Lucrum is right in his response that SYG did not apply in this (the Travyon/Zimmerman case). SYG essentially says that, if threatened (and threatened can be broadly interpreted) you do not have to retreat, and you can meet the threat with force - even deadly if necessary - in lieu of retreating, as long as the occurrence takes place in a legally public environment (not in private locations, as that is where castle law takes precedence). The Zimmerman situation called for Zimmerman to use deadly force after he was attacked and the altercation was underway. Testimony states (and the jury agreed) that he was ambushed as he was following Martin, and that Martin surprised him. If this is indeed the case, the SYG defense goes away, to be replaced with self-defense laws (which are not the same). You can argue (and I did not follow the case full enough to understand why this argument failed) that Zimmerman's response was not along the "Acceptable Force Continuum", as Trayvon did not have a gun and Zimmerman eventually used his. The AFC basically details that if someone attacks you with a fist, using a weapon to defend yourself goes over that level of attack and you are escalating violence. We teach this in our Jujitsu classes, and it follows police academy doctrine - the whole "Green, Yellow, Red" level of attack/response. If someone attacks you with a "Green" attack (like a "haymaker" or a gut punch) and you pull out a gun and shoot them, you've brought a red response to a green encounter, and thus can be liable. The real hard thing to prosecute is when the defendant states "I was in fear for my life". This indicates that the defendant felt that their life was in jeopardy and that lethal force was required to save themselves. Since "fear for my life" is a state of mind, it's a hard defense to crack, because jurors have to place themselves in that state of mind, and often agree that they would do whatever it took to protect their life (or the life of some other innocent). So, in the end, SYG wasn't relevant. Self-defense laws were. Hope that helps. Edit: also, I keep seeing your reference to the disparity in size. This is a worthless argument, BA. I've known some fighters who are tiny, even female, and they've been able to keep a delta force soldier busy in their fighting ability. Weight and size does matter, but a trained fighter can neutralize that quite easily. That is another thing we hammer home to our students - technique beats strength every day.
Tao you're staying with your "group" again it was Lucrum who brought up the size thing and I corrected him on that. And you're assuming a lot of stuff you don't know who started the fight or if Zimmerman was protecting himself or if Zimmerman murdered Martin. All we know is that the state didn't have enough evidence to convict him...period.
Trayvon was quite a bit taller and in much better physical condition than a fat Zimmerman. You didn't correct anybody on anything. It amazes me how you try to embellish yourself. LOL
Lucrum said Martin was larger not taller or more fit just larger and as happens a lot you and Lucrum are wrong.
Even if he used the word, larger, or bigger, any idiot knows that he was referring to being much taller. Saying you 'corrected' him is just an exercise in your stupid self-delusion of grandeur. Like Obama, your discussions revert to the "I" all of the time.
I wonder if Martin had had the least bit of groundfighting training, gotten his knees under Zimmerman's elbows, a proper full mount, so that the firearm couldn't be drawn, if Zimmerman would be dead today or just licking his wounds.