Fla. murder suspect Quentin Wyche could walk free without trial

Defense attoeys are pushing a Florida judge to dismiss a murder charge against former Florida Inteational University student Quentin Wyche, claiming he fatally stabbed another student with a pair of scissors in self-defense.

CBS Miami reports Wyche sat in the back of a South Florida courtroom Monday and listened to witnesses describe what happened the day FIU football running back Kendall Berry died.

Wyche's lawyers say in March 2010, stabbed Berry in self-defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law - a decree enacted in 2005 by then-Goveor Jeb Bush.

Though Berry wasn't armed, the defense witnesses testified that he did start the fight with Wyche outside the school's recreation center, with more than a dozen of Berry's friends and teammates backing him up.

"Berry was walking toward Wyche, squaring up, getting ready to fight...(Berry) was saying 'oh, you did something to my girl,'" witness Garett Cottom told the court.

Witnesses said that at first, Wyche ran away from Berry and his crew. Witness Anthony Cooper described 'Q' running toward the recreation center doors with a group of men chasing him.

Wyche's attoey David Peckins says Berry's death was unintentional.

"He just happened to thrust himself against the scissor that the defendant had taken out apparently from his book bag when he was being chased down by this football team," Peckins told CBS Miami.

Prosecutors believe the running back's death was no accident, and that the judge should move forward with a murder trial.

"This is murder. This is pure and simple murder....This is someone who brought a knife to a fist fight, and someone is dead because of it," said prosecutor Abbe Rifkin.

Berry's family say they would be disappointed to see Wyche go free without a trial. It has been two years since the incident, and Berry's father Derrick Spillman says "it's about time (the judge) starts being a judge and starts making things happen."

The aforementioned judge, Milton Hirsch, gave the defense two weeks to present witness statements in the case before deciding whether Quentin Wyche will stand trial, or be set free.