“Zimmerman could have chosen to avoid a confrontation”
Confrontation is legal. Martin’s right to swing his fist ended at Zimmerman’s nose.
I am sure their are High School pictures of him in his year book and each Football roster I seen tells the height and weight of each player on the team.
Yet the media has chosen not to give out that information.
There are two sides to this "stand your ground" issue, and the guy with the gun isn't the only one with rights. You add to that the fact that Florida law does not require CONTACT, it gets a tad murky.
Still, after the killing it was pretty obvious Martin wasn't suspicious at all, wasn't armed, and had been going about his business quite lawfully.
No wonder the local cops were so willing to let Zimmerman go ~ they simply couldn't figure it out. So, time to toss more lawyers on the fire.
My bet is Zimmerman goes to jail.
>>>“Zimmerman could have chosen to avoid a confrontation”
Confrontation is legal. Martin’s right to swing his fist ended at Zimmerman’s nose.<<<
I think we need to define confrontation. If Zimmerman confronted Martin by approaching him and saying, “Excuse me, can you tell me what you are doing here? Do you iive here?” he would be perfectly within his rights. Even if he was ruder about it, it would not give Martin the right to attack him.
Now, if Zimmerman tried to apprehend Martin or physically assaulted or verbally threatened him, Martin would have the right to fight back, and Zimmerman would be at fault.
We still don’t know how Zimmerman “confronted” Martin. I suspect that he did not lay hands on him or threaten him with violence, prior to Martin attacking him, but at this point we don’t know.
The media has used the fact that Zimmerman has called the police about 45 times against him. What they generally don’t mention is that this was over a period of 8 years (roughly 1 call every 2 months) and that he apparently never physically assaulted any of the prior “suspects”. In my mind, this makes the idea that Zimmermn initiated the physical contact with Martin seem rather unlikely.
The more details that come out, the more I am convinced that Zimmerman is probably innocent.
I also am suspicious about the fact that all the photos of Martin seem to be of clean cut, baby faced 12 or 13 year old, often in a football uniform. If he still had such an innocent, non-threatening appearance at the time of his death, why are we not seeing any more recent photos? The media and the family seem to be trying to paint the picture of Zimmerman killing a sweet, helpless, little puppy dog, that nobody could possibly be afraid of.
Confrontation is legal. Martin’s right to swing his fist ended at Zimmerman’s nose.
Thank you. Too many people cannot distinquish between the law and all their "could haves" and "should haves."
I personally think he ABSOLUTELY "should have" followed and confronted strangers in his neighborhood given the recent break-ins. The poster you address thinks he "should have" avoided doing so.
However, it matters not what either of us (or the 911 operator) think or say. Our particular feelings, philosophies and sentimentalities don't matter for s**. What matters is the LAW.
Zimmerman had every LEGAL right to follow the "kid" and ask him whatever he pleased. The "kid" had no LEGAL right whatsoever to physically attack Zimmerman. Once he did, Zimmerman had every LEGAL right to defend himself.
This is why Zimmerman hasn't been charged with a crime.