His lawyers waived a separate hearing on a Stand Your Ground defense, and ABC News headlined the stunning of "court observers."
Maybe some "observers" are more easily stunned than others. I doubt many students of self-defense law were even trickle-charged.
George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Beyond that, the debate is open. If it was legally justifiable -- as it may have been -- it was on grounds other than Florida's Stand Your Ground law. Zimmerman left that legal cloak behind when he stopped his car, got out, and initiated the confrontation. A suspicious looking kid quietly walking through your night-time neighborhood is grounds for calling the cops, watching from a discreet distance, and taking steps to protect yourself in case he confronts you.
Zimmerman's self-defense argument will succeed or fail based on a judicial determination of what happened after he faced Martin and then, as he alleges, walked away. The details are in dispute and foggy. That's why we have courts.
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Stand your ground law laws should be universal -- a simple affirmation of your right to use all necessary force to stay alive when a criminal threatens you. If we insist that they give full police power to every guy with a suspicion, we'll lose them, state-by-state.
2 comments:
Nice, succinct assessment of the legalities. JAGSC
Coming from you, I take that as a compliment. Thank you.
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