Here in is the problem in FL DAs have taken on virtually no "stand your ground" cases they seem to avoid it like the plague.I suspect this is because of the wording of the law they feel that all but the most strong case is going to be a losing proposition so why take this kind of case when you can take ones that are easier to win like a drug case?DAs have an interest to appear to up hold the law so they want to take cases that they know that they are more likely to get a conviction on.The stand your ground law makes that very unlikely for obvious reasons.

Any case of self defense no matter the circumstances should be very thoroughly investigated by the DA.

No, it does not matter that the nation is crying out about this, we do not operate on a system of mob rule.This is a local Law Enforcement matter and they made a decision not to charge him(Law Enforcement Officer's have discretion) based on Florida STATE Law, if they arrest someone when they are legally protected, they open up their department to lawsuits, bad publicity etc.The State Attorney's Office surely looked into this and felt that regardless of his actions, an altercation ensued and he used the force he deemed necessary to protect himself.There is no evidence to show this was racially motivated, every negative interaction between two people of different racial backrounds is NOT always a racial matter, in fact I will argue that it is rarely a racial thing now days. The way many people try to stretch hate crime laws is that if you get into an altercation with a minority or a homoesexual, you committed a hate crime, even if the crime was not motivated by prejudice.Bottom line, the guy is protected under Florida Law so those who have business in the matter, the Sanford Police and State Attorneys Office(they are sending it to a grand jury now) have the call here and the Feds have no reason to step in yet.Evidence surfaces to show that it was a racially motivated crime, Feds should then investigate.I think hate crime laws are silly, no one group should be protected more than others but that is a different discussion.

I am not defending Zimmerman, he is an idiot.Overzealous wannabe cop(must be a real f*ck up to not be able to be an actual cop, it's not that difficult, look at the people who become cops) who went looking for trouble and found it.Some type of altercation occurred and perhaps the kid was kicking his ass , he felt in danger and shot him.Legally, he is covered, it sucks but he is.The stand your ground law was put in place because people who defended themselves were prosecuted when they never should have been.

Governor Scott is calling for a review of the law and that is fine but Zimmerman has the law on his side in this one, like it or not.

Florida has State Attorney's, not District Attorneys, just FYI. They don't take them because it is a waste of resources, the law allows people to protect themselves and was put in place to avoid overzealous police/prosecutors from going after people who defended themselves.

You are clearly assuming that the boy was assaulting him when we have no evidence short of what Zimmerman claims and people always tell the truth after all what really happened did Zimmerman ID himself as a watch man? We do not know.Did Zimmerman do something to make the boy feel threatened? I would say yes because It seems very clear that Zimmeramn was following him in an regular vehicle I think any teenager would be a slight bit concerned about someone clearly following them.

You cant say that the law is on someones side simply because they claim so to have been following the law unless you can prove it to be so in this case that seems to be questionable.

Actually, the police have discretion is making arrests at the scene.They investigated and felt(rightfully so, like it or not) under FL Law that Zimmerman is protected.The State Attorney(no District Attorneys in Florida) no doubt reviewed it and felt it was justified, the end.Now, due to undue pressure, they are sending it to a grand jury, I don't really have a problem with because unless they bow to mob rule and don't follow the law, they will most likely see it the same way as the police and SAO.

Reminds of the Casey Anthony case, everyone was up in arms about the verdict but there just was not enough there to convict her of first degree murder.Like it or not, Zimmerman is protected.

Sounded like an altercation in the tapes, the police investigated and determined he was protected, the SAO reviewed it and determined the same.Grand Jury will probably do the same.

Exactly what I have said in several posts, there were people prosecuted for just defending themselves! I grew up in Florida, I remember a few such cases in my hometown.

So you think that an overzealous gun toting man should walk free because there was an altercation (started by whom?) and that is that.What if Zimmerman started the altercation in that case the boy was within his right to fight back but oh he did not have a gun only his fists at most I would love to see a shot of Zimmermans face and body after they spoke with him does he have any sings of violent physical contact on him what about the boys body.How can you say for sure that Zimmerman did start the altercation and then pull a gun and shoot the boy when the boy was attempting to defend him self from Zimmerman?
It seems assumed that perhaps the boy started the altercation and got shot by Zimmerman what if Zimmerman started the altercation and the boy fought back and then got a gun pulled o him I think that might well explain why you can clearly hear a boy yelling out for help perhaps he stopped what ever action he was doing (regardless if he started the altercation) once Zimmerman drew his gun that really well explains why he is begging for someone to PLEASE HELP ME! anyone with half a brain can tell that is the voice of a young black male.If he stopped his actions yet Zimmerman still shot him that is 100% MURDER.

If Martin stopped what he was doing upon appearance of Zimmermans firearm then he was no longer an threat and then the law is not on the side of Zimmerman.If someone has time to say please help me then they are obviously not an imminent threat well then again they might be if someone does not what anyone else to witness clearly what is actually occurring.

Stealhead said:


It's not just because the cases can't be won, it's also the implications of a loss. If this "Stand Your Ground" case is pusued and lost the victim (if this case ever goes to trial, it is Martins not Zimmerman), the culpablilty will not only be Zimmerman's, the police and the local government, the SA's office and the state goverment will all be called to account for their actions prior to, during and following the crime. As I pointed out before, financial responsibily has the potential of costing the governments big time. Also, anyone who may have claimed "Stand Your Ground" as a defense of their actions could conceivably face legal action if the police, as in this case, merely wrote it off and there was no formal ajudication. The possibility is also strong of a court overturning the law completely as part of a decision regarding this case. So, basically, it not just not wanting to take a "gounder" and being the "Bill Buckner" of the Florida legal system, it's the whole can of political and financial worms that accompany a trial on this case. I think Florida state and local government would jump at a chance to dump the whole matter in the Fed's lap...

Very true hopefully at least this incident will result in the state changing the wording of the law.

Not going to happen. No law that I ever heard of was overturned by the courts because it was incorrectly applied.

I wouldve expected someone by now to point out to the media that he isnt white, hes hispanic. Even his father said so.

But, you know how hispanic on black and vice versa is not newsworthy enough right :shifty:

They have to claim hes "white" so they can cry bloody murder. I think its despicable in every single way. The murder of a clean, respected young man by the hands of a worthless scumbag.

And then the miconception of race. The only reason this made headlines is because they lied and said he was a white male. Had this been reported correctly as a hispanic, it wouldve just been glanced over like every other racist crimes between hispanics and blacks that happen every day. Here in california, we always have a mass school fight where a couple dozen get brutally beat up, even killed in a RACIAL brawl. And never once have i seen it be white kids against black kids.

Whites, blacks, hispanics, it doesnt matter. Racism goes all around, against everybody. Whites arent the only people who can be accused of distinct racism, and its infuriating to sit here and watch the racism play out on the media, who cry about the race crime here while deliberately changing the story to get headlines and cause an uproar. Its a FACT that such a crime would not nearly have been so extensively publicized had the media told the truth about this man being a hispanic, not white.

The ENTIRE case, the way its been handled, and the the way its been publicized, all just disgusts me. Racism runs deep hidden in every race against every other race. And its despicable. :nope:

Who has claimed that Zimmerman is white?

its been said, in this thread, and by the media. Watch some TV, they said it multiple, multiple times on MSNBC and other stations.

"If it was a black guy shooting a WHITE guy..." has been said (with some variation) multiple times in this thread.

This was posted by myself and August Zimmerman; is half latino half white.

The media infers that his is white the reasoning is not clear as to why although Zimmerman may claim to be white himself on DL and ID in theory he could claim more than one thing on a racial survey.

It is said that he is the Captain of the Neighborhood Watch when in fact he is a self appointed "captain" of his own self created Neighborhood Watch separate from what ever one actually operates in the same area.I wonder why his was not allowed to be a member of the official one in the area.

Edit: Stealhead says it better.

BTW I suspect the confusion is at least partly due to his European sounding surname.

http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/201...ic-not-racist/

According to Zimmermans father his son is Hispanic.And he certainly appears to be Hispanic in the mug shot photo from 2005.

The media always picks one view or another fair or not. Regardless those involved in this investigation have information we are not aware of if Zimmerman did
act questionably he will see his day in court if they find that the Sanford PD did not do the best job I suppose that is another matter.

Can you remember what your last census asked you?
What covered "white"?
Do you recall something simple like White followed later by not hispanic or latino ?
Perhaps you also recall White followed by hispanic or latino?
Hey even the arabs and greeks are white and some of them definately look sorta not really that pink:doh:

European origins count as white in America so his german name would probably lead that way, hispanic sorta comes back to Iberian origins which is european so that means white in America too.

Hey if you don't like the way your government categorises people then write to the White House.

Has anyone heard from Al Sharpton? If there is a case against Zimmerman he would be the first to fire a broadside. On the other hand he may have realized Zimmerman isn't white and went back home.

Al not so Sharpton was suppose to be in Sanford at the end of this week, maybe he could address the issues that plagues the black communitty that causes unfortunite things, like this to happen, then he could come over here to Brevard County, and apologize to the family of the slain female officer we buried last week, that he hadn't done enough to help the black community, to help keep things like this from happen-ing, instead of fanning the flames of hate. http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/242...d-in-Melbourne