TexasCHLforum.com

Maybe I missed this in the past 17 pages of comments, but I think Stand Your Ground is not a valid issue in this case. What Zimmerman did was or wasn't justifiable homicide. To be justifiable, three main qualifiers must be met. 1. Zimmerman must have legally been allowed to be at the location of the incident, 2. Zimmerman must have reasonably been in imminent fear for for his life (or at least severe injury), and 3. Zimmerman must not have caused or instigated the situation. If any of these three are not satisfied beyond a reasonable level, most folks in his position should expect themselves to have the facts go to a grand jury at the minimum. If #3 is not satisfied (which seems to be the case from what is publicly known), then it is fair to expect his actions to come under scrutiny. This doesn't mean he was not justified. It simply means, he would have to defend his actions. With that said, "Stand Your Ground" wouldn't make an unjustified use of deadly force legal. If that were the case, any and every bully could start fights, and then shoot their victims once the victim starts fighting back. This is absurd, but that is essentially what the prohibitionists are implying. They do not understand the law. Whether Zimmerman was justified or not would not be influenced by a SYG statute.

Character assessments of either party are also not very helpful in this situation. Was Martin a "thug"? It shouldn't matter! Question is, was his shooting justified, and that has nothing to do with weather he was using/distributing drugs. Since when does a minor's drug use warrant death? Was Zimmerman a "wannabe cop" with a history of assault overstepping his bounds? History speaks to character, but not to the facts of that night. The proper question is who acted illegally that night? If Zimmerman acted improperly (lets not forget that a 911 dispatcher saying "don't follow" is hardly a lawful order), I would be just as concerned about the local PD for not doing a proper investigation and potentially letting a killer, or at least a demonstrated recklessly irresponsible CHL holder, walk away scott free.