News George Zimmermann Case And Trial

[circe47]

Bloom-

As for telling you to Google, I realized the error of my ways and thus edited that out of my comment. As for not judging a book by it's cover so to speak, I agree. We shouldn't do that. However- it IS human nature to make snap, subconscious decisions about a stranger's character before we approach them, or let them approach us. That's biological evolution and has served our species very well in deciding if another person is likely to harm us or not.

Some people are more evolved in survival mechanisms due to past experience- some not so much. Mannerisms, attire, energy, language, slang, attitudes and other visual/audio clues give rise to our subconsciousness assessments of those that we don't know.

You keep telling yourself you give every single stranger you pass on the street the benefit of the doubt without a second thought. If you do, I'd be glad to take you on a nice walking tour of Hunter's Point in San Francisco or the Murder Dubs in Oakland in the middle of the night. To be fair- I'll even show you a nice neighborhood in the middle of the day in good ol' Oakieville in Stockton California for a nice taste of methamphetamine culture. Perhaps you'd prefer a juke joint in Wilmington NC? How about a ghetto on Maui which has a black population of about 1? You take your pick- I'll be willing and able to point out to you the people you should avoid.

As for confronting anyone with a gun- I'm assuming you refer to Zimmerman. According to expert testimony from forensics and medical experts, the evidence did not support that Zimmerman confronted. It also didn't support that Martin confronted. What did support Zimmerman's self-defense was eye witness testimony and labs that reflected that Martin was on top of Zimmerman beating the crap out of him when he got shot. Positioning of bodies, pictures of wet clothes, scraped knuckles, and lacerated craniums all tell a forensic story. You can't fake photographic evidence of rips, tears, bruises, angles of bullet entries and exits of bodies. Something to think about.

As I said before. We can all speculate the why's and the how's......but the only people who truly know what kind of person the victim was are his parents and the man who shot him. The universe has a funny way of figuring out who deserves what and when and it will all come out even in the end.

As I said- I'm as liberal and open minded as it get's- but some things are just a given. Please let me know when you put those rose colored glasses away............

@Pietro-

I absolutely love a great debate. My mother always said I should have been a lawyer............

 

[intothelight]

That is the crux of this case...weighing the evidence against the charges and determining guilt or innocence based upon this evidence. This entire point, which is the heart of the United States judicial system seems to have been lost in the emotional focus of personality, race, gun control, etc. Although these are important social issues, they do not have any bearing on the outcome of this trial and many calls to retry or to social protest as a result of the trial outcome do more to damage to personal liberty than the incident itself.

Kids will latch onto trends and dress, listen to music, speak and engage in activities that mimic the culture they identify with. In some cases, the identification can be as strong as engaging in unlawful behavior or as innocuous as to set them apart from their parents. It really depends upon what they are identifying with and ultimately it is the parents responsibility to know what their children are doing and what activities they are engaged in. Personally as a parent, I would not allow my teenager to walk that late at night to a store as snacks are not a critical "need" at that time of night. Look at the crime statistics of where Martin lived and the recent activity that had taken place. It wasn't exactly a "safe" place to be out alone at night.

On the other hand, Zimmerman was also aware of the criminal activity in the area. Most people that I know that carry guns do so out of fear and the belief they need that level of protection. The problem with carrying a gun is that it can be taken from you and used against you, or escalate an altercation to one where severe injury or death can occur. Zimmerman should have just stayed in his car as he had already reported what he viewed as suspicious activity to the police and let them handle it.

Personally, I see crime, fear and human fallibility as the catalyst that set the reaction to a chain of events that resulted in an outcome that neither Martin or Zimmerman planned or wanted. Crime is the social issue that seems to not be in the headlines and its effect upon a community and the members of that community.

As far as "rose colored glasses" I am a huge fan of them as they help us see past the "fear" and look for ways to better society and humanity as a whole. It is only when we put blinders on and limit our focus to those areas that push our emotional buttons that we loose sight of the bigger picture and our ability to objectively evaluate.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Circe, you're mistaken. What you describe is first degree murder (premeditation). There is more than one degree of murder.

You seem dead set on arguing your point of view, but your facts aren't quite so accurate? Just my observation.

 

[The Albatross]

The definitions of murder vary from state to state. The Florida jury found no evidence for any degree of murder or for that matter manslaughter. End of story.

 

[circe47]

That's fair, Solara. The jury was informed that they had the option of convicting on a lesser charge. They considered the testimony and evidence for a lesser charge as well and STILL found that Zimmerman had acted in self-defense.

It does not matter who started the fight. It was most likely a case of words first, then one or the other threw the first punch and again, it doesn't matter. Two men fighting does not a crime make unless one or the other wants to pursue pressing charges. In that case, it didn't get that far because one was on top and one was getting his head bashed in.

Witness testimony puts Zimmerman having his head bashed on the concrete and as such, he had a right to draw his legal weapon and shoot.

Does it make sense that Martin was the one on top screaming "help me?" If he had been on the bottom and Zimmerman on top, then he might be the one screaming. He also in all likelihood did not stand up and stagger around after being shot point blank in the heart. This is where bullet angles, entry and exit wounds come into play as well as positioning of the body and the condition of his clothes i.e. Forensics can tell by blood splatter if the victim was standing, lying down, running, away, etc. The blood splatter on Zimmerman tells it's own story as well. Did the blood fall onto him, fly up at him, come from sideways, etc. Forensic analysis is very high tech and precise nowadays. Forensics can tell if Trayvon had skittles in his system and probably tell you if it was green, purple, or yellow. THC stays in the body something like three to four months in the fat cells if the person smokes every day. This means they can tell if the kid was a pot head or a one time user.

All you gotta do is watch any forensics reality show on Netflix and regular television to understand that it is very hard if not down right impossible to get away with any kind of murder anymore. I'm not saying I don't feel sad for Trayvon and his parents. I'm not saying if it was me I'd do exactly what Zimmerman did. I'd make the call and go home.

I just have a problem with people allowing their emotional bias to cloud the facts. That's why emotionally biased people get excluded from juries. Bias is just not fair or democratic when it comes to the best, if not perfect, legal system in the world. That's why a person would have been excluded from jury if they'd ever lost a child to gunfire, or fired a gun and killed someone in self defense, or any other aspect similar to this case.

 

[Pietro]

This article is definitely NOT related to the Trayvon Martin shooting case. But it does provide a look at the character of Zimmerman.

This guy is a lot like OJ Simpson -- his own worst enemy. He can't stop begging for attention. That's why he carries a gun on neighborhood watch. Why he couldn't stay away from Martin when told to do so. And, if the pattern continues to be followed, he'll implode the same way as well.