Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman ....

I'm not sure if any of us really understands the penal law for self defense in FL. Any of you that are carrying I would strongly encourage you to learn the penal laws for the state(s) that you carry in. That's really what will dictate if a situation like this was "murder" or "self defense". Based on local penal law, there will likely be many states this was not murder, but some that it would be considered murder. It's those definitions that are important to know.

With that said...........yes, Zimmerman chose to put himself in a bad position that could have been avoided and that was terrible judgement. But I'm not sure what FL's penal law is so it's hard to say if he's legally guilty of murder or if this was a self defense case. Either way he'll likely lose everything he's got once the civil case goes to court.

Based on the training I recently took for my pistol permit.....my understanding of NY's penal law is that once someone physically threatens you, you must retreat as fast and far as possible (unless you are in your own home). To convict Zimmerman in NY, it would need to be proven that Zimmerman chose to not retreat once Martin started to physically threaten and come after Zimmerman. If you cannot retreat anymore (Martin caught him), and fear death (head bashing off the sidewalk), then you may defend yourself with the least amount of force that is necessary. If they can prove that Zimmerman tried to retreat after it got physical but was unable to, then the only thing they could convict him on in NY would be definition of "least amount of force necessary". If there was no other way for him to stop the head bashing on the sidewalk, then he would likely walk. If the head bashing had stopped, then Zimmerman got up and shot the kid, then he would likely be convicted of murder.

 

They did it when I was in the Navy Filipino ate with other Filipino's and Whites with Whites, Blacks with Blacks. Some of us new guys tried to eat with different races and they just told us we must be new on-board and haven't learned your places.

Some would openly tell people to eat with your own kind. But would i trade some of those hard felt lesson not in a million years. I learned more about people in the military than I've ever had in school.

And we still had Gangs, Racists groups like Skin Heads robberies and rapes on military bases.

Some people refuse to change amend facts. And that's scary.

 

Thay are capable ... they just don't do it .... I have to make a conscious decision to make myself care for people not in my circle ... and when I do, I reap huge benefits ... and so do others .... true ministers know this feeling ... firefighters, police, teachers, people that work with the elderly and youth and disabled .... they know this feeling .... as do others that do not have the, "what's in it for me" mentality. .... as we do this, it becomes more of who we are ... what defines us ... so regarding this case ... we can choose to ignore it, or pick a side .... I hope this makes sense ....

 

Let me say before I get accused of only choosing those that are public servants ... ALL PEOPLE that sacrifice for the good of others know this feeling ... not all that were mentioned do what they do for the right reasons ... parents are heroes, for example ...

 

13 year old that Witnessed shooting.

Austin McLendon hasn't been the same since the night of Feb. 26, when he was standing approximately 20 feet from the shooting. He says he didn't see a lot, but his mother says that the young boy can't get the screams of "help" -- or the sound of the gunshot -- out of his head.

He also can't stop from asking himself what he could have done to change the sequence of events. "I picture myself back over where I saw it, and it sticks in the back of my mind," McLendon said at his family's home.

According to police, George Zimmerman, the self-appointed caption of the neighborhood watch at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, has admitted to shooting and killing Martin, whom he described as "suspicious" in a 911 call. Zimmerman, who claimed that he was acting in self-defense, was carrying a licensed pistol.

"They still haven't arrested him yet," Austin said to HuffPost Black Voices. "That's pretty much the main thing that's upsetting me."

Austin's mother, Sheryl Brown, said that her son's trauma from that night also involves media and police versions of Austin's story. The police claim that Austin told them Zimmerman was the one screaming. Although Austin couldn't tell exactly who it was, he believes that it was Martin. Brown also told HuffPost that she believes the police investigator who interviewed her son may have been trying to get Austin to provide information that he didn't have:

"That investigator said flat out that we don't think it was self-defense," Brown said, recalling the day the police came to interview Austin. "Several times he said, 'I have kids, and I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell many people.' He looked at me and said, 'You have to read between the lines. There's some stereotyping going on.' "

She continued: "He stood here in my family room telling me that this guy [Zimmerman] is not right and it wasn't self-defense and that they have to prove that it wasn't. He was adamant about that. I don't know if that was to make me less uncomfortable or to make us feel that he was on our side."

Meanwhile, other witnesses are now saying that the police tried to twist their testimony to support Zimmerman's claims of self-defense.

 

This is the only thing in that entire article that has any value to determining whether Zimmerman is guilty or not.

It's going to be hard to convict him based on this type of witness, they are going to need a LOT more than this.

 

Treyvon's mother is now trying to get copyrights to sayings with his name in them. Does anyone else find that to be really pathetic? Seriously, you want to profit from your child's death? Perhaps there is a reason that he had some discipline problems, maybe they started at home.

 

Compared to someone else doing so? What are her motives? To make money? Donate? Start an anti (insert name here) group.

I have no idea what her motives are.

http://www.rachelschallenge.org/

My wife and I support the above cause.

 

I can only hope it is to protect the use. If there is any financial gain involved for personal use, I would be very disappointed. Since the good ol' Rev Sharpton seems to be involved, I have my suspicions. He seems to show up anytime there is a chance he might be able to promote himself.

 

As I heard someone say on the radio, he has to do something to stay relevant.

 

I'm absolutely disgusted with this "racial motivation ****". If it had been a white kid and a black shooter nothing would've been said about it. A murderer is a murderer, so if Zimmerman is proven guilty then he deserves to go to jail. If it was first degree murder then he should get life in jail or be put to death.

But for the black panther party to put a bounty on Zimmerman's head is absolutely disgusting. They're all thugs, they were all thugs in the 60s, and they can all go straight to hell. Thugs are thugs regardless of race, but if it had been the KKK (and yes I am suggesting that the Black Panther Party is just as racist as the KKK) that put a bounty on a black shooters head there would be race riots occuring.

 

Because the media gets ahold of it and turns it into a racial thing. That's how they make money. And scumbags feed off it like Al Sharpton (RACIST) and the New Black Panther Party (RACIST). If the guy got out of his car to purposely shoot this kid then he deserves to die (That unfortunately doesn't happen anymore) but why do people (THE MEDIA) automatically assume that the killing was an act of racism? Perhaps this guy is a lunatic. Perhaps he killed a white person (or any other member of any other race for that matter). You certainly would'nt have a racist militant group putting a bounty on his head and that's the fact.

 

I honestly think there is more to this than we will know for a while. I really do not like it when the media tries these things.

 

Agreed, there are reports surfacing that Zimmerman was punched in the face and had grass stains and minor injuries to the back of his head. Was it self defense? I find it odd that he hasn't been arrested and a kid standing 20 feet away can't say with conviction who was moaning. This while case stinks and the media has made a mess out of it. If Zimmerman is guilty I hope he gets what is coming, if he acted in self defense then he spends the rest of his life in danger because of the media twisting stories every way they could to "Sell a story" to the public.

In other news, the Black Panther Leader offering the reward for Zimmerman was arrested on weapons charges.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/2...rrested-for-possession-firearm-after-issuing/

 

When he disobeyed the police and got out of the vehicle, self defense argument went out the window ...

 

Not true. "You don't have to do that.." is not a legally binding order.

We also don't know if he did continue to follow him after that. He says he was confronted as he went back to his vehicle. Is he lying? Maybe.. but we certainly don't know. Perhaps we should act like Americans and presume him innocent until proven otherwise.

 

Agreed, I still find it odd that he wasn't arrested if this is such a clear cut case of "Murder".

 

I am betting he got in the kids face and got more than he bargained for ...

 

If I was in a neighborhood I didn't live in and was being followed by someone I didn't know while alone in a state that people can legally carry I would run. If he did indeed decide to throw down then it was a horrible decision on his part.

Again, I fail to see how anyone can take a side in this until more info comes out. At this point the country is being asinine and taking sides based on a media that loves to twist things to get coverage.

 

Not to make light of the situation, but it seems it was the other way around...