I remember when this happened, several threads on FR over it.
CNN’s details are correct, but the story is twisted so as to blame the SYG law as a cause of this type of incident which is poppycock.
The defendant provoked a petty quarrel and then ramped it up to 11. The victim was also a jerk. Two men behaved badly, played stupid games and won stupid prizes.
That the defendant tried the self-defense SYG card is unremarkable. Even if there was no SYG law, they would still mount a defense based on self defense to the jury which is what they get to do now that the judge has shot down their SYG motion.
I opined much the same thing in my post #14.
CNN also left out a crucial detail about the defendant.
Legal point: In Florida, SYG is not a self-defense justification pled at trial. It is a pre-trial motion decided solely by the judge.
Def can still plead self-defense at trial, but doubt it will fly.