by CherokeeNative Yesterday at 4:11 pm
Picture this scene: George Zimmerman and Mark O’Mara are sitting at the defense table intently looking at lead prosecutor Bernie de la Ronda as he approaches the podium, acknowledges the court, looks at the defense table, acknowledges their presence, paces a few steps from the podium and finally turns to the jury and just before his lips part to say the first word, O’Mara holds his breath. But wait, what are the laws under which Zimmerman is claiming self-defense?
What will come out of Bernie's mouth at this point is unknown, but we can look to Florida law and the facts and evidence and garner a pretty good idea.
O'Mara has gone on the record stating that he will not be defending Zimmerman under the SYG law, but that instead, he will be relying on the general self-defense statutes. This has confused many laypersons for good reason. As you can see from reading the below statute, § 776.032 is an immunity statute - it does not define what constitutes self-defense or under what circumstances the use of deadly force is allowable, but instead provides that one who uses force must qualify with other statutes in order to justify reliance upon § 776.032's immunity.
SYG Statute:
776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.
(1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term "criminal prosecution" includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.
(2) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use of force as described in subsection (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.
(3) The court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).
Florida Statutes §§ 776.012, 776.013, 776.031. and 776.032 all became effective on October 1, 2005. These four statutes are commonly referred to as Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law". See 2005 Fla. Laws 199, 202. Under the Florida Statutes, Chapter 776, "Justifiable Use of Force" the six statutes below are the only self-defense laws that could possibly apply to Zimmerman's case:
776.012 Use of force in defense of person.
776.013 Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm.
776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.
776.041 Use of force by aggressor.
776.06 Deadly force.
776.08 Forcible felony.
As you can see from the above list, all of the Stand Your Ground laws are applicable to Zimmerman's case with the exception of 776.032, Use of Force in Defense of Others. What O'Mara will be relying on in addition to the Stand Your Ground laws is § 776.041, Use of Force by Aggressor.
The reason O'Mara was so vague in his description of how his client will be defended rests with the fact that he cannot bring himself to admit in public, in front of rolling cameras and live tee vee, that Zimmerman's conduct the night of February 26, 2012, amounted to what Florida law defines as the "aggressor." To make such an admission would go against the defense team's mantra and ongoing media tour to portray Zimmerman anything but a vigilante racist who murdered a young teenage boy who was doing nothing but walking home armed only with a cell phone, some pocket change, Arizona drink and some Skittles. That the defense team has taken this approach in dealing with the public should be a strong indication of how they will proceed to use smoke and mirrors to fool the jurors who will ultimately be judging Zimmerman. I assure you, it will be anything but a search for the truth.
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Well said.
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