Updated 12:40 PM EDT, Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Blind Florida Man Gets Immunity and Guns After Fatally Shooting Friend

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A judge in Seminole County, Fla. was forced to return a Glock pistol and a rifle to a blind man who fatally shot another man.

John Rogers, who is blind, won immunity after murdering a man due to the state's controversial "stand your ground" law.

The hearing took place in the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, the city where Trayvon Martin was killed and his shooter, George Zimmerman, was set free under the same self-defense law.

Rogers stood accused of premeditated first degree murder for shooting a "drinking buddy" in March 2012 "after a long drinking session," according to the Orlando Sentinel. The murder was committed by shooting the man "once in the chest with a .308 Remington assault rifle from a distance of 18 inches or less."

Although there were differing eyewitness accounts, a judge dismissed the jury and gave Rogers immunity under the "stand your ground" statute.

That led to the hearing last Thursday, in which Judge John Galluzo reluctantly admitted that he had to give Rogers his rifle and 10mm handgun back to him.

"I have to return property that was taken under the circumstance," Galluzo said. "I have researched and haven't found case law to say otherwise."

Rogers has previously been on probation for firing 15 rounds at his cousin, and was also jailed for pushing and punching a woman in a domestic dispute three years ago.

Rogers will now have to buy new ammunition for his weapons, as the state considered his cache "too old and dangerous."

When Rogers was asked by WESH-TV why a blind man should be armed, he cited the constitution.

"It's my constitutional right," he said. But he later added, "I have been through enough, and I would like to retire."

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