Jacksonville gentlemen’s club security guard won’t be charged in triple-shooting

A security guard who shot three men in the parking lot of a Jacksonville strip club will not be charged with a Jacksonville Gun Crime for his role in the incident. But the man whom police say drove his truck at the guard, prompting the gunfire, was charged with aggravated battery in Duval County last week, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Details are still sparse in the case, but police say three men were kicked out of Wacko’s gentlemen’s club about 1 a.m. after getting in a fight inside the club, but they returned to the parking lot in a blue pickup truck about a half hour later. The security guard came out to check on the situation and, when he did, David Cisneros-Orozco turned the car toward him and accelerated, the newspaper reported. The guard opened fire into the car, shooting all three occupants, including one who suffered life-threatening injuries, the newspaper reported. The driver took off after the shooting and police spotted the truck in the parking lot of a nearby Taco Bell. All three men were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Police did not cite this law in announcing the charges in the case, but this a classic example of the Florida’s now-infamous Stand Your Ground law. The law, since replicated by a third of the states in the country, states that people do not have to retreat if they reasonably believe they are in fear of their life or serious bodily injury. In this case, a person who was asked to leave, chose to come back on the property and appears to deliberately drive his car at the security guard really leaves the guard without many options. He has to try to stop the car or alter its course, so he fired his gun into the car. As a Jacksonville Gun Crime Attorney, it is interesting that the driver was only charged with aggravated battery. Local prosecutors, especially in Clay County, Duval County and Nassau County, have not been shy about filing murder charges, so it is a little surprising there was not an attempted murder charge here for Cisneros-Orozco. But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not coming. Oftentimes, as a part of negotiations, the state will keep a more severe Jacksonville criminal charge in its back pocket as it tries to get a defendant to agree to plead guilty for a sentence the state is looking for. Prosecutors will often set the ground rules and outline if there isn’t a deal by a certain date, the state will file an upgraded charge. In this case it would be a Jacksonville attempted murder.

The overwhelming majority of Jacksonville criminal defense cases are decided long before the case would make it to a trial and sentences are often the result of discussions between the state and the Duval County Criminal Defense Attorney. Our Jacksonville Gun Attorney has worked on thousands of cases and will be on your side in those negotiations, working for the best possible outcome, knowing that in some cases you just need to go to trial – upgraded charges or not.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a free consultation. Our Duval County Violent Crimes Lawyer is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.