Family of Florida boy killed by Neighborhood Watch seeks arrest

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

The 911 recordings have his "self defense" hanging
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/16/trayvon-martin-911-audio-_n_1354909.html
In eight chilling recordings, made the night of February 26, listeners can hear the frightened voices of neighbors calling to report screams for help, gunfire and then that someone was dead.

In perhaps the most disturbing of the recordings, a frightened voice in the background cries out for help and pleads "No! No!" and then continues to wail.

I predict he'll still beat the charge. It's FLORIDA.

[Juana]

Yep. And you don't actually *have* to prove it was self defense there. Just that maybe it was.

[Doktor Howl]

Yep. And you don't actually *have* to prove it was self defense there. Just that maybe it was.

Well, yeah.  Innocent of murder until proven guilty, remember.

But there's not much doubt here, though that won't stop a Florida jury from acquiting him.

[Juana]

This expresses it better than I do:

Many readers have asked whether, given the 911 recordings, a case against Zimmerman would be easier than most homicides in which "self-defense" is cited by a defendant. In Florida, the answer probably is no: The courts' interpretation of the stand-your-ground law has been extremely broad—so broad that, to win an acquittal, a defendant doesn't even have to prove self-defense, only argue for it, while to win a conviction the prosecution has to prove that self-defense was impossible.

Numerous cases have set the precedent in Florida, with the courts arguing that the law "does not require defendant to prove self-defense to any standard measuring assurance of truth, exigency, near certainty, or even mere probability; defendant's only burden is to offer facts from which his resort to force could have been reasonable." When a defendant claims self-defense, "the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense." In other words the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt never shifts from the prosecution, so it's surprisingly easy to evade prosecution by claiming self-defense.

This has led to some stunning verdicts in the state. In Tallahassee in 2008, two rival gangs engaged in a neighborhood shootout, and a 15-year-old African American male was killed in the crossfire. The three defendants all either were acquitted or had their cases dismissed, because the defense successfully argued they were defending themselves under the "stand your ground" law. The state attorney in Tallahassee, Willie Meggs, was beside himself. "Basically this law has put us in the posture that our citizens can go out into the streets and have a gun fight and the dead person is buried and the survivor of the gun fight is immune from prosecution," he said at the time.

One of those defendants ended up receiving a conviction for attempted voluntary manslaughter for an unrelated case, in which he shot indiscriminately at two people in a car.

From here

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

This kind of thing makes me feel ill.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

I'd suggest all the good people in FL move and let the people like Zimerman wipe each other out, since you can basically kill anybody just because you feel like it there.

[Random Probability]

This ought to make things more interesting:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/19/2703029/us-department-of-justice-fbi-and.html

However:

"Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."

So.... they're giving themselves an easy out on this one?

[Oysters Rockefeller]

This ought to make things more interesting:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/19/2703029/us-department-of-justice-fbi-and.html

However:

"Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."

So.... they're giving themselves an easy out on this one?

Godammit...
I'm gonna go drink for a while.

[navkat]

This ought to make things more interesting:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/19/2703029/us-department-of-justice-fbi-and.html

However:

"Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."

So.... they're giving themselves an easy out on this one?

I'm getting the urge to dance...you know, for SCIENCE.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

What I don't get is how the COPS can determine if its self-defense... isn't that the job of juries?

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Also:

"Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life."

What kind of obvious bullshit claim is that? Who needs to exit a vehicle to read a street sign? What kid with candy and tea is gonna attack a much larger person randomly on the street?

It's entirely absurd.

[Doktor Howl]

What I don't get is how the COPS can determine if its self-defense... isn't that the job of juries?

Initially, it's supposed to be the grand jury.  If they have questions, then it goes to a jury.

[Doktor Howl]

Also:

"Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life."

What kind of obvious bullshit claim is that? Who needs to exit a vehicle to read a street sign? What kid with candy and tea is gonna attack a much larger person randomly on the street?

It's entirely absurd.

Of course it's absurd.  Also, if he fired at that range, the kid would have burns on his chest...Which would make it obvious.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Also:

"Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life."

What kind of obvious bullshit claim is that? Who needs to exit a vehicle to read a street sign? What kid with candy and tea is gonna attack a much larger person randomly on the street?

It's entirely absurd.

Of course it's absurd.  Also, if he fired at that range, the kid would have burns on his chest...Which would make it obvious.

Everyone knows gunpowder burns don't show up on black people... 

[Doktor Howl]

Also:

"Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life."

What kind of obvious bullshit claim is that? Who needs to exit a vehicle to read a street sign? What kid with candy and tea is gonna attack a much larger person randomly on the street?

It's entirely absurd.

Of course it's absurd.  Also, if he fired at that range, the kid would have burns on his chest...Which would make it obvious.

Everyone knows gunpowder burns don't show up on black people... 

No, that's frostbite.