Texas man gets 40 years in stand-your-ground case

Texas man gets 40 years in stand-your-ground case

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man who argued that the state’s version of a stand-your-ground law allowed him to fatally shoot a neighbor after an argument about a noisy party has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murder.

A Houston jury sentenced Raul Rodriguez today in the killing of 36-year-old Kelly Danaher.

Rodriguez is heard in a video of the incident saying he feared for his life and was standing his ground. His defense attorneys argued the retired firefighter acted in self-defense.

But prosecutors say the 46-year-old Rodriguez was the aggressor, noting he took a gun when he went to complain about Danaher’s 2010 party.

A Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot an unarmed teenager, Trayvon Martin, in February is relying on a stand-your-ground law for his defense.