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Zimmerman not guilty in Trayvon Martin death: Florida jury


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Posted
"It was not that many years ago when everyone in the US was armed with a side arm and a long rifle if mounted. As short 120 years ago."

You've been watching to many cowboy movies. That wasn't even true in the "wild west", let alone the entire US.

You obviously know nothing of US history is my only response to this.

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Posted

Zimmerman was found not guilty because the preponderance of evidence supported his version of events. Trayvon attacked him, broke his nose and injured his head and so he shot him in self defense.

Broke his nose I don't think so. Show me the X-ray. Oh, he wouldn't let them take one surprise surprise. And the EMS didn't report a broken nose, his family physician took his word for it.

Another part of his fabrication. Not that it would have made much difference if he had, one good punch would be enough to do it.

Ridiculous. Like on the night of this incident he knew that whether or not he had a broken nose may dictate his freedom so he refused to let anyone X-ray it??? Please . . .

How quickly did his lawyers attend the scene, and how much were the "injuries" played up to foster the image of a man being beaten to the point of fearing his life?

Damn right he (or his lawyers) knew.

According to what he told his physician, the EMS "told him" he had a broken nose. Which they didn't, and their report makes no mention of it.

Posted

Quote "So you can shoot a person to death "to prevent bodily harm"

But you get 20 years in prison, if you fire a warning shot?blink.png"

Link marissa-alexander-gets-20

Marissa Alexander Gets 20 Years For Firing Warning Shot

If you read the article you will notice several differences. See "An argument ensued, and Alexander said she feared for her life when she went out to her vehicle and retrieved the gun she legally owned. She came back inside and ended up firing a shot into the wall, which ricocheted into the ceiling."

Ms. Alexander went out to her car, got a gun, and then returned into the building. That does not indicate self-defense. She was out of danger. She then went in with a gun. She became the person causing danger.

Also, the article says "...she went to their former home to retrieve the rest of her clothes, family members said." It seems that this was not a case of him chasing her at all. She went to his location. I would ask if he was currently living there.

Another interesting item is "Alexander was also charged with domestic battery four months after the shooting in another assault on Gray."

Posted

Zimmerman was found not guilty because the preponderance of evidence supported his version of events. Trayvon attacked him, broke his nose and injured his head and so he shot him in self defense.

Broke his nose I don't think so. Show me the X-ray. Oh, he wouldn't let them take one surprise surprise. And the EMS didn't report a broken nose, his family physician took his word for it.

Another part of his fabrication. Not that it would have made much difference if he had, one good punch would be enough to do it.

Ridiculous. Like on the night of this incident he knew that whether or not he had a broken nose may dictate his freedom so he refused to let anyone X-ray it??? Please . . .

How quickly did his lawyers attend the scene, and how much were the "injuries" played up to foster the image of a man being beaten to the point of fearing his life?

dam_n right he (or his lawyers) knew.

According to what he told his physician, the EMS "told him" he had a broken nose. Which they didn't, and their report makes no mention of it.

I saw pictures from trial. Did you. Looks like it could be broken to me.

post-159996-0-35735700-1373827889_thumb.

Posted

Zimmerman was there, and the evidence backed him up. You, on the other hand, have no evidence to refute him.

So more people will kill more people now because by doing so they kill the witness.

No, there is always a witness called forensic evidence. There was a lot of it. In Florida as in many states, you may shoot someone to "avoid serious bodily harm." Zimmerman's nose was broken and his head was being pounded into the concrete. He shot Martin to avoid serious bodily harm, and for all he knew, death.

The jury got it right.

Zimmerman shot to kill an unarmed guy. Zimmerman went to the gated estate with a gun. He used language that indicated hostility toward Martin, a kind he'd never meet or seen before, which is profiling. Zimmerman is an out and out murderer.

You sound like the prosecution. You are even withholding facts as the prosecution did as well. Nice one!

Posted
If Zimmerman is truly not guilty, justice *not* served until Trayvon's family *pays Zimmerman* for the rigors of a false accusation and ruining Zimmerman's life. Suffering grief (even of your own child) does not absolve you from unjustly ruining someone else's life.

This was a criminal case where the State of Florida was the prosecutor. The family didn't bring charges, but social and media pressure forced the state to seek charges.

While tragic, the actual incident is around the altercation between Martin and Zimmerman. Since Zimmerman was on the ground getting his head pounded on the sidewalk, his opportunity to escape was limited and firing the shot ended it. Anything prior is not considered in the actual charges.

Posted

Another reason I don't buy Martin was this vulnerable child insinuation is because, I have heard and wanted to find some confirmation, is that 17 year olds commit a disproportionately amount of the violents crimes in the US.

Article addressing a reason why 17 year olds should be tried as adults

"is important because offenders aged 16-24 account for 37 percent of arrests for violent crime in the United States and North Carolina. Data show that serious violent crime peaks during the late teenage years and declines steadily as individuals move into their late

20s. Moreover, although 15- to 19-year-olds represent approximately seven percent of the total US population, they account for more than 20 percent of all violent crimes in the United States."

http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/s_ncfis03c01.pdf

Sorry, but based on what I have heard, and the jury did not hear, Martin was a 6'2" wannabe thug with a bad attitude. He was not some innocent 12 year old child skipping home with a hand full of skittles.

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Posted

This should have never been a case. This will NOT be a civil case; and if the DOJ is stupid enough to further cross the line (and if Obama can't keep his mouth shut this time) then there very well could be a lawsuit against the DOJ and the Chief Executive himself when he finishes his term.

George is just getting started. He has just filed a lawsuit against NBC. You can do your own Googling to figure that out.

Personally, I hope George doesn't stop there, and I hope he continues it upwards to the prosecuting team for witholding evidence, and the DOJ for allowing itself to be politically pressured by that SOB at the top, as well as those SOBs Sharpton and Jackson.

Quite frankly, I am sick and tired of American citizens who consider theirselves to be "Black" getting their hands held, and having people fall all over themselves to kiss their asses so that they won't "get upset" about the behaviors of their children coming back and roosting on their doorstep. It is almost like "America's answer to Thainess"... lie lie lie and point the finger at someone else.

I think we need more cases like this so that people will get to the point of being distraught over giving lip-service to liars and hypocrites who spin and twist every sordid behavior into some kind of "I have every right to do that!" whenever it involves anyone NOT black.

Since the verdict came out, I have not seen one black person on TV say that they think George is not guilty. They all come from the same mold. Even when they are given solid truth, they rant on and on about issues that have absolutely nothing to do with George Zimmerman and what went on that night and the events leading up to the shooting to stop the deadly assault.

I would like to hear any challenge on this, because I really feel that a lot of these anti-George posts are flat out unintelligent and so skewed and hypocritical that it has me incensed.

George is innocent, and now it's his turn. I truly wish I were an attorney because I would love to work pro-bono when he goes after the idiots who abused their power and positions to try to lynch him.

Oh, there will be a civil case. The family's lawyers don't hang around for weeks at a trial for benevolent purposes.

They wait until criminal case is over because civil case will be stayed anyway pending outcome of criminal due to broader discovery rules in civil and 5th amendment Hobson choice issues in parallel civil and criminal proceedings.

I see lawsuits filed all the time with less basis than this. No doubt they will sue Zimmerman.

I think he can bankrupt it since jury said not wanton.

Posted

The murdered boy was 5'11" not 6'2" but I'm not really clear how being on the tall side has anything to do with justifying his being slain.

Parents said 6'2" and conflicting reports. Police report estimated 6'.

By the way, he was not murdered so once again you got your facts wrong. FYI, he was acquitted. Acquitted means not guilty of murder or manslaughter.

It has everything to do with this poor vulnerable child bs as this guy could probably kicked the crap out of you and I at the same time. So once again, just more intellectual dishonesty.

  • Like 1
Posted

You might have a point of the DOJ potential case being all politics.. But a civil case in a situation like this where the defendant is set up to get massively rich based on a killing, is totally normal, predictable, and fair. Zimmerman should not be legally allowed to make penny one on the blood of his child victim.

I hate it when people call Martin a child. Martin was not a child. A child walking home on a dark, rainy night being followed by a man he doesn't know DOES NOT confront the man. A child runs home to get safe.

Under the law, he was a child. Just a few days over age 16.

Yes! A tall, muscular child with a hoody drawn down over his face, who was at the time mentally impaired by the amount of marijuana in his system. A tall, muscular child who did not listen to that little voice in his head that said, "GO HOME!", but instead lingered for over 4 minutes in the area after spotting Zimmerman following him to question him about his suspicious behavior.

A child who, after recognizing in his mentally impaired state that he was being followed, continued to stay off the footpath and apparently forgot that he was supposed to continue on his homeward journey to deliver the tea and skittles, and instead hid from Zimmerman for a period of not less than four (4) minutes... that means not on the footpath... that means hiding very near homes that were not his home, and had innocent people in those homes who knew that Zimmerman was outside their home doing what they wanted him to do.

That means people who did not want someone like Martin lurking outside their homes all hopped up on marijuana and thank the gods that they did not step outside to take out the garbage, or send their little kids outside to do same and bump into this man... that means the neighborhood was experiencing a situation that they hired Zimmerman to protect them from. What does that mean to you, JT?

Ya want more? I got more. I only wish the defense had had the opportunity to have what I have, and they now have, and so does everyone else, IF... if they put the pieces together to make sense for this kind of situation every time, and not merely to simply suit this one particular situation...

...but remember that the judge and the prosecution wouldn't allow this evidence and also withheld a lot of it as well, respectively.

This is a case of spiting the body to spare the fingernail.

  • Like 2
Posted

Zimmerman was actually guilty of this killing. But the Florida law is very flawed. So the jury felt their hand were tied by the law. I know from personal experience juries don't always follow the letter of the law because they feel doing what they think is right thing is more important.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/07/zimmerman_acquittal_blame_florida_for_trayvon_martin_s_death.html

But that doesn’t mean the jury’s verdict was racist. In Florida, a person “who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked” has no duty to retreat. He or she has the right to “meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.” The jury could have faulted Zimmerman for starting the altercation with Martin and still believed him not guilty of murder, or even of manslaughter, which in Florida is a killing that has no legal justification. If the jury believed that once the physical fight began, Zimmerman reasonably feared he would suffer a grave bodily injury, then he gets off for self-defense.

Maybe that is the wrong rule. Maybe people like George Zimmerman should be held responsible for provoking the fight that they then fear they’ll lose. And maybe cuts to the back of the head and a bloody nose aren’t enough to show reasonable fear of grave bodily harm. After all, as Adam Weinstein points out, the lesson right now for Floridians is this: “in any altercation, however minor, the easiest way to avoid criminal liability is to kill the counterparty.” But you can see the box the jurors might have felt they were in. Even if they didn’t like George Zimmerman—even if they believed only part of what he told the police—they didn’t have a charge under Florida law that was a clear fit for what he did that night.

This is what Slate’s Justin Peters meant when he reminded us earlier this week that the state has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. “That hasn’t happened,” he wrote. “And if the prosecution can’t prove its case, then Zimmerman should walk.” This is our legal system. It doesn’t always deliver justice, and this case surely points to several ways in which Florida’s version of law and police work should change. It may demonstrate that Zimmerman should face federal civil rights charges.

Posted

The murdered boy was 5'11" not 6'2" but I'm not really clear how being on the tall side has anything to do with justifying his being slain.

It doesn't. What are you getting at?

Edit: Are you aware of Martin's toxicology report? Why not focus on that for beginners.

Posted

It's not over.

The DOJ may indeed file very serious charges and they have every legal right to do so.

Then there are the civil cases which will be easy to win.

Zimmerman will pay for killing Martin. He argued he needed to kill him. He may have gotten off on legal technicalities because Florida's self defense laws are absurdly lax for the killers, but that doesn't mean he is in any way an INNOCENT man.

Are you referring to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law??

If so, you are way off base. Zimmerman did not avail himself of the "Stand Your Ground" law. And "self defense laws" are not "legal technicalities". They are basic laws in virtually all states and territories.

If the DOJ does go the "Civil Rights Violation" route, it will be for show only. Also, I would not count on the civil cases being easy to win. Not after a not-guilty verdict.

Also, I have heard news reports that under Florida law, he can apply for immunity from the civil liability based on his not-guilty verdict. ( Not an attorney in Florida, so I don't know the details of that.)

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Posted

Zimmerman was actually guilty of this killing. But the Florida law is very flawed. So the jury felt their hand were tied by the law. I know from personal experience juries don't always follow the letter of the law because they feel doing what they think is right thing is more important.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/07/zimmerman_acquittal_blame_florida_for_trayvon_martin_s_death.html

But that doesnt mean the jurys verdict was racist. In Florida, a person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked has no duty to retreat. He or she has the right to meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself. The jury could have faulted Zimmerman for starting the altercation with Martin and still believed him not guilty of murder, or even of manslaughter, which in Florida is a killing that has no legal justification. If the jury believed that once the physical fight began, Zimmerman reasonably feared he would suffer a grave bodily injury, then he gets off for self-defense.

Maybe that is the wrong rule. Maybe people like George Zimmerman should be held responsible for provoking the fight that they then fear theyll lose. And maybe cuts to the back of the head and a bloody nose arent enough to show reasonable fear of grave bodily harm. After all, as Adam Weinstein points out, the lesson right now for Floridians is this: in any altercation, however minor, the easiest way to avoid criminal liability is to kill the counterparty. But you can see the box the jurors might have felt they were in. Even if they didnt like George Zimmermaneven if they believed only part of what he told the policethey didnt have a charge under Florida law that was a clear fit for what he did that night.

This is what Slates Justin Peters meant when he reminded us earlier this week that the state has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That hasnt happened, he wrote. And if the prosecution cant prove its case, then Zimmerman should walk. This is our legal system. It doesnt always deliver justice, and this case surely points to several ways in which Floridas version of law and police work should change. It may demonstrate that Zimmerman should face federal civil rights charges.

Seriously, pleas get facts and law straight and than I will respect your opinion.

Mark Omera hanged his hat on self defense, not stand your ground.

Some lawyers criticized him on not arguing stand your ground immunity. His whole case, however, was self defense in that Zimmerman had a reasonable belief for his safety or life while his head was being bashed into concrete.

All states have self defenseless. This is not a peculiarity of Florida law.

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Posted

There was no place to retreat when straddled on your back into the ground so arguing duty to retreat or stand your ground law was nonsensical. This was a self defense case. Tell me a state that does not have sf defense law. There may be one. I don't know laws of ever state, but I seriously doubt it. Basic concept in criminal law.

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Posted

Florida's law is written a specific way. Each state law is different. Please stop telling me this was about stand your ground when I am referring to Florida's SPECIFIC guidelines for self defense defenses.

Posted

JT, you may be right about 5'11".

According to the autopsy report, Trayvon was 5'11" tall and weighed 158 pounds, the "ideal healthy weight" at that height being 160 pounds. He was not the skinny little boy with the Skittles that half of America still believes him to be. He was at least three inches taller than Zimmerman and only about 20 pounds lighter.

His home life a wreck, his school life in disarray, Trayvon had fallen victim to urban America's lost boy culture.

This culture, which the media also choose not to see, has been shockingly destructive. Citing Bureau of Justice statistics, black economist Walter Williams in a recent column notes that "between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims." Of these, Williams estimates that roughly "262,621 were murdered by other blacks."

Trayvon had "statistic" written all over him. In the past year or so, his social media sites showed a growing interest in drugs, in mixed martial arts-style street fighting, in a profoundly vulgar exploitation of "bitches."

Trayvon posed for one photo with raised middle fingers, another with wads of cash held in an out-stretched arm. One YouTube video shows him refereeing a fight club-style street fight. A cousin had recently tweeted him, "Yu ain't tell me yu swung on a bus driver," meaning, if true, that Trayvon had punched out a bus driver.

  • Like 1
Posted

It's not over.

The DOJ may indeed file very serious charges and they have every legal right to do so.

Then there are the civil cases which will be easy to win.

Zimmerman will pay for killing Martin. He argued he needed to kill him. He may have gotten off on legal technicalities because Florida's self defense laws are absurdly lax for the killers, but that doesn't mean he is in any way an INNOCENT man.

Are you referring to Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law??

If so, you are way off base. Zimmerman did not avail himself of the "Stand Your Ground" law. And "self defense laws" are not "legal technicalities". They are basic laws in virtually all states and territories.

If the DOJ does go the "Civil Rights Violation" route, it will be for show only. Also, I would not count on the civil cases being easy to win. Not after a not-guilty verdict.

Also, I have heard news reports that under Florida law, he can apply for immunity from the civil liability based on his not-guilty verdict. ( Not an attorney in Florida, so I don't know the details of that.)

They won't because they have no way to prove that the crime was a civil offense based on racial motivation. Racial motivation is only one of two reasons that they can bring a civil charge against Zimmerman. The other reason has something to do with being deputized, but that is not relevant here.

So, is Zimmerman racist and can the FEDERAL (that's F.E.D.E.R.A.L.) government prove it?

Well, the FEDERAL (that's F.E.D.E.R.A.L.) Bureau of Investigation says that Zimmerman is not a racist; and busybody with a bit of a hero complex, but not a racist. GOOGLE it yourself.

So, wouldn't that be a bit contradictory to charge him and have their own people get up on the stand and deny their report just so the racist Jackson and Sharpton can sleep at night and dream about a 100% black America??

Regrettably, this time the prosecution and the judge would not be able to try to lynch Zimmerman by withholding this evidence from the defense team and the jurors.

No, the federal government cannot contradict itself in the court of law. They have effectually voided their option to prove racial motivation.

  • Like 1
Posted

Read the Stand Your Ground Law before you make uneducated comments. If someone is banging my head into the concrete, I have the right to use deadly force.

Kevin

Posted

Florida's law is written a specific way. Each state law is different. Please stop telling me this was about stand your ground when I am referring to Florida's SPECIFIC guidelines for self defense defenses.

The article is talking about duty to retreat ie stand your ground.

Okay, tell me how self defense law in Florida differed from Georgia, Alabama or Tennessee.

Here is an article from someone that actually gets it:

"She added that the law in question in Florida was not unique to the state, as some critics have said, but shared across the country. Ultimately, this came down to not any particular peculiarity of Florida law, but basic self-defense principles that are enshrined in every state in this country, Guthrie explained."

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/353369/nbc-legal-expert-zimmerman-trial-it-came-down-basic-self-defense-principles-are

The guy you cite and media is mixing concepts. Perhaps because it makes good news. Perhaps agenda. I dunno.

Posted

JT, you may be right about 5'11".

According to the autopsy report, Trayvon was 5'11" tall and weighed 158 pounds, the "ideal healthy weight" at that height being 160 pounds. He was not the skinny little boy with the Skittles that half of America still believes him to be. He was at least three inches taller than Zimmerman and only about 20 pounds lighter.

His home life a wreck, his school life in disarray, Trayvon had fallen victim to urban America's lost boy culture.

This culture, which the media also choose not to see, has been shockingly destructive. Citing Bureau of Justice statistics, black economist Walter Williams in a recent column notes that "between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims." Of these, Williams estimates that roughly "262,621 were murdered by other blacks."

Trayvon had "statistic" written all over him. In the past year or so, his social media sites showed a growing interest in drugs, in mixed martial arts-style street fighting, in a profoundly vulgar exploitation of "bitches."

Trayvon posed for one photo with raised middle fingers, another with wads of cash held in an out-stretched arm. One YouTube video shows him refereeing a fight club-style street fight. A cousin had recently tweeted him, "Yu ain't tell me yu swung on a bus driver," meaning, if true, that Trayvon had punched out a bus driver.

And the photo of him holding a gun in his bedroom with jewelry on the bed

And the toxicology report that the prosecution withheld from the defense which showed that Martin was very high that evening

And so on, and so on, and so on...

Posted

JT, you may be right about 5'11".

According to the autopsy report, Trayvon was 5'11" tall and weighed 158 pounds, the "ideal healthy weight" at that height being 160 pounds. He was not the skinny little boy with the Skittles that half of America still believes him to be. He was at least three inches taller than Zimmerman and only about 20 pounds lighter.

His home life a wreck, his school life in disarray, Trayvon had fallen victim to urban America's lost boy culture.

This culture, which the media also choose not to see, has been shockingly destructive. Citing Bureau of Justice statistics, black economist Walter Williams in a recent column notes that "between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims." Of these, Williams estimates that roughly "262,621 were murdered by other blacks."

Trayvon had "statistic" written all over him. In the past year or so, his social media sites showed a growing interest in drugs, in mixed martial arts-style street fighting, in a profoundly vulgar exploitation of "bitches."

Trayvon posed for one photo with raised middle fingers, another with wads of cash held in an out-stretched arm. One YouTube video shows him refereeing a fight club-style street fight. A cousin had recently tweeted him, "Yu ain't tell me yu swung on a bus driver," meaning, if true, that Trayvon had punched out a bus driver.

And the photo of him holding a gun in his bedroom with jewelry on the bed

And the toxicology report that the prosecution withheld from the defense which showed that Martin was very high that evening

And so on, and so on, and so on...

I am hearing all kinds of rumblings about prosecutorial misconduct that frankly sickens me. If true, they should lose their license.

Posted

This is getting ugly. There is no such report proving the victim was "very high" on the night his being slain.

You know I was an an Obama supporter, but after learning about a lot of what happened here including some allegations of special prosecutor misconduct, I am really starting to question who our president really is and what is going on here. Some major bs was withheld. It will come soon.

Did you read the legal commentary on self defense law I provided.

Man, keep an open mind here. You were taken. Mark Omera is a actually good people and straight up guy.

  • Like 1
Posted

Murder guilt or innocence is not dependent on the social problems of the victim.

Says who; and what does that have to do with stopping someone from beating the living daylights out of you, with no apparent indication that they are going to cease and desist until you are dead or permanently brain damaged?

How could it be possible that Zimmerman did not know that the person administering assault on him was so screwed up on drugs? Who is to say that the beating would have gone on until Zimmerman was unconscious and worse even?

Dispense with the before and after. Let's talk about the beating, because the FBI has already proven with their experts that Zimmerman was not a racist up until he was being hand-beaten into a pulp. Maybe he should have just lay there a bit longer so the photos would satisfy others, but personally if I were to do the same to any one of you I am certain you would be reaching for the first thing you could get your hands on.

  • Like 2
Posted

This is getting ugly. There is no such report proving the victim was "very high" on the night his being slain.

Yes, the child... the poor baby was high on drugs. Did mommy and daddy know that? Did they know everything else that people are telling you exist for all the public to put together and see that there is another story here that Obama and Sharpton and Jackson don't want you to hear?

Yeah! Obama. What a klutz. "You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said.

Yes, Mr. President, I do believe that he would. I also believe that he would behave like Trayvon.

Martin's toxicology report indicates that THC, the active drug in marijuana, was in his blood at the time of his death on February 26, 2012.

Posted

Nobody outside of the USA is surprised at this verdict. Young black kid shot in the back by a wannabe cop. Nothing to see here, move on folks. Is one of the reasons why the USA is held in contempt by the rest of the civilised world.

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