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If it were "most likely completely legal" under Florida law, Zimmerman's attorney would have asked for an immunity hearing, the case would have been thrown out, and Z would be a free man today, WITH all that money, rather than having to spend it on legal fees.
Under the self defense law, Z has to prove not only did he fear for his life (problems with credibility issues on that one) BUT ALSO that he exhausted every reasonable avenue of escape before he used deadly force.
What he did was most likely completely legal. There will be a trial to keep the masses happy until he is acquitted. Kinda hard to escape when you are being straddled.
The fact is, folks, the SYG law was designed so the "good" guy could kill the "bad" guy. It was not designed for when two idiots collide.
When someone using weasel words of phrases like "most likely completely legal" you have to realize that not only do they not have the force of their own convictions but the in all probability are clueless about the issues at hand.
What he did was most likely completely legal. There will be a trial to keep the masses happy until he is acquitted. Kinda hard to escape when you are being straddled.
The fact is, folks, the SYG law was designed so the "good" guy could kill the "bad" guy. It was not designed for when two idiots collide.
So if I get into a fist fight in Florida I have every right to shoot the guy I'm fighting against? Are you sure about this??
If it were "most likely completely legal" under Florida law, Zimmerman's attorney would have asked for an immunity hearing, the case would have been thrown out, and Z would be a free man today, WITH all that money, rather than having to spend it on legal fees.
Under the self defense law, Z has to prove not only did he fear for his life (problems with credibility issues on that one) BUT ALSO that he exhausted every reasonable avenue of escape before he used deadly force.
The state charged him with murder. They have a case to PROVE as well. And as much as some of you want Zimmerman to fry for this, I still think he can beat this easily unless his lawyer is a tool or the jury are like the OJ trial jury.
From what we know, Zimmerman was on his back at one time and received injuries. Besides the gun shot wound, Martin had no injuries, except knuckles. Z also passed a lie detector test the day after.
That alone should be enough to get an acquittal. UNLESS, the state has some big secret smoking gun, I dont see how on earth he can get convicted. I think this trial is a waste of money, UNLESS theres some huge details we dont know about.
Sadly, even if he is acquitted, and there is no smoking gun, some of you and the rest of the usual race baiters will still call for Zimmerman's head.
The state charged him with murder. They have a case to PROVE as well. And as much as some of you want Zimmerman to fry for this, I still think he can beat this easily unless his lawyer is a tool or the jury are like the OJ trial jury.
From what we know, Zimmerman was on his back at one time and received injuries. Besides the gun shot wound, Martin had no injuries, except knuckles. Z also passed a lie detector test the day after.
That alone should be enough to get an acquittal. UNLESS, the state has some big secret smoking gun, I dont see how on earth he can get convicted. I think this trial is a waste of money, UNLESS theres some huge details we dont know about.
Sadly, even if he is acquitted, and there is no smoking gun, some of you and the rest of the usual race baiters will still call for Zimmerman's head.
Oh, ease up, son. Nobody wants Zimmerman to fry, and regular posters know that a charge of 2nd degree murder in Florida doesn't carry the threat of a death sentence. The poster provided us with Florida law, and that set you off like a Roman candle. You have quite a bit of catching up to do before you begin elaborating on how this case will play out legally in Florida. Lie detector tests aren't admissible evidence, and the cocktail of medications that Zimmerman takes (including TWO diazepines) would affect the results at any rate. You have no more idea than the rest of us what evidence the State may have, rendering your pontifications meaningless. FYI, the race baiters would be those who refer to a deceased teen as a thug and a lying, drugged-up loser as a hero. Trayvon Martin had one scrape to a ring finger...it takes quite a magician to pound someone's head into a sidewalk as Zimmerman claims with only one small injury to show for it. In short, Zimmerman is a pathological liar, and people who refuse to acknowledge that quite clearly have an agenda...a racially motivated agenda.
Last edited by Evenstar51; 07-07-2012 at 02:26 PM..
How did Zimmerman fail out of police training? It's not like he was training to be a Seal or Ranger? I've known 300 pound idiots that I went to high school with who could barely write and they made it through the Academy. Sad...
When someone using weasel words of phrases like "most likely completely legal" you have to realize that not only do they not have the force of their own convictions but the in all probability are clueless about the issues at hand.
No, what it means is there is too much reasonable doubt to ever get a conviction. It is possible the whole thing was premeditated on Z-man's part. I doubt it. Can't completely rule it out. I can rule out any possibility of a conviction.
People who resort to insulting others have no facts to argue their case.
As I have written here before, Florida's law permits people to shoot to kill not only if their lives are in danger, but if even their property is threatened; beyond that, it permits them to shoot to kill if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a felony. A law like that serves one purpose and one purpose only: to unleash armed vigilantes who roam through neighborhoods with a license to kill someone they reasonably believe might be doing something wrong.
When you mix a license to kill with deep and embedded racial distrust, you have a recipe that is certain to produce tragedies like the Martin killing. Obviously there are times when walking away is not an option, and if states want to enact laws to insure that people who kill as a last resort never even have to face a jury, that’s fine with me. But Trayvon Martin was not killed as a last resort.
How do I know? The police officer who recommended arresting Zimmerman in March identified the central relevant fact in this case: Zimmerman could have sat in his car, with no danger whatsoever to his own safety, and awaited the arrival of police—in fact, he was told by the 911 dispatcher to do just that. But he didn’t.
The documents revealed last week make it clear beyond dispute that Zimmerman set in motion the chain of events that led to the death of a young, scared kid who had every right to be exactly where he was. But under Florida law, that doesn't matter. So Zimmerman will get off, and the only good thing that can come from this case is for Florida to repair what its legislature has wrought.
[quote] "This law is for innocent, law-abiding citizens who are under attack by a perpetrator," Baxley told The Huffington Post. "Anyone who is out pursuing and confronting people is not protected by this statute."/]
"This law is for innocent, law-abiding citizens who are under attack by a perpetrator," Baxley told The Huffington Post. "Anyone who is out pursuing and confronting people is not protected by this statute."/]
Already answered this one before. That is not the way the law has been utilized , prosecuted and defended. Try to keep up.
More from law professor Dow who is a liberal wishing to overturn the SYG laws:
Quote:
So here is what the jury will learn: Zimmerman called police frequently to report supposedly suspicious characters, and every time he called he was suspicious about someone black. It will learn that a 911 tape records someone shouting "Help!” right before Zimmerman fired the single fatal shot from point-blank range. Some witnesses say the person screaming was Martin, some say it was Zimmerman, and the FBI's analyst says the recording is too distorted to tell. (Notably, the newly released documents reveal that when an investigator spoke with Martin’s father, Tracy, and asked whether the screaming on the tape was his son’s, he responded, “No.”)
The jury will also learn that the back of Zimmerman's shirt was wet, as if he had been lying on his back in the wet grass; that he had apparently been struck in the face, and that he was bleeding from a gash on the back of his head. It will learn that police officers asked him at least three times whether he wanted to go to the hospital—confirming contemporaneously that he had visible physical injuries.
A second-year law student could identify enough doubt here to preclude a criminal conviction. A superstar lawyer, which is what Zimmerman now has, could get an acquittal in his sleep. Zimmerman's defense will be that he felt threatened by Martin, that his fear was reasonable because Martin was hitting him, and that he was therefore justified in firing. Florida’s lenient Stand Your Ground law makes all of this close to a slam-dunk.
A bit of info on Dow:
David R. Dow is the Cullen Professor at the University of Houston Law Center and the Rorschach Visiting Professor of History at Rice University. He teaches and writes in the areas of contract law, constitutional law and theory, and death penalty law. As a death penalty lawyer, Dow has represented more than one hundred death row inmates in their state and federal appeals. In March 2000, Dow started the Texas Innocence Network, an organization that uses UH law students to investigate claims of actual innocence brought by Texas prisoners. Dow has been Of Counsel to the law firm of Smyser Kaplan & Veselka since the firm was founded in 1995.
Dow's work has appeared in both scholarly journals and popular publications. A full list is available on his c.v. His most recent books are Executed on a Technicality;America's Prophets: How Judicial Activism Makes America Great; and, most recently, The Autobiography of an Execution.
Ok, he does sound like a bit of a scumbag but he is right on this issue.
Last edited by whogo; 07-07-2012 at 02:24 PM..
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