A second Miami judge has ruled that recent changes to Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense law are unconstitutional.
The Miami Herald reports that Circuit Judge Alan Fine issued the ruling recently in the case of a woman charged with attempted murder in a 2015 shooting. Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch was the first judge to challenge the constitutionality of the law.
The Florida attorney general's office is already appealing the initial ruling, and neither is binding on other Florida judges.
The 2005 Stand Your Ground law eliminated a person's duty to retreat in the face of a threat and means dismissal of criminal charges for successful defendants.
In May, the Legislature made a change that forces prosecutors rather than defendants to shoulder the burden of proof in such cases.
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