Update: George Zimmerman - A Reasonable Person No

Zimmerman Mug Shot

Update: Juror B37 - Two members of the all-female jury believed Zimmerman was guilty of manslaughter, while one felt he was guilty of second-degree murder.  The woman said Zimmerman “shouldn’t have gotten out of that car” In the end, they set him free to get his gun back.

"Defense attorneys on Wednesday called one of their last witnesses as they started winding down their case. Public safety consultant Dennis Root testified that Martin was in better physical shape than Zimmerman, and that the neighborhood watch volunteer wasn't any athlete.

"He would find himself lacking when compared to Mr. Martin," Root said of Zimmerman."

Reasonable Person:  The decision whether an accused is guilty of a given offense might involve the application of an objective test in which the conduct of the accused is compared to that of a reasonable person under similar circumstances. In most cases, persons with greater than average skills, or with special duties to society, are held to a higher standard of care. For example, a physician who aids a person in distress is held to a higher standard of care than is an ordinary person.

Therefore would a reasonable person, who is fat/out of shape, ignore police instructions not to follow an individual who was younger and in better physical shape? Would a reasonable person leave the safety of his/her car to hunt an individual he/she defines as suspicious to law enforcement?  Should this person be held to higher standard because he has more than 100 college credits toward a degree in criminal justice. The prosecutors pointed out that George Zimmerman should have known various ways to properly identify a potential threat and follow the directions of a 911 dispatcher. The defense noted that Zimmerman's class training was on full display that night, and that he dealt with Trayvon according to the letter of the law in criminal justice and self-defense.

The reasonable person standard is by no means democratic in its scope; it is, contrary to popular conception, intentionally distinct from that of the "average person," who is not necessarily guaranteed to always be reasonable. The reasonable person will weigh all of the following factors before acting:

the foreseeable risk of harm his actions create versus the utility of his actions;
the extent of the risk so created;
the likelihood such risk will actually cause harm to others;
any alternatives of lesser risk, and the costs of those alternatives.
Taking such actions requires the reasonable person to be appropriately informed, capable, aware of the law, and fair-minded. Such a person might do something extraordinary in certain circumstances, but whatever that person does or thinks, it is always reasonable.



BUT Zimmerman was not fat/out of shape at the time of the shooting as evident by his mug shot. On the contrary at the time of the shooting, (This work was created by a government unit of the U.S. state of Florida and is in the public domain under Florida law. Florida's Constitution and its statutes do not permit public records to be copyrighted unless the legislature specifically states they can be.)
Born October 5, 1983
Ethnicity Caucasian
Height 5 ft 7 in
Weight 185 pounds