GUILTY FL - Markeis McGlockton, killed following parking dispute, Clearwater, 19 July 2018

Drejka Trial: Defense to Call on McGlockton's Father as Witness
PUBLISHED August 13, 2019 @1:49 PM
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — One of the most high profile trials in decades will start Monday, August 19, in Pinellas County.

Michael Drejka, 48, who is accused of shooting and killing Markeis McGlockton, 28, over parking in handicap space, had his last pre-trial hearing Tuesday.

During today's hearing the defense submitted a list of witnesses they plan to call on, including McGlockton's father.
[...]
 
Final hearing sets stage for trial of Michael Drejka to start next week
August 13, 2019
The parties in the case met for one last hearing Tuesday to work out the final details of the case, mainly regarding the anticipated testimony of two use-of-force experts.
[...]

Expert witness to testify in Drejka manslaughter case
Posted: Aug 13, 2019 / 06:00 PM EDT
Judge Joseph Bulone ruled that an expert witness in the Michael Drejka manslaughter trial will be allowed to testify, but his testimony will be limited.

Bulone made that ruling at the final pretrial hearing prior to the trial that begins on Monday morning.
[...]
One of Drejka’s defense attorneys, Theresa N Jean-Pierre Coy, told the judge they needed this expert witness to explain to the jurors why this was a case of self defense.

“This is going to be a big part of the trial for us the Mr. McGlockton wasn’t retreating,” Jean-Pierre Coy said. “So we need that expert which is why we had to find an expert at the last minute to talk about that blading term because we weren’t able to get Sheriff Gualtieri. “

Prosecutor Fred Schaub questioned how much of an expert the defense expert witness really is.

“This is merely an expert,” Schaub said. “And we’re not saying Mr. Brown is not an expert. It would be the first time he’s been qualified as an expert. So, is he a good expert? That’s going to be a determination for the jury to make. However, what we are saying is there are certain things just because you’re an expert… There are certain things an expert cannot talk about. “

The judge ruled the defense expert can talk about terminology and self defense cases in general, but can not analyze the surveillance video of this particular shooting and give his opinion.
[...]
 
Final hearing sets stage for trial of Michael Drejka to start next week
August 13, 2019
[...]
Tuesday's hearing mainly revolved around the anticipated testimony of two use-of-force experts. One was Sean Brown, a former 12-year Marine who owns a security business, teaches several security certification classes and is trained in mixed martial arts. He has never testified as an expert. The other, listed by the state, is Roy Bedard, a Tallahassee-based police consultant who has experience testifying as a use-of-force expert.

Both sides wanted their experts to define some terms Drejka used during his original interview with police. One was the 21-foot rule, a self-defense concept coined by a police officer that says you're most vulnerable when an attacker is within 21 feet of you. Drejka referenced the rule when walking detectives through his encounter with McGlockton.

"As I come out I start drawing my weapon," Drejka told detectives during an interview after the shooting. "As I start leveling off my weapon, he makes his next step towards me and 21-foot rule."

The other term was "force multiplier," or a tool that ups the level of force in a situation. So, for example, pulling a gun when someone else has a knife.

"I have no clue what he started or what his endgame was," Drejka told detectives. "So that makes me believe to myself I need a force multiplier because I don't know what's going on."

Defense lawyer Theresa Jean-Pierre Coy also wanted defense expert Brown to weigh in on a term used by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri during a news conference the day after the shooting in which he announced he was precluded from arresting Drejka because of Florida's stand your ground law. Gualtieri said McGlockton was "blading" when he started to "turn away a little bit" from Drejka.

"We would call it 'blading,' which is kind of at an angle," the sheriff said. "But he's not turned away. He's still facing him."

Central to Drejka's defense, Coy said, is that McGlockton wasn't retreating when Drejka pulled the trigger.
[...]
 
Self-defense expert to testify in Drejka trial (with clip)

Aug 13 2019

"LARGO, Fla. (FOX 13) - In less than one week, Michael Drejka's manslaughter trial will be well underway. ...

Tuesday, attorneys on both sides were in front of a judge to set rules for the trial.

The surveillance video of that shooting has been seen and talked about across the globe – but it's what expert witnesses will be able to say in front of the jury that was debated in court.

Six of 10 jurors will decided whether Michael Drejka will be convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of Markeis McGlockton.

They judge will allow jurors to watch surveillance video, parts in slow motion, of McGlockton pushing Drejka to the ground in a dispute over a handicapped parking spot and Drejka pulling a hand gun, firing, and killing him.

"We can't call people to say, ‘you saw the video what do you think?'" State Attorney Fred Schaub said.

In a hearing to lay ground rules for next week's trial prosecutors took issue with a witness Drejka's defense attorney's will have testify....

Drejka's defense is calling a self-defense expert. They want the former Marine, who now owns a security services company, to explain what they say is the self-defense nature of the shooting.

"I believe he is qualified to say that, based on his training and experience," Jean-Pierre Coy said.

But Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Joseph Bulone sided with the state and will only allow the witness to testify in broad, general terms, which means the jury will not hear the expert's opinion or analysis of the video...."

Self-defense expert to testify in Drejka trial
 
Excerpts from interviews with local attorneys:
Michael Drejka trial hinges on how jurors interpret video and stand your ground, attorneys say
August 16, 2019
CLEARWATER — A fatal shooting in a convenience store parking lot fueled a national debate over Florida’s divisive stand your ground law.

Among those who have followed the story closely as the shooter’s trial approaches Monday are defense attorneys across Tampa Bay.

Expect a video tape of the encounter to play a major role in the outcome of the trial, said many of the 10 attorneys contacted by the Tampa Bay Times, none of whom have a stake in the case. And look for jurors’ deliberations to be influenced, some attorneys said, by attitudes they already hold about the Second Amendment.
[...]
Defendant Michael Drejka, 48, has called the shooting self defense and plans to invoke stand your ground. But prosecutors charged him with manslaughter in the July 2018 death of 28-year-old Markeis McGlockton.

State lawmakers passed stand your ground in 2005, dramatically altering Florida’s traditional self-defense law by removing the duty to retreat before resorting to deadly force. Here are excerpts from interviews with the local attorneys.
[...]
 
Pinellas Trial To Test Florida's Stand Your Ground Law
August 16, 2019
A Pinellas County manslaughter trial starting Monday could shape how courts - and state residents - understand Florida's Stand Your Ground law.

Michael Drejka is facing charges for shooting 28-year-old Marquis McGlockton to death in a Clearwater parking lot last July. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri didn't arrest Drejka, citing the Stand Your Ground law and saying it was self-defense.
[...]
The trial will be setting important legal precedent in terms of how Stand Your Ground is applied in Florida’s legal system, said Judith Scully, a Stetson University College of Law Professor and coordinator of its social justice advocacy program.

“I mean we’re not just talking about a fist fight here,” she said. “We’re talking about the use of deadly force, even when someone is faced with an individual who is not armed.”

The legal definition of Stand Your Ground means that a person doesn't have to retreat from a conflict. Scully said you can move toward conflict to protect yourself, if you feel threatened.

“Stand Your Ground actually allows for individuals to use force in a situation where they feel they are being threatened in terms of bodily harm or that there is a threat to their life,” she said.
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Timeline: Michael Drejka’s trial to start in deadly shooting of Markeis McGlockton (with clip)

August 16, 2019

"CLEARWATER, Fla. — Michael Drejka’s trial in the deadly shooting of Markeis McGlockton starts Monday.

Here's a look at the events that have unfolded since the July 19, 2018, shooting outside the Circle A Food Store in Clearwater:..."

Timeline: Michael Drejka’s trial to start in deadly shooting of Markeis McGlockton
 
Your guide to the trial of Clearwater parking lot shooter Michael Drejka
August 18, 2019
Hundreds of Pinellas County residents will file into the courthouse starting Monday so that six may be chosen to answer a burning question.

Was the shooting death of Markeis McGlockton justified?

The start of jury selection is the first key moment in the manslaughter trial of Michael Drejka, 49, who faces up to 30 years in prison if he’s convicted.

The six people chosen will listen as lawyers and witnesses recount the confrontation, the shove and the shot that claimed the life of a father of four in July 2018 and fueled a national debate over Florida’s stand-your-ground law.
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The trial is expected to last two or three weeks. Here’s what to look for.

Jury selection and opening arguments can make or break a case, so those first few days of the trial will be important to watch.

Pinellas-Pasco prosecutors and Drejka’s defense team will be picking six jurors and four alternates from a pool of up to 300 people. Lawyers for each side can strike jurors for specific reasons, or through a limited number of challenges that don’t need a reason, as long as it’s not based solely on race or gender. All six jurors must come to a unanimous decision.
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If you go, jury selection will take place in Courtroom 1 and the trial in Courtroom 7 of the Pinellas County Justice Center, 14250 49th St N.

Otherwise, you can follow gavel-to-gavel trial coverage on tampabay.com. There, you’ll also find past coverage, key players and a timeline to get you up to speed.

A livestream from Court TV, a news outlet that airs prominent criminal trials, is also an option. John Alleva, Court TV’s vice president and managing editor of field operations, said the network picked the trial in part because it’s so rare to have video like this.
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So - you going to this trial SeesSeas? Not for jury selection, but for the actual trial?
 
So - you going to this trial SeesSeas? Not for jury selection, but for the actual trial?
I will plan to attend at least one trial day, perhaps two days.

Is there anything in particular that you would like to know that won't be reported or covered by the livestream of Court TV and other news media?

I would like to see the jury, and I especially want to watch the reaction of jurors to the testimony of defense expert Roy Bedard. I am also interested to see the jurors during testimony of prosecution witness Richard Kelly.


Your guide to the trial of Clearwater parking lot shooter Michael Drejka
About five months before the shooting, Drejka got into an argument with driver Richard Kelly over the same parking space after Kelly parked his tanker trunk there. Drejka used a racial slur when speaking to Kelly, a black man, then threatened to shoot him, according to Kelly’s account.
Judge Bulone, struck by the similarities of the two encounters,
ruled that prosecutors could introduce the incident, aside from the racial slur.
How Drejka and his lawyers will explain the behavior will be a key moment.

NOTICE OF EXPERT WITNESS - Roy Bedard
https://ccmspa.pinellascounty.org/PublicAccess/default.aspx

STATE OF FLORIDA vs. DREJKA, MICHAEL
OTHER EVENTS AND HEARINGS
06/19/2019 MOTION Doc # 110

TO DISQUALIFY PROSECUTORS AND APPOINT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR WITH INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF LAW
06/17/2019 NOTICE Doc # 107
OF EXPERT WITNESS

View attachment 189626
http://www.roybedard.com/
ROY BEDARD - Professional Consultant
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Mr. Bedard is often sourced for his expertise in self defense by defendants in criminal cases appealing to 'Stand Your Ground' and 'Castle Doctrine' protections offered by statutes in over 30 States. He provides force modeling and matrices and describes self defense theory within the context of legal provisions for the purpose of assisting triers-of-the-fact in understanding the complexities of what is known as "objective reasonableness".
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Law & Crime Network‏Verified account @LawCrimeNetwork 51m51 minutes ago
NEW TRIAL THIS WEEK. Michael #DrejkaTrial begins with jury selection today. Drejka is charged with manslaughter in the death of #MarkeisMcGlockton. The confrontation happened over a handicapped parking space. Watch the trial LIVE when opening statements begin on @LawCrimeNetwork


Thuy Lan Nguyen‏Verified account @ThuyLanWTSP 4h4 hours ago
An important timeline ahead of jury selection this morning. Michael Drejka's trial in the shooting death of Markeis McGlockton begins today. Full court coverage on @10NewsWTSP @BrightsideOn10 This case ignited national conversation about #standyourground.

(video clip: Thuy Lan Nguyen on Twitter )
 
Defense Attorney Says Shooting in Michael Drejka is a Criminal Act, not Self Defense

Published on Aug 16, 2019

 

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