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In these postings, there is rarely any discussion of a very important point - what went before. IMHO, that is going to be a critical issue in the Florida case. In the few seconds before the shots were fired, one man may well have feared for his life and fired in self-defense. But what happened before that? Was that man engaging in activity that appeared threatening to he other man? How was a man who appeared to be walking away minding his own business a threat to the life of the other? Why were police instructions to one man to "back off" ignored? When did the need for self defense occur?
All those questions enter into the case and, I am sure, will be brought out in court. (And overlay valid legal questions with racial controversy and threats to the community from outsiders, and the whole thing will likely be distorted to the point where "justice" will be a meaningless word.)
Nothing I have read or heard indicates that SYG was really involved. It was not a case of someone being attacked on the street and not fleeing. The shooter placed himself in that situation, and in such a way that he might well have been seen as a stalker, even a threat, to the other man.
A similar "what went before" situation occurs when there is a self-defense killing following a session of name-calling and threats. The courts will ask who started the argy-bargy that led to the killing, not just what happened in the last instant. If the killer did not initiate the confrontation and did everything reasonably possible to avoid it or to stop it, but was attacked by the "victim", it is one thing. But if the killer egged the victim on, deliberately trying to provoke an attack so he could kill the victim, it is quite another.
Jim
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