Iguana Killing ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense Rejected: Report

LAKE WORTH BEACH, FL — A South Florida judge has rejected the “stand your ground” defense of a Palm Beach County man accused of killing an iguana last year.

PJ Nilaja Patterson, 43, of Lake Worth Beach faces animal cruelty charges after beating a 3-foot-long iguana to death Sept. 2, reports said.

Initially, Patterson was trying to save the iguana from getting hit by cars in the road, according to CNN. After moving the lizard from the street, the iguana was upset by the crowd that formed and bit Patterson.

Patterson, who received 22 staples in his right arm to treat the bite, kicked the iguana away from him after being bit. His attorneys said their client “acted in a reasonable manner under all the circumstances because the wild iguana was first to engage with physical violence, during the encounter,” according to reports.

Patterson’s lawyers called the reptile a “wild beast” and claimed that their client feared for his life, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. He also worried that the animal had injected him with poison when biting him.

The Assistant State Attorney Alexandra Dorman said surveillance video footage captured the half-hour attack on the iguana and shows that Patterson tormented the lizard, who wasn’t threatening anyone, reports said.

She also said that a “Stand Your Ground” defense shouldn’t apply in this case because an “iguana is not a human being,” reports said.