It's a question whose answer isn't relevant to self-defense. If Martin verbally attacked Zimmerman physical violence isn't legally justified. Since rights have come up under the free speech we have the right to insult each other and legally you can tell an officer to "f^(K off" and not be arrested. Now they might get you for something else but insulting speech alone isn't grounds for arrest. Now Zimmerman isn't even a cop but a self-appointed watch captain. There is nothing official that says he is more deserving of respect other than politeness. As for question 2 whether Martin started it deadly force still isn't justified. I don't know Florida's law off hand but most state laws, with Texas being an exception, says that the response must be proportionate to the threat. So far there is no evidence that Martin was a threat that required Zimmerman to use deadly force.
Florida has a "stand your ground" law Which does permit the use of deadly force educate yourself -- free your mind of your bias, my brother
No, the evidence does not. You have an agenda and you want the evidence to fit that agenda, but the evidence does not. And what do you mean by detain?
There is also no evidence Martin was not such a threat. That's the problem with this whole matter - lack of evidence. Even if Zimmerman were tried for this, based on what we know now, he would get acquitted in about 3 seconds.
but...but...but Martin's BLACK and the evil neighborhood watchman is WHITE didn't you see Trayvon's picture from when he was 11 years old??? ZIMMERMAN IS SO GUILTY!! /liberal logic
Aside from the bullet, the gun, the dead body, the location of the body being between the convenience store and his father's home, and it being a public location. You and texx act like the kid came to the guys house and got shot trying to break in.
Won't jump to any conclusions, I certainly hope that the matter is investigated properly and more is learned. A 17 year old young man is dead. If he was murdered his family deserves closure. If Zimmerman was provoked and truely acted in self defense we need to know. I have seen cases like this go both ways, sometimes they are exactly like it seems, other times that is not the case.
I'm willing to jump to conclusions when someone, armed with candy and weighing only 140 pounds is shot "less than 100 feet" from their own house by someone who was told not to follow by the authorities.
Just because FL has that law doesn't mean that Zimmerman is automatically justified in shooting Martin. It doesn't justify shooting someone unless they can reasonably prove they were faced with an imminent threat of serious harm. Anyway states without "Stand your ground" laws you can still use deadly force the difference is is whether you have to retreat or not. That is what "stand your ground" means not that you are justified to use deadly force anytime you feel threatened. Too funny..:grin:
Actually there is evidence that shows that Martin wasn't that much of a threat. The fact that he was unarmed, on foot and significantly smaller than Zimmerman. I am open to more evidence such as was Martin picking up a rock or swinging or breaking and trying to stab the ice tea bottle (provided it was a glass bottle), both of which could be considered lethal weapons, or did he have some training, that Zimmerman knew of, that would make him particularly lethal. I have yet to see any of that evidence put forward.
So that Martin wasn't carrying a weapon, was on foot and that Zimmerman outweighs him by 60+ lbs not facts?
.....the police chief needs to shut up and defer the next step to the prosecutor, who I think gets the file today. His comments on self defense are making things worse. Possibly this is just timing -- the kid was shot on Feb 26, and the HuffPo bit came out March 7. The article quotes it taking a few weeks to lay charges. Hard to imagine charges of some sort not being warranted here. Zimmerman had already reported the kid, was informed the police were on their way, hadn't seen any crime committed, was the one following from the safety of his car, and yet the kid gets shot. Doesn't matter who threw the first punch. There was no need for an altercation. And if it was just the slow process of gathering info, the police needed to keep the kid's family in the loop. Don't blame them for being outraged. Especially given the policeman's public comments so far.
biased Huffpo reports that the HOA received complaints of executioner Zimmerman's "aggressive tactics" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin_n_1340358.html I have read this critically and I assess that this armed man should not be the leader of a community organization like the Neighborhood Watch ABC News probe reveals questionable police conduct... http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19_wszlqZo
