By Kevin Graham, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
TAMPA — Charles Podany wanted to protect his neighborhood from speeders.
On Feb. 29, 2008, he bicycled through Thonotosassa's Bay Hills Circle community and asked a fast-driving man in a pickup truck to slow down.
The encounter turned deadly after the driver's drunken friend began beating Podany, 49. As Casey Landes, 24, landed on top of Podany and readied his fist to strike again, Podany shot him in the head with a .40-caliber Glock.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robert Foster agreed Tuesday to toss out Podany's manslaughter charge after his attorneys argued Podany fired in self-defense under Florida's "stand-your-ground" law and deserved immunity from prosecution. The law allows people to meet force with force when they feel threatened.
Defense attorney Stephen Romine said Podany's case met the stand-your-ground test: Podany wasn't engaged in unlawful activity; he had a right to be there; and if he hadn't acted, he may have been seriously injured or killed.
Foster heard testimony on the defense motion two weeks ago, including from Evin Aguayo, the pickup driver and Landes' best friend.
Aguayo, 21, told investigators that Landes was the aggressor in the confrontation and that Podany never hit back.
"You never saw (Mr. Podany) take a swing at him?" a sheriff's detective asked Aguayo.
"Never," Aguayo responded, adding, "Not one time. Not one single swing."
Romine included those excerpts of Aguayo's statements to detectives in his motion to dismiss.
Before the deadly altercation, Aguayo said Podany approached him about speeding through the neighborhood.
"I said, 'Well, I'm sorry sir. We won't do it again. Forgive me,' " Aguayo told detectives.
As Podany peddled away on his bike, Landes appeared and began yelling at him. Aguayo said he tried to stop his friend. "Man forget about it," he told him.
"It wasn't even a fight, it was one-sided," Aguayo said.
Podany is 5 feet 8 and weighs 180 pounds. Landes was 6 feet 1 and weighed 192 pounds.
"He's outsized, outmuscled," Romine said. "It's not going to be a fair fight in any capacity and the guy is just relentless trying to beat him."
Aguayo told deputies his friend thought it was "cool to beat up an old man."
A medical examiner's toxicology report determined that Landes' blood alcohol level was 0.28. State law presumes a person is impaired if his blood alcohol level is above 0.08. The toxicology report also revealed diazepam, or Valium, and hydrocodone in Landes' system.
Landes had a conviction of aggravated battery in 2006 and was sentenced to a year and a day in state prison. He also had arrests for theft, battery and marijuana possession.
Podany was charged with misdemeanor battery in 1994 and felony aggravated assault with a weapon in 1999. He pleaded no contest to the assault charge and adjudication was withheld, records show.
He had a concealed weapons permit for his firearm.
"The guy was scared, man," Aguayo said. "If he's got a license to carry the gun then … his right as an American is to carry that … gun. … He probably felt in fear for his life, man."
The stand-your-ground law amended Florida's existing "Castle Doctrine," which allowed people to use deadly force to defend themselves and others in their homes against the threat of death or great bodily harm. The measure extended the right to public spaces, including the street or a business, and removed a duty to retreat before using deadly force.
Cases that have been argued under the new law have met with mixed results. Foster, for example, refused in May to dismiss a murder charge against a Tampa tow company owner who shot a man accelerating toward him as the victim tried to reclaim his car.
In that case, Foster decided that the threat of imminent danger had passed when Donald Montanez fired his .40-caliber pistol into the car, killing the driver. Montanez said he had seconds to jump to safety and feared for his life and an employee's life.
His attorneys have filed an appeal.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/stand-your-ground-defense-clears-thonotosassa-bicyclist-in-fatal-shooting/1032920
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