Shot for getting skittles

Well then I hope you never put that to the test, because I do believe you'll be leaving in cuffs that day.


Without a fist (foot/elbow/knee) flying, there is no "thing" to defend against.

A weapon in the hand is a "thing" to defend against.

The law in Florida doesn't agree.

Attack first and you'll be the one arrested.

If you know it's coming then the other person when throwing a punch shouldn't be able to land that punch. If you don't know it's coming....

Also about the knife... my post was assuming you've already got the gun out once the other guy pulls the knife.

If a guy pulls a knife on you AND SHOWS IT TOO YOU and you don't automatically pull your gun in return you're a damn fool.

Well, the law in Florida and I will have to agree to disagree up until I get arrested.

My plan is that they won't be able to land that punch because they're rolling around on the floor with a knee that suddenly bends the wrong way.

That's fine. Just know that in Florida you'll be visiting one of our many jails.

Yeah okay Zombie. I got it.

I didn't think this was gonna happen, but I am starting to swing towards Mr. Zimmerman's camp in this. I'm starting think he was telling the truth.

You better. I'm watching you.

I already have put it to the test...more than once. But that was way back in the good old days before everything went all No Tolerance, I guess.

Why?

Hunch.

This is going to be very hard for any would-be prosecution to overcome: a credible witness (the only direct eyewitness) backs most of Zimmerman's story and the evidence that Zimmerman was injured. Zimmerman's calls for help show he wanted attention and intervention, and that he was either unable or unwilling to fire his gun at that point.

One of these guys began this by assaulting the other. I submit that, since there's no evidence either way, it's only prejudice that leads one to conclude with any certainty which one did. What speaks in Zimmerman's favor is that he was armed, and if ill-will had been his intent, he could've shot Martin at the outset.

Zimmerman's friend, Joe Oliver, speaks out:

http://www.tauntongazette.com/popularvideos?ndn=y&vid=23603945&lid=us

So, they were struggling over the gun, which means Zimmerman pulled it and Martin was fighting for his life. I'm still not seeing how that should help Zimmerman any.

I'm also exceedingly curious as to how Martin ended up dead in someone's back yard if the punch and head-pounding happened on the sidewalk close to Zimmerman's SUV.

No. That would have been murder.

The only thing this speaks of is that Zimmerman felt empowered to follow someone he thought was dangerous. When things got out of his control he pulled a gun.

Had he not had a gun, would he still have felt empowered to follow someone he thought was dangerous?

These are townhouses we are talking about so they all share one giant backyard.

We don't know exactly where the fight took place and how close it was too the car.

We also don't know the definition of close. 10 feet? 20 feet? 5 feet?

Where's that link to the google map?

We do know that they were behind the houses, though, in such a way that a person who called in felt that the police wouldn't see them from the street. So I'm calling bullshit on Zimmerman's story about his head being pounded on the cement, unless Martin stopped at some point and fled, with Zimmerman getting into yet another fight with him at another location and shooting him there. Either way, he's lying about how things went down.

That might be how it went down, but it doesn't mean that by a long shot. Could be that his holstered gun got exposed (so to speak) while he was busy rolling around getting his ass kicked, and Martin tried to grab it. That's one of my biggest fears while carrying.

Hopefully you know enough not to go picking fights that would put you at greater risk of that happening.

I saw a news report of the scene and there is concrete in the common area.

My parents live in a townhouse neighborhood and there are sidewalks that do go behind some of the townhouses.

I'll try to find the news report so you can see it.

Assuming that he picked the fight. And no, no matter what you say following someone is not picking a fight. Not in Florida.

Yeah, I'm real sure Mister "these people always get away" was only just following Martin and didn't pick a fight with him.

Is throwing the first punch and missing picking a fight? Or reaching out to grab someone? Does my opponent have to actually make contact with me before my response counts as self-defence?

Yes. Yes. No.

Now prove Zimmerman did any of those things and you've got a possible case for murder.

I have never picked a fight.

:edit: Oh. You meant Zimmerman.

Hey I just heard something interesting.

Where the hell is that she-devil Nancy Grace? Normally she's running her mouth about everything but here she's quiet as a corpse......

Or Zimmerman thought he was fighting for his. If this witness and Zimmerman's statements are accurate it would appear that he was.

Of course you don't.

We don't how at what distance to Zimmerman's vehicle the incident occurred. Granted there's a lot to keep up with here, but if that has been mentioned I missed it. Here's the area where the incident occurred. It's bounded by the red box it likely extends to far to the right. The green arrows indicate the "backyards", the yellow arrow the likely parking place of Zimmerman's vehicle based on the information given in his 911 call. Does the "backyard" thing seem to be less of an issue now?

http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/

It's on the front page, but surrounded by stories about missing white girls.