Admitting that a change in Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law could have affected the outcome of the George Zimmerman murder trial, former defense attorney Mark O’Mara is setting out to reform the self-defense legislation.
O’Mara, whose client evoked the Stand Your Ground defense after killing Trayvon Martin, says he plans to propose a rule limiting when juries would be instructed on the notorious self-defense law, which allows deadly force with no duty to retreat.
If you recall, police cited the controversial law as a reason for not arresting Zimmerman initially. He was charged 44 days later, but O’Mara chose not to raise the Stand Your Ground defense at the trial.
The law was, however, included in the jury instructions, a move O’Mara believes is confusing for those determining a conviction or acquittal.
According to Think Progress:
O’Mara said he doesn’t like the implication that the Stand Your Ground law played a role in the acquittal, and argues Zimmerman didn’t need it to make his self-defense case. The Stand Your Ground provision is now part of standard jury instruction language on the “justifiable use of force” and included whenever a case involves self-defense claims, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
O’Mara told Reuters that he plans to propose a rules change to the Florida bar that would give judges discretion to only instruct the jury on the Stand Your Ground law in cases where it is “relevant.” He says another recent Stand Your Ground defendant, Michael Dunn, would not have needed the law either to argue he acted in self-defense in shooting dead 17-year-old Jordan Davis. But Dunn’s lawyer cited the law in closing arguments.
But O’Mara’s sudden change of heart could take some time — the changing of rules would require approval by the legislature, suggesting that it would have the same trouble as requests to repeal or limit the law.
And if we’ve learned anything about Florida in the past year, it’s that it’s going to take more than O’Mara’s single proposal to change anything about the polarizing law.
We’re staying tuned…
SOURCE: Think Progress | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
