# Was the Zimmerman trial an SYG case?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-zimmerman-trial-an-syg-case/663465>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 14, 2013, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-zimmerman-trial-an-syg-case/663465 "2013-07-14T09:24:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 9

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-zimmerman-trial-an-syg-case/663465/9 "2013-07-15T13:49:11Z")

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I suspect that question is outside the bounds of GQ. However, SYG immunity _is_ relevant because the majority of media outlets reported that the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman was based on SYG immunity (the Sanford PD has since denied that.) SYG civil immunity is also relevant because the Martins could face a huge legal bill if they file an OJ-style civil action and lose.

From another SYG thread:

> [@SYG laws Post-Zimmerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/syg-laws-post-zimmerman/663459/37):
>
> It’s important to distinguish between the Stand Your Ground law, §776.013(3), Fla. Stat.\*, and the civil immunity doctrine that was passed in the same bill but appears in a separate section of the Florida Statutes, §[776.032](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.032.html)(1).
> 
> The latter was at issue in the Zimmerman trial. The former was not, because Zimmerman took the position that he could not have retreated in any event as he was on the ground.
> 
> [removed as inappropriate for GQ]
> 
> - “A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

There’s a mistake in that post. The civil immunity doctrine also wasn’t at issue in the Zimmerman trial. I moved some words around and apparently forgot to add some.

[QUOTE=Loach]  
If the defense felt it was a SYG case they would have asked for a pre-trial SYG hearing as is provided by Florida law. If during that hearing the defense proved it was a case of SYG then Zimmerman would have been immune from prosecution. But the defense did not consider it a case which fell under the Florida SYG law. There was no hearing. They went with the affirmative defense of self defense.  
[/QUOTE]

It’s worth noting that the pretrial hearing requirement is not in the statute and was read in by the Florida Supreme Court. Most trial courts had initially held that SYG immunity was a jury question. The jury could still have decided the case based on the “no duty to retreat” provision, had it been argued.

[QUOTE=Lord Feldon]  
I’m not sure that you could have a self-defense case in Florida that didn’t involve SYG.  
[/QUOTE]

The duty to retreat only applied pre-SYG when there was a contention that retreat was available. Neither side argued that it was.

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