I'm not an expert in the florida law, but I think the shooter could have a pretty good defense. You are clearly entitled to use deadly force to prevent yourself from being beaten to death.
Treyvon Martin issue is starting to irritate the hell out of me
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I'm not an expert in the florida law, but I think the shooter could have a pretty good defense. You are clearly entitled to use deadly force to prevent yourself from being beaten to death.
Yeah..., You can...! See my examples above... You can provoke people to fist fights and you can get punched for it. But if they really give you a beating then they're the ones who go to jail... Unless you shoot them like in this case. It's all about how much damage you do or is being done to you. Really, just follow the "Keep it standing!" rule. If they're down on the ground let them be. Just be like "Want more...?"... If yes let them get up and punch them again... If not... Then piss off and leave the scene.
It differs from state to state and sadly often the disposition of the prosecutor/judge/jury matters more than the law anyway.
As long as the shooter did not instigate the physical altercation leading up to the shooting he should, by law at least, be on firm ground.
With the nation wide witch hunt going on now though the law may very well be irrelevant in this case.
That's true... it is interpreted differently. In a working class neighborhood cops tend to be more lenient and won't charge as frequently. In other cases, you might get charged for pushing someone.
Having spoken to cops they usually tell me that they go by how much damage is done. Doesn't really matter who started it. The other guy might have started it but if you beat his ass black and blue and he's bleeding all over the place your self-defense plea will go right out the window.
I think in this case Zimmerman started it... Martin overreacted and Zimmerman the asshole shot him. Nevertheless... According to Florida law Zimmerman had the right to do that... because Martin was beating the crap out of him and had stepped out of the normal boundaries of a regular fist fight.
According to the author's of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, Zimmerman has no protection under the law and should be arrested.
Authors of "stand your ground" law: George Zimmerman should be arrested for killing Trayvon Martin
'"He has no protection under my law," former Sen. Durell Peaden told the newspaper.'
'"The guy lost his defense right then," Peaden told the Miami Herald. "When he said 'I'm following him,' he lost his defense."'
'Rep. Dennis Baxley, Peaden's co-sponsor in the Florida House, agrees with his former colleague, telling the newspaper that the law does not license neighborhood watch or others who feel "like they have the authority to pursue and confront people. That is aggravating an incident right there."'
Oh great, I can aggressively chase someone down and assault them, and then when they punch me to defend themselves - I can pull out a gun and kill them. Good to know. I will be sure to clean up all the 'coons' and a'-holes' off the streets now.
Dennis Baxley is being political... There's a guy on top of you... He kicked your ass... You're crying for help... He continues to beat you...
What do you do...? Well... can't win the fight the regular way and it looks like you'll be getting beaten to a pulp... You're already crying for help...! This means "I submit!" in MMA language... In fact, any crying out means "I submit!"... The right thing to do is to stop the fight right there.
Zimmerman had to shoot Martin to protect his health and his life. At least that's the way it looks right now.... We'll see what else comes up. If things are in fact as they look right now then the cops made the right call by not charging Zimmerman.
That's not really what happened... Martin stepped out of the boundaries of a normal fist fight. He was entitled to punch Zimmerman and knock him down in a regular fist fight. He mounted the guy and continued to beat him while the guy was crying for help. Basically, Martin went too far... and that's why Zimmerman is innocent.
The word he used was probably "goon".
So, how's that new investigation going from the DOJ, the FBI, the State Police, the Special Prosecuter and who ever else wants to see Zimmerman charged?
Here's part of Zimmerman's statement to police.
Zimmerman got out of his SUV to follow Trayvon on foot. When a dispatch employee asked Zimmerman if he was following the 17-year-old, Zimmerman said yes. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he did not need to do that.
There is about a one-minute gap during which police say they're not sure what happened.
Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.
Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police.
Trayvon then said, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose.
Zimmerman fell to the ground and Trayvon got on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk, he told police.
Zimmerman began yelling for help.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...n-account-20120326_1_suv-police-miami-schools
(Notice how I provide a link to the information instead of making stuff up, gwb.)