WENDY J. MURPHY: Racism worries color our view of Trayvon case.
By Wendy J. Murphy
For The Patriot Ledger
Posted May 06, 2012
This is the conversation we’d be having about George Zimmerman killing Trayvon Martin if people weren’t afraid of being called “racist”:
Should George Zimmerman have been charged with a crime?
If there were no “stand your ground” law in Florida, the answer would be “maybe” because whether Zimmerman acted in self-defense would typically be put to a jury. But “stand your ground” makes self-defense effectively irrelevant because it is not a self-defense rule, it is a doctrine of immunity that explicitly forbids prosecution of a person, even if he or she uses deadly force, so long as there is a reasonable fear of “serious bodily harm” OR if such person is enduring a “felony” that involves the use of “force.”
Some people say “stand your ground” doesn’t apply because Zimmerman didn’t face “serious bodily injury” given that he seemed OK at the police station soon after the incident.
There is some dispute about the seriousness of his injuries, though his attorney provided medical records showing Zimmerman suffered a broken nose, swollen lip and two lacerations to the back of the head.
ABC News ran a photograph of Zimmerman’s head injuries that showed a significant amount of bleeding. Even if reasonable people can disagree on whether these medical facts fit the definition of “serious bodily injury”, Florida’s “stand your ground” law also grants immunity to people who use deadly force to repel a “forcible felony.” In other words, proof of “serious bodily injury” is not required. The crime of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, such as a cement sidewalk, is a forcible felony.
Shouldn’t a prosecutor file charges whenever an unarmed person dies, and let a jury determine whether a conviction on lesser charges, or an acquittal, is the right result?
In some cases, this makes sense, as when the reasonableness of someone’s actions under a general self-defense rule is the issue. But under “stand your ground” prosecutors have no discretion even to file charges. This is a relatively new and different way of approaching prosecutorial decision-making. In the past, if a jury determined that a shooting death involved “excessive use of force in self-defense”, they would be compelled to at least find a person guilty of manslaughter. This is because the law generally allows individuals to defend themselves from harm using only an amount of force necessary to repel the force being used against them. So, if you’re being punched, you can punch back, etc.
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Poster Comment:
Legally thanks to liberals it is criminal to be normal !
