Defendant in Hillsborough dog park shooting claims immunity under stand your ground law

The man who fatally shot another man at a Hillsborough dog park say his murder case should be dismissed under Florida’s stand your ground law. Gerald Declan Radford argues in a motion filed this month that he is immune from prosecution in the shooting death of Walter Lay because Lay attacked him at the West Dog Park in February. “Mr. Radford reasonably believed that the use of force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony,” Radford’s attorney Matt Futch wrote in the motion filed Sept. 4.

A hearing on the motion to dismiss is set for Nov. 12. The filing is the latest development in a case that began on March 8, when Hillsborough deputies arrested Radford on a charge of second degree murder with a firearm. Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez announced on the same day that she plans to seek an enhanced sentence against Radford under the state’s hate crime statute because Lay was gay and witnesses said Radford had used bigoted language about Lay and made statements about wanting to harm him. Prosecutors had not filed a response to the motion as of Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office said prosecutors had no comment because the case is pending. Radford has claimed self-defense since the beginning, telling a 911 dispatcher immediately after the shooting on Feb. 2 that he opened fire after Lay attacked him. The six-page motion claims that Radford was “keeping to himself” with his dog at the park on North Occident Street, just north of Hillsborough Avenue, when Lay “confronted” him, started an argument and then “attacked” him. The motion states that Lay hit Radford in the face with a mug, causing lacerations, and “ended up on top of Mr.

Radford and began beating him with his fists. ” “Mr. Radford, while being overpowered, while being repeatedly hit in the chest and face with closed fists, reasonably feared for his well-being and tried to draw his lawfully carried firearm to defend himself from ongoing, imminent great bodily harm or death,” the motion states. “A struggle over the firearm ensued at which point Walter Lay was shot and killed in self defense. ” An autopsy showed injuries to Lay’s knees that were consistent with Radford’s account that Lay was “on top of him during the attack,” according to the motion.