IN THE MIND OF THE BEHOLDER

When a police officer perceives that his life is in imminent danger, he has a right to use deadly force to defend himself; when George Zimmerman perceived that his life was in imminent danger, he had a right to use deadly force against Trayvon Martin, the extent of his injuries notwithstanding

If someone comes up behind you and pokes his finger in your back while saying, “Don't turn around or I'll shoot you; now give me your money and your watch,” are you the victim of an ARMED ROBBERY even though the robber had no weapon? When a man hands a store clerk a note saying, “I’ve got a gun, give me all the money in the register,” is he committing an ARMED ROBBERY even though he had no weapon? The answer to both questions is YES! The courts have ruled that what constitutes armed robbery, or aggravated robbery if you will, is either the robber’s possession of a weapon or the victim’s perception that the robber had a weapon, whether he actually had a weapon or not.

It’s all in the mind of the beholder. That is why two Houston police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing in the deadly shooting of a man they confronted late at night walking incoherently down the middle of a street. When they called for him to approach them, he reached in his back pocket, pulled out an object and yelled at them, “Here, I’ve got something for you!” What the officers perceived to be a gun turned out to be a small pocket bible.

On Wednesday, the wire services reported that the morning after George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, he went to a clinic to be treated for a broken nose, two black eyes and two cuts to the back of his head. He was examined by a physician’s assistant who determined that Zimmerman did not need to be X-rayed and that he did not suffer any head trauma. The physician’s assistant did recommend that he see an ear, nose and throat specialist, something Zimmerman did not do.

The Florida prosecutors looked at those medical records and decided that Zimmerman’s injuries were not severe enough to sustain his claim that he feared for his life because of the pounding he was getting from Martin.

The prosecutors are full of crap! Zimmerman had been overpowered by a much stronger Trayvon Martin who was on top of him. The back of his head was being pounded into the pavement. At that moment, in his mind, Zimmerman justifiably perceived that his life was in imminent danger. And just like the two Houston police officers who in their minds beheld a bible to be a gun, he had a right to use deadly force to defend himself against Martin it that’s what it took to overcome his assailant.

The State of Florida and the U.S. Department of Justice are out to - let me put it plainly - fuck up George Zimmerman at all costs. Florida and the Feds have caved into an angry black community that is demanding a pound of Zimmerman’s flesh. There is this overriding fear that if Zimmerman gets off, there will be another round of Rodney King riots. Hence the murder charge against Zimmerman.

To add insult to injury, on Thursday Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester set Zimmerman’s bail at $1 million. Zimmerman has twice demonstrated that he is not a flight risk and there is no evidence that he poses any risk to the public. To set bail under those circumstances at $1 million is absolutely outrageous.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits EXCESSIVE BAIL. Apparently Judge Lester is not familiar with a similar provision in the Florida Constitution which provides that, “with certain specified exceptions, every person charged with a criminal offense shall be entitled to release on reasonable conditions.” One does not have to be a lawyer to know that $1 million bail for Zimmerman is NOT reasonable.