WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A judge has rejected the “stand your ground” defense of a Florida man who said he beat an iguana to death only after it attacked him. A Palm Beach County judge says 43-year-old PJ Nilaja Patterson must stand trial on a felony animal cruelty charge. Patterson had claimed that the iguana bit his arm in an attack, causing a wound that required 22 staples to close. But prosecutors say surveillance video shows Patterson attacking the 3-foot lizard, kicking it repeatedly during a half-hour assault in September. Prosecutors say the animal bit Patterson in self-defense. Paterson could get five years if convicted.
‘Stand your ground’ defense rejected in iguana killing
