Zimmerman verdict: The stand your ground element

[gejoslin]

Massad Ayoob« Link Removed



ZIMMERMAN VERDICT: THE STAND YOUR GROUND ELEMENT

Friday, July 19th, 2013

Few elements of this case have been more widely misunderstood than the “stand your ground” (SYG) element. Quite simply, Florida’s SYG law, statuteLink Removed, simply rescinded a previous requirement that one had to retreat if possible before using deadly force in self-defense. This did not particularly change the rules of engagement. The previous law had demanded retreat only if it could be accomplished in complete safety to oneself and other innocent people present. It is hard to imagine a situation in which one WOULD kill another person if they could have simply walked away unscathed.The evidence showed incontrovertibly that Zimmerman, straddled by his attacker in the MMA mount and being savagely beaten while supine, could not possibly have retreated or otherwise escaped at the time he pulled the trigger. His wise lawyers knew that from the beginning, Craig Sonner when I spoke with him in March of 2012, and Mark O’Mara and Don West when I discussed it with them a couple of months later.​

The media is largely either confused or deceptive about this, and so I’m afraid are many lawyers, including the Attorney General of the United States, who has called for an end to SYG laws. Florida Governor Rick Scott empanelled a blue-ribbon committee to study the law last year, which included some vociferous anti-gunners. Nonetheless, their collective recommendation was to leave SYG in place. The Governor now stands up in defense of it as well, as seen here: Protesters stand up to ‘stand your ground,’ but laws likely here to stay.

Stevie Wonder has announced that he won’t perform in Florida until SYG is done away with. Stevie Wonder, through no fault of his own, is blind. He has my sympathy for that.But the other opponents of SYG seem to be willfully blind, and for that, there is no excuse.
Link Removed​

 

[S&W645]

Stevie Wonder said that he would not perform in any state that has a SYG law. Guess he won't be visiting about half of the country.

 

[r1derbike]

Good riddance. I could not, and still cannot tolerate his music. It irritates me. So sue me.

 

[BluesStringer]

Stevie Wonder said that he would not perform in any state that has a SYG law. Guess he won't be visiting about half of the country.

Believe me, if Stevie's booking agent gets offered a gig at Stevie's goin' rate, he'll sell him out for the 10% or 15% fee and just say, "Yeah Brother Stevie, I'm lookin' right at it, this state doesn't have any SYG law." Stevie wouldn't know the difference between a SYG law and a SYAD (Sit Yo Azz Down) law. No disrespect intended, but really, c'mon Stevie, just sit down and sing for cryin' out loud!

Blues

 

[JSDinTexas]

As Mr Ayoob states, it has nothing to do with SYG. But if it has to come into the analysis of this incident, Zimmerman was forced to stand his ground because he had an attacker on top of him that outweighed him by 50 lbs.

 

[Nightmare45]

Don't need a stand your ground law to defend myself, never have, never will. Simple logic would have told Trayvon to walk away and he would be alive today to keep smoking dope and using any other drug, skittles, lean, I am pretty sure his mom did not raise him that way, but you can't tell me they did not know. S

 

[S&W645]

Don't need a stand your ground law to defend myself, never have, never will. Simple logic would have told Trayvon to walk away and he would be alive today to keep smoking dope and using any other drug, skittles, lean, I am pretty sure his mom did not raise him that way, but you can't tell me they did not know. S

And if they didn't know, then what were they doing.

 

[mappow]

The last group of people that did not SYG were nearly wiped off the face of the earth. Are we to repeat our past again?

 

[gejoslin]

Obama inferred that TM had been white this would not have happened. That's BS, it would have happened, it just would have been a white 17 year old killed and the MSM wouldn't have given a crap! Obama and Holder keep bitchin' about SYG like it had anything to do with GZ case. They should at least get their stories straight.