Mark O'Mara, the attorney defending George Zimmerman in the murder trial of Travyon Martin, will be a panelist at the 27th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference to be held at the Hyatt Regency Airport Hotel in Orlando this weekend.
The conference is funded by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Rights to Keep and Bear Arms. The goal of the conference is to give "an opportunity for firearms owners to meet and discuss important issues pending at the local and national levels," according to the organization's press released to the Orlando Sentinel. The conference is open to public and free.
The panel will also consist of Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms; Joseph Tartaro, president of the Second Amendment Foundation; Maria Heil of the National Rifle Association and many others.
O'Mara has been in the spot-light as the defense attorney in a case that has managed to garner massive popular attention. Zimmerman was arrested in February for the killing of the 17-year-old. Zimmerman, who was carrying a gun, shot Martin after claiming that he was attacked by the teenager and fired in an act of self-defense. The case among other social issues such as race, also rekindled the debate over gun-control. Many, including Martin's family, argued that fatal incident could have been avoided if there was no weapon at Zimmerman's disposal during the altercation. The 28-year-old Zimmerman has maintained the claim to self-defense from the beginning of the case.
Recently, O'Mara announced that he will not use the Florida State's "Stand Your Ground" law in the murder trial.
Zimmerman at the time of the fatal incident was a volunteer watch-guard of a gated community, when he approached 17-year-old Martin after observing some suspicious behavior. Zimmerman claims that the encounter soon turned into a violent affront. In an act to protect himself, Zimmerman fatally fired at the teenager. When he was arrested in February and charged with the second degree murder of Martin, Zimmerman has maintained his defense of self-protection.
However, O'Mara, Zimmerman's lawyer, who admitted he would use the Florida State's "Stand Your Ground," in a quick change of strategy said that he will not take shelter in the immunity provided by the statue, but instead would present a clear case of self-defense.
According to the "Stand your Ground," law, if a person is in reasonable fear of danger than he/she could use deadly force, without having to evade the situation. This means that even though a person has the opportunity to escape his/her attacker he/she could choose to stand ground and fight back.
But now, Zimmerman's lawyer told the Huffington Post, "I think the facts seem to support that though we have a stand-your-ground immunity hearing, what this really is, is a simple, self-defense immunity hearing."
The basic argument, O'Mara will make is that Zimmerman was being attacked by the unarmed teenager and fired the shots in an act of pure defense without any opportunity to escape the situation.
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