Detractors A No Show At Stand Your Ground Press Conference

CLEARWATER, FL – A scheduled press conference called by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri on Tuesday, July 31, didn’t go as anticipated when the Pinellas County Ministerial Alliance and NAACP Clearwater canceled their planned attendance a half an hour before the conference started.

The press conference concerned the July 19 Stand Your Ground shooting of Markeis McGlockton at a Clearwater convenience store. Michael Drejka shot and killed McGlockton in the store’s parking lot after Drejka got into an argument with McGlockton’s girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, over her illegally parking in a handicapped parking space. McGlockton, who was inside the store when Drejka approached Jacobs, came out and shoved Drejka to the ground. While still on the ground, Drejka, who has a valid concealed weapons permit, pulled out his gun and shot McGlockton.

Gualtieri said he met with the NAACP chapter and ministerial association last week, and they agreed to host a joint press conference in which Gualtieri would give a more comprehensive explanation of his decision not to arrest Drejka and then the two organizations would discuss their views on the subject.

Gualtieri said the joint press conference was confirmed on Monday. However, the association and NAACP canceled their attendance Tuesday at the last minute.

While disappointed, Gualtieri said their absence didn’t affect his need clear up “misunderstandings” about his decision not to arrest Drejka.

Although neither group responded to calls from Patch, Gualtieri said they indicated that their decision not to attend was tied to a Politico article written by Marc Caputo on Monday.

In the article, Republican state Sen. Dennis Baxley, who sponsored the Stand Your Ground legislation in 2005 as a member of the House, and Sen. Rob Bradley, who proposed the 2017 amendment to Stand Your Ground that places the burden of proof on the State Attorney’s Office, accused Gualtieri, also a Republican, of misapplying the Stand Your Ground law.

Their comments were based on Gualtieri's July 20 press conference, the day after the shooting, in which he said, while the Stand Your Ground law is based on an objective standard, it has a subjective element.

Gualtieri said the article took that comment out of context in quoting him as saying the Stand Your Ground law “created a standard, that is a largely subjective standard” for the use of deadly force by a shooter.

“It is confusing,” he said. “It’s hard legal stuff. I know what the standard is. What I was trying to do was to convey to people it is not a purely objective standard. It has a subjective component -- what that person knew, thought and felt (at the time he used deadly force). It has to be viewed through lens of the person affected at that time.”

No matter what his personal opinion may be, Gualtieri said he is obligated to consider Drejka’s assertion that he had a reasonable fear of bodily harm or death at the time he shot McGlockton.

He said he conferred with Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe after the shooting and concluded it did meet the standards for a Stand Your Ground case.

He emphasized that doesn’t mean his office isn’t continuing to investigate the case. He said detectives are still studying the parking lot surveillance video and speaking with witnesses. He expects to hand over the case to McCabe sometime this week.

“I’ve never said the investigation was complete or over,” Gualtieri said. “In fact, I’ve said the contrary. This is an ongoing investigation by the Pinellas sheriff and is an open case. We have not turned it over to the state attorney because we are not through investigating. There’s been no final decision about whether Drejka is going to be charged. That will be up to the state attorney.”

Gualtieri said his decision not to arrest Drejka was based purely on the state law.

“Florida law (Statute 776.012 and 776.032) says the person is immune to arrest or being detained in custody if the case meets the parameters of the (Stand Your Ground) law. I made a preliminary decision about the arrest and not about the charges. The state attorney will make those.”

He said the Legislature was clear that it did not want the person claiming the Stand Your Ground defense to spend months in jail while the case is investigated.

“The law has taken away law enforcement’s discretion to arrest,” he said. “It must be so clear that Stand Your Ground does not apply in any way to the circumstances for us to make an arrest.”

That wasn’t the case here, he said. “His (Drejka’s) claim based on the facts and evidence is not outside the boundaries (of Stand Your Ground) as a matter of law. That is the only determination I have to make. The law says don’t arrest and let the state attorney figure it out.”

He said his decision not to arrest Drejka would have been different if Drejka had been breaking the law before shooting McGlockton.

However, Jacobs had the legal right to be in the parking lot of the convenience store, which he visits on a daily basis. And by Jacobs’ own admission, Drejka never provoked or made any threats when arguing with her over parking in the handicapped space.

At the same time, Gualtieri said Drejka did nothing to provoke McGlockton when he came out of the store to defend his girlfriend. In fact, no words were exchanged between the two men.

He many of his detractors have formed their decision based on the parking lot surveillance video, the only video of the shooting. However, Gualtieri noted that video only shows one angle of the confrontation. There is no video that shows what Drejka saw from his position on the ground.

“We’ve seen many versions of this video (frame by frame, slow motion, etc…) and we’ve taken statements from witnesses that have not been seen by the public,” he said. The public does not have all the facts in the case, he emphasized.

As for Drejka, who has refused requests to comment and hasn’t been seen in public since the shooting, Gualtieri said he remains in his home where detectives occasionally visit him for questioning. He has not been placed at a safe house or is otherwise under surveillance by the sheriff’s office for his protection.

Image via Pinellas Sheriff

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Pinellas Sheriff: Stand Your Ground Applies In July 19 Shooting

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Attorney Says Stand Your Ground Defense Not Justified In Shooting

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