Trayvon Martin (2 Viewers)

SylviaB

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For one thing, witnesses confirm Zimmerman's claim that Martin was on top of him, and his injuries are consistent with his claim that his head was being slammed into the ground. The gunshot wound proves he was shot at very close range.

Thus, it has nothing to do with castle law because it would count as self defence in any jurisdiction.


" The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News.

But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney's office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction, the sources told ABC News."


The fact that he wasn't arrested makes sense considering that we now have most of the evidence initially available to the police. Its likely that he probably still should have been arrested, but it wasn't this "racist cop" bullshit story.
 

funkshen

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that the state's attorney made the decision to let zimmerman go is pretty damning of this whole charade. i was under the impression that the the police chief, who has been forced to resign, made that decision. it isn't conclusive, considering some people will just argue that the case was dismissed because treyvon martin was a black youth. but the higher up the chain you go, the less likely that becomes. i guess the problem then becomes why the police chief didn't challenge the state's attorney's decision, given that the chief investigator was not convinced by zimmerman's version of the events, but the "racist cop" story is weaker than people are trying to make it out to be.

i agree that this event has been woven into a greater narrative of racial prejudice by the media, activists and interest groups etc. it is now more representative of underlying or perceived tensions in the community/america, than of the circumstances of the actual crime. but for the most part there is still a credible and reasonable discussion going on about stand your ground law and racial prejudice, and how they may have motivated zimmerman to act on his (society's?) racial prejudices; why he decided to pursue an innocent youth (because he was black?), and then ostensibly harangue him, provoking a scuffle that lead to zimmerman using lethal force.

zimmerman's potential arrest and trial will be very interesting indeed. castle law is still pertinent because florida's stand your ground is the legal defence that zimmerman's attorney is apparently pursuing. it would not 'count as self defence in any jurisdiction' because in most jurisdictions self-defence relies on you withdrawing from the altercation (castle law = you don't have to withdraw if you're in your house, stand your ground = no responsibility to withdraw at all). that there is no eye witness account of the beginning of the fight would probably work in zimmerman's favour under a strict application of stand your ground law, however a jury/prosecution might choose to ignore this and appeal to the spirit of the law; does stand-your-ground justify the unwarranted pursuit of an individual (when advised not to by law enforcement) and confrontation (no doubt this happened) leading to self defence manslaughter?

edit: i think that part of the reason the media got so hysterical about this event was that it took a while for the evidence to make its way into the public. radical/controversial (i.e. attracting ratings and viewership) are allowed to fill the void; you need some kind of analysis.
 
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Garygaz

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charged, but the question is does the state even have much of a case?
 

SylviaB

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Not really, but given the support for Martin and the lack of resources at Zimmerman's disposal, it's highly possible they'll be able to get a plea bargain from him
 

funkshen

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will the latinos protect zimmerman in prison?

EL NORTE
 

SylviaB

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but the question is does the state even have much of a case?
"Actually, there’s a lot to learn from the charging affidavit.

I’m not familiar with Florida rules of criminal procedure, but I presume the prosecution has no obligation to put exculpatory evidence into this affidavit, because the purpose is to demonstrate “probable cause.” It’s not a trial where the defendant has a right to present evidence. So not surprisingly, it only contains facts and innuendo that’s favorable to the prosecution.

The affidavit doesn’t contain any new facts or new witnesses we don’t know about. This demonstrates that the prosecution has a very weak case. The prosecution is not going to hide any good incriminating evidence by not putting it into the affidavit. The prosecution wants to put its best evidence into the affidavit to ensure a finding or probable cause.

We now know that there are no witnesses who saw Zimmerman beating up Martin or saw Zimmerman throwing the first punch, otherwise it would be in the affidavit. The major witnesses for the prosecution are DeeDee, Martin’s girlfriend, and Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, and neither of these witnesses were actually there to see anything. I personally have serious doubts about DeeDee’s veracity. I hope that Zimmerman’s investigators can find some good dirt on her in order to impeach her testimony. "
 

soloooooo

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If someone tried to injure me or my property then I would do what is necessary (including shooting them) to protect it/myself irregardless of whether the perpetrator is Black, White, Yellow, whatever,
 

SylviaB

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If someone tried to injure me or my property then I would do what is necessary (including shooting them) to protect it/myself irregardless of whether the perpetrator is Black, White, Yellow, whatever,
no
 

funkshen

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776.041 Use of force by aggressor.—The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:
(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;

considering zimmerman was getting the shit beaten out of him it's quite clear he will be covered by stand your ground law. the burden of proof lies on the prosecution and it'll be very hard to establish otherwise, although i don't know about the veracity of the evidence regarding zimmerman's own injuries considering he didn't go to hospital and get it documented. it'll be a bit of a pyrrhic victory though.
 

soloooooo

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Well if someone is trying to kill or seriously injure you then you wouldn't be worried about the law.
 

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