JUDGE WEIGHS STAND-YOUR-GROUND DEFENSE BY MAN ACCUSED OF WAVING GUN AT WEDDING GUESTS
Defense lawyer Ken Padowitz said Albisu was awakened by his wife and stepson complaining that the wedding guests were refusing to leave and were getting violent. Padowitz argued that Albisu was entitled to arm himself under the Second Amendment, and legally allowed to threaten deadly force when he was surrounded and outnumbered by the irate guests who, according to court documents, believed they were being cheated out of the final half hour of their party.
Defense attorney Ken Padowitz, left, and his client Miguel Rodriguez Albisu during Albisu’s stand your ground trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Albisu, 59, is charged with nine counts of aggravated assault with a firearm for pulling a gun on guests attending a wedding reception at Cielo Farms, a private venue he owns. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Miguel Rodriguez Albisu blew his cool and broke the law when he forced an end to a wedding party by waving a gun at guests at his Southwest Ranches venue nearly two years ago, a prosecutor argued in court on Friday.
But the defendant’s lawyer asked Broward Circuit Judge Andrew Siegel to dismiss the case under the state’s stand-your-ground law, arguing that Albisu was within his right to defend himself from a group that had already shown its willingness to throw a chair and destroy his property.
Albisu, 60, is facing nine counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for waving a loaded weapon at the bride, groom and the remaining guests of a March 2023 wedding at Cielo Farms in Southwest Ranches, which sits on the same property as Albisu’s home.
Defense lawyer Ken Padowitz said Albisu was awakened by his wife and stepson complaining that the wedding guests were refusing to leave and were getting violent. Padowitz argued that Albisu was entitled to arm himself under the Second Amendment, and legally allowed to threaten deadly force when he was surrounded and outnumbered by the irate guests who, according to court documents, believed they were being cheated out of the final half hour of their party.
Siegel declined to rule on the motion, which has been the subject of numerous hearings over the last six months. Broward Circuit Judge Ed Merrigan recused himself from the case last October rather than accede to the defense demand to get a hearing and a ruling quickly. Siegel began hearing the stand your ground motion in December.
The hearing featured the unusual sight of the judge, lawyers and witnesses donning virtual reality headsets to recreate the scene.
Prosecutor Danielle Gordon argued that Albisu encountered no threat to himself or anyone else when he pulled his weapon.
Siegel can find Albisu immune from prosecution if he accepts his argument, or he can order the case to proceed to trial and let a jury decide whether the self-defense claim has merit. Either decision is likely to be met with an appeal.
The judge did not say when he would rule other than to say he was legally bound to reach a decision within 60 days.