Zimmerman defense lawyers won't argue 'stand-your-ground' in Florida shooting case

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/13/zimmerman-defense-lawyers-wont-argue-tand-your-ground-in-florida-shooting-case/?test=latestnews ^

[MNDude]

attorney for the man who shot and killed unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin said Monday he'll seek to get the case dismissed using a traditional self-defense argument and not the state's "stand your ground" statute. Mark O'Mara, who is defending George Zimmerman against a second-degree murder charge in the fatal February shooting, said the traditional self-defense approach is appropriate because the facts suggest his client couldn't retreat from a beating Martin was giving him. Zimmerman's attorneys had said last week that they would use Florida's controverial "stand your ground" law, which allows people to use deadly force -- rather than retreat -- if they believe their lives are in danger. "The facts don't seem to support a `stand your ground' defense," O'Mara said. Martin's Feb. 26 death in a gated community in the Orlando suburb of Sanford first drew national attention on March 8, the day his relatives held their first news conference to lament that Zimmerman hadn't been arrested.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/13/zimmerman-defense-lawyers-wont-argue-tand-your-ground-in-florida-shooting-case/?test=latestnews#ixzz23WkwXCXZ

[Uncle Chip]

Zimmerman: The Power of Circumstantial Evidence

In other words, you weren't there and it's sheer conjecture.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Put the bong down, man......

[varmintman]

Martin WAS booted from school for having burglary tools and women's jewelry on school property; he DID have the ingredients of "purple drank" on him when he died; he DID try to kill George Zimmerman; killing George Zimmerman WAS unnecessary under the circumstances and he did fail at it; the local police DID originally view the event as an obvious case of self defense and decline to prosecute; Jackson, Sharpton and others including the NBPP DID threaten mass riots on account of that; Bork Obunga and Eric Holder DID get into the act on the side of the lynch mobs, Obunga going so far as to claim that if he had a son the unfortunate son would look like Martin; the police chief was fired and the chief investigator demoted for their roles...

None of that stuff is conjecture.

[Uncle Chip]

<>he DID have the ingredients of “purple drank” on him when he died;<>

What??? Skittles and Ice Tea??? Oooohhh that’s right. It was Skittles and Watermelon Juice, clearly visible in the photographs at the scene. Ice Tea is cannot be used to create Purple Drank, but Watermelon Juice, with its high sugar content, can.

That must be the reason that Crumpettes and their media blowhards are still using the Ice Tea and Skittles narrative — so that people won’t connect the dots between the ingredients that Martin picked up at the 711 and Purple Drank which creates PCP-like symptoms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_drank

Hey Corey, where is that toxicology report???

[Emperor Palpatine]

Last time I checked, you need codeine for syzzurp.....

Where was/is the codeine????????

Again, I want GZ to go down because he’s a nebby NW Nazi.

They’re scum like the petty tyrants of HOA’s.

[Uncle Chip]

Last time I checked, you need codeine for syzzurp..... Where was/is the codeine????????

It's also made with dextromethorphan which is available over the counter as in Robitussin DM. This from the wikipedia link about Purple Drank aka Sizzurp:

" Syrup also is made with over-the-counter cough syrups such as Robitussin DM, which contain dextromethorphan as the cough suppressant. Although dextromethorphan is used recreationally, it has dissociative effects as opposed to narcotic. Dextromethorphan is a synthetic morphine analog[citation needed] that has been on the market in the United States since the 1960s. It is a cough suppressant in small doses, but in large doses it can result in a disassociative state, with hallucinations, similar to that produced by PCP or ketamine.[13]"

[mlo]

"I hate to go against the general trend here, but Zimmerman would never have been in that position had he just minded his own business."

Doesn't matter. Nobody gets to kill you for not minding your own business. If you have to defend yourself it's still self defense.

[Beach_Babe]

Purple drank is a concoction of cough syrup, Sprite and Jolly Ranchers. Martin had Skittles and a watermelon drink. But matters not a tinker’s damn if Marin was taking drugs by the truck load, it has no bearing at all on what happened; it is totally irrelevant.

I don’t how to put this gently, but since we’re on the subject of drugs, Zimmerman had some very serious mental health issues prior to the incident.

The overarching issue looks to be ADHD. If Zimmerman is affected by ADHD, then his actions become more understandable. And looking at the drug used to treat the ADHD, Adderall, all I can say is, “Yikes!!” That is some very serious medication. Quite simply it is two types of speed; very gnarly and serious amphetamines. You treat the hyperactivity … that distracted zooming around with uppers.

Enter big Pharmacological gun two. That would be the Temazepam. Again, all I can say is, “Yikes!!” This drug is a cousin to the more well-known Valium. Damn dangerous stuff; Temazepam will knock you out flat, no fooling around. And like its cousin Valium, Temazepam, like all other benzodiazepines, is very habit forming. It has a very nasty hook to it.

Looking just at the drugs, I can confidently say that Zimmerman was not in his happy place; not at all. He was being pulled in two very different directions by two very heavy duty drugs.

How this speaks to criminal intent is not something I can comment on. Only a well versed pharmacologist or an expert in the ins and outs of ADHD could hazard a competent guess. Was the Adderall helping or hurting Zimmerman’s impulse control? Was the possible lack of sleep affecting Zimmerman’s thought process?

All I can say for sure is Zimmerman’s head was not a place I would want to be in. What a tangled and badly patched bunch of wires his brain must have been; especially when the flight or fight response kicked in.

That this man was waltzing around with a handgun is just too depressing a fact to contemplate. Nothing is inevitable, or fore-ordained, but Zimmerman was as close to a tragedy waiting to happen as any one human being can be. No way this man should have been in possession of a butter knife, never mind a sidearm.

[Uncle Chip]

Purple drank is a concoction of cough syrup, Sprite and Jolly Ranchers. Martin had Skittles and a watermelon drink.

But kids substitute for the Sprite and Jolly Ranchers in their concoction all the time. The article gives some of the substitutes but not all. The key ingredient is the dextromethorphan -- Robotussin DM. The other two provide the sugar high fow which the Skittles and Watermelon drink do just fine.

Perhaps a narcotics agent from the DEA could clear this all up at trial when they will finally have that toxicology report being sequestered by the prosecution, along with why Martin seems so disoriented and unsteady on his feet in the 711 video.

I don’t how to put this gently, but since we’re on the subject of drugs, Zimmerman had some very serious mental health issues prior to the incident.

For which he was under a doctor's care. The drugs were prescription drugs from his doctor -- big difference from street drug concoctions. I'm sure that Big Pharma would testify to the safety of those drugs at trial when taken under a doctor's orders. So don't let your heart be troubled.

And he didn't look hyper or whatever in the videos of him that night or the next day. There were no police observations of such. And he seemed quite lucid in his walkthru despite the beating that his head took the night before.

Maybe the Crump Team can argue that those whacks on the head that he took the night before were therapeutic, but they would be advised to stop short of referring to their hero as "Doctor" Martin.

[Beach_Babe]

I get it. It wouldn’t matter one iota if the boy bought Sprite and Jolly Ranchers, or Watermelon Drink and Skittles, or Pepsi and Jelly Beans, or Root Beer and M&Ms, or . . . . and . . . . (fill in the blank spaces).

Instead of trying to vilify the innocent child, who had no Robotussin, try to focus on Zimmerman. He not only has a verifiable prior violent criminal past but is also on mind-altering drugs.

I’ll repeat myself: no way this man should have been in possession of a butter knife, never mind a gun. He was being treated for ADHD, which is a Mental Health issue because people with ADHD have brains that are wired differently – from birth. If you really want to understand this, read Thom Hartman.

From the U.S. Library of Medicine:

Temazepam
You should know that some people who took medication for sleep got out of bed and drove their cars, prepared and ate food, had sex, made phone calls, or were involved in other activities while partially asleep. After they woke up, these people were usually unable to remember what they had done. Call your doctor right away if you find out that you have been driving or doing anything else while you were sleeping.

You should know that your mental health may change in unexpected ways while you are taking this medication. It is hard to tell if these changes are caused by Temazepam or if they are caused by physical or mental illnesses that you already have or suddenly develop.

Tell your doctor right away if you experience any of the following symptoms: aggressiveness, strange or unusually outgoing behavior, hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist), feeling as if you are outside of your body, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, new or worsening depression, thinking about killing yourself, confusion, and any other changes in your usual thoughts, mood, or behavior. Be sure that your family knows which symptoms may be serious so that they can call the doctor if you are unable to seek treatment on your own.

Adderall
If you take too much dextroamphetamine and amphetamine (Adderall), you may find that the medication no longer controls your symptoms, you may feel a need to take large amounts of the medication, and you may experience symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, irritability, hyperactivity, and unusual changes in your personality or behavior. Overusing dextroamphetamine and amphetamine may also cause sudden death or serious heart problems such as heart attack or stroke.

Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately: believing things that are not true, feeling unusually suspicious of others, hallucinating (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist), mania (frenzied or abnormally excited mood), aggressive or hostile behavior, changes in vision or blurred vision. (Partial list only)

[Uncle Chip]

try to focus on Zimmerman.

Well he was under a doctor's supervision for the medication he was taking, was going to school to improve himself, was employed, was paying his bills, had a valid concealed carry permit after a background check, was happily married to a wife trying to get her degree to become a nurse, had helped to set up the Neighborhood Watch Program, and lived and paid rent in the RTL complex and thus had a right to be on its walkways and call in suspicious persons to the police.

Instead of trying to vilify the innocent child

You mean a troubled teen who had missed 58 days of school and been suspended for vandalism and possession of someone else's jewelry and burglary equipment, with substantial marijuana in his system, into mixed martial arts, and who the prosecutor admits was on top of Zimmerman with his hands over his mouth trying to keep him from screaming out for help, as the prosecution has already admitted in court and on the record.

You do understand that if TM had stopped his assault at that time, that both would be alive -- TM probably doing time -- but still alive and well. He had won. He could claim to his bros that he was the man. He could have withdrawn at that point and run back home. But that wasn't enough for him. He had to finish off his opponent. That was his choice and his final mistake.

[varmintman]

Zimmerman had already taken a severe beating before using the gun and some of the testimony indicates that Martin had seen the gun and it was just a question of who got to it and used it on the other guy first. George Zimmerman probably saved other lives as well as his own in the incident i.e. he basically did the world a favor.

[Beach_Babe]

Severe beating:

Not a severe beating:

[meyer]

In order to “stand your ground”, you must be standing. Zimmerman was not. Case closed.

It’s going to be interesting - not only will Zimmy win the case if it ever actually goes to trial but he has a strong civil case against the state for pushing this one.

[varmintman]

seek help

[Beach_Babe]

seek help

---

I do not mind Zimmerman supporters, I actually like them . . .

But please, if you don’t agree, then offer an alternative, one with some semblance of basic logic. The mindless quips, ‘ah-um’ arguments, and personal attacks are tiring. [yawn]