Stand Your Ground

Brittany Smith will most likely go to trial, where she faces up to a life sentence.

With Appeal staff reporter Lauren Gill.

Brittany Smith, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man she says brutally raped her, argued in court this week that she acted in self-defense and should be immune from prosecution.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County, Florida, is one of the state’s most controversial lawmen.

In 2018, Brittany Smith killed a man who she said brutally raped her. Smith was charged with murder and she now faces life in prison as well as challenges getting adequate treatment at a state psychiatric hospital.

Jacqueline Dixon shot her husband to death in Alabama, “Stand Your Ground” state, after she said he charged at her. He had a history of domestic violence.