Sabresfansince1980 wrote:
If Martin was actually getting the better of the fight (possibly struck first?) and Zimmerman was in a vulnerable position and in fear of serious injury/death, not only would the shooting be justified, but the "stand your ground" law doesn't even come into play.
Not sure I'm buying any of this. It doesn't matter if Zimmerman believed he was going to die or not, what matters is if the person who decides if it's justified or not, AND then the jury decides if his belief of death was reasonable. Under your stance, we'd have the wild west. As soon as you hit the ground, and take the first punch or kick, that's when you shoot, and claim justifiable homicide. Don't think so. There is no, "i thought he was gonna kill me", and then a "oh, ok, have a nice day". You had better have a BELIEVABLE story. Just getting scared while you're getting your ass kicked ain't enough. In your scenario, the guy better have a weapon, and or be beating you VERY severely. NEITHER of those things were happening here. If you were just trying to tutor us on self-defense in general(why I'd have no idea), then ok.
Bottom line is no(as dp already stated) one on this board is very knowledgeable of Florida law at a prosecutorial level. First off, I've heard that there is no opportunity for a grand jury in this. I could be mistaken, but in FLA only 1st degree murder affords a grand jury.
Also, I believe that stand your ground does not apply if you initiate the confrontation. So if Zimmerman started it, and started to lose, and feared death(which I find comical), he wouldn't be able to plead SYG(although in that instance, he still has a self-defense plea).
I could be wrong on some/all of this, but from the tidbits I've heard, this is what I've made of it.
The prosecutor in Squanto's link kind of backs up what I was saying:
"LASER: And I think, ultimately, that's the type of issue that's going to come to trial in this case: Who had the right to use force, what degree of force, what level of force and under what circumstances - in other words, what happened in that last minute that I guess all of us have been left out of the news accounts?"
This was in response to a question about if a burglar can use force against the homeowner. IOW, the burglar had better damn sure be convincing that he thought the homeowner was going to kill him. He can't just shoot the homeowner the minute he starts getting his ass kicked, and say, "hey, I believed he was going to kill me", and think he'll walk. The assaulted person's belief has to also be the belief of the justice system as well.