Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale Cooper
You can't possibly believe that.
Clue: It's ALL that matters.
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Yes I believe it, and that's the law in Florida. You are not allowed to use lethal force if you don't believe your life is in danger, or if a reasonable person would not believe their life was in danger. In other words, if someone just slapped you, and you felt threatened, that does not allow you to shoot them to death, because that is lethal force in response to a non-lethal action.
What if Zimmerman felt threatened simply by facing Martin? That doesn't give him a right to shoot him.
"The principle of Proportionality refers to the notion that the degree of force you may use in self-defense must be proportional to the degree of force with which you are threatened. Briefly, a non-deadly threat may only be countered with a non-deadly defense. A threat capable of causing death or grave bodily harm (e.g., a broken bone, blinding, a rape) may be met with deadly force.
Usually, the use of deadly force against an unarmed attacker is fatal to a claim of self defense. If you nevertheless wants to argue self defense you will have to convince the court that the unique circumstances warranted your use of deadly force despite the fact that the attacker was unarmed."
"776.012 Use of force in defense of person.—A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony; or
(2) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s. 776.013."
There are some other Florida statutes that might apply in this case as well, such as this one:
Florida Statutes (Fla. Stat.)
Title XLVI. Crimes.
Chapter 776: JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE
"776.041 Use of force by aggressor.—
The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:
(1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony; or
(2) Initially provokes the use of force against himself or herself, unless:
(a) 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; or
(b) 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."
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/.../0776.012.html
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/06...-self-defense/
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