Plight of Bodega Worker Charged With Murder Renews Calls for ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense Laws in New York

Public backlash over second-degree murder charges against a bodega employee who fatally stabbed a customer is leading for renewed calls to reform state laws regarding New Yorkers’ right to self-defense. Prosecutors initially sought bail of $500,000 from Jose Alba, who allegedly stabbed Austin Simon to death last week at a convenience store in Upper Manhattan after being cornered and assaulted.Mr. Alba’s lawyer, Michelle Villasenor-Grant, said her client was acting in self-defense. He was unable to afford the initial bail, meaning he would have been stuck in jail indefinitely had it not been for the public outcry.New York is one of the few states that has no “stand-your-ground” law giving citizens the right to defend themselves against attackers. Instead, state law says citizens have a “duty to retreat” from attacks except in cases of home invasion.The duty to retreat means “if you can reasonably get away or avoid the situation, you have to do that,” a Manhattan criminal defense attorney, Paul D’Emilia, said.“If somebody’s attacking you, and you reasonably believe that they’re going to injure you or kill you, then you have a right to defend yourself,” Mr. D’Emilia, himself a former prosecutor, said. Mr. D’Emilia said security camera footage from the bodega indicates that Mr. Alba’s “duty to retreat was gone at that point.” Simon “cornered Mr. Alba, from what I saw, and he physically put his hands on him,” he said.The second-degree murder charges against Mr. Alba imply intentional homicide.A Republican state senator of western New York, George Borello, has introduced legislation that would change the state’s existing “duty to retreat” and replace it with a “stand your ground” allowance. Mr. Alba’s case is a prime example of why the law needs to be changed, he said.“With the disastrous failure of this so-called ‘bail reform,’ it’s more important now than ever that people have the right to defend themselves,” Mr. Borello said. “It’s literally like Gotham City without Batman now.”He called Mr. Alba’s case “a tragic example of that.” “You should be able to defend yourself, anywhere, anytime that you are somewhere where you are legally allowed to be and that’s what this bill does,” he said.Mr. Borello is not optimistic about the bill’s chance of passing the current Democrat-controlled legislature, but is more optimistic about next term, when newly drawn districts are expected to give Republican candidates a better chance of making it into the state house.Addressing the case Thursday, Mayor Adams said he cannot dictate how the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, prosecutes crimes, but added that his “heart goes out” for the “hard-working, honest” Mr. Alba.A bipartisan group of New York City council members lambasted Mr. Bragg in a letter to the district attorney, saying his lenient approach to prosecution is “rewarding the guilty and punishing the innocent.“The fact that you are even prosecuting Mr. Alba reveals how your perverse sense of justice not only protects violent criminals, but actively seeks to destroy the lives of crime victims,” the lawmakers said.Following the public outcry, Mr. Alba’s defense attorneys said new bail arrangements had been made and the defendant would be freed on a reduced bond. “Jose Alba will be released from custody after posting a $50,000 partially secured surety bond, following the People’s request for a new bail package,” a spokesman for the district attorney’s office, Douglas Cohen, said.Bail was initially set so high, Mr. Cohen said, because Mr. Alba was viewed as a flight risk, due to “international contacts” and plans to travel to his native Dominican Republic this week.The new bail package includes $50,000 cash bail and a $50,000 surety bond. The Alba family raised $5,000 for the bond, and Mr. Alba’s employer, Blue Moon Convenience Store, will put up the rest.When he left state custody, Mr. Alba was required to surrender his passport. He is also now subject to electronic monitoring and must remain within the New York City limits.“Those four aspects of the package — the bail amount, the surrender of the passport, the electronic monitoring, and the travel restrictions — are the conditions that we believe will ensure the defendant’s return to court while the People continue to investigate this incident,” Mr. Cohen said.Mr. Alba’s attorney’s office, the Neighborhood Defense Service, released a statement following his release, affirming Mr. Alba’s intent.“The video in this case speaks for itself: Mr. Alba was simply doing his job when he was aggressively cornered by a much younger and bigger man.”

Plight of Bodega Worker Charged With Murder Renews Calls for ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense Laws in New York

Plight of Bodega Worker Charged With Murder Renews Calls for ‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense Laws in New York

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