By Todd Ruger
Sarasota Herald Tribune
SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Patrick Barbour was fatally shot during events that court testimony described as a robbery attempt.
Gunfire erupted on a Newtown street in May, leaving Patrick Barbour dead on the road and Alphonse Gallo in jail facing a murder charge and the possibility of life behind bars.
But a judge listened to the details of the killing and ruled that Gallo, 35, should not be prosecuted for murder because of Florida’s stand-your-ground law, which allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves.
Gallo was released from jail last month, the first Sarasota County murder defendant to win immunity under the 2005 law allowing people to use deadly force to defend themselves without retreating.
“All of his actions were made in response to a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm,” Senior Circuit Judge Stephen Dakan wrote in a ruling.
Gallo testified that Barbour and several other men confronted him May 15 near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Pershing Avenue about 2:30 a.m. The two had a minor fight about 30 minutes earlier.
Gallo testified that Barbour, 24, threatened to rob him and then pulled a handgun from a pocket.
Gallo, who had a concealed weapons permit to carry a handgun, said he drew his own gun and fired at Barbour three times.
The shots ignited a flurry of gunfire between Gallo and the men there with Barbour. Gallo testified he ran and crouched behind a car, then looked back at Barbour and saw the wounded man raising his pistol at him. Gallo fired four more shots at Barbour.
Gallo ran for his van with shots still being fired in his direction.
“Defendant was under fire from that first shot until he was able to escape in his van,” Judge Dakan wrote.
Prosecutors and police had a different version. One witness told police Gallo stood over Barbour’s wounded body while shooting toward the other men. She said Gallo walked over Barbour and fired the fatal shots, then ran away. And she said Barbour did not have a gun that night.
Prosecutors also argued that Barbour was lying down after the initial shots and was no longer a threat.
But the evidence backs up Gallo’s story, Dakan ruled.
Gallo’s van had several bullet holes, shells from different types of guns were found and there was ample time for people in the crowd that had gathered to take a gun from Barbour’s body before police arrived, Dakan wrote.
Barbour had ingested alcohol and cocaine that night, and continuously had been the aggressor, Dakan ruled.
“It is more likely than not that defendant fired his pistol at Barbour because Barbour pulled a firearm from his pocket,” Dakan wrote.
Gallo’s attorney said detectives rushed into arresting Gallo 10 hours after the shooting. The police did not get Gallo’s side of the story until the hearing with Judge Dakan, said Bradenton attorney Eric Reisinger.
Gallo always felt he did the right thing and defended himself. Still, he has received threats since his release.
“It’s hard for me to stomach what I had to do,” Gallo said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Thank God he was impartial and he listened.”
Gallo is considering a civil lawsuit over the arrest but for now is just happy to be free after a 5-month jail stay that cost him his job and time with his wife and four children.
“I’m just trying to get my life back together,” Gallo said.
Gallo said he has a security job lined up, but he needs his permit to carry a concealed weapon to be reinstated, which could take as long as six months.
Prosecutors said they have appealed the decision, but are not optimistic about it being overturned.
Last month in Manatee County, a jury acquitted a 39-year-old man of aggravated assault after attorneys used the Stand Your Ground law as a defense.
Copyright 2010 Sarasota Herald-Tribune Co.
All Rights Reserved