Driver charged in road rage shooting says he feared for life
PORT ORANGE, Fla. --A central Florida man is seeking to have a murder charge against him dropped based on the state's stand-your-ground law.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports 63-year-old Robert Gelles faces second-degree murder in the Sept. 13 shooting of 44-year-old Joseph Bailey after a collision at a Port Orange intersection. Gelles pulled a handgun and shot Bailey.
Circuit Judge Terence Perkins on Wednesday set a hearing for July 29.
Gelles' motion states that he feared for his life when Bailey walked toward his van and felt deadly force was necessary to protect himself.
Florida's stand-your-ground law allows a person to use deadly force when the person has a reasonable fear of great bodily harm or death, or to prevent a forcible felony.
Witnesses told police both drivers had been cutting each other off.