Not to sound smarmy or sarcastic, but is that a legal interpretation or an opinion?
IANAL, but as evidenced on the many threads on this subject, folks like to speculate a lot and I’m not into that.
Thanks in advance.
That is my interpretation of the law, and it’s not a controversial one (I am a lawyer, but not a Florida lawyer).
Zimmerman clearly committed an act that, in the absence of some legal justification, constitutes second-degree murder in Florida. The only issue in the case, then, is whether Zimmerman was legally justified. That’s something that has been debated endlessly, and will continue to be debated some more. But what is not up for debate is whether, in the absence of justification (e.g., self-defense), Zimmerman’s act satisfies the remaining elements of murder.