Even the Police Can Rely Upon the Stand-Your-Ground Law

In the case of Brad Heilman versus the State of Florida, Heilman was a correctional officer employed by the Florida Department of Corrections who worked at the Lake Correctional Institution in Lake County, Florida. While on duty, Heilman and an inmate became involved in a physical altercation that resulted in physical injury to the inmate. Heilman was later charged with the crime of aggravated battery. He then filed a motion to dismiss his case based upon Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. The presiding judge denied Heilman's motion to dismiss because the judge did not believe that the stand-your-ground law could be used by a correctional officer to have his case dismissed. The judge ruled that correctional officers must instead rely upon another law to be able to use force against an inmate, but that particular law does not provide for a case getting dismissed prior to trial. Heilman appealed, and the court of appeals agreed with him saying that a correctional officer is allowed to ask that his case be dismissed based upon the stand-your-ground law.