George Zimmerman trial: Defense will likely rest case Wednesday

[Lee-Lee]

53. As a former deputy

One of my pet peeves was people confusing dispatchers with sworn officers. Unless FL is different a dispatcher is a civilian and has no authority to give a lawful command. The dispatcher certainly gave prudent guidance, but since they are not sworn officers is is not a lawful command. Are dispatchers in Illinos sworn officers?

He defiantly ignored good and prudent advice from the dispatcher/call taker. But it wasn't a command that carried any legal authority, so lets be accurate about what it is. We have enough on him to show what he is without misrepresenting stuff.

And as someone who teaches self defense, I abhor duty to retreat laws. They make victims responsible for their attackers safety, make them second guess their actions and hesitate when there is no time for hesitation, and leave the door open for an attacker to later take legal action against a victim who defends themselves. A woman who has a man pull a knife on her and say he is gonna have a good time with her shouldn't have to debate if a jury would think she should have tried to run before she uses whatever the most effective means she has available to defend herself.