Florida legalizes murder: Trayvon Martin

**tgace** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 1:12pm

Originally Posted by JohnnyCache

And I'm sorry, but no, florida law does not and cannot allow you to shoot anyone, anywhere in public with no or few witnesses and say it was self defense. Nothing in florida law that I have read alters the affirmative nature of self defense, except the castle doctrine, which doesn't apply to this situation.

Are you seriously arguing that any survivor of a gunfight with no witnesses is presumed innocent in florida? Is that seriously what you believe the literal wording of this law is, or its intention?

Where the **** are you getting that?

Zimmermans CLAIMS (was following someone..lost him..he confronted me...attacked me...bashed my head into the ground..) are clearly self-defense. He has to prove that in court by a preponderance of the evidence now. Which is different than in NY where SD is a "defense" where the prosecutor bears the burden of disproving it beyond a reasonable doubt. If this happened in NY it would be an entirely different approach by the prosecution.

So are you suggesting that..even if Zimmerman's claims were 100% accurate (which Im not ready to suggest) that he should fry because an UNARMED TEEN was killed and nobody can support his assertions? You may very well be right...my issue is that folks like you are already refusing to believe you may be wrong.

***JohnnyCache*** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 2:24pm

No, I'm suggesting he should go to jail for a lesser homicide count, that any affirmative defense he makes is tainted by his handling of the encounter. To me, Zimmerman was the one acting suspiciously/intrusively. Martin was likely acting from a reasonable belief his life was in danger when/if he swung. I flatly do not believe Zimmerman's preposterous claims, particularly that he was badly beaten.

***JohnnyCache*** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 2:58pm

I also think it goes without saying that florida law is currently bizzare and unworkable - you can't defend a statute where stating a version of facts that can only really be established by investigation and trial makes you immune from prosecution.

Not to mention, one reason this is terrible precedent is because circumstances matter very much in cases of reasonable force. The castle doctrine is reasonable because it is reasonable to suppose someone breaking into your home, or otherwise breaking the law, means you harm. But this didn't happen in anyone's castle.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 3:37pm

http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issu...mans-911-call/

May 04, 2012
3 lose NBC jobs for editing Zimmerman's 911 call
Deleted part of a conversation where a police dispatcher asked about the race of a suspicious male being reported

By David Bauder
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK — Three employees of NBC or an NBC-owned television station have now lost their jobs because of editing changes to a call made to police by George Zimmerman on the night he shot Trayvon Martin.

Lilia Luciano, an NBC News correspondent based in Miami, is no longer working at the network, spokeswoman Amy Lynn said. Her departure came as a result of an investigation into her March 20 "Today" show report on the Martin case.

Each of the reports on either "Today" or NBC's Miami station WTVJ involve editing of Zimmerman's phone call to a dispatcher that emphasizes his identification of Martin as a black male. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Martin, a case that has increased racial tensions.

In the report involving Luciano, audio of the police phone call was edited to insert a reference to Martin's race that had been made later in the conversation.

Last month, an NBC News producer was fired in connection with a March 27 "Today" show report where a tape of the call was edited to suggest that Zimmerman volunteered to police that "this guy looks like he's up to no good. He's black."

The broadcast portion of the audio had deleted a part of the conversation where the police dispatcher asked Zimmerman about whether a suspicious male he was reporting was "black, white or Hispanic." Zimmerman answered, "he looks black."

Lynn said Friday that NBC News' investigation into the reports has ended.

In an investigation about a separate incident, reporter Jeff Burnside of WTVJ lost his job because of a March 19 report on the dispatcher's call that similarly edited out the dispatcher's question that prompted Zimmerman's characterization of Martin as black, said Matt Glassman, spokesman for the NBC-owned station.

The WTVJ report did not air on any other NBC stations, he said.

Last week, WTVJ aired an apology to its viewers for the report on some of its newscasts, and posted it on the station's website. The statement said that "an error in editorial judgment was made in which a question from the operator was deleted which could have created the impression that Mr. Zimmerman's statement may have been singling out Trayvon Martin because of his race.

"We take this incident very seriously and apologize to our viewers," WTVJ said. "After conducting an extensive investigation, we are putting a more stringent editorial process in place to ensure this does not happen again."

NBC News did not immediately respond to questions about whether the "Today" show has addressed the misleading reports on the air, or whether there are any plans to do so.

Brent Bozell, founder of the conservative media watchdog the Media Research Center, said NBC still has not come clean.

"The truth has been withheld from NBC's own viewers now for more than one month," he said. "Do the network executives at NBC think that this is acceptable?"

This whole thing is a mess, actually, a powder-keg; distorted by the media and other parties with a cause. Hopefully, the facts will come out in court and we will all know what really happened.

**tgace** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 3:49pm

Originally Posted by JohnnyCache

I also think it goes without saying that florida law is currently bizzare and unworkable - you can't defend a statute where stating a version of facts that can only really be established by investigation and trial makes you immune from prosecution.

Zimmerman's not being prosecuted?

**It is Fake** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 6:28pm

Originally Posted by slamdunc

This whole thing is a mess, actually, a powder-keg; distorted by the media and other parties with a cause. Hopefully, the facts will come out in court and we will all know what really happened.

Yes, we know. We've been discussing this summary since March.

***JohnnyCache*** · Posted On: 5/05/2012 8:32pm

Originally Posted by tgace

Zimmerman's not being prosecuted?

If not for the "media hype" i don't think he would have been...in fairness, it's muddied forever

**Devil** · Posted On: 5/06/2012 9:38am

Originally Posted by Colin

C'mon Devil - you're hardly being unbiased.
That last post seems pretty obtuse to me - you're accusing Boby of doing precisely the same thing that you are doing.

No, I have a team I'm rooting for but I'm not ignoring the reality of the law and making observations based purely on emotion. If the situation changes due to new information and it looks like Zimmerman is guilty I will acknowledge it. I will not stick my head in the head in the sand just because I don't like what I hear.

**Devil** · Posted On: 5/06/2012 9:41am

Originally Posted by JohnnyCache

You guys, seriously, link the provision in syg where it says you can shoot someone on a public street and say it was self defense and get away with it.

Oh for ****'s sake. How can you be this dumb?