• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Double-Murder Charge Dropped as Stand Your Ground May Head for Supreme Court Review

January 3, 2014 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

A surveillance camera outside Chili's captured Gabriel Mobley fatally shooting Jason Jesus Gonzalez and Rolando Carrazana in 2008. (WTVJ)
A surveillance camera outside Chili’s captured Gabriel Mobley fatally shooting Jason Jesus Gonzalez and Rolando Carrazana in 2008. (WTVJ)

A divided appeals court on Thursday threw out second-degree murder charges against a man who fatally shot two others outside a Chili’s restaurant in a case that could renew debate on the state’s “stand your ground” law.

Click On:


  • Jesse Jackson Calls Capitol Sit-In “The Selma of Our Time.” Scott Calls It an “Insult” to Floridians.
  • Harry Belafonte Joins Dream Defenders at Florida Capitol as Protest Enters 2nd Weekend
  • Into Their Second Week of Protest, Dream Defenders Plan Their Own Special Session
  • Zimmerman’s Gunshine State: White Man’s Verdict, Black Men’s Burden
  • Bill to Repeal “Stand Your Ground” Is Filed In Florida, But May Be Dead on Arrival
  • Don’t Expect Much Change in Stand Your Ground Law as Scott Panel Completes Work
  • Five Stand Your Ground Cases You Should Know About
  • She Stood Her Ground. She Got 20 Years. The Case of Jacksonville’s Marissa Alexander.
  • “We Are Trayvon Martin”: Two Moms Mobilize 125 Protesters in Spirited Palm Coast March
  • Fear Factor: Concealed Weapons Approaching 1 Million in Florida as NRA Gains Ground
  • Second Amendment Archives

The 3rd District Court of Appeals ruling, which overturned a decision by a lower court, could once again put Florida’s first-in-the nation “stand your ground” law and its meaning before the Florida Supreme Court.

In Thursday’s 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel found that Gabriel Mobley should be immune from charges in the 2008 deaths of Jason Gonzalez and Rolando “Roly” Carranza in Opa-locka. The two men were later found to be unarmed, though two knives were found near one of their bodies.

Mobley argued that the shootings were justified under the “stand your ground” law, which grants immunity from prosecution to people who use deadly force if they reasonably believe their lives are in danger.

The self-defense law has been a flashpoint since the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, who was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. While Zimmerman did not ask for “stand your ground” legal immunity, much of the debate following the shooting centered on the law. Zimmerman said he shot the unarmed black teenager in self-defense and was later acquitted of second-degree murder charges in Martin’s death.

The Opa-locka shootings outside Chili’s happened shortly after Gonzalez punched Jose “Chico” Correa, a friend of Mobley’s, while Correa and Mobley were smoking outside. Correa, Gonzalez and Carranza had gotten into an argument earlier in the restaurant.

After Mobley waved off Gonzalez, Carranza approached and, according to Mobley, appeared to reach under his shirt to draw a weapon. Mobley opened fire.

Judge Linda Ann Wells, writing for herself and Chief Judge Frank Shepherd, said Mobley had reason enough to believe that he was in danger.

“The shooting at issue did not occur in a vacuum,” she wrote. “Mobley did not shoot two innocent bystanders who just happened upon him on a sidewalk. … It may have been more prudent for Mobley and Chico to skitter to their cars and hightail it out of there when they had the chance; however, as even the State concedes and the court below recognized, Mobley and Chico had every right to be where they were, doing what they were doing and they did nothing to precipitate this violent attack.”


But in his dissent, Judge Vance Salter noted that Mobley had to go back to his car to grab his gun when he and Correa went out to smoke. Salter also noted that Mobley didn’t get the gun when he and Correa had left the restaurant for two earlier smoking breaks, and that it wasn’t clear that Carranza was reaching into his clothes during the fight.

Given that, the court should have deferred to the judge who held the “stand your ground” hearing, Salter wrote.

“The fact-intensive determination of whether a reasonable and prudent person in the defendant’s shoes might have perceived that Mr. Carrazana was reaching for a deadly weapon turned on the court’s assessment of the defendant’s credibility,” he said. “The defendant and his friend of 17 years were the only living eyewitnesses to that important fact. The video and freeze-frame images did not definitively prove or disprove the reasonableness of that alleged perception — an alleged perception which turned out to be erroneous.”

A spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office was still reviewing the ruling. But relying on local prosecutors, The Miami Herald reported that the appeals court would be asked to hear the case again, potentially paving the way for the case to go to the Supreme Court.

–Brandon Larrabee, News Service of Florida

Mobley vs. State: Stand Your Ground Appeal, Third District Court of Appeal Decision

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. m&m says

    January 3, 2014 at 1:11 pm

    2008 Who cares???

  2. HMMM says

    January 4, 2014 at 11:03 am

    stand your ground was passed for a reason. it’s up to the judges to decide if it applies or not. a judge can make a mistake just as easy as the man pulling the trigger. all the judge has to say is guilty, or not guilty. either way, a life is taken…

  3. Bunnell Resident says

    January 6, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    A more reasonable law in lieu of stand your ground would be a four part test used in many other states.
    1. Does the person have the ability to cause you or others great harm or death?
    2. Do the circumstances afford that person the opportunity to cause you or others great harm or death?
    3. Are you or other innocent people in imminent jeopardy?
    4. Are other non-deadly options precluded?

    The name stand your ground seems to encourage people to get themselves into situations where they then have to use deadly force. Sometimes it is truly better to walk away.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 30, 2025
  • MM on Answering Lawsuit, Palm Coast Accuses Mayor Norris of Frivolously Weaponizing Court Against Gambaro’s Legitimacy
  • Atwp on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Jeani Duarte on Answering Lawsuit, Palm Coast Accuses Mayor Norris of Frivolously Weaponizing Court Against Gambaro’s Legitimacy
  • Atwp on When the Government Built Beautiful Homes for the Working Class
  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 30, 2025
  • Ed P on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Sherry on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Sherry on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, May 30, 2025
  • TwelveMile on Flagler Beach Secures All FEMA Funds for New Pier, Construction of $14 Million Replacement Begins June 16
  • Kennan on Randy Fine Calls 1 Million Gazans Incestuous ‘Idiots’ as He Slightly Walks Back ‘Nuke’ Comment
  • The Dude on Ethics Opinion Recommends Restricting Flagler School Board’s Lauren Ramirez’s Business Activities in Schools
  • Mothersworry on Flagler County’s Beach-Saving Plan All But Killed by Opposition to Sales Tax Increase Despite Last-Minute Switch
  • Judith G. Michaud on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • Marek on ICE Arrests More Than 100 in Raid of Construction Site Near FSU
  • nbr on County Buys Into $110 Million Speculative Sports Complex Palm Coast Voters Rejected in November

Log in