As the court tries to pick impartial jurors for the up coming Zimmerman trial we are once again faces with the idea of : who was the real aggressor, and can we find jurors who have not made up their minds to the extend they can not fairly decide?
It is a hard choice. I have to admit that it would take a lot to convince me that Zimmerman was not the aggressor. Maybe he did see a black kid and figure he was up to no good, maybe he did see something else that lead him to believe that Martin was doing something that he should not have been doing. My first impression, when I heard about how Zimmerman seemed to have exceeded his duties was to think that, if the “stand your ground law” had applied to anyone it would have applied to Martin. The real question there was about who initiated the contact… Did Zimmerman chace the kid down and get in over his head? He had no authority to do anything to Martin. Even if you like the idea that he was going to implement a “citizens arrest” he would not have had a reasonable belief that a felony was being committed. The use of force part of the state law does not allow an aggressor to use his getting his butt kicked as a justification for “lethal force”, such as shooting him, unless that person is some kind of “officer”. If Martin had indeed attacked him then it might be different as, in that case, he would be defending himself.
There is no doubt that Zimmermann was injured, as later photos proved, the question was.. did the injury occur after Zimmerman attacked Martin, or after Martin attacked Zimmerman, for whatever reason.
The sound of someone calling for help would be helpful, if they could prove who’s voice it was, in deciding who was in the most danger but, there seems to be a disagreement on who was screaming for help. So, no help there..
Even with all the press on the story, and the stories were wild when it first happened, it is hard to figure out just what really happened.
When it come to picking out the jurors who have not made up their minds I would have to agree with Tom Lyons, from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, in saying that it is too bad that we might have to settle for people who are “too oblivious” to what is going on around them.. Kind of like the people in Loma Linda, Ca. who had not idea about the O.J. Simpson trial….. If you don’t know what I am writing about then you can ask Rush Limbaugh, who has been talking about them for years.
I just hope that, whatever his intentions might have been, we are able to get justice for Martin… Even if, as some have said, he was a gang member who was planning a burglary, there is nothing that Zimmerman saw that to indicate that Martin was other then just a kid out for a walk.
Thank,
That Joe Guy.
That Joe Guy 