“Stand Your Ground” Has Got to F***ing Go.

[krispos42]

40. The judge did.

If SYG had been put forward by Zimmerman at his arrest, it would not have even gone to trial.

It is my understanding that the case went to trial because there wasn't an SYG defense that would have precluded prosecution of Zimmerman.

Zimmerman's defense was that Martin initiated the confrontation¹ and when Zimmerman was losing, was forced to defend himself with deadly force.

The older law, the duty-to-retreat law, would still have defended Zimmerman because, when Martin suddenly appeared and confronted Zimmerman¹, Zimmerman would not have been able to retreat safely from the situation, and using lethal force would still be justified.

It still winds up being a clusterfuck. Zimmerman should have gotten SOMETHING for stalking Martin and leading Martin to think his life was in danger.


¹ According to Zimmerman. Take it with a grain of salt.


I admit that I might have some facts in error, but my understanding of the SYG law in Florida was that prosecution was precluded if the person had the right to be in the public space he/she was occupying, was not involved in criminal activity, and had reasonable fear of imminent death or serious injury.