A judge in Seminole County, in Sanford, Florida — the city where Trayvon Martin was killed — returned 2 guns to a blind man who shot another man in the chest, killing him, after a long drinking session in March 2012, The Orlando Sentinel reports.
Judge John Galluzo ruled that John Wayne Rogers, who is legally blind, was justified in shooting his drinking buddy under the state’s controversial “stand your ground” law.
The dead man was shot “once in the chest with a .308 Remington assault rifle from a distance of 18 inches or less.”
…amid differing eyewitness accounts at his trial last month, a judge dismissed the jury and awarded Rogers immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground” law.
That led to Thursday’s hearing, in which Judge John Galluzo reluctantly admitted he’d have to give Rogers his rifle and a Glock 10 mm handgun. “I have to return property that was taken under the circumstance,” the judge said. “I have researched and haven’t found case law to say otherwise.”
Rogers—who has done probation for firing 15 rounds at a cousin and was jailed for pushing and punching a woman in a domestic disturbance three years ago—will have to buy new ammunition, however, since the state considered his cache “too old and dangerous.”
In the interview above, when asked why a blind man should be armed, Rogers tells WESH-TV: “It’s my constitutional right.” He later adds, “I have been through enough, and I would like to retire.” Source
