Unarmed teen shooting: Is Florida law to blame?

[laklak]

He wasn't investigated, which is the whole reason it's blown up the way it has. The Sanford police basically tried to sweep it under the rug but it didn't work. Hardly surprising for Sanford, though, it's a shitty little town.

[Warren Dew]

This article, which i clicked on because I thought the picture might shed light on just how hispanic he is, makes it sound like the situation wasn't as cut and dried as many here are assuming:

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/03/ ... -d-c-area/

Hamilton said another neighbor, a black woman, would regularly inform Zimmerman when she was out of town so that he could keep an eye on her place. Hamilton said that when she moved into the middle-class, racially mixed community of about 250 identical townhouses, the black neighbor told her, “Hey, if you need anything, you picked a really good area, since George is part of our neighborhood watch.”

The dispatcher advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Moments later, neighbors bombarded 911 with reports of a struggle between the men and the sound of a gunshot. When police officers arrived, Martin was lifeless, face down on the ground, while Zimmerman was bleeding from his head and his back was covered in grass, as if he had been on the ground, the police report said.

Given Zimmerman was bleeding when the police got there, self defense doesn't sound so terribly far fetched. Can you claim self defense if you instigated a fight in Florida?

[laklak]

As far as I can find out, if you're trying to prevent a forcible felony you can use deadly force. So you would fall under the stand your ground law, though I don't think it would technically be self-defense.

[Tyrannical]

As far as I can find out, if you're trying to prevent a forcible felony you can use deadly force. So you would fall under the stand your ground law, though I don't think it would technically be self-defense.

Zimmerman was assaulted by Trayvon as proved by Zimmerman's injuries. Zimmerman feared for his life when Trayvon went for his gun.
Seems perfectly justified to me

[FBM]

As far as I can find out, if you're trying to prevent a forcible felony you can use deadly force. So you would fall under the stand your ground law, though I don't think it would technically be self-defense.

Zimmerman was assaulted by Trayvon as proved by Zimmerman's injuries. Zimmerman feared for his life when Trayvon went for his gun.
Seems perfectly justified to me

Is that a known, a best guess, or just a likely scenario?

I'm starting to wonder if this had less to do with racial profiling than it did with stylistic profiling. I mean, the whole gansta rap image - clothing, attitude and behavior styles - is intended to shout out to the world 'I'm a tough muthafucka and I'll pop a cap in yo ass if you so much as look at me wrong!' Correct me if I'm wrong on this.

[Svartalf]

I suspect that's a sarcasm.
Hard to be sure with Ty, but I've not seen any report of Zimmerman being injured in any way.

[FBM]

I suspect that's a sarcasm.
Hard to be sure with Ty, but I've not seen any report of Zimmerman being injured in any way.

A little more from Warren's link above:

The dispatcher advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Moments later, neighbors bombarded 911 with reports of a struggle between the men and the sound of a gunshot. When police officers arrived, Martin was lifeless, face down on the ground, while Zimmerman was bleeding from his head and his back was covered in grass, as if he had been on the ground, the police report said.

Sanford police issued a statement Wednesday defending their decision not to arrest Zimmerman. They said that when officers arrived, he claimed self-defense, “which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony.”

The police chief said Zimmerman claimed he was attacked by Martin after he had given up his chase and was returning to his truck.

[Svartalf]

Mmmh... given the self defence claim and the fact the dead guy was unarmed, I'd like to know just how big the two were respectively to each other, and how skilled Martin was at hand to hand.
Plus possible report on the extent and nature of the head injury.

It looks to me it could have been self inflicted.

[FBM]

IIRC, Zimmerman outweighed dead guy by about 100lbs. The kid was about 140lbs, I think.

[klr]

He wasn't investigated, which is the whole reason it's blown up the way it has. The Sanford police basically tried to sweep it under the rug but it didn't work. Hardly surprising for Sanford, though, it's a shitty little town.

The very idea that you shoot someone dead and the police decide after seemingly very little effort that "meh, nothing doing here". That's would certainly freak me out.

[Tyrannical]

Mmmh... given the self defence claim and the fact the dead guy was unarmed, I'd like to know just how big the two were respectively to each other, and how skilled Martin was at hand to hand.
Plus possible report on the extent and nature of the head injury.

It looks to me it could have been self inflicted.

Big enough to knock Zimmerman down

I've heard reports that the media are sanitizing photos of trayvon by only showing pictures when he was years younger. I've heard he had some thugish gangsta facebook pictures too that don't make him seem so sweet and innocent.

[Svartalf]

I've known 6" stairs to knock full grown adults down.

[Coito ergo sum]

Someone from outside the States has to say it...

You live in a society where private possession of handguns is widespread and accepted.

From that, flow consequences...

Yawn.

[Tyrannical]

Looks like Trayvon has a facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001791912868

Here's a nice photo of the polite and innocent lad




Odd how the media prefers to use this picture




Starting to seem like just another criminal got made good by a law abiding citizen

[klr]

Dancing on the grave of the dead ... that's really nice.

What is it in those recent photos that makes him so threatening and dangerous then? Answer: Nothing at all. Just your everyday teenager behaviour in the digital generation. He's certainly not strongly built by any stretch of the imagination. Just your average 16 year-old.