re: #39 reine.de.tout

On the other hand, Trayvon’s claim, if he were alive, could have been that he was being chased down with this guy with a gun, and had no clue WHY someone would be chasing him with a gun, in a neighborhood where he and his grandfather were quite legally visiting a friend.

Exactly.

I want to see how it plays out before deciding the law is massively flawed. Maybe it goes beyond what is necessary; maybe all that’s needed is the regular “self-defense” law. I don’t know. I do know that I’m not particularly keen on the idea that I must first turn my back on and try to flee from somebody who I believe is intent on doing me harm before I can defend myself. I turn my back - they’ve got me, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Well, if you can show that you couldn’t flee on the basis of being obviously slower then them, then the avenue of escape thing really doesn’t apply. It’s only if you can actually flee.

This law has produced a lot of other situations like this one, and prosecutors warned that it would when it was introduced.