In the Michael Dunn case, during the deliberation the jurors turned to page twenty five of the normal instructions that they brought into the jury room. The jury learned immediately when it comes to deciding claims of justifiable homicide, Florida stands on ambiguous grounds. The wording that Circuit Judge Russell L. Healey used after the closing arguments were considered. The defendant “has no duty to retreat.” “The danger facing the defendant need not have been actual.” Jurors saw that they were expected to confirm if Michael Dunn, when he shot Jordan Davis on November 23, 2012, thought he was in serious danger. Defense attorney Cory Strolla told the jurors in his final argument that “if Michael Dunn was in a public place where he had a legal right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground even if it was deadly force. Repeatedly those words afflicted the Florida justice system since 2005:”stand his ground.” Dunn did stand his ground, with his gun firing. This happened after swapping words with teenagers parked next to him outside a Jacksonville conve...
Facts: On October 3, 1974, Memphis Police Officers Hymon and Wright were dispatched to answer a “prowler inside call.” When the police arrived at the scene, a neighbor gestured to the house where she had heard glass breaking and that someone was breaking into the house. While one of the officer radioed that they were on the scene, the other officer went to the rear of the house hearing a door slam and saw someone run across the backyard. The suspect, Edward Garner stopped at a 6-feet-high fence at the edge of the yard and proceeded to climb the fence as the police officer called out “police, halt.” The police officer figured that if Garner made it over the fence he would get away and also “figured” that Garner was unarmed. Officer Hymon then shot him, hitting him in the back of the head. In using deadly force to prevent the escape of Garner, Hymon used the argument that actions were made under the authority of the Tennessee statute and pursuant to Police Department policy. Although the department’s policy was slightly more restrictive than the statute it still allowed the use of deadly force in cases of burglary. Garner’s fathers’ argument was made that his son was shot unconstitutionally because he was captured and shot possessing ten dollars that he had stolen and being unarmed showing no threat of danger to the officer. The incident was then reviewed by the Memphis Police Firearm’s Revie...
The jury in trying to let the defendant go considered if there were any circumstances that would provide say as a self-defense claim to justify this horrific crime of murder of two people named Mr. Stephan Swan and Mr. Mathew Butler. Throughout the guilt/innocent phase, the jury believes not to have heard convincing evidence the victims were a threat to the defendant nor a sign the defendant was in fear for his life before he took the victims’ lives.
On the night of February 26, 2012 “George Zimmerman who was the coordinator for his Sanford neighborhood watch association is charged with second-degree murder in the death of a young boy. Trayvon Martin, an unarmed high school student from Miami, Florida. (Alvarez) The case began in a small city of Sanford as a routine homicide but soon evolved into a civil rights case, examining racial profiling. On the night of the attack Zimmerman was told not to get out of his car when he was following Trayvon. He described Trayvon as a “guy who looks up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something” Trayvon had his back to Zimmerman the whole time he was on the phone with the Dispatcher, from what the conversation was saying. When the dispatcher asked Zimmerman “is the guy white, black, or Hispanic? “Zimmerman says that he “looks” black, Zimmerman still has yet to see if Trayvon was black, white, or even Hispanic because Trayvon was walking the other direction. Later on in the conversation is when Zimmerman said “now he’s just staring at me”. That would have been the right time to mention the race of Trayvon. As the dispatcher was asking mo...
The case involved a neighborhood watchman, who happened to be on duty when he saw a young black man wearing a sweater jacket called a “hoodie”, walking through the neighborhood. George Zimmerman, the watchman, who was twenty-eight years old at the time, called authorities about a suspicious character walking around in his neighborhood. The authorities told him not to do anything; just continue with his rounds and not worry. Zimmerman, however, decided he would take matters into his own hands. He confronted the young man; they got into a brawl and Zimmerman pulled out a gun and shot and killed Martin. That premise will play a role in this paper as an argument as to why George Zimmerman should have been convicted of committing a crime. Even if the jury could not have reasons to convict him of the second degree murder of Trayvon Martin; they had other choices.
The next cartoon I have shows a man defending his actions of shooting another person by saying that he felt threatened. He argues that Florida’s Stand Your Ground law gives him the right to do so and that the victim would also agree but the twist is that the victim is actually dead and would not be able to say otherwise. I think the artist created this illustration to emphasize how ri...
On March 12, 2012 Bill Lee, the Chief of Police for Sanford Florida, explained Zimmerman had not been arrested because the police found no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s self-defense claim (Timeline of events: Trayvon Martin shooting case). Then the media decided to bully the state of Florida into bringing Florida by influencing public opinion. One of the ways the media achieved this was by making it seem like the reason there was no evidence to refute Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense, and Zimmerman’s eventual acquittal, was because of the controversial law in several states, including Florida, known as “Stand-Your Ground.”
For example, in Jacksonville, Florida, Jordan Davis, another unarmed teenager was killed by Michael Dunn. Davis and other teenagers were riding in a SUV with music blasting from the vehicle, when Dunn pulled up alongside of them and asked them to turn the music down . Words was exchanging between the two parties, and Dunn fired 8 to 9 shots into the SUV where he fatally shot Davis. Dunn was arrested and charged with first degree murder. Dunn claimed he fired in self-defense and invoked the “Stand Your Ground law” as his defense. ...
A classic case of race. Trayvon Martin, a young black teen, walked down the street one afternoon with a bottle of tea and a pack of skittles, before encountering a man of a different ethnic background- George Zimmerman. That tragic day was the last one Mr. Martin would ever see and it brings about the question, “Is his death justified by law?” Some may argue Zimmerman acted out of self-defense. Still others say a boy lost his life due to acts of racism. Sounds similar to the case mentioned in Twelve Angry Men, does it not? Jurors in that story were ready to send someone to their grave because of their color. In all honesty though, when the judicial system is served correctly, justice will be dished out no matter if an individual is black, white, blue, or yellow. Throughout the Zimmerman trial and the case told in Twelve Angry Men only one verdict could be reached based on evidence. Due to a plethora of personalities, one can conclude that coming to a ruling was not an easy task for either jury.
Zimmerman was asked by a dispatcher to stop pursuing Treyvon Martin. The “Stand Your Ground”
This is not an upcoming issue; this has been around for years since these laws have taken effect in the 24 states. Throughout the nation there are documented cases where stand-your-ground laws have caused controversy and suspects were acquitted of criminal charges. There are a few significant cases that represent the threat and repercussions posed by these SYG laws. One of these cases took place in Houston, Texas in November 2007. A 61- year old man named Joe Horn made a 911 call stating that there were two burglars in the home next door. Despite Horn being instructed to stay in his home by the 911 dispatcher, he still remained absorbed in taking matters into his own hands. On the 911 call Horn stated “The laws have been changed…since September the first and I have a right to protect myself,” Horn said. “I ain’t gonna let them get away with this shit. I’m sorry, this ain’t right, buddy … They got a bag of loot … Here it goes buddy, you hear the shotgun clicking and I’m going.” (Lee, 2012) While the dispatcher was still on the phone, Horn fired three gun shots and the two Colombian men were both hit in the back. After, he returned to the line justifying to the dispatcher why he killed the two men. When officers arrived at the scene Horn was not arrested and nor was he indicted by the grand jury. This particular case portrays how the
The section titled The Commonsense Picture, gives a scenario where a middle-aged man is awakened by a loud banging on his front door. Before hand, a young African American woman, had crashed her car, walked out, and wandered for hours in a state of shock and confusion. She ended up at this middle-aged man’s door, most likely looking for help. However, this middle-aged man thought his house was being attacked. He proceeded to take his shot gun, opened the door, and fired, which resulted in this young girls death. On trial, he explained his action by saying that he had been afraid for his life and had shot in what he thought was self-defense. This reading states, that in any case, even if the fear someone felt was reasonable, the reasonable response would have been not open the door but to lock the door and call the police. Therefore, the middle-aged man was found guilty of second-degree murder.
“Whether a killer acted with the deliberation and premeditation required for first degree murder can only be determined on a case by case basis. The need for deliberation and premeditation does not mean that the perpetrator must contemplate at length or plan far ahead of the murder.”
The out come of most cases when they go to court the burden falls on the court to disprove self-defense and not really on the defendants to prove that they acted legitimately. Several high profile cases has overwhelmed that conception that stand your ground law is anything but flawless if anything it has been brought up more reasons why such law needs to be re-evaluated and changed. For an example of a poor assumption of stand your ground law is the Zimmerman and Martin case in Florida where Zimmerman a neighborhood watch was told to stand down and he ended up killing him because he looked suspicious was found not guilty. An African American woman who was being abused by her husband shot in the air killing no one was found guilty for shooting to protect her-self shows that there are many flaws with the stand your ground laws that are not right. Another case of stand your ground the Jodi Arias who was convicted of stabbing her boyfriend Travis Alexander twenty-seven and slashing his throat and shooting him in the head, how does this law fit into this crime? How can one be allowed to claim such a defense, I would think that there lawyer should not be allowed to let there clients use that
Imagine that your daughter is walking home from the store. A man in a black car starts following her. He gets out and begins to follow her by foot. You daughter begins to run in fear. The suspicious character begins running after her. She stops and decides to face her fear. She knees him and pepper sprays him. Seconds later, shots were fired leaving your daughter dead. She is the aggressor and he is justified for shooting her in “self-defense” under the stand your ground law. The stand-your-ground law is a law that states that an individual has the lawful right to use any level of forces, including lethal force, if they are faced in any situation where they feel harmed. The first “stand your ground” law was passed in April of 2005 in Florida.WHile the “Stand Your Ground” law can be used as self defense, it puts the lives of African American youth in danger by allowing people to take unfair advantage of the law: therefore, O.C.G.A 16-3-23.1 should be prohibited.
“‘Stand your ground’ law states that a person may use deadly force in self-defense without the duty to retreat when faced with a reasonable perceived threat” (U.S. News). This law help the communities feel safe and better protect by the law once is giving out power to the community to protect or defend themselves. This law gives rights to the community; however it infringed the individual needs. “The law removes a person’s duty to retreat before using deadly force against another in any place he has the ...