Excerpts rom Wikipedia on Stand Your Ground with regard to Zimmerman's defense:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law
Quote:
2011 Florida Statutes CHAPTER 776 JUSTIFIABLE USE OF FORCE[21]
776.012 Use of force in defense of person.—A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:
(1) 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; or
(2) Under those circumstances permitted pursuant to s. 776.013.
776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.—
(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.—
(1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term “criminal prosecution” includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.
776.041 Use of force by aggressor. —The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:
(1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony; or
(2) 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.
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Apparently the prosecution will try to prove that Zimmerman did not fulfill the requirements of immunity under this law because:
1) Zimmerman failed to withdraw from physical contact nor exhausted all means of escape;
2) Was not actually in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm;
3) Initially provoked the confrontation when told to stay in the car and wait for the police.
They chose 2nd Degree murder because it is criminal homicide, exactly what this SYG law is designed to protect defenders from. The bar is set reasonably high enough so that most people in their own homes would pass but vigilantism would not.
Given what I've read above, I don't see how Stand Your Ground, as it is written in FL, will provide Zimmerman from immunity.
But neither do I believe that they will hurt SYG laws with this case. If anything, it will show the public how such laws work to protect true defenders but not vigilantes.
On the other hand, if Zimmerman does get off based on some part of SYG, you can believe a wave of public anger will go after the law itself.
Kind of a Catch 22 situation don't you think?