By Austin King<\/p>\n
Front and center in the Trayvon Martin case is Florida\u2019s \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d law. After being questioned, George Zimmerman was released the night of the shooting, citing stand your ground as his justification for the shooting. Now, that law is now being questioned by the court of public opinion.<\/p>\n
What is important in the case though, is that the law itself has good intentions. According to Robert Leider of the Wall Street Journal, \u201cFlorida’s Stand Your Ground law is neither extreme nor an outlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leider explains that, as in most states, \u201ca person claiming self-defense must show that he (1) reasonably believed that such force was (2) necessary to protect himself against (3) the imminent and (4) unlawful use of force by another.\u201d<\/p>\n
By choosing to use this defense, Zimmerman will now have to prove that in his situation, an average person would have feared for their life.<\/p>\n
Stand Your ground does not give Zimmerman the right to use more force as self-defense. This is important, because Trayvon Martin was unarmed on the night of his death. Zimmerman will need to prove that his use of force, a gun, was equal to that of Trayvon.<\/p>\n
An important fact in this case is that most self-defense laws do not grant immunity to someone who initiates an altercation. This will be crucial during a trial because it is the moments after Zimmerman\u2019s 911 call that will determine the verdict of the case.<\/p>\n
If it can be proved that Zimmerman did not retreat, and continued to follow Trayvon, a stand your ground defense would fail in court. If Zimmerman did retreat, and Trayvon then attacked him, he could have legal ground to stand on.<\/p>\n
Even so, Zimmerman will still need to prove he, and anyone else in his situation that night, would have feared for their life. This will be no easy task, and it proves the Stand Your Ground law does not grant a free pass to criminals.<\/p>\n
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By Austin King Front and center in the Trayvon Martin case is Florida\u2019s \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d law. After being questioned, George Zimmerman was released the night of the shooting, citing stand your ground as his justification for the shooting. Now, that law is now being questioned by the court of Continue reading Stand your ground law is key to Sanford case<\/span>