Zimmerman acquitted

Did anyone else find CNN's coverage of the incident very biased? They always showed pictures of a much younger and smiling Martin, when newer pictures of him were very thuggish and menacing, why weren't those pictures ever shown on the news? Just like the media always showed pictures of the 15 year old and clean shaven Omar Khadr even when he was an adult and had the typical bearded terrorist look. It's sad that the left makes the worst people in society martyrs and heroes but they don't care about innocent people who are wrongly accused of serious crimes. Everyone knows about Martin and Khadr because of their fan clubs, but how many people even know about Brian Banks?
 
If GZ had not profiled a kid and instead not continued to follow Martin, 2 people's lives wouldn't be destroyed today.
 
Blue Wolf II:
Regardless of the verdict, the undisputed fact is that a unarmed boy was killed by a wannabe cop, regardless of motive or reason.
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I don't know about that interpretation.

The prosecution has to prove the guilt of the defendant. The defendant doesn't have to prove innocence.

The prosecution's case was not even circumstantial. In fact, they had no case at all. The prosecution was making emotional appeals like claiming Zimmerman was a 'wannabe cop'. That is a supposition without any substance nor evidence to even suggest or imply that (and suggestions and implications are not evidence).

Let's see - the political machine of the town had to bypass the indictment process because there wasn't even enough evidence to bring the charges to a grand jury which would clearly not have indicted Zimmerman in the first place. The prosecution had to violate the process and go directly to a judge which is not allowable but they did it anyway.

At any rate, the prosecution had no case at all. The charges should have never been brought in the first case.

I've sat as a juror on many US Federal Grand Juries, State Grand Juries and juries in trials over the years. I've also been a Magistrate Judge (which largely involved issuing arrest warrants and deals with probably cause for the most part). Looking at the original charges and evidence against Zimmerman, I can tell you without a doubt that the prosecution had no case at all, absolutely NO case at all, even under the wacky Florida laws.

Under Florida law, self-defense is defined as any situation in which a person reasonably feels that their life is in danger or that they are in immediate danger of grievous bodily harm, and as such it included 'excusable homicide' that results from the use of deadly force.

Zimmerman was getting his head bashed in against a concrete sidewalk, and ironically, the sidewalk itself was a weapon under the law (because it was firmly and forensically established as such). Also, Martin struck the first blow. Under a 'reasonable man rule' analysis under principle of law, if someone initiates a physical confrontation by belting you in the face and knocking you down and then sits on top of you and bashes your head repeatedly into the ground, you have reasonable cause to believe your life is in danger. Carrying a concealed weapon is not illegal in Florida if you abide by the relevant laws (which Zimmerman did). Personally, if someone popped me in the face, in the dark, regardless of why there were there, my sidearm would be on them quicker than shit through a goose (which would probably preclude any further escalation of the event).

The 'Stand Your Ground' law is based in common law practice and principles of law: if an assailant comes at you with what you believe is the clear intent to do you grievous bodily harm or otherwise threaten life or limb, you have absolutely no duty to retreat and may present the implements of deadly force in your own self defense and use deadly force if the assault progresses.

In most states in which similar principles of law are enforced, simply presenting a firearm or informing an assailant that you have a firearm is due diligence enough on your part to the point that if the assailant continues to approach or tries to otherwise physically assault you, you can shoot his ass. Just don't ever say you intended to kill the person because then it could be construed as malice of forethought and premeditation.

Zimmerman did the correct thing by telling the police that "I felt my life was in danger. I shot to neutralize the threat', which is the only thing you ever say to the police (and nothing more) if you ever do have to shoot in self defense.

The prosecution needed to prove that at the instant of the shooting that Zimmerman did not feel his life to be in danger, and the prosecution, under the law, could not prove that point.

I have a CCW permit in my home state and several other states. I carry a handgun on occasion. On occasion that handgun has saved my life and the lives of others over the years. The fact that I carry a firearm legally does not in any way make me guilty of 'contributory negligence' in any event in which I have to use that handgun to neutralize a legitimate threat. Nor does it imply that I am a 'wanna be cop'. I have some law enforcement experience and believe me, after that, the last thing I want to be is a cop.

The charges against Zimmerman should have never been brought. The Jury came to the correct decision in all legal terms and moral terms (morality being independent of statute law and cannot be considered in jury deliberations - unless 'jury nullification' comes into play).
 
"proobably cause" says the former Magistrate :rofl: tl:dr


edit: Read it and loved every word! :w00t:

I guess applying to be a cop and being rejected is not enough to qualify as a wannabe cop.
 
I believe he should have been found guilty but it is how the American judicial system is created. Because they say if Zimmerman was a black man he would have been in jail already but since he is white they were more sympathetic towards him, but now they started a revolution because people in New York are protesting, California and the rest of the country because it is not fair how they black people in this country.
 
Leekem:
I believe he should have been found guilty but it is how the American judicial system is created. Because they say if Zimmerman was a black man he would have been in jail already but since he is white they were more sympathetic towards him, but now they started a revolution because people in New York are protesting, California and the rest of the country because it is not fair how they black people in this country.
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Really? Then by that logic, OJ Simpson should have been in jail the first time he was put on trial, after he murdered his wife. Not everything that happens in America needs to be racially motivated, you know.

What benefited Zimmerman the most was the fact that no one clearly saw what occurred and the fact that Zimmerman had defensive wounds on him. Now, the guy's still an idiot for disobeying a 911 operator who told him to stay put until the police arrived, and he clearly killed Martin, but without a whole lot of witness or physical evidence that what occurred was murder as oppose to self-defense, the jury didn't have much of a choice.

I still think he should have been found guilty for manslaughter, however. Zimmerman should have never approached Martin and a good old fashioned bare-knuckled ass-beating doesn't justify a shooting.
 
Leekem:
...but since he is white they were more sympathetic towards him...
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Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian and his father is white. Zimmerman himself identifies as a Latino. It is interesting to me how quickly people have been willing to dismiss the minority half of his background in order to push the "white man" image, make it a race issue when they were both technically minorities, and vilify him further.
 
Democratic Donkeys:
"proobably cause" says the former Magistrate :rofl: tl:dr


edit: Read it and loved every word! :w00t:

I guess applying to be a cop and being rejected is not enough to qualify as a wannabe cop.
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Oddly enough, you generally get automatically rejected by 99% of the police forces in the US if your IQ is over 95. Seriously.

Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops (ABC News).

And, it's been that way in 99% of the police forces in the US for about 40 years now.

You're also making a presumption about why Zimmerman's application was not accepted. Presumptions are not evidence.
 
IndieGirl:
Leekem:
...but since he is white they were more sympathetic towards him...
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Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian and his father is white. Zimmerman himself identifies as a Latino. It is interesting to me how quickly people have been willing to dismiss the minority half of his background in order to push the "white man" image, make it a race issue when they were both technically minorities, and vilify him further.
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Good point and exactly right on target.

I can't stand when they use the term "Hispanic" as a race. Hispanic is NOT a race. It is a cultural/linguistic group that covers any number of races.

Cubans are Hispanic, but Cubans can be of any number of races.

Saying Zimmerman is a 'White Hispanic' is like saying Obama is a 'White African-American'. :P

Along the same ironic lines, if one was White Caucasian and they came from South Africa, would they technically be "African-American" if they moved to the US? :yes:

Point being, the race baiting conducted by the Lame-Stream media is just astounding. Now the DoJ is getting in on the act by playing fast and loose with the whole constitutional concept of Double Jeopardy.
 
Romanoffia:
Along the same ironic lines, if one was White Caucasian and they came from South Africa, would they technically be "African-American" if they moved to the US? :yes:
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Random tangent, I know someone who is a White Mozambican and is American by naturalization. He put on a job application that he was "African-American" and the interviewers accused him of lying about his race because he's not black.
 
Due process and all that.

Still though the whole trial is an exercise in hyperfocus.

How many other people were killed for reasons involving race, or just killed in the year and a bit this took? How many of those other cases were disregard?
 
Even black cops profile young black men, so it's unfair to say that race is always a factor in cases like this. If I see a black man in a suit and tie who looks like Carlton Banks walking towards me, I don't get nervous, but if a group of white teenagers dressed in hip hop style clothes are coming, I cross to the other side.
 
Blue Wolf II:
Romanoffia:
Along the same ironic lines, if one was White Caucasian and they came from South Africa, would they technically be "African-American" if they moved to the US? :yes:
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Random tangent, I know someone who is a White Mozambican and is American by naturalization. He put on a job application that he was "African-American" and the interviewers accused him of lying about his race because he's not black.
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Ironically "African American" is not a race when you get down to it. I just implies that someone is from Africa and is a US Citizen. As I recall, there are several races that live in Africa. :P


Funny, isn't it, though? We live in a nation where the law on one hand states that it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, but on the other hand, every job application and government form asks for one's race? Think about it.

Ironically, discrimination is illegal but there are legal requirements to hire someone on the basis of race or minority status. Hence, I view assigning merit to skin color or ethnic background under any circumstance is racism. The US federal government does exactly that. Tells us that everyone is equal and that race is meaningless and shouldn't be considered yet comes along and tells everyone they must consider it? WTF?!

Of course there will be the inevitable argument that we must perform acts of 'official discrimination' by the government to rectify 'past injustices' but that is still taking race into account and racism from no matter what angle you look at it. In fact it's worse than racism because it's patronizing.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." ------- Martin Luther King
 
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