The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 15: It Was Either Him or Me
Self-Defense pg 15: Furball
As Arnold and Britt erupt in a cloud of fisticuffs, Eddie and the barmaid relax with their beers
BARMAID
I see Britt’s fighting back, now. Does that count as self-defense?
EDDIE
No, ma’am. Arnold was hitting him lawfully. You can only use force to protect yourself against unlawful attacks.
{SUGGESTED EDIT: Maybe state specifically that self-defense doesn’t justify hitting someone who was only protecting himself against you in the first place.]
Then the guy that shot Trayvon Martin is screwed, Right?
If all humans were the same size and strength, then it would all be a clear case. The problem is when the attacker is bigger, stronger, healthier than the defending side, things get fuzzy and will depend on jurisdiction and the jury.
I too have always been skeptical of the idea that bare hands are not (potentially) deadly weapons. Less potential than a knife (which is far from certainly lethal), and much less than a gun, but if you bash my head off the sidewalk a few times and I’m just as dead as if you took the time to asphyxiate me.
Also, I seem to recall that Florida’s different too. Apparently there a “chutzpah defense” can turn something into self-defense.
If you are talking about the Stand Your Ground Law, then no there is not, because the Stand Your Ground Law is not a defense, but a method of having charges dropped before the case goes to trial.
Nope- Trayvon hit GZ first. Even if, after the first exchange of blows, GZ started to gain the upper hand, TM still couldn’t use the ‘self-defense’ justification for whatever he did… he started the conflict.
Unless, as we saw in the last panel, GZ was threatening TM with violence before blows commenced.
And stalking a person while brandishing a gun is pretty fucking threatening, and is exactly what Zimmerman was doing before Martin allegedly attacked him.