there were two boys skateboarding on the basketball court.

The man accused of shooting James came out from his home and argued with the skateboarders, Myers said. James stuck up for the boys, saying that they weren't bothering anyone and that the park is for everyone, Myers said.

Both men turned around to walk away and then the alleged shooter turned back and said something to James. He then pointed a handgun. James tried disarming him. They fell to the ground and the gun went off, Myers said.

A homeowner's association sign at the park warns that trespassing is not allowed and that the tennis and basketball courts are for Twin Lakes residents and their guests. The white metal sign also states that no bicycles, scooters, skateboards or rollerblades are allowed on the courts.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/sep/27/271036/girl-8-told-mom-about-park-shooting-on-dying-dads-/news-metro/

In some killings, suspects have invoked a ``stand your ground'' defense, which relies on a state law that allows people to meet force with force when they feel threatened.

`Whether this case meets those guidelines remains to be seen,'' McKinnon said.

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The court, along with tennis courts and an athletic field, are maintained with dues from members of the homeowners association.

Myers and James say they have tried to petition the Twin Lakes homeowners association to build a skateboard park, collecting signatures from sympathetic parents.


http://online.indianagazette.com/articles/2010/09/27/news/doc4ca0954c6fb59384959956.txt

What a stupid reason for a man to be dead. And if it went down as described IMHO the idiot who brought the gun to a neighborhood dispute needs to be arrested & tried.

[HillbillyBob]

1. What a stupid reason for a man to get dead.

What you said.

[Electric Monk]

2. Happiness is a warm gun

do I need a smiley?

[divideandconquer]

3. Just another citizen excercising their 2nd amendments rights

Isn't America great?

[aikoaiko]

4. Still confused about the difference between protected rights and apparent criminal behavior, I see.

Its really no wonder you have the views that you do.

[divideandconquer]

6. Only around 200 justifiable homicides a year out of 30,000 gun deaths

[aikoaiko]

7. non sequitur much

Seriously, its like you don't realize that over half of those deaths are from suicides (people committed to killing themselves regardless of the weapon) and many of the rest of the homicides are committed by criminals based on crimes other than the homicides and have no regard for gun control laws (and will acquire firearms or other weapons).

[Bold Lib]

13. There are apx. 2 MILLION defensive gun uses per year by law abiding gun owners.

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcdguse.html

You don't have to kill with a gun to use it in defense.

[Euromutt]

5. Change the record, D&C

I know you think you've come up with a really clever soundbite, but the flaws have already been pointed out several times, and every times you trot it out again, you're only confirming the opinion of people that you're not interested in exchanging views, just in imposing your own.

[one-eyed fat man]

10. Once again

I am offering to pay your (one)way airfare to the place you think better. You either have the courage of your convictions, or you don't.

You keep telling us how awful the United States is and how wonderful these other places are. If they are so great, why are you still here?

I was born in Germany in 1942. My parents and I came though Ellis Island just months before it closed in 1954. It is possible to emigrate, legally even.

[SteveM]

12. 5CR/3RD?

[ManiacJoe]

16. What does that mean?

[SteveM]

11. Use a smiley if you aren't really serious, it's your choice. nt

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lawodevolution]

9. The OP Is trying to gain an affect that there is a crisis when

In fact due to the reduced rate of crime many such sad stories did not occur yesterday that would have occurred had violent crime rates not gone down.

[benEzra]

14. Florida law does NOT allow the use of deadly force merely because you "feel threatened."

It, like other states, allows the use of deadly force when you reasonably believe you are in imminent danger of death, serious bodily injury, or a forcible felony, with "reasonably" meaning that the events would have led the average person of ordinary mental competence to believe there was indeed such a threat. Just like pretty much any other state. It allows the use of "force" (NOT deadly force) in lesser circumstances to resist an unlawful nonlethal assault, again in line with other states.

Florida was somewhat unusual at the time for extending the Castle Doctrine (which covers defense against an unlawful home invasion) to your vehicle in the case of a carjacking, but Florida's use-of-force-in-public-places law is pretty much the same as in any other state. They used to have a quirky duty-to-retreat statute that most states lacked, and they ditched it a few years ago.

[RamboLiberal]

15. Lawyers: Valrico shooting may test stand-your-ground defense

Trevor Dooley's appearance in court this morning on charges that he shot a man during a dispute over skateboarders is the beginning of what could be a closely watched test of the state's stand-your-ground law, local defense lawyers said.

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The additional charges, Courtney and Brown said, were likely made because the prosecution wants to prove Dooley was not acting within the law when he was standing his ground. Such a defense would be brought up at a preliminary hearing in which a judge would hear arguments from both sides about whether the law applies, the lawyers said.

Unlike the standard self-defense law, which requires that someone retreat from the threat of force, the stand-your-ground defense allows deadly force if it can be proven the defendant was feeling threatened and was not committing a crime when standing his ground, Brown said.

Dooley had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. But the prosecution will argue that because Dooley first showed off his gun and then pulled it out before shooting James, he was committing a crime when he was standing his ground regardless of whether he felt threatened, Courtney said

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/sep/29/291130/lawyer-valrico-shooting-may-test-stand-your-ground/news-breaking/

A 69-year-old man accused of fatally shooting an Iraq War veteran during a dispute over a skateboarder in his Valrico neighborhood won't be allowed to stay in his home while awaiting trial, a judge said today.

Trevor Dooley faces charges of manslaughter, improper exhibition of a firearm and openly carrying a firearm. Judge Walter Heinrich set his bail today today at $50,000.

Investigators said Dooley brought a gun to the playground across the street from his house Sunday and confronted David James, 41, who had given permission to a 14-year-old to skateboard on the basketball court there. Following an argument and struggle, James was fatally shot as his 8-year-old daughter watched.

When Heinrich was told about the proximity between Dooley's home and the shooting scene, the judge said, "He's not going back to that house. He's got to have to find another place to live. I will not let him be that close to that park where this event took place – where all these kids would be."

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/sep/29/291258/man-accused-in-valrico-shooting-wont-be-allowed-to/news-metro/


Trevor Dooley is arrested at his home in the Twin Lakes development in the shooting of a neighbor Sunday.