walking while black - Trayvon Martin

[HairOfTheDog]

Here's the applicable law I was referring to for anyone interested:

776.041 Use of force by aggressor.—The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:

(1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony; or

(2) Initially provokes the use of force against himself or herself, unless:

(a) Such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant; or

(b) In good faith, the person withdraws from physical contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that he or she desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.

George isn't claiming that he originally provoked the force.

Whether he did or didn't, it's open to interpretation (supported by evidence, not all of which will be heard until trial) as to whether the injuries that George suffered constituted great bodily harm and/or whether he was in imminent fear of great bodily harm or death.

There would also be nothing but the suspect's version of events if George changes his story and claims that he terminated use of force (he claims now that he never exerted any) before shooting Trayvon, unless perhaps the 911 audio screams for help or to stop can be attributed to George.

Written law is not applied blindly to any case without questioning the parties' versions of events and comparing them against circumstantial and physical evidence.

That's why there are charges against George Zimmerman.

I don't hate George Zimmerman or love Trayvon Martin; never met either. I just wanna see the truth come out in the courtroom. I hope it does, whichever way it goes.