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Caneman · 04-18-2012, 01:39 PM

"Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" are not the same thing... SYG is a provision for self-defense laws, and can also be included in CD laws...

the CD does not apply to Zimmerman, but SYG does... FL does not require someone to retreat before they can defend themselves using a lethal weapon (they can "stand their ground" and retreat is not required) if they are are in "fear of their life, or great bodily harm"...

Zimmerman's problem is a imbalance of force issue, imo... was his use of force disproportiate to the attackers? These are all imbalance of force issues: teenager attacking an old man, any man attacking a woman, professional fighter/boxer attacking any man, etc... but did an unarmed Martin impose an imbalance of force when he attacked Zimmerman? And was Zimmerman at the point of being in "fear of his life, or great bodily harm"? IMO, those are the legal arguments, all the rest are just side issues... I personally believe Zimmeran has a strong case in his support, but with the FL legal system you never really know... remember Casey Anthony?

04-18-2012, 01:39 PM	#32
Caneman Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,263	Re: Castle doctrine "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground" are not the same thing... SYG is a provision for self-defense laws, and can also be included in CD laws... the CD does not apply to Zimmerman, but SYG does... FL does not require someone to retreat before they can defend themselves using a lethal weapon (they can "stand their ground" and retreat is not required) if they are are in "fear of their life, or great bodily harm"... Zimmerman's problem is a imbalance of force issue, imo... was his use of force disproportiate to the attackers? These are all imbalance of force issues: teenager attacking an old man, any man attacking a woman, professional fighter/boxer attacking any man, etc... but did an unarmed Martin impose an imbalance of force when he attacked Zimmerman? And was Zimmerman at the point of being in "fear of his life, or great bodily harm"? IMO, those are the legal arguments, all the rest are just side issues... I personally believe Zimmeran has a strong case in his support, but with the FL legal system you never really know... remember Casey Anthony? Last edited by Caneman; 04-18-2012 at 01:47 PM..