My client was 17 years old minor when  he shot and killed another 17 year old, Joshua Gipson, on Fort Lauderdale Beach on New Years Eve. Both my client and Gipson were walking on A1A. There was no physical evidence that Joshua Gipson possessed a gun at the time that my client turned around and shot him.  The shooting was captured on video surveillance.  There was no issue as to the identity of the shooter.  My client was the one and only suspect. He was arrested and charged by Fort Lauderdale police with murder.  If he was prosecuted, my client would have been prosecuted as an adult in adult court.  If convicted, and as long as the state did not pursue the death penalty, my client would have received a mandatory life sentence. 

Upon being retained I immediately interviewed my minor client at the juvenile detention center.  After our interview, I became convinced that his case could be won.  I even believed that, with the cooperation of the police and the  state attorney’s office,  I could prevent my client from prosecution and perhaps from having to step into a courtroom to face charges. 

Through a thorough investigation and because virtually everything is recorded in this day and age, I was able to obtain video recordings of Mr. Gipson from the same night that he was shot by my client. These recordings established that my client reasonably believed Gipson was armed, intended to inflict harm or even death to my client and that my client reasonably feared for his life when he shot Gipson. 

Despite what the video showed—which was broadcast by virtually every media outlet—both the prosecutor and the Fort Lauderdale detectives agreed to keep an open mind and afforded me the opportunity to present the shooting through my client’s eyes. The prosecutor and the detectives listened to defense witnesses who were previously unknown and had not been interviewed prior to my client’s arrest. The prosecutor and the detectives watched previously undisclosed video recordings that I discovered on social media. Ultimately, the prosecutor made the right decision and chose to dismiss the charge of homicide.