Not a Stand Your Ground Case

By LASIS Staff

As explained by Dan Abrams, Chief Legal Affairs Anchor at ABC News, the George Zimmerman case did not end up being a Stand Your Ground case. When the defense “waived the Stand Your Ground hearing, this became a classic self-defense case in Florida. Are people going to talk about it? Yes. Are they going to be able to point to this case and say this is the example of Stand Your Ground? No.”

But Mr. Abrams was wrong about one thing.  People are going to point to this case and say this is an example of Stand Your Ground.  And not just any people: the New York Times.  We understand that this case has stirred emotions and we understand the nature of 24/7 news, and both may account for why journalists are getting so much wrong in reporting this story. But we expect more from the Times.



5 Responses

  1. Frederic M. says:

    I hate the talking heads on TV getting it wrong. I wish a CNN or HLN anchor would get on tv and read this — slowly. Applause to Popehat for getting for this bit of sanity through the miasma of nonsense reporting.


  2. The issues of “stand your ground” and “self defense” are intertwined. It is universal (across all jurisdictions) that we are generally permitted to use justifiable force to protect ourselves and others. When we are threatened with death, we can use deadly force to protect ourselves. However, there are jurisdictions in which there is a duty to retreat if the opportunity arises. In those jurisdictions, if there is an opportunity to run and evade the danger, your duty is to do that, rather than kill the attacker. In stand your ground states, you can do just that – stand your ground and use deadly force if you believe your life is in jeopardy.

    Florida is a stand your ground jurisdiction and the jury was so instructed. Here are the relevant jury instructions:

    However, if from the evidence you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that George Zimmerman was not justified in the use of deadly force, you should find him guilty if all the elements of the charge have been proved.

  3. Frederic M. says:

    Actually, this is a fine clarification, from the inimitable Eugene Volokh…

  4. Joan A says:

    Sadly, this appears to be happening more and more often with Times. They have been becoming less trustworthy as of late.

  5. Thanks for the the valuable suggestions…keep writing on this topic. You put a nice twist to it.

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