News George Zimmermann Case And Trial

[Lady of Longbourn]

My husband has been watching this case and honestly, me not so much. But George Zimmermann was found not guilty so my husband is trying to get me to have an opinion but I am curious to what others think. My husband is very upset by the whole thing.

Link Removed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin

[DLMURL]http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/13/19441838-jury-finds-george-zimmerman-not-guilty?lite[/DLMURL]

What do you think should have happened? Should Zimmermann gotten 2nd degree murder? Manslaughter?

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

Oh and the reason I am not giving my opinion is becasue I don't know enough about the case. I don't know it from the start so I feel I shouldn't say anything.

I am still interested about what other people might think.

 

[reallydown]

I am not a lawyer and I have not followed as closely as perhaps I could have. I'll just say that clearly, the law and justice are two very separate things. Unfortunately, I am not surprised by the verdict. It also appears that the prosecution mucked this up big time. To my mind, this should have been more about what sentence Zimmerman gets...ie if he killed Martin unintentionally, it should be lighter sentence than premeditated etc. etc. But he walks free and he gets his gun back? Talk about a messed up legal system (no, not justice system)...

 

[Misul]

Well, being mixed race is both a blessing and a curse. Thank you ancestors for giving me wonderful culture and knowledge. Dealing with other people, that's another story. People are always trying to force me to be a certain way. There's an assumption that since I grew up in the USA, I should dump anything traditional from my Asian/Native American blood and just "be an American". People always say, American is a melting pot, blah, blah, blah, and acknowledge that people from all over the world make up this country, but then think we should all assimilate into this image of Americana. People stare at me if I put a bunch of braids in my hair with a feather or if I'm wearing a kimono. Not in a good way, but they think I'm wearing a costume. Like jeans are the official Mao uniform of the USA we're supposed to wear AT ALL TIMES!

Okay, what's my point, why am I ranting, and how does it relate to the topic? Well, despite having a very mixed race child, my dad is racist. He denies it, but he is VERY racist. Things like this court case ignite him and make it worse, as it does many people on both sides of the fence. Today I was triggered while walking into the kitchen where my dad was watching the news and shouting the "N" word at the TV. It made me want to cry and run far, far, away. I lost my appetite and didn't even want to eat. I just didn't want to be near such a hateful person. How can he say those things and look at me in the face? It's not worth arguing over, I'd have wasted my breath to give him a history lesson, so I didn't really say much and just felt miserable. It reminds me of when I was a kid and called names. Back when I was young, being mixed race (especially Asian) was not considered cool or trendy or whatever it is nowadays. People looked down on me and racial slurs weren't as taboo. It didn't just remind me of that, but in general reminded me of every time I'd been assaulted by my parents, or when strangers look at me when I'm dressed a certain way, because it invoked the same feelings of terror, shame, embarrassment, pain, anger, sadness, and loneliness.

And that's how I feel about this case. Like you, I don't know enough to give an opinion on the verdict, though I am very interested in reading up on it now.

Misul

 

[The Albatross]

... But he walks free and he gets his gun back? Talk about a messed up legal system (no, not justice system)...

He was found Not Guilty. I am not aware that confiscation of ones personal property would be appropriate unless he was convicted.

When the media pumped fervor for this case as a "white" on "black" crime... and the president himself weighed in "If I had a son he would look like Trayvon Martin..."... what occurred on a national scale became all about race. Yesterday Al Sharpton was at an event where they were passing out dead or alive flyers with the Black Panthers.
[DLMURL]http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/sharpton-rallied-with-black-panthers-as-they-passed-out-zimmerman-dead-or-alive-flyers-video/[/DLMURL]

Bloggers have noted that as the nation focused on this trumped up case that over 11,000 blacks have died violently... predominantly by other blacks. To me this is telling me to take the splinter out of my own eye while leaving the log in their own.

I did follow this case, as it is in my state, and I was appalled by the media portrayals and bias in this case. I'm glad it's over and I hope if a civil suit is brought, that Zimmerman beats that suit as well. I'd like to see the federal government honor the verdict and leave Florida affairs to Floridians.

It pisses me off that no one noted, that Trayvon assaulted what he thought was a fat, "white" stranger and that his own actions, when he put his hands on Zimmerman led to his demise. He attacked Zimmerman because he didn't think he was armed and he thought he would give a beat down. The took a gamble, and lost. Tragic? Yeah, sure... but both sides are culpable.

 

[The Albatross]

The other thing that pisses me off is that while media attention was focused on this case, the trial of both the Fort Hood shooter and Wikileaks Bradly Manning have been obscured. Also it dominated a large chunk of the news cycle and the discourse passing as "news" on the major networks made my head want to explode.

I am more offended by what passes as news worthy and journalistic integrity than I am by either George Zimmerman OR Trayvon Martin. The case itself and the verdict... may not please some, but hey... I didn't like the verdict with OJ Simpson or Casey Anthony either... but they got their day in court, and they were let to walk.

The prosecution did what they could with the case, the judge behaved with mostly integrity on the case, the defense did what they were supposed to do, the jury did what they were supposed to do.

I got no beef about the process, justice, or the law. But I do have a beef with mainstream media and certain pundits using this case and Trayvon as a poster boy for their own causes and agendas. In my view Zimmerman lost too. Not with his life, but his life will never be the same. Plenty of armchair haters and media talking heads have made sure of it.

 

[dms]

The verdict upset me too but like reallydown said in American you are innocent until proving guilty so we must respect the juries decision. And if there is any REASONABLE not COMMON sense doubt then the jury must find you innocent. Think about the OJ and Casey Anthony cases. It's really sad because if you have a good defense attorney you have a good chance of committing murder and walking free. I guess the punishment is living the rest of your life hated in a LIVING HELL because Americans are very vocal and unforgiven to people who get away with murder.

 

[Barberian]

As to this particular case, I don't care. As to most media circuses... I don't care. I have enough to deal with, with my PTSD. I don't need to look for things to get myself all hyped up and freaked out about. I don't watch T.V., and I'm selective about the internet stories I follow. I do read tiny bits here and there about the latest media circus just to have an idea about what everybody else is all worked up about, but I don't get emotionally or intellectually invested in it. I keep my distance from it.

The media MUST have a story to draw in the public so they can stay in business. This shooting served that purpose. Will we ever know the TRUTH? No. For those who followed the media circus, they learned what each side WANTED us to know. Each side did their best to hide anything bad about their client and reveal ANYTHING bad about the other side true or not, to effectively lie without getting caught. Have you heard that the government tried to withhold evidence and then they were exposed by one of their own employees STILL did their best to stonewall the defense by providing low quality black and white photos, then 16 bit low quality pastel color photos, then full color low quality photos, then finally after almost 6 months and several court orders the real .jpgs. This was the GOVERNMENT that was doing this CLEARLY illegal conduct.

Florida IT director fired for leaking evidence to Zimmerman defense team.

This story will keep grabbing headlines until the next racially loaded case comes up, or pantieless celeb shows her little bits on "accident", or some other loaded "scandal". Then the people will almost completely forget about this case and follow the next like rabid dogs.

My life is so much better once I disconnected from the T.V.. Particularly the news(?) The media companies have done countless dollars in research to find the best ways to get their audiences worked up. An exited and passionate audience will keep coming back hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, etc... to get their "fix" on the latest story allowing the media companies to sell their advertising for higher and higher prices = more income for the media companies.

Unfortunately for civilization, the media companies getting their audiences worked up keeps the racial, social, sexual, ect... divides in society and keeps it at a flash point. This is not good, as a tiny little spark can set a city, region, country on the path to self destruction.

Do yourself a favor, do society a favor, stop following the latest media feeding frenzy(s). Dare I say, even unplug the T.V.? Watch your shows on the internet so you don't get bombarded with news(?) update commercials. You won't feel as stressed out all the time. It will be one or more less stressors in your life.

Just my 2 copper.

 

[The Albatross]

The next order of business regarding this case is what to do with Florida state attorney Angela Corey. Her behavior was deplorable. She needs to be disbarred. She filed a false affidavit and misled the judge. In another matter she has been under scrutiny for padding her office's pensions and others in her office have resigned. But this is a Florida matter. Alan Dershowitz lays it out here:
http://therightscoop.com/boom-alan-...olations-of-george-zimmerman-by-angela-corey/

 

[intothelight]

I have watched this case and quite honestly, people need to read and decide on their own and leave out the left and right wing political rhetoric!

How can this be a case about race when both parties are "of color"? Maybe not the correct political term, but check out the ethnicity of Zimmerman? To play the race card is just inflammatory and media manipulation.

Personally this is a case of STUPID! Zimmerman decided to play cowboy and instead of remaining in his car, as the police instructed, he gets out and decides to "see" where Martin had gone. Then you have Martin who decides to confront, rather than just go home and call the police himself. I have no doubt that Martin decided to jump Zimmerman, as the witness testimony and the injuries sustained by both parties support. Is this an abnormal response from a 17 year old who is being followed? I don't think so. So then there is a scuffle with a gun and Martin is shot at close range. Self defense..........if he was going after the gun...definitely. Manslaughter.....if he just overreacted...definitely.

Zimmerman has been tried and acquitted, but "people" are calling for a judicial review, a civil rights suite, and blood. This is just a witch hunt at this point and the media is just having a field day.

He was lawfully carrying a gun and has been tried and found not guilty. If there are issues with guns, then get active to change the law and vote. If the issue is race then work towards building tolerance and not creating more civil unrest. If the issue is violence, no one should support threats against anyone else, and get active to address the violence that permeates our society.

Personally, I see this as two relatively young men, who decided they both had something to prove and it went south very badly. Violence is never the answer to anything, and neither is inflammatory statements, generalizations, using tragedy to promote your own agenda, etc. Time people start focusing on solutions rather than continually rehashing the problems.

 

[dms]

I see it has a man getting away with MURDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope Zimmerman gets shot in Florida, in his neighborhood, (or where ever he is hiding) while he is walking home and the killer calls it SELF DEFENSE too. He killed a kid FOR NO REASON and now he is a MARKED MAN..Okay, i repent, that is what my head tells me but my heart knows that "vengeance is not mine."I will make no further commits because I don't want to get worked up. The news is BAD for some one with PTSD. Enjoy your day Everybody...

 

[reallydown]

Even if we leave race out of this, it is still a fundamental miscarriage of justice. The fact is Trayvon Martin was walking home from a convenience store, carrying candy and was killed by Zimmerman. Why didn't Zimmerman stay in his car, like the police advised him to? In fact, if he was so scared, why not leave it to the police, get in his car and drive away? But anyone who says this isn't, at least in part, about race is seriously deluded.

What about the case of the woman who had a restraining order against her abusive husband and who fired warning shots, not at him but at the ceiling, getting a 20 year sentence? Where was her right to defend herself? Oh I get it, you only have that right if you're white...SMH.

Also, intothelight, your comment that this can't be about race doesn't make sense.

I won't deny that the media have sensationalized this more etc. However, putting the blame solely on the shoulders of the media is an easy copout. Yes, the mainstream media, especially in the US, do indeed "report" on a lot of silly things in order to keep people from thinking etc but a discerning mind will always be able to get around that.