RangerDave wrote:
I know it's poor form to ask a bunch of questions given that I haven't responded to some earlier posts from others yet, but there are a few hypos I'd like to throw out there before the real verdict comes down, particularly for those who are strongly inclined to acquit Zimmerman as things actually stand. Anyway, here are the hypos:
First Hypo: Imagine that everything happened exactly the same way, except that Martin initiated violence because he mistakenly, but reasonably believed Zimmerman was going for a gun in response to the initial verbal confrontation.
In this case, it brings up the question of how Martin knows about the gun. Let's say Zimmerman is unaware that Martin has seen it. This changes nothing because there is no way Zimmerman can know what Martin percieves, nor is there any reason he should allow himself to be attacked just because the other person's mistaken belief was reasonable.
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Second Hypo: Imagine that everything happened exactly the same way, except that Martin initiated violence because Zimmerman actually was going for a gun in response to the initial verbal confrontation.
That depends on what happened in the initial verbal confrontation, and why Zimmerman is going for the gun. This might not be discernable at all in terms of exactly what happened in what order. If it is, however, and Martin made some sort of threat, Zimmerman would still be justified; if it was something more on the order of simply arguing, that would be different.
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Third Hypo: Imagine that everything happened exactly the same way, except that Martin initiated violence because, following the initial verbal confrontation, Martin tried to leave and Zimmerman blocked his path and ordered him not to move.
Fourth Hypo: Imagine that everything happened exactly the same way, except that Martin initiated violence because, following the initial verbal confrontation, Martin tried to leave and Zimmerman blocked his path, drew his gun and ordered him not to move.
Fifth Hypo: Imagine that everything happened exactly the same way, except that Martin initiated violence because, following the initial verbal confrontation, Martin tried to leave and Zimmerman grabbed his arm and ordered him not to move.
In all three of these cases, Zimmerman is attempting to stop Martin from leaving, and so initiating physical confrontation. Depending on how the confrontation went it is possible he would be within his rights to hold Martin for police, but highly unlikely. In all cases, however, Martin would still go well beyond the reasonable use of force when he gets Zimmerman down and then starts slamming his head into the sidewalk.
This brings up another hypothetical. Would we be so concerned with Zimmerman's actions if he had not had a gun, and had struggled with Martin until police arrived? Would people be so eager to defend Martin if he were beating an unarmed man?