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In reply to the discussion: Hay 6 idiots in Florida! Thanks a big hefty freakin' load! [View all]rusty fender
(3,428 posts)Check out this post from Kablooie:
Wow! It sounds like the JUDGE, not the jury, may have freed Zimmerman.
Florida law states that a defendant cannot claim self-defense if he "initially provokes the use of force against himself".
This clause of the law was deliberately withheld from the jury in the instructions from the judge.
The jurors were instructed to consider the situation only after the scuffle started and were not able to include the fact that Zimmerman tracked down Martin. (Which seems to me to be the primary aspect of the whole situation.)
If they had, Zimmerman might have been considered the aggressor and therefore his whole self defense argument would have been moot and he would have gone to jail.
The defense lawyer argued to keep this clause of the law out of the instructions. The prosecution argued the other way and the defense won, thereby insuring a Zimmerman victory.
It's a fairly convoluted set of arguments but you can read the details of this decision and why it was made here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alafair-burke/george-zimmerman-jury-instructions_b_3596685.html
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