What does the Trayvon Martin case come down to? Is it the fact that George Zimmerman refused
to stay in his car despite the police dispatcher telling him to? Is it the fact that Zimmerman was clearly
injured? Is it who was calling for help
in those last 45 seconds? The shoddy
police work?
No. According to experts it all
comes down to who threw the first punch.
The Stand Your Grand law, Florida statute 776.013(3) is fairly clearly
laid out: “(a) person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is
attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to
retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force,
including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do
so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to
prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
The part that matters the most according to Kendall Coffey, former U.S.State Attorney is the “unlawful activity” phrase. As Coffey explains, if Zimmerman threw the
first punch he would have been engaging in illegal activity and thus the SYG
statue would not apply. However, if
Martin threw the first punch because Zimmerman verbally harassed him, then
Zimmerman would be protected under SYG.
It’s a tad frightening that someone could potentially antagonize someone
into attacking them, only to then shoot them and get off scot free. But that’s exactly how the law is
worded. Being a jerk, or a “crazy and
creepy man” as Martin described Zimmerman to his girlfriend, doesn’t count as
engaging in unlawful activity.
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