An attorney for a man charged in a 2016 fatal beating at a town square in The Villages wants the case against her client dismissed and is blaming the incident on the dead man.
Brice Hall, 21, of Weirsdale, is one of two men charged in the death of 26-year-old Austin Stevens, who died after an altercation on June 5, 2016 at Spanish Springs Town Square.
Hall has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge that he ran up behind Stevens and punched him on the side of his head, knocking him to the ground where his head struck the concrete. Stevens died two days later at Ocala Regional Medical Center. Hall was arrested on a charge of manslaughter three days after Stevens’ death.
His co-defendant, 20-year-old Nicholas Metcalfe of Belleview, is accused of kicking an unconscious Stevens in the face as he lay on the concrete that night at the square.
This past week in Lake County Court, Hall’s attorney, Stacy Youmans, filed a motion for dismissal.
She is claiming that Stevens “aggressively approached and confronted” two of Hall’s companions.
“Within seconds Mr. Stevens began striking each repeatedly on their heads and upper bodies,” Youmans wrote in the motion.
She claims Stevens then raised his fists and turned toward Hall, who struck Stevens “in self-defense.”
Youmans is relying on Florida’s “Stand Your Grand” law, which gained national attention when George Zimmerman was acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin.
Youmans writes that Hall “was justified in his use of force to protect himself and his companions from imminent great bodily harm or death.”
She also points out that at the time of the altercation, Stevens was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 200 pounds. Hall was 19, stood 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 175 pounds.
Hall remains free on $10,000 bond.
