A judge on Tuesday said George Zachary Chronister can not use a ‘Stand Your Ground’ defense in a case in which he is accused of slashing and stabbing a fellow musician.
George Zachary Chronister is the son of Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
The amateur rapper is a accused of stabbing musician Phillip Manzi in a feud reportedly over stolen lyrics. A cell phone video taken about a year ago in a parking lot off Bruce B. Downs Boulevard shows George Chronister with a knife.
George Chronister claims he was simply standing his ground. Manzi was treated for his injuries and then released from a local hospital.
The 24-year-old’s attorney had previously pleaded for the judge to consider Florida’s “stand your ground law,” saying “Under 776023.1, stand your ground, once a person, once a potential case of self defense, then the burden is now on the state to prove by convincing evidence is no longer entitled to the immunity.”
George Chronister will now have to try his self defense case in front of a jury.