William Marcus Wilson believed he was standing his ground when he fired at a pickup truck he says was trying to run his car off the road as he drove home with his girlfriend one night last month.
He had a licensed handgun with him, and he might have assumed that he was covered by Georgia’s “Stand Your Ground” law,“A person who uses threats or force... in defense of self or others, ... in defense of a habitation, or … in defense of property other than a habitation, has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and use force ... including deadly force.
Wilson, charged with murder in the death of a teenaged girl who was riding in the truck, has been in jail since June 17. “This is bigger than Marc,” said his aunt SaJuana Williams — meaning it raises the question of whether the principle of “Stand Your Ground” applies to Black men when they are threatened by whites., Wilson’s attorney, recounted last week at a press conference what he alleges happened the night of the shooting.
The judge in the case last Tuesday postponed a preliminary hearing for Wilson because two witnesses for the defense were. The judge also imposed a gag order barring attorneys, investigators or anyone connected to the case from speaking to the media, the day after defense lawyers in the case held a news conference to give Wilson’s side of the story. Johnson’s office declined Yahoo News’ request for comment on why the judge imposed the gag order. A date for the next hearing has not been announced.
“There can be mercy. There can be forgiveness,” the girl’s uncle, Brent Holcombe, said at the same presser. “But justice has to be served.”to police. He’s been in jail for nearly a month on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. Police also charged 18-year-old Luke Harry Conley, who was in the pickup truck with Hutcheson, with misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer. Conley told police the shooting was unprovoked, but investigators later found out Conley was seen
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