Quote:
RE: John Galt on my Hypothetical that TM gets acquitted for killing GZ:
Let me disagree with your disagree-al that TM gets sent up for the head smash killing..
I've been going through, one by one, the 235 Florida cases where SYG was employed as a defense for justifiable homicide since 2005. They're listed here at a database prepared by the Tampa Bay Times:
http://www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/dataAn amazing amount of info at the site, including background descriptions of each
case, by race, with breakdowns by weapons used, lethal or non lethal outcome, dismissed or charged, etc. The statistical breakdowns are VERY interesting - lots of fodder to dispel false charges made about the SYG law (I'll post some observations on the statistics later).
As to my hypothetical about Trayvon killing George and successfully evoking SYG, keep the following in mind: of the 18 times SYG was evoked in Florida for defendants who didn't wield any weapon but fists, only one went to jail (a husky male, claiming his wife attacked him with a knife, he beat her to death, and was found guilty of murder-2). Four other non-weapon cases were plea bargained (on their face, not really SYG); the rest were either dismissed or defendants granted immunity.
Under the hypothetical it's unlikely Trayvon would be charged for defending himself against a victim armed with a gun. His story (with lawyer input) would be classic SYG: returning from the 7/11 store with candy & drink he was accosted in the dark by GZ, who made racial slurs, then took a swing at him. TM blocked the punch and threw one of his own, then wrestled GZ to the ground. Whereupon GZ threatened to kill him, showing his gun. Afraid for his life, TM began MMA-ing GZs face and head. Witness Good showed up, seeing that, but didn't come to his aid, instead quickly leaving to dial 911. At that point, GZ reached for his gun. Seeing it, now in fear of his life, TM crushed GZs against concrete and killed him.
TM couldn't retreat: GZ would have shot him. TM was there legally, and 'reasonably; believed his life was in danger. This sounds like a clear-cut boiler-plate reading of SYG language, right out of the statute. GZs call to report suspicious behavior, and his grumblings about punks always getting away now lends credence to TMs assertion he was accosted. The ear-witness shouts for help? Trayvon insists it was him - Good was mistaken; other ear-witnesses were right. Reasonable doubt up the zing zang. TM goes free. Watermelon head stays out of Florida. Jessee Jackson spends his time with his tailor, getting fitted for a new $1,000 suit for TV interviews. Trayvon's father high-fives TM and gives him $50 spending money for grass. TMs mother sends him an additional $100, proud her 'chile' is now a real man, and shunts him to some other relative. Benjamin Crump sues the Home Owners Assoc, claiming mental distress and endangering the life of a teenager, but for a lot smaller settlement. Trayvon gets stoned for a month. Out of money, he burglarizes the apartment of a black neighbor at 2am. The alarm sounds and the neighbor awakens and grabs his gun. Trayvon threatens him with the B&E screwdriver he's carrying. The homeowner, an off-duty security guard with a firearm license, shoots him dead.
SYG once again in the news, but only a back-page story:
Trayvon Martin (black male, age 18), former Stand Your Ground beneficiary, was shot to death while in the commission of a home invasion robbery, by Adrian Carey (black male, age 42), who was not charged by the State Attorney, per provisions of the Stand Your Ground law. The victims parents were not available for comment. But Shellie Zimmerman, wife of George Zimmerman, the man Trayvon Martin claimed he killed in self-defense, who was reached by phone, said the following: "Georgie, in Heaven, can rest more easily now that God has righted the scales of Justice." 
_________________
The problem with putting two and two together
is that sometimes you get four,
and sometimes you get twenty-two.
-Dashiell Hammett
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