It doesn't take much to get away with murder

There a lot of different issues at play in the Trayvon Martin case.  There are the pictures of George Zimmerman’s injuries.  There’s the fact that he refused to stay in his car after the police dispatcher instructed him to.  There’s the mere seven hours that the police held him.  There’s Martin’s innocence and complete right to be exactly where he was.  There’s the confusion over who was calling for help in the 911 call. 

 

But the only issue that matters, according to Kendall Coffey, is who threw the first punch. 

 

This is because the case comes down to a strange Florida law called Stand Your Ground which allows someone to meet force with force if they aren’t engaging in unlawful activity and are attacked in someplace where they have the right to be. 

 

As Kendall Coffey explains, if Martin threw the first punch, no matter if he was scared of Zimmerman, Zimmerman would have had every right to shoot him.  If Zimmerman threw the first punch then he would have been taking part in unlawful activity and could not seek protection under the SYG statute.

 

With such a strange law, apparently all it takes in Florida to get away with murder is getting the other guy to attack you first.