Trayvon Martin Case

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

i think only a detective or consultant said he should have identified himself and this wouldnt have happened. im guessing that is where this notion came from.

TM would not have to be in fear of death to justify using non-lethal self defense. He would only have to be in fear of bodily harm. having an adult follow you and corner you would put a person in reas fear that the person following you wanted to fight.

to justify lethal self-defense on an unarmed combatant is just not acceptable to me in this situation. maybe if its chuck norris on an 80 yr old, but not a 29 yr old and a person who just turned 17.

If you're getting your ass beat and fear for your life...forget how you got there because it is irrelevant to your decision making at that point...then shooting someone who is unarmed is definitely in play. I know I would. A gun is reasonably equal force to "Oh no this guy is going to kill me with his bare hands". The real question as to this part of the trial is whether Z had real and reasonable cause to fear for his life. JR where does the burden stand on this type of issue. Does Z have to prove he was reasonably in fear or does the prosecution have to prove he wasn't?