FL Teen Aquitted of Murder in Bully Stabbing

[Callisto]

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/...ense-ca/?partn

NAPLES — A 15-year-old who fatally stabbed his school mate will no longer face criminal prosecution.


A judge’s ruling, made public Tuesday, granted a motion to dismiss the second-degree murder charge againstJorge Saavedra in the death of 16-year-old Dylan Nuno on the grounds that he acted in self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The State Attorney’s Office has indicated that it will not appeal the ruling.


Nuno’s family and friends criticized Collier County Circuit Judge Lauren Brodie’s decision, calling it “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking.” “We know this wasn’t the right decision,” said Dylan’s aunt, Adriana Nuno.“(The judge) is showing those kids it’s OK to get away with murder.” Saavedra, who was 14 at the time of the stabbing, was charged as a juvenile. If found guilty, the former Palmetto Ridge High student would have been released by the age of 21.


Brodie’s ruling concluded that Saavadra, who said he was bullied and tried avoid a fight with Nuno, did not act unlawfully. She added that Saavadra had more than enough reason to believe he was in danger of death or great bodily harm. Brodie based her decision this week on the findings from a two-day December hearing, during which students who witnessed the events Jan. 24, 2011, testified that several teens announced the fight on the bus, and Saavedra got off several stops early in Golden Gate Estates. Saavedra showed a pocket knife to two teens on the bus that afternoon.

In a nine-page document released Tuesday by the State Attorney’s Office, Brodie stated that by getting off the bus several stops before the location where the fight was to happen, Saavedra “demonstrated that, with or without a knife, (he) had no desire to fight with Dylan Nuno.” Accompanied by several students, Dylan Nuno, a junior, followed Saavedra, a freshman, off the bus. He then punched him in the back of the head, according to court documents and testimony. Saavedra attempted to get away once, witnesses said. He then stabbed Dylan Nuno 12 times in the chest and abdomen. Two of the blows caused fatal wounds, including one that nicked his heart.


In her decision, signed Dec. 30, 2011, the judge said Saavedra had “no duty to retreat” and was “legally entitled to meet force with force, even deadly force.” "The defendant was in a place where he had a right to be and was not acting unlawfully. He had more than enough reason to believe he was in danger of death or great bodily harm ... (He) was under attack from the first punch to the back of his head until he stabbed Dylan Nuno.”


Prosecutors will not be appealing the case, a move that upset Dylan Nuno’s family and friends. “We’ve reviewed the decision,” said Samantha Syoen, spokeswoman for the State Attorney’s Office. “There does not appear to be any issues to appeal.” Saavedra’s lawyer, Donald Day, called the case “a tragedy all the way around.” Saavedra is currently living with his family in Miami. “My reaction is there is no winner at all in this case,” Day said. “My client’s family feels terribly for the Nuno family.”


The judge’s decision came as a surprise to Adriana Aradas, 19, a close friend of Dylan Nuno who sat with his family for the December hearing, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with messages for the teen. “I wasn’t’ expecting that at all,” Aradas said. “At the last hearing, there was so much against Jorge.” During that hearing, students recounted for the judge previous altercations between the two teens, including one instance on the bus when something was lobbed from the back, where Dylan Nuno sat, to the front, where Saavedra was.


The judge also highlighted that Saavedra would skip school or find other ways home to avoid the bus. Though the judge’s order does not mention the term “bullying,” which was heavily used by the defense, it does describe “taunting comments” from Dylan Nuno and two other male teens shortly before the fight. Dylan Nuno’s family and friends have defended the teen, saying repeatedly he was not a bully and in fact transferred from Lely High School to Palmetto Ridge to escape taunting himself.


Their hopes for a bench trial before Brodie are now gone, weeks before the anniversary of his death and what would have been Dylan Nuno’s 18th birthday. “Brodie’s decision is not setting a good example for children or adults,” said Kim Maxwell, Dylan Nuno’s mother. “I truly do not want this type of tragedy to happen to another innocent family.” Yet after months of seeing Saavedra in the courtroom, there is some closure in the fact that they will no longer have to see the teen’s killer on what at times in 2011 was on a monthly basis. “Whatever happens, whether (Saavedra) would have gotten time, it’s not going to bring Dylan back,” said Adriana Nuno. “We’ll have to move on, unfortunately without our Dylan.”

protip: don't start a fight with a guy with a knife

[Sepukku]

Props to the kid. Its not like he left his house that morning intending to kill. He tried to avoid a confrontation, bully pursued it very aggressively, teen did what he had to do. I wouldn't find him guilty either. "Victims" family can shut the fuck up.

[Aurara]

Props to the kid. Its not like he left his house that morning intending to kill. He tried to avoid a confrontation, bully pursued it very aggressively, teen did what he had to do. I wouldn't find him guilty either. "Victims" family can shut the fuck up.

Seriously this, when i got suspended for getting in a fight, the kid's parents got extremely upset and angry that their son was getting suspended, even though that shithead started everything and didnt let up til I beat the shit out of him in front of the class. "Victim" my ass, dont fucking bully people, problem solved~

[Headspace]

Naples does not have stabbings. Just rich old white women playing tennis and golf

[Arrmani]

I don't see how someone can torment another kid and his parents be completely oblivious to it. It's sad that he had to die, but I'm glad the other kid isn't going to spend most of his life in prison because of it.

[Lucavi]

Don't start a fight that you can't win. Don't start a fight, period. More kids (and adults) need to learn this, but some never learn in time and have this happen to them. Nevertheless, based on the laws in Florida, this kid is innocent.

Edit: Most parents think that their kids are little angels, just like how most fathers think that their daughter is an angel, but the rest of the girls her age are sluts, and how moms think that their "little boy" is a saint among "little boy" sinners. Nobody wants to attribute society's problems to their own progeny; its just the way of the world.

[Valisk]

I like how the mom of the dead bully says she "does not want this type of tragedy to happen to another innocent family" like her son had nothing to do with it and was a complete angel.

Shouldn't be knifeless in a warzone.

[Valisk]

It's sad that he had to die, but I'm glad the other kid isn't going to spend most of his life in prison because of it.

He was to be charged as a minor (was 14 at the time) and would have been released when he turned 21 if found guilty.

[Melena]

Wow, common sense from Florida. Who would have thought of it. So sick of Bully's trying to act like fucking victims. When I was in middle school, had a punk kid who kept trying to fight me and would back down if he had no weapon. He started a fight with my younger brother who was only in second grade, I beat the crap out of him including whacking him in the head with a whiffle ball bat and his dad tried to sue my family. His dad nearly got arrested as well for throwing a pizza party the same night to try to get the other kids to change there stories.

tl;dr Fuck bully's, they all need an ass whuppin.

[Lucavi]

Much of it starts with/from the parents, just like the parents that proclaim that their child is "innocent" and "an angel". Ma'am, with all due respect, your child may not have been some mass murderer, but your child was no saint. Making another child's developmental and formative life miserable is not saint-like.

[Kerberoz]

And nothing of value was lost.

[Bregor]

And nothing of value was lost.

I dunno, seems like the dead kid would have made a pretty good hockey goon, what with punching kids in the back of the head and all.

[Roundelk]

Kinda 50/50 on this. I do think think they got the right call but the kid should have got something for stabbing 12 times, that's alot.

[Ragnus]

And nothing of value was lost.

If anything the gene pool is better off in the long run.

[Aurara]

Kinda 50/50 on this. I do think think they got the right call but the kid should have got something for stabbing 12 times, that's alot.

When somebody bullies you to the extend that this kid had been bullied, once given the chance you'll do anything to make it stop. Besides, kid still has to live with the fact he murdered a person(in self defense though)

[Arrmani]

He was to be charged as a minor (was 14 at the time) and would have been released when he turned 21 if found guilty.

Right, but I'm sure if it did go to trial they would have tried to get it waived to criminal court because he had a knife or stabbed him 12 times. I'm not saying it happens all the time, but when kids are pushed too far they'll do stuff without thinking about it and idiots like the bully's family do everything they can to ruin the other kid's life.

[Headspace]

Kinda 50/50 on this. I do think think they got the right call but the kid should have got something for stabbing 12 times, that's alot.

Self defense it doesn't matter. Judge ruled that the kid was legally in danger until nuno died. 12th wound could've been the fatal one. (it wasn't but could've been)

[Lucavi]

Kinda 50/50 on this. I do think think they got the right call but the kid should have got something for stabbing 12 times, that's alot.

You don't punish someone for fight or flight. Have you ever been in what you felt was a life-or-death situation regarding an attacker?

[Kerberoz]

when kids are pushed too far they'll do stuff without thinking about it

Anyone else read that in 's voice?

[Lucavi]

That's right, the kid had a knife and all. He went full-on Rambo-mode.