Criminal Law professor and former prosecutor Alafair Burke provides a devastating analysis of the jury instructions in the Zimmerman trial, suggesting that the jury received only instructions regarding the "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida that were favorable to the defendant: 'Had the jury been instructed about the initial aggressor exception, it might have concluded that Zimmerman's following of Martin, though itself not criminal, was reasonably apprehended by Martin as a "threat of force." Put another way, the jury might have concluded that Martin was the one acting in self-defense during the physical confrontation that preceded the gunshot, making Zimmerman the aggressor.' |