FL Towing Co. Owner Must Stand Trial For Fatal Shooting

Here's the Tampa Bay Online story:

TAMPA - An appeals court has backed a local judge's decision that a towing company owner must stand trial for fatally shooting a man who was trying to reclaim his wife's towed car.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal denied Donald Montanez's request to overturn a ruling that he can be prosecuted despite the state's Stand Your Ground law.

The law, adopted in 2005, says people don't have to exhaust all avenues of retreat before using deadly force to defend themselves.
Montanez faces second-degree murder and other charges in the death of Glen "Chuck" Rich.

In May, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Robert A. Foster ruled that Montanez isn't protected by the law because he fired his .40-caliber pistol after the car Rich was driving had passed.

In a seven-page opinion issued Wednesday, Appellate Judge Robert J. Morris supported Foster's analysis.

"It was clear from the record that at the time Montanez fired the shot, the vehicle was passing him," Morris wrote. "Thus we are not persuaded that he was still in the zone of uncertainty such that he was entitled to discharge the weapon in self-defense."

Montanez's attorney, Jay Hebert, said he and his client were "deeply disappointed."
Hebert said they will weigh their legal options. He said they could ask the appeals court or Foster to clarify their decisions.

The shooting occurred about 5 a.m. Jan. 8, 2006.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.