Castle Doctrine & No Retreat
Police report on Florida shooting
Right here. The responding officer found the shooter, Zimmerman, bleeding from nose and the back of his head, and saying he had cried out for help, which matches the eyewitness who reported that the man on the bottom was being beaten and was crying out for help.
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More coming to light in FLA shooting
The case gets some complicated:
"The dispatcher advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Moments later, neighbors bombarded 911 with reports of a struggle between the men and the sound of a gunshot. When police officers arrived, Martin was lifeless, face down on the ground, while Zimmerman was bleeding from his head and his back was covered in grass, as if he had been on the ground, the police report said.
Sanford police issued a statement Wednesday defending their decision not to arrest Zimmerman. They said that when officers arrived, he claimed self-defense, “which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony.”
Police Chief Bill Lee said Zimmerman claimed he was attacked by Martin after he had given up his chase and was returning to his truck.
In a letter to the Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman’s father said his son wasn’t a racist. Zimmerman’s mother is Hispanic. “He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever,” Robert Zimmerman wrote."
"While one eyewitness has said there was no scuffle, another has said he saw Zimmerman on his back on the ground. According to the police incident report, Zimmerman's nose was bloody and his shirt was grass stained.
Police also said that Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, told them the voice pleading for help was not Trayvon. The family claims the police are lying, and pointed out that once the audio quality was cleaned up the father said that the voice did indeed belong to his son."
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PA test of Castle Doctrine and/or No Retreat
Hard to tell which from this story. It might really have been a test of neither. Two drunken aggressors come into a person yard with baseball bats, pursue him, continue to menace him even after he displays a gun, and he takes a hit in the head before firing. You don't need castle doctrine on those facts. *If* PA were a "retreat" State before, maybe stand your ground helps some, but even with a retreat requirement, turning his back on the aggressors increased his danger (and a 42 yr old isn't likely to outrun two guys aged 19 and 34, either).