The mother of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen fatally shot by George Zimmerman, testified on Tuesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill. Sybrina Fulton spoke on Capitol Hill saying the "Stand Your Ground" laws in the United States are flawed and need to be abolished. The controversial law was first thrust into the spotlight after the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The Florida teen was killed by a former neighborhood watch captain. George Zimmerman claimed that Martin attacked him and left him no choice but to shoot the teen.
Zimmerman was originally going to plan his defense around the "Stand Your Ground" law, but he and his lawyers decided to just plead self-defense. Before George Zimmerman's trial began in mid-2013 he waived his right to a "Stand Your Ground" hearing, which would have granted him immunity from prosecution if the law was deemed applicable in the Martin shooting. In July of this year George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder and released. The public was outraged over the verdict. Many felt Zimmerman profiled Martin due to his race on the night of the shooting.
Zimmerman said the only reason he was following the teen was because he fit the description of thieves who were responsible for a string of break-ins in his neighborhood. "I just wanted to come here to let you know how important it is that we amend this "Stand Your Ground" because it certainly did not work in my case," said Fulton on Tuesday. "The person that shot and killed my son is walking the streets today. This law does not work." In most states the "Stand Your Ground" law allows someone who feels their life is in danger to use deadly force against their would-be assailant.
The law is considered controversial in most states because it allows people to use deadly force even if they have the option of running away. During Fulton's testimony she fired back at Republican Senator Ted Cruz who spoke during the hearing saying the jury made their decision to acquit Zimmerman based on the evidence and details of the night of the shooting. "The Stand Your Ground law was not a defense that was raised," Cruz said. Fulton said that the law was a factor because Zimmerman's attorneys had used the law during the pretrial hearings before deciding to drop it as a defense.
"It wasn't something that we made up, it was something they were going to use, so it certainly played a part," Fulton said. "The jury was given instructions that had information on there about Stand Your Ground, so it's not like we're making, you know, making anything up. It's just that is was being used." Following the not guilty verdict, jurors told reporters that they did in fact consider Stand Your Ground when deliberating Zimmerman's fate. Juror B37 told the Miami Herald that they reached their verdict "because of the heat of the moment and the Stand Your Ground."
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