TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – A Florida man accused of a hate crime in the murder of a gay man is asking a judge to dismiss the charges, saying it was self-defense.
Gerald Radford testified Friday that he feared for his life when he shot and killed John “Walt” Ray at a dog park in Tampa on Feb. 2.
According to local news outlets, Radford testified that Ray punched him repeatedly in the face shortly before the shooting.
“I don’t know if I told him to stop, but he didn’t stop,” Radford testified at a hearing before Hillsborough Circuit Court Judge Samantha Ward.
Radford is charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking additional hate crime penalties if Radford is convicted.
The defense cited Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in seeking immunity from prosecution. These laws say people are not required to retreat before using deadly force if they believe they are protecting themselves from a violent crime.
Prosecutors dispute Mr. Radford’s story. Witnesses on Friday testified that Radford had been harassing Ray using homophobic slurs in the months before the shooting. Prosecutors presented a recording of a prison phone call in which Radford used homophobic slurs to refer to Ray after his arrest.
Paul Gumpert, a friend of Ray’s, testified that Ray was not the aggressor in terms of his personality, saying that Ray was “very mild-mannered and very dismissive of any pressure on him.”
Ray shared a video in which she claims Radford threatened her at the dog park the day before the shooting. In the video, Ray claimed he encountered Radford in the park and that Radford told him: “You’re going to die.”
Radford admitted to using the slur against Ray. But he told Assistant State Attorney Justin Diaz during questioning that he gave Ray special treatment “because of the way he treated me,” not because of his sexual orientation.
Defense attorneys pointed to text messages sent after the video as evidence that Mr. Ray was planning the attack on Mr. Radford. Ray wrote in part that he would “try to tackle Radford” if he got in his way again. He also wrote, “This weekend should be a drama.”
In response to questions from defense attorney Matthew Futch, Radford, 66, said Ray, 52, had “completely” dominated him.
“If you had not drawn your gun to protect yourself, do you think you would have experienced significant bodily injury or death?” Fucci asked.
Radford tearfully answered, “Yes.”
But prosecutors said the trajectory of the bullet through Ray’s body, which was traced by the autopsy, made it unlikely that Ray was on top of Radford when he was shot, as Radford claims. Ta.
Kelly Devers, Hillsborough County’s chief medical examiner, testified that if Ray had been lying or kneeling on top of Radford, it would have been “difficult” for the bullet to have traveled its trajectory.
Diaz argued that there were inconsistencies in Radford’s account. “This is a hate crime,” Diaz said.
Ward said he would rule on the motion to stand firm next week.
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