Argumentative Essay On Murder Or Self-Defense

Christopher Garcia

Persuasive Essay

Mrs. Burris MWF- 10 a.m.

18 November 2015

Murder or Self-Defense

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on December 17, 1791, stating, "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This gave people the right to defend themselves with weapons if being threatened, but the Second Amendment holds the distinction of being the only amendment in the Bill of Rights that essentially goes unenforced. Self-Defense is defined as "the protection of one's person or property against some injury attemped by another," and murder is defined as "the unlawful killing of another human being without

justification or excuse" (Dictionary). The controversy continues over whether murder by self-defense is justice or injustice. Taking someone’s life by self-defense is hard to say is right or wrong because it is so difficult to get both sides of the story and there can be different kinds of interpretations of self-defense.
There are many cases that draw attention to the right to bear arms or self-defense debate, such as the recent case involving Treyvon Martin and George Zimmerman.

As is often the case, the witnesses’ had conflicting stories as to what occurred, making it difficult to prove or disprove the justice in Zimmerman shooting Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman did not face any criminal charges, but many believe that it was not self-defense. “Angry at Mr. Zimmerman and feeling threatened, Mr. Martin pushed him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head into the pavement, leaving visible wounds, defense lawyers said. Mr. Zimmerman, flat on his back, took out a gun and killed Mr. Martin. He told the police it was self-defense” (Alvarez). Was Zimmerman’s reaction understandable? Being beaten and thrown against the cold hard pavement creates a situation in which self-defense is necessary. However who felt the need for self-defense first? Martin was angry that, a man who did not even know him, was accusing him. Martin being younger and smaller than Zimmerman felt threatened by the mere fact Zimmerman was prosecuting him. By killing in self-defense, people are putting themself in a situation to either be a convicted murderer or a victim in a nasty

predicament.
Situations that happen more often than they should include abusive relationships that turn deadly. As seen on many episodes of 48 Hours or Lifetime Television, a fed-up wife has had it with her abusive husband and kills him. Some cases are self-defense and others are straight murder. For a murder to be excused by self-defense, that person has to be in fear of his/her life at that very moment. A self-defense murder is not planned and comes at unexpected moments (First). Therefore, the woman who poisons her husband cannot win a self-defense claim. That premeditated act could never be considered self-defense. “A few weeks after the 2009 Grammys, photos released of R&B soul singer Rihanna’s face after her then-boyfriend Chris Brown had assaulted her” (Bernard). Rihanna could have retaliated and been justified, although is a instance killing Chris Brown would not have been in her best interest.
Self-defense is anything but simple. These types of cases are the most difficult for lawyers and attorneys to handle, but on the contrary self-defense murders are the most commonly justified murders. A person has to be careful how they defend themselves, though. For example, if an unarmed assailant is mugging a person and they are able to pepper spray the mugger and run away, that person should resort to that before pulling out a firearm and shooting the mugger. The reasonable and proportional defense of others also justifies some killings. The requirements that apply to self-defense also typically apply here, which are the use of force must be timely and proportional to the threat faced, and the perceived threat of death or bodily harm must be reasonable. “A Baltimore County jury on Tuesday rejected a White Marsh women claim that the only way to end years of spousal abuse was to hire a hit man to kill her husband” (Anderson). An abused Karla Porter was faced with charges of first-degree murder because of her actions. Her actions of self-defense caused her to feel the need to find any way possible to end her abuse. Porter is now spending the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole.
America is a diverse country; therefore, people are raised in different ways and taught different things so it is hard to decipher what some people call self-defense with reason and what others call unnecessary use of force. To one person, spanking a child if he/she is being disobedient is abuse, and at the same time, others believe this is a needed way to discipline a child. The same analogy applies to self-defense when taking another person’s life. The controversy over differing views remains. Murder by self-defense will always have lose ends, and will always be questionable if there is not a full video of every second that happened during the incident.
A lot more goes into a self defense murder case, it is fundamentally different than other criminal procecution cases. Defense attorneys have to do a lot more work than normal, putting technical, psycological, physical, and emotional issues into play. It becomes a process that nobody really wants to be apart of, and it is difficult to move on from.
Weather a person is a die hard gun-activist or believes strongly in gun laws, it is important to protect oneself. Some people suggest self-defense training classes to be manditory in high schools or colleges, in order to prevent the use of guns in a self-defense case. Most young adults claim that the most profound and life-altering thing a human can do, is to take another humans life, but yet many do not know what constitues a lawful self defense. It is important to know how to handle these dangerous situation, and to know what is an ethical way to see the situation out as a whole.