> <
a8a6b546-079b-4bd0-9218-c1815625d...@37g2000yqu.googlegroups.com>,
It goes to intent. And Zimmerman, an official neighborhood watcher,
was bound by a rule to keep track of a suspect until the police
arrived. "Running" to do that in that context can only be seen -- at
most -- as an over-zealous performance of duty and nothing more. The
glitch in Zimmerman's defense is if a witness heard him say something
like: "Stop or I will shoot" or "Get out of my neighborhood, you
[expletive]."
> Don't forget now that Martin is covered under the Stand Your Ground law
> every bit as Zimmerman.
Only if Zimmerman could ever been seen as possibly threatening. For
example, you are walking along and someone comes running in your
direction, seemingly right at you (and this has happened to me a
couple of times), do you pull out a gun a shoot him? On the other
hand, I think Martin reacted like a paranoid thus because he was a
paranoid thug.
> I don't think it would be much of a stretch
> because just about any jury would conclude that running after somebody
> is chasing them and is threatening.
Nope. Not at all. A reasonable person under the circumstance that
Martin had been up to that time would have identified himself as a
guest of a resident at house X -- maybe not calmly and courteously --
but Martin was probably "up to no good" as Zimmerman surmised, and was
disposed to paranoia for at least that reason (and having pot in his
system, don't forget). And one cannot get around the fact of the
extreme unliklihood that Zimmerman was up to no good in following
Martin even if it appeared at some point he was chasing him. Just
maybe a person (Zimmerman) was trying to catch up to him (Martin) to
return his wallet? I liken it to the person opposite a road-raged
person who can never be as justified in taking out a gun and shooting
him unless there is an overt act of threatening physical aggression.
It is 'regretable' or 'avoidable' if and only if Martin was not up to
no good and was stupid or unwise not to have communicated that to
Zimmerman, or he could have avoided the situation even if he was up to
no good. Zimmerman had no proof of anything and cannot very well have
contradicted Martin's word, especially since he was rightfully in the
neighborhood, and Martin would have to be stupid or unwise or on drugs
to not understand that.
The difference between police action and citizen action -- and this is
very important -- is no citizen has to have "probable cause" to act on
any suspicion, and if and only if Zimmerman had chased him shouting
words like "Stop or I will shoot" or "Get out of my neighborhood, you
[expletive]" can he be faulted.
> You need not wait until somebody
> hits you or jumps on you before you decide you are indeed being
> attacked. Remember that the stand your ground law says "if you feel a
> threat in any way." If some kook is chasing me in the rain just before
> it gets dark, yes, I do feel a threat.
>
But the events leading up to that were not like that. Martin was
aware of someone following before that. So why is the burden only on
Zimmerman to have difused the situation?
> In Ohio, as long as you didn't start a fight or escalate a bad situation
> into a violent one, yes, you can use your firearm for protection. Our
> Castle Doctrine also extends to your vehicle if you have a CCW and
> somebody is trying to break into your car. If I accidently cut somebody
> off and they march out and try to pull me out of the car, break my
> window to get at me, or point a gun at me, I have every right to gun
> them down. They can't even write me a ticket.
>
> What I've learned from taking the class and doing much reading on the
> CCW laws is that they always make grey areas. For instance, our law
> says you can use your firearm if "you believe" there is a threat of
> "serious bodily harm" or death.
>
> Okay, we know what death is, but what is serious bodily harm? It has no
> legal definition. Is serious bodily harm a broken finger, a knocked out
> tooth, a black eye? And how does one prove that I didn't believe I was
> in a situation of this threat? There is no way to prove that I didn't
> feel this way.
>
So reversing this for Martin, how could Martin EVER have rightfully
believed that Zimmerman was threatening bodily harm in merely
following him? A road-raged individual is running up to your car
window. Shoot first, and ask questions later?