profiling

[Baker, John]

Specifically, prosecutors allege that Zimmerman said "these assholes, they always get away" and "these fucking punks."  The Affidavit of Probable Cause is available at various places on the Internet, including http://www.scoutmastersandbox.com/Zimmerman_Probable_Cause_Document.pdf.

The Florida stand-your-ground law is at http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/Chapter0776/All.  News reports indicate that the state has the burden of proof to show that the defendant does not have a valid defense under the statute; I haven't confirmed that.  The statute states in part that a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.  Fla. Stat. 776.012.  It's not clear to me how Zimmerman could possibly make that showing, when apparently Trayvon Martin was a much smaller unarmed kid, but we haven't heard Zimmerman's defense yet.

The statute also says that the stand-your-ground defense is not available to a person who initially provokes the use of force against himself or herself, unless:
(a) Such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant; or
(b) In good faith, the person withdraws from physical contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that he or she desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.  Fla. Stat. 776.041.  The Affidavit of Probable Cause alleges that Zimmerman "confronted" Martin, so prosecutors are probably going to argue that Zimmerman provoked the use of force.

A complicating factor for Zimmerman:  Normally it's better if a defendant doesn't take the stand, because appearing as a witness allows the prosecution to introduce otherwise extraneous evidence to attack your honesty.  However, Zimmerman probably would have difficulty in asserting a self-defense claim if he does not testify.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 4:57 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: profiling

Since the law presumes Z innocent, won't the state have to prove to a jury
that M *didn't* jump him from behind  and then, catching sight of the gun,
*didn't* try to get it away from him, making him fear for his life?

BTW, the state does not allege that Z used the
materializing-dematerializing "racial epithet," but that he spoke instead
of "these assholes" and "punks."

JL

On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 4:26 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: profiling
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 4/13/2012 03:36 PM, victor steinbok wrote:
> >That's not the only bidirectional issue. Under Florida law, it is possible
> >for both people in a confrontation of this sort to claim self-defense
> under
> >the Stand Your Ground statute, but only one of them would win the lottery.
>
> Do you win the lottery if you're the survivor in this duel in this OK
> corral state, or do you win the lottery if you're the victim and go to
> Heaven?
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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