Posted on 05/05/2012 1:14:35 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
At the request of my online editor, I am very hesitantly going to discuss the Trayvon Martin case, only because it has huge teachable potential to anyone thinking about carrying a gun for self defense.
The Trayvon Martin case is just about the ultimate Worst Case Scenario, a “Perfect Storm” if you will when it comes to a concealed carry confrontation (one where the shooter survives). I am not talking about the actual physical confrontation, but rather the aftermath.
I don’t know what happened that night in Florida, and neither does anyone else. The only person who knows exactly what happened is George Zimmerman, and even he might be fuzzy on a few things from the photos I’ve seen of his bloody head. That fact, however, has apparently been lost on everyone who is screaming about race or gun control or Castle Doctrine. It’s not that I don’t have strong opinions on what I think is going on with this case, it’s that I recognize that’s what they are—opinions. Let’s look at some facts.
If you carry a gun for self-defense, and get involved in a shooting, odds are you will be sued, either by the person you’ve shot, or their surviving family members. You should also assume that, no matter how clear cut a case of self-defense it was, that you will be put in handcuffs at the scene, arrested, and treated by the authorities like a criminal.
I am not mentioning these items to dissuade anyone from carrying a gun for self-defense—it’s far better to be on trial for shooting someone than to be dead—but rather to make sure nobody has any false illusions about how the justice system in our country can and often does work.
Once done defending yourself in court (post bail costs and attorney fees), if you find yourself a free man or woman, there is a good chance you will be sued in civil court. Even if you win, you will have more attorney fees. No matter what the verdict in George Zimmerman’s criminal trial, I would not be surprised if he gets sued by family members of Trayvon Martin. I predicted to friends that Zimmerman would be charged with civil rights violations by Eric Holder’s Justice Department if he wasn’t charged by local authorities, and that still may happen. Again, Zimmerman is living through the Worst Case Scenario of a shooting aftermath, and while it is unlikely that most people who get involved in a self-defense shooting will suffer the same kind of attention, everyone who carries a gun needs to know that it is possible.
It may turn out that a number of people who have leaked information about this case to the press have straight-out lied. People lie in court all the time. You cannot control what other people do, only what you do. Get some documented training, call 9-1-1 either during or as soon as practical after a confrontation, and when the authorities show up, just remember that anything you say can and most likely will be used against you in a court of law.
Protect yourself, protect your loved ones, and if you ever find yourself facing a media lynching or being accused in the press of all sorts of things that just aren’t true, maybe your only recourse will be knowing you did the right thing when the time came.
So everyone who shoots someone is NATURALLY a liar.
Brilliant!!
Certainly if I were the detective investigating someone who just shot someone dead, I would not assume he wouldn’t lie. Most killers don’t come out and admit that they are guilty right off the bat.
“......I would not assume he wouldn’t lie.....”
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You may be “Brilliant” but you clearly have not been following this case closely. And, by closely, I mean going to the available source documentation (e.g., listening to the audio of the various 911 calls) and not listening solely to what you read and listen to in by the agendanistas in the mainstream media. Zimmerman was questioned for over 5 hours the night of the incident—the police didn’t assume ANYTHING.
Actually in my CHL renewal class last year, we were informed that we still can be sued, even though Texas passed the law that states we cannot be sued in Civil Court. The CHL instructor stated the Courts determined people have a right to sue. We all thought it was a BS decision.
bump for later
What, seek help from the racist white folks' police?
He may have been on drugs, or he may not have wanted to be questioned about why he was standing around in the rain looking into the homes where no one was home. Of course he didn't know that the guy looking at him had called the dispatcher.
Later
(2ndMarDiv?)
“the police didn’t assume ANYTHING.”
I did not say they did. In fact, that was precisely my point. The authorities aren’t going to simply take your word for it that you were acting in self-defense when you shoot someone dead.
Why didn’t Zimmerman stay in his truck?
Here is an excellent analysis of the leftist-racist disinformation campaign in this case: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/05/trayvon_and_zimmerman_the_structure_and_elements_of_a_disinformation_campaign.html
Because he wanted to see where the suspicious person was going?
One could as easily ask, Why didn't Martin go home?
Both people had a legal right to be where there were, and do what they did until the physical altercation started.
there were should be they were
(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).
He is , or was , the Neighborhood Watch Capt. and he was in communication with 911 reporting on Trevon’s suspicious activity.
From what I have been able to gather from maps of the neighborhood and the 911 recordings, Zimmerman lost visual contact when Martin went between two townhouse buildings. He left his truck, because there was no way to drive on a street to see between those buildings, and walked a very short distance, according to the maps, in order to see where Martin went. It was there that Zimmerman was surprised and assaulted by Martin, who had doubled back. There is at least one witness to that assault.
Zimmerman will be acquitted. He will undoubtedly be a very wealthy man too, as soon as he is through suing the various media outlets, the special prosecutor, the State of Fla., Martin’s family, Martin’s family’s lawyer, and everyone else that I have not included here.
For good or ill, I think it is considered a breech of separation of powers if the legislature tries to or does pass a law saying somebody can’t sue.
It’s not up to the legislature to decide who does or does not have access to the courts.
Good point.
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