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 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
I don't understand how people think SYG laws are so bad when Z didn't even use it as a defense and Dunn is going away for the rest of his life.

Looks like its' working fine to me.

Yup.

But, you know... racial tension is a thing ya know.

 Frazzled wrote:
Once someone elects the defense of self defense, it should not be the State's burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it WASN'T self defense.

Self-defense is an affirmative defense, which means the defendant has the burden of proof. What you seem to be saying is that, in addition to having the burden to prove the elements of murder the state should also have the burden to disprove any self-defense claim. That doesn't make any sense to me.

EDIT: Nevermind -- I totally missed the word "not" in your sentence!

 Polonius wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:
I mean, sometimes I wonder what the Zimmerman case would have been like had his last name been the same has his South American mother's.....

In terms of outcome? Probably exactly the same.

In terms of public attention? Its hard to say. No doubt this case tapped into some of the fears in the black community, which helped make it cause celebre. Still, SYG laws were reasonably controversial even back then, and having a sympathetic victim and unlikeable defendent made it a good case to focus on.

Nah. Black/Brown conflict is nothing special. It was the name and NBC falsifying the 911 calls to make it look like evil white guy that did it.