Zimmerman not found guilty of 2nd degree or manslaughter charges

[BowTechExperience]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57593459-504083/george-zimmerman-verdict-former-neighborhood-watch-leader-not-guilty-in-death-of-fla-teen-trayvon-martin/

 

Guess it is gonna get a bit unfriendly down in Florida:

    

Edited July 14, 2013 by BowhunterNJ

[BowhunterNJ]

Yeah his life will never be the same and he'll certainly be living in fear for a long time...no doubt there will be some angry individuals looking for him.

[BHC]

the jury did the right thing, I agree with you Matt

[nycredneck]

Im happy with the verdict. That said, I believe both men made mistakes that night and unfortunately one them paid with his life.

[DBuck]

We will never know the truth of what happened that night,words exchanged or actions taken,all we really have to go on is Zimmerman's account and what witnesses said after the fact.If I was walking home at night and someone was following and harassing me, I would confront them too. I wonder if Zimmerman would have taking the same steps if he didn't have a gun. I'm sure both parties were at fault at some point,trayvon could have  just ran home and Zimmerman could have just called the police and reported it from his car without getting out and confronting him,Neighborhood watch rules state "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles," the manual states. "Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous." and "There is no reason in the world to carry a gun for Neighborhood Watch," said Chris Tutko, a retired police chief who now directs Neighborhood Watch for the sheriffs' association. "It gets people more into trouble than out of it."

 

 

 

the jury did the right thing, I agree with you Matt

So if this was your son would you still be happy?

 

 

Yeah his life will never be the same and he'll certainly be living in fear for a long time...no doubt there will be some angry individuals looking for him.

If this was a family member of mine, I would make sure his life would never be the same. It wouldn't be right away because he has too many eyes on him,but down the road there would be a good chance that his face would end up on the back of a milk carton

[BowhunterNJ]

My only point is exactly as you stated, no one knows what truly happened but Zimmerman. No one wins in this case, it's merely a representation of how the legal system must work. Both made mistakes, both had other options that could have resulted in other outcomes. But when it comes down to convicting a man without having evidence that unquestionably proves his guilt, I say the legal system worked as it should have.

 

And if it were a family member of yours, what are you basing all your anger on to pursue Zimmerman? While I wouldn't be happy about what occurred I haven't seen any evidence that proves Zimmerman intended on this outcome, it's an unfortunate one based on bad decisions. And it goes without saying, pursuing Zimmerman to the point he shows up on the back of a milk carton is equally or even more so, a worse decision. The man has, and will continue to suffer for the rest of his life. Make no mistake, he regrets his decisions and in hindsight undoubtedly would revise them if given the chance.

[Gruntmaster]

Sad day for all parties...

[DBuck]

I base it on the fact that it didn't need to happen because he didn't follow the neighborhood watch rules,and the fact that he was told that he didn't need to follow him,he should've just reported it and let the police handle it,maybe just keep an eye on him from his car.

[BowhunterNJ]

So because he didn't follow the rules (which are not laws), it makes it acceptable for anyone that wants to seek vengeance based on their assumptions of what happened (which very well could lead to breaking the law)? You can't change the past, and there's no sense in wrecking your own future based on the above premise.

[BowhunterNJ]

This is Zimmerman's account of the events...so what you deem as pursuing Martin was perhaps Martin seeking Zimmerman out after the initial following.  Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia, which I make no claim as being 100% accurate, if you have alternate information on the course of events as described by Zimmerman, please post it up.

By the account of events, it sounds like Zimmer initially was following Martin and after being told by police to stop, he did but got out to get an exact location for the police when they arrived, returned to his vehicle and was then approached by Martin...not the other way around.

Again, based on the course of events...I'm not sure how you can legally, without a doubt, convict the man.

 

 

 

 

George Zimmerman's account of events

On the advice of his legal counsel, Zimmerman did not speak to the media after the shooting.^[170] The statements he gave to police investigators were publicly released on June 21, 2012, when Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, published his written and recorded statements on Zimmerman's legal defense web site.^{[171][172][173]} Prior to the release of the statements, the only publicly available information about Zimmerman's version of the incident came from interviews with some of his family members and friends and from leaks to the news media by sources inside the investigation, and his recorded phone call to 9-1-1. Zimmerman maintained his public silence until he was interviewed by Sean Hannity of Fox News on July 18, 2012.^[174][175] According to early news reports on the incident, on the night of the shooting, and afterwards, Zimmerman described in detail for investigators what took place.^{[176][177][178][179]}

Zimmerman said he was driving to the grocery store when he spotted Trayvon Martin walking through the neighborhood. Zimmerman's father said that, while his son was not on duty that night as Neighborhood Watch captain, there had been many break-ins and he thought it suspicious that someone he didn't recognize was walking behind the town homes instead of on the street or the sidewalk. Zimmerman therefore called a non-emergency police line to report Martin's behavior and summon police.^[180][181] During the call, Zimmerman told the dispatcher that Martin was "coming to check me out."^[93] A source to the Orlando Sentinel said in May that Zimmerman told investigators that at one point Martin circled his vehicle,^{[Note 7]} and he rolled up his window to avoid a confrontation.^[177][182]

After telling the police dispatcher that Martin "ran",^[183] Zimmerman left his vehicle to determine his location and ascertain in which direction Martin had fled.^[177][184] The dispatcher asked if Zimmerman was following Martin, and Zimmerman replied "Yeah." Then the dispatcher said, "OK, we don't need you to do that." Zimmerman replied with "OK" and stated that Martin got away.^[183] After a discussion about where Zimmerman would meet police, the call ended, and Zimmerman told investigators he was returning to his vehicle when Martin approached him from his left rear and confronted him.^[177][178] According to Zimmerman, Martin then punched him in the face, knocking him down, and began beating his head against the sidewalk.^[177][178] Zimmerman said he called out for help while being beaten, and at one point Martin covered his mouth to muffle the screams.^[177][178] According to Zimmerman's father, during the struggle while Martin was on top of Zimmerman, Martin saw the gun his son was carrying and said something to the effect of "You're gonna die now" or "You're gonna die tonight" and continued to beat Zimmerman.^[176] Zimmerman and Martin struggled over the gun, and Zimmerman shot Martin once in the chest at close range, in self-defense.^{[177][178][179][Note 8]}

On June 21, 2012, Zimmerman's attorneys released audiotapes of several interviews he had with police shortly after the shooting. Also included were Zimmerman's written statement of February 26, 2012, and video recordings of his reenactment of the incident and a voice stress test that he passed.^{[171][173][185][186][187]}

In the interviews, Zimmerman says he took note of Martin because he was near a home that he had previously called police about. He also said "he was just walking casually, not like he was trying to get out of the rain," and he felt "something was off" about Martin.^[182]

Zimmerman said he left his truck to find a street sign so he would be able to tell the police dispatcher where he was. He told investigators that he was not following Martin but was "just going in the same direction he was" to find an address, but admitted that he had also left his truck to try to see in which direction Martin had gone.^[184] The altercation began, he said, when Martin suddenly appeared while Zimmerman was walking back to his vehicle. He described Martin at different points in the interviews as appearing "out of nowhere," "from the darkness," and as "jump[ing] out of the bushes."^[184][185] Zimmerman said that Martin asked, "You got a ****ing problem, homie?" Zimmerman replied no, and then Martin said that he did now, and punched him.^[188] As they struggled on the ground, Zimmerman on his back with Martin on top of him, Zimmerman yelled for help "probably 50 times." (See Background sounds of yelling for help in 9-1-1 calls) Martin told him to "Shut the **** up," as he hit him in the face and pounded his head on a concrete sidewalk.^[185] When Zimmerman tried to move off the concrete, Martin saw his gun and said "You're going to die tonight mother****er!" Martin grabbed for the gun, but Zimmerman grabbed it first. He said after firing his weapon at Martin, he wasn't sure at first that he had hit him, so he got on top of him in order to subdue him.^{[184][184][185]} Bystanders and police arrived shortly after Martin was shot.^[189][190]

Police reports state Zimmerman "appeared to have a broken and a bloody nose and swelling of his face." Zimmerman was offered three chances to be taken to the hospital, but Zimmerman declined each time, according to police reports released by the prosecution.^[189] ABC News reported that a medical report compiled by the family physician of George Zimmerman showed that, following the altercation with Martin, Zimmerman was diagnosed with a closed fracture of his nose, two black eyes, lacerations to the back of his head, a minor back injury, and bruising in his upper lip and cheek.^[191]

In the course of Zimmerman's recorded interviews, Detective Chris Serino questioned aspects of Zimmerman's account, such as Zimmerman's statement that he didn't know the name of a street in the Twin Lakes community where he had lived for three years. Zimmerman said in response that he had a bad memory and takes medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.^[182] Investigators also questioned the extent of his injuries and why he didn't identify himself to Martin as a Neighborhood Watch coordinator. Zimmerman said he didn't want to confront Martin.^[182][185]

On June 26, 2012, the prosecution released the results of a voice stress test performed on George Zimmerman the day after the shooting.^[192][193] A voice stress test is a type of test used to measure deceptive or psychological stress in the human voice in response to questions.^[194] Zimmerman was asked, "Did you confront the guy you shot?", to which Zimmerman answered, "No." Zimmerman was asked, "Were you in fear for your life, when you shot the guy?", to which Zimmerman answered, "Yes."^[192] The examiner concluded that Zimmerman "told substantially the complete truth" in the examination, and Zimmerman was classified as "No Deception Indicated (NDI)" according to the report.^[192]

During a bond hearing on April 20, 2012, Investigator Dale Gilbreath testified under oath that he did not know whether Zimmerman or Martin started the fight and that there is no evidence to contradict Zimmerman's claim that he was walking back to his vehicle when Martin confronted him. Gilbreath, however, questioned Zimmerman's statement that Martin was slamming his head against the sidewalk just before he shot the teenager, saying it was "not consistent with the evidence we found."^{[195][196][197]} Gilbreath was one of two investigators who attested to the facts stated in the probable cause affidavit.^[31]

Legal analysts have stated that Zimmerman's credibility could become an issue at trial and that Zimmerman's claim of self-defense rests on whether the jury can trust him "as a reporter of the facts".^[198][199] Douglas Keene, a trial consultant and forensic psychologist, stated that in a self-defense case, a jury has to decide "whether or not someone can be trusted to have used good judgment. Credibility is always a paramount issue in any trial," he said.^[198]

Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who has criticized Special Prosecutor Angela Corey's handling of the case, said he believes that the video reenactment of the incident would help Zimmerman during a trial if it were submitted as evidence and shown to a jury, but he wasn't sure that it would be. Without going into detail, Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump referred to several alleged inconsistencies between Zimmerman's written statement and his recorded call to the police dispatcher.^[184]

 

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin}
 

[DBuck]

I've  read that before and it looks like a well written document by a lawyer.I find it very hard to believe that it went down as innocently as that on Zimmerman's part.Like I said before,we don't really know what happened that night because we were only able to get one side of the story,do we really know if the statements of the things that Trayvon said to him are true? By no means am I sticking up or faulting either party,but the written document just seems too one sided to me. Zimmerman probably did deserve to get off because there was only one side told,he made sure the other side couldn't have been told.And yes,if this was my family member Zimmerman would pay. I guess family means more to me then to others.

[BowhunterNJ]

But if it did happen that way, if your family member did exactly what Martin is said to have done there and said those exact words to Zimmerman when his gun was spotted, would you feel the same way?

[Haskell_Hunter]

All I realized is how much hate there is in this country.  We are so polarized that we cannot come together and compromise on anything for the good of the people.  We live in very sad times.

 

People shouldn't be protecting and raising the voices because the justice system doesn't work, it more a matter of the prosecution sucking.  They did a very bad job presenting their case and this is the result.

 

I also don't like the celebrities and everyone else jumping on the "no justice" bandwagon.  We may not have a perfect justice system, but it's good enough.  All of the hate and vitriol on the web is pontificating the lack of justice.  Would they prefer the Internet lynch mob instead?  Is justice best served by fanning the flames of ignorance and hate?

 

It's an absolute tragedy that someone died, regardless of age, sex, or race.  And it's equally tragic that people are killing our justice system because the prosecutor did a very poor job trying their case.

 

Sad, very sad.

[Axiom]

it more a matter of the prosecution sucking. They did a very bad job presenting their case and this is the result.

 

 

I dont know if you can blame the prosecution for this one.. Its hard to build a case that doesnt exist.  The only reason it was brought to trial to begin with was for political reasons.. And that right there is another ping on our constitution and individual rights.. ...

Edited July 15, 2013 by Axiom

[BHC]

Zimmerman is guilty of one thing, and that is being "STUPID" !!!!

 

Now he did nothing wrong with following this puke, following a person isn't a crime lets face it Trayvone wasn't a alter boy !!! The puke stuck Zimmerman in the face breaking his nose, right there a crime was committed, he then was slamming Zimmerman's head into the cement, this can cause serious bodily injury and/or death the right to use self defense was used and used correctly, if anyone of us was in his position we would use any and all means to stop the person, we want to live and see our love ones. The original prosecutor and police chief knew back then they had zero evidence to arrest, the state of Florida get a new prosecutor and instead of going to the grand jury, she went to trail and lost. She held back evidence to the defense a crime in itself and she is now facing a investigation by the Florida BAR for not releasing the evidence to defense and also for firing her worker for leaking it. They say Zimmerman is white, but he is 1/2 with the other half being Hispanic this makes him a minority just like Obama is 1/2 white & black but is considered black, sounds like a double standard going on !!!

 

This wasn't a racial issue, this was a political and media issue !!!!

 

The jury was given all the information by both sides, they made a decision based on the facts given, and the verdict was NOT GUILTY and that was the correct call !!!!

 

But now the animals will come out a play !!!!

Edited July 15, 2013 by BHC