John Swearingden v. State of Florida

Appellant was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a man in the head with a knife during an alcohol-fueled argument over a woman. Appellant claimed that he stabbed the victim in self-defense. There was conflicting evidence as to whether the victim or Appellant was the initial aggressor. The trial court instructed the jury that:

If the defendant was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in a place where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force…