But doesn't instigating a fight invalidate self defense?
I guess that's true for Stand Your Ground. Particularly as how the law has been written:
The Florida Stand your Ground Law passed in 2005 reads as follows:
A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
“in good faith, the person withdraws from physical contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that he or she desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.”
“Such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant.”
I'd still have to mention that Martin was standing his ground. It is possible he was in fear of his life as well.
Once in a fight, the only way to get away sometimes is if you incapacitate a.k.a. knock the other guy out. Otherwise, they would still go after you.
In a fight, there are only a few ways for things to stop.
1 - Someone else there to stop it.
2 - Someone gets knocked out.
3 - Both stops after a while.
Still, because of the law, I guess he can argue that he tried to get away from the fight after it was started.
Zimmerman could theoretically get away with this if criteria was if he was lawfully there, which he is, and if he was in reasonable fear for his life, even if he is the instigator.
That law really promotes chickenhawk vigilantism. Basically, instigating a fight and being a chump about it when they're losing.
So glad I'm not in a state with such a law.
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