For the past two weeks, a man who shot his ex-girlfriend five times and left her with permanent injuries has been in jail, despite jurors finding him not guilty.
Earlier this month, jurors found Gayle Blount shot his ex-girlfriend Bridget Knighton in self-defense and believed him when he testified that he was in fear for his life. On the other hand, Knighton also took the stand and told jurors her ex-boyfriend was aggressive and wanted to kill her inside a Miami Gardens apartment.
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WATCH HEREKnighton was shot at least five times and left with injuries across her body, needing more than 10 surgeries since the incident.
After the verdict, Blount thought he would walk out of a Miami-Dade courthouse a free man, however, he was instead transferred to the Broward County Jail on a hold.
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The 55-year-old has a pending domestic violence case in Broward, where Knighton accused him of grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her into a table at a Denny's restaurant.
Records show the victim did not suffer any life-threatening injuries in that incident.
After the Miami-Dade verdict, where jurors found Blount was not attempting to kill his girlfriend, Knighton told NBC6 she feared for her safety and would not stop looking for justice.
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Despite the disappointing verdict for Knighton, last Friday, she continued looking for her own justice by speaking out in front of a Broward judge.
"It was a miscarriage of justice in Miami-Dade, and I just pray Broward doesn’t do the same thing," Knighton told a judge in a hearing.
At the end of last week's hearing, Broward Judge Chris Brown said he would side with Knighton after hearing her testimony. The judge considered Blount to be a danger to the community and the victim.
On Wednesday, defense attorneys once again tried to get Blount some sort of release, but once again failed.
"I'm using the testimony of the victim the last time we were here who claimed the defendant, I think, shot her eight times and tried to kill her and was in great fear," Brown said.
Despite, defense attorneys arguing the shooting was justified according to Miami-Dade jurors, the judge once again sided with the victim.
Jonathan Jordan, an attorney representing Blount, called the judge's actions "the Gingles effect," referring to Nathan Gingles. Gingles was arrested last week in Tamarac for allegedly killing his wife, her father, and a neighbor and abducting his daughter.
Broward County officials admitted their failures in this domestic violence case led to the triple murder.
Blount will need to stay in jail until his trial. Defense attorneys are urging for the trial to be as soon as next month.
