George Zimmerman shooter to use 'Stand Your Ground' defense

[n2doc]

The man accused of shooting at George Zimmerman is planning to use a defense strategy that should be familiar to Zimmerman: Stand your ground.

The attorney for Matthew Apperson said today that his client qualifies because he opened fire when he thought his life was in danger. As the AP notes, Zimmerman's legal team considered but ultimately chose not to pursue a stand-your-ground defense after Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin.

Under Florida's law, Apperson would get a hearing before his trial at which a judge would decide whether he's in the clear because of the self-defense strategy.

"That's a good look into the future," attorney Michael LaFay tells the Orlando Sentinel.

more

http://www.kens5.com/story/news/crime/2015/06/02/george-zimmerman-shooter-to-use-stand-your-ground-defense/28354603/

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

1. Weird.

That should a bit difficult to do since they were both in moving vehicles.

[HassleCat]

2. Very confusing

The whole "stand your ground" thing is not clear at all, and some people think it's a great way to realize their Dirty Harry fantasies. The way most of these rather stupid laws are written, you no longer have an obligation to retreat, or hide, or whatever when someone is threatening you with deadly force. There is a great deal of variation from state to state, but some states want you to show you had to shoot an attacker because a safe withdrawal was not possible. Other states never has any such burden of proof. On top of these various affirmative requirement, or lack thereof, we add a whole bevy of confusing and poorly written "stand your ground" laws. Some of them significantly change how one may respond to an attacker, and some of them don't change much of anything. The public perception, however, is that anyone may "stand your ground" under any circumstance. So we have people like George Zimmerman, pursuing evil-doers and having to shoot their way out because they thought the law gave them that right. The net effect is to encourage people to do exactly what Zimmerman did, and get themselves much deeper into a situation that they might have before.

[madville]

3. So he was stalking Zimmerman?

This wasn't their first run-in and this was in a recent article:

"A police report says Apperson had a fixation on the former neighborhood watch leader and that Apperson had recently been admitted to a mental institution"

and also:

"Judge Debra Nelson on Friday ordered Matthew Apperson to wear the GPS device so Zimmerman will know any time he is close by."

http://www.wptv.com/news/state/matthew-apperson-george-zimmerman-shooter-must-wear-monitor