Charges of battery dangle over Kevin Gates‘ head stemming from a 2015 incident where he allegedly kicked a female fan. Gates recently went to court for the incident where he found out he would not be able to use Florida’s notorious stand your ground law in his defense.
He appeared in a Lakeland, Fla courtroom on Thursday (Jul 28), after arguing last week that his case should be thrown out because of the law. The judge presiding over the case, the honorable Judge Sharon Franklin, refuted Gates’ claim stating the kick was not a justifiable reaction to fan Miranda Dixon grabbing his clothing.
“While a simple act of touching or pushing someone without his or her consent may amount to simple battery, the Court finds that such a minor act does not necessarily rise to such a level as to justify the use of force in return,” Franklin wrote.
Stand your ground laws can be used when a person is deemed to have been defending themselves against an imminent threat of great bodily injury or death.
Something else that was held against Gates in court was the Judge’s views on his rationale. “Defendant testified that he is always scared for his safety at his shows because of death threats he’s received, yet he allowed a very young child to not only walk out on stage with him but allowed this child to remain on the stage for the entire performance,” she wrote.
