in the upcoming trial. (Ref: http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-waives-stand-ground-hearing-heads-trial/t/story?id=19074241)
Obviously standing your ground does not permit a person to chase down another person and confront them. If anything, Trayvon Martin might have actually been legally standing his ground when approached by an aggressive man who might have flashed his weapon in an threatening manner. If that happened, he had good reason to fear for his life.
I have a Florida concealed weapons permit. If I noticed someone acting truly suspicious, I would contact the police and if informed that they were responding would never play a vigilante and pursue. Of course my suspicion would never be caused merely because some young man wearing a hoodie was walking down a street in my neighborhood. There would be nothing unusual about that. It happens all the time especially in the rain or cold weather.
Now if I was simply walking down a street and was attacked by an individual who I had reason to believe wished to seriously injure or kill me and had the capacity to do so, I would make an effort to defend myself which might involve drawing my concealed weapon and shooting him to stop his attack. Of course that would be my final resort. I am an elderly citizen with hip and back problems so running away is not a good option. While I did get some martial arts training years ago it would probably prove useless against a much younger person in good shape. If I was much younger and in good physical condition, I would attempt to resist the attack without using my weapon. If I was overwhelmed and found myself on the ground with my opponent slamming my head into the sidewalk, I would attempt to use my weapon to save my life or health. In this case the stand your ground law might protect me from criminal prosecution or a lawsuit which would deplete my savings. If I initiated the attack, I don't feel stand your ground should apply.
Of course I would expect the authorities to carefully review my actions and determine if they were reasonable in the situation. If there were serious questions, I would be willing to face a jury.
I will agree that the Florida stand your ground law might have been better written. I feel the basic concept is right but apparently in some cases the law has been abused. Hopefully this will eventually be corrected.
While I refuse to declare that Zimmerman is guilty at this point it is because I haven't heard all the evidence that will be presented in his trail. I am not fond of trial by the media. However at this point based on the evidence that I have read, I feel he was largely at fault.
It should be an interesting trial.
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