Monday, June 8, 2015

Man Who Shot At George Zimmerman Is Using Stand Your Ground

Zimmerman Arrested


Call it karma or irony or kismet or fate. Or call it obscenely predictable. The man who shot at right-wing hero and NRA poster boy George Zimmerman is claiming self-defense under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
Newser via USA Today reported:
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.
After all of the reports of Zimmerman’s aggressions and attacks – including attacking a police officer years ago, before he killed Trayvon Martin after aggressively following him because he was wearing a hoodie even after police told him to stand down, it seems like a pretty easy point to make that if you saw Zimmerman coming at you, you’d feel under attack. Especially if he had threatened to shoot you in the past and had found you at your place of employment and had driven there and was just parked in the lot after threatening you.

Zimmerman only suffered minor injuries from the bullet that went through the passenger window of his vehicle after what the defendant described as a “road rage incident”, which involved Zimmerman pulling a gun on him.

18 comments:

  1. Another non story

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  2. "In a motion asking for the GPS requirement, prosecutors said Apperson has a history of mental illness including bipolar disorder and general anxiety disorder. The motion states that Apperson had been hospitalized for mental illness three weeks before the shooting, leading his wife at that time to take away his firearm.
    The motion noted that a police investigator concluded Apperson had a fixation on Zimmerman, 31."

    http://news.yahoo.com/zimmerman-gets-gps-protection-florida-shooter-222941899.html;_ylt=AwrC1zG.s3VVTD0AvIfQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByOHZyb21tBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

    An interesting concept, a person who has a fixation on someone is going to claim they were defending themselves from the person they're fixated on. It will also be interesting to see if what Mr. Apperson said around the police has any bearing into the stand your ground hearing.

    "Arresting documents also note that a Lake Mary police officer called to the scene overheard Apperson say, "I hope I got him this time."

    http://mikeb302000.blogspot.it/2015/05/more-on-latest-zimmerman-incident.html

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  3. . . . NRA poster boy George Zimmerman . . .

    Again with the "NRA poster boy" bullshit. Can anyone show me this mysterious NRA poster featuring Zimmerman? I can't seem to find a single example.

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  4. It's amazing how this author now seems to like SYG so long as one is standing their ground against George Zimmerman. But watch how it's not going to work for this guy (barring new details) because, surprise surprise, it takes quite a bit more than just saying you were scared.

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  5. Reality check.

    Standing your ground does not include driving in a high-speed, American or Japanese truck. This idiot will be convicted.

    Hopefully enough details will come out that a sensible prosecutor may bring charges against George Z. as well.

    Why is this a non-story, George Jefferson?

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    Replies
    1. "Hopefully enough details will come out that a sensible prosecutor may bring charges against George Z. as well."

      What details are you hoping for FJ? So far, the only thing suggesting that Zimmerman did anything wrong was the statement of someone recently released from treatment for mental illness. And who also happens to be the one charged with shooting at Zimmerman.
      There is at least one report of unwise statements made by Apperson in the presence of police. My guess is that he became the main witness against himself by weaving a tale that didn't match up with the physical evidence. We likely wont hear much more about it until the stand your ground hearing.

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    2. Hopefully enough details will come out that a sensible prosecutor may bring charges against George Z. as well.

      Charges for what?

      Delete
  6. It's interesting that George didn't shoot back. Isn't that why you guys carry guns?

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    1. The last time Zimmerman shot someone he was being held down and his head was being slammed against a sidewalk. This doesn't seem that extreme compared to this event. It sounds like he did his best to avoid Apperson,

      "Zimmerman recognized Apperson, who was flashing his lights, honking and shouting insults, West said.
      As Zimmerman attempted to make a U-turn to leave, Apperson pulled up alongside his vehicle and "pulled out a gun and shot it through the passenger window," West said."

      http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmerman-involved-florida-shooting-incident-175906724.html;_ylt=AwrC1C3a1XdVyg0ANizQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTBybGY3bmpvBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--

      By the way, notice the very dark tinting on Zimmerman's SUV? Wonder how Apperson was able to see Zimmerman with a gun?
      Massad Ayoob did a wonderful job describing the process in a video you posted a while back. Here is a written version of his description in an article he wrote.

      "The so-called Stand Your Ground hearing, if it results in a favorable finding of the defendant, means that an experienced judge has heard the evidence and determined that it is more likely than not that the defendant acted in justifiable self-defense. Since this shows that it’s virtually impossible to prove the opposite to a standard beyond a reasonable doubt, it would constitute both injustice and a waste of the taxpayers’ money to put the person who had that ruling through a civil trial."

      http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/01/massad-ayoob-3-stand-your-ground-myths/

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    2. It's interesting that George didn't shoot back. Isn't that why you guys carry guns?

      What do "[we] guys" have to do with it? Has it never occurred to you that Zimmerman's reason for carrying a gun could be entirely unrelated to our reasons for doing so?

      As for why he didn't return fire, it could be for any number of reasons--from having panicked and frozen, to not having had a clear shot that would not have endangered bystanders. Perhaps we'll learn more as the story develops.

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    3. By the way, notice the very dark tinting on Zimmerman's SUV? Wonder how Apperson was able to see Zimmerman with a gun?

      Driver's window open?

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    4. "Driver's window open?"

      Good point FJ. And one that might also be used in Apperson's possible trial to introduce reasonable doubt. Considering that the previous two reported encounters resulted in neither arrest or charges, there has to be something extra to cause it here.
      The big difference obviously is that there is physical evidence as a result of Apperson shooting into Zimmerman's vehicle. Perhaps they found a witness that hasn't jumped in front of the media bus quite yet.
      Another question is what caused the police to say that Apperson has a fixation on Zimmerman. Couple this fixation with Apperson's comment "I hope I got him this time" could lead someone to believe there was some stalking involved. Maybe that's why Zimmerman moved out of town.
      Hopefully more details will come out as a result of Apperson's SYG hearing or his next court appearance.

      Delete
  7. The charge that occurred to me was brandishing. If there are no other witnesses, this will not come to be.

    You guys still love this guy. He's out on the road looking for trouble with a gun. He's like a road rage maniac. As far as I know it was Zimmerman who first acted aggressively when he met this guy for the first time. Now they already have history. Yet you guys still defend Zimmerman.

    I'm not getting involved in any high-profile road rage cases with my driving habits.

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    1. You guys still love this guy.

      Um . . . what guys? Certainly not me.

      As far as I know it was Zimmerman who first acted aggressively when he met this guy for the first time.

      And, for that matter, as far as you know, it was mental patient Matthew Apperson who first acted aggressively, is it not?

      Yet you guys still defend Zimmerman.

      Defend the guy who was shot at (and wounded, however trivially)? The horror!

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    2. "You guys still love this guy. He's out on the road looking for trouble with a gun. He's like a road rage maniac. As far as I know it was Zimmerman who first acted aggressively when he met this guy for the first time. Now they already have history. Yet you guys still defend Zimmerman."

      FJ, he was in town for a medical appointment, which would be pretty easy for police to verify. I'm sort of wondering how true the original reports Apperson made of the original encounter is. We have a guy who twice accused Zimmerman of threatening behavior, in which he refused to press charges both times. And now we discover him to have some sort of mental issues and a fixation for Zimmerman.
      Apparently Zimmerman made what I consider to be a good decision and move out of town. And the police seem to believe they have enough to charge Apperson, and have made no charges against, or have suggested any blame is to be had for Zimmerman.
      It will be interesting to see what the police used to determine that Apperson should be charged and not Zimmerman.

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  8. Here's an interesting turn of events.....

    "ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida man accused of shooting at George Zimmerman during a traffic encounter is accused of urinating on a neighbor's door.
    Seminole County prosecutors charged Matthew Apperson with disorderly conduct last month after the incident.
    According to a Winter Springs Police report, Anthony Woods was cleaning the apartment complex's pool when he said he heard Apperson "yelling obscenities" in the direction of a female neighbor's home. She was not inside at the time. Woods told officers Apperson then urinated on the door."

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/15/man-charged-in-zimmerman-shooting-now-charged-with-urinating-on-neighbor-door/

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