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The trial of Army Veteran Randal Ratledge, 58, is scheduled to start with jury selection on Monday. Defense attorneys have asked the judge to waive the mandatory guidelines, but court officials said Judge Jack Schemer is bound by the state law.
Ratledge, 58, was charged with six counts of aggravated assault after a 2012 incident involving his neighbors. Authorities said Rutledge fired shots in the air and screamed profanities at the six neighbors. He was charged with one count of aggravated assault on each of the neighbors.
Under Florida's 10-20-Life law, anyone convicted of a crime involving the firing of a gun gets a prison sentence of at least 20 years. Defense attorneys say Ratledge had a bad reaction to the sleep medication Ambien and didn't know what he was doing when he threatened the neighbors.
I didn't read the story but I don't buy this bad reaction to abien I would bet there is some sort of problem between his neighbors and him. The Judge can give him a suspended sentence, or they can plea down to a lower offense. If there is any evidence of past bad blood with his neighbors he should have plea bargained to a lessor offense. You don't use a gun to solve a disagreement.
Well firing shots into the air in it self like let say for 4th of July they probably would not charge you with Aggravated assault. It would probably be firing a gun in city limits. This guy was yelling at his neighbors fired the gun into the air to intimidate them that is why he was charged with Aggravated Assault not much different then any other state. The only thing is strange here Florida has a mandatory 20 years in prison.
If the government cannot eliminate the 2nd amendment, it will incrementaly continue to keep making laws where any use of a gun, even in the absence of a victim, injury or death could put someone in prison for life.
And eventually, people will be turning their guns into the state voluntarily.
One thing I can tell you for certain, Ambien can indeed cause you to do crazy things and not have even the slightest memory of what you've done. I can't say, in this instance, if that was actually the case or just an excuse.
I remember one grandma in Los Angeles shot her firearm to a home invader. She said, oh yeah I feared for my life and was shooting to stop him, but just missed... She wasn't even charged and was shown on a local TV. I really wonder if that was a smart way to do a "warning shot" and cover it up.
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