Former Marine's stand your ground defense in court

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A former Marine says he was standing his ground when he shot and killed a man he found breaking into a shed at his house.

Now, Ruben Rodriguez's story, which hasn't changed, is being heard in a courtroom.

"I fired the gun to save my life," Rodriguez explained Thursday.

The former Marine is using the controversial stand your ground defense, in hopes of walking away from a murder charge.

It happened in January, 2015. Rodriguez saw two men running away from his shed. Rodriguez grabbed his AR 15 and got in his car. That's when he says he spotted the alleged victim, Enrique Garcia and another man.

Prosecutor Christine Brown said Rodriguez became the aggressor when he provoked the victim.

"What response, coming out of those people,s mouths, would have satisfied this defendant? What response?" she asked, adding a possible response. "'Yes, we were.'"

She continued, "what's he gonna do then? He's got a big gun."

Rodriquez's defense attorney, Anthony Rickman refuted Brown's hypothetical scenario, saying Rodriquez was losing control of the gun to the alleged victim.

"He grabs the muzzle of the gun, puts it in his mouth and says I'm not afraid to die today, are you?" said Rickman.

Rodriguez said he was afraid to die. He explained it to the judge last week.

"When he seen him swing at me, I pulled the safety off and I pulled the trigger," explained Rodriguez.

Rickman said it was justified, "he was acting lawfully. He was in a place he had the right to be and he had the right to meet force with force and defend himself," said Rickman.

The judge is set to rule in a month.