Martin / Zimmerman Trial Verdict

[Jonathan]

What's sad is the old timers in Sanford just want this to pass. They don't understand why people still bring up that Jackie Robinson and his family were run out of town by the Sherriff and not allowed to play ball here. They don't understand why people won't accept that still desegregating deep into the 70's is in the past. They don't understand why that the bizarre shootings of african americans by the Sanford Police department in the years prior to Zimmerman are still held against them. They just want this to go away like everything else in the last 110 years so they can live peacefully in their lake side town with cobbled streets. They think its unfair this happened in their town.

[sine]

We did some volunteer patrol work (helped start a bike patrol program) with Park PD several years back. Our job was to observe and report, nothing else. Oh, we were not permitted to carry a pistol or whatever. We were civilians with no combat experience whatsoever.

[Saab2000]

I am glad I didn't sit on that jury. Not guilty doesn't mean innocent.

I'm also glad I don't own a gun. I'll take my chances.

[ron l edmiston]

-- all kinds of subjective and some objective comments, but as long as you have the folrida law-- "stand your ground," you can use lethal force/weapon/s if you feel your life is threatened..
not that i agree, but i do believe the jury of 6 feminine's did their charged duty relative to the florida law..
when we have "bad laws" and the ability to munipulate or see only our preceived subjective concepts, no one has freedom..

and i no longer have guns, enough killing in my life..

ronnie

[Corso]

It doesn't matter what happened before the fight, the minute 2 people are throwing down, BOTH have the right to "self defense".

The only reason any of us know about this, is that the President automatically picked a side, (just like he did with the prof Gates incident), the term "white hispanic" was invented, and the media, who will follow said President no matter what, supported his view all the way, and still do.

How come we don't hear about the 400 murders in Detroit last year alone, or the 350 in Chicago? OVER 700 MURDERS!!!!! And you or I can't name one victim's name, can we?

Politics, pure and simple.

And yes, we have a ton of "bad" laws in this country. OJ was found not guilty, but the minority community didn't complain too loudly over that, did they?

[theflashunc]

What I can't get past is this confrontation could have been completely avoided if Zimmerman had simply followed the 911 operators instructions that cops were on the way, and to stay in the car.

Zimmerman bears the bulk of responsibility for what happened simply because he got out of the car and tried to play John Wayne.

That being said, there wasn't much evidence in the case beyond the circumstantial -- a murder 2 charge was probably too aggressive.

Given that Zimmerman's the only survivor of the encounter, and there were no other witnesses, I'm disinclined to believe his story.

Irony is Zimmerman's going to be watching his own back for a long time.

[theflashunc]

I remember when Newspapers & TV news were a sacred institutions in this country. Its all become just entertainment, to get ratings, to sell advertisement.

Newspapers and TV have never been sacred institutions. They've always been about sales, circulation and ad rates. The early papers in this country were essentially political pamphlets and mouthpieces of the early parties. The Spanish-American War started mostly because of yellow journalism fervor.

The right of a free press is protected, but that's about it.

[GrantM]

Without that gun in his pocket, Zimmerman never would have got out of his car.

-g

[steve garro]

I chambered a round, cocked the gun & pointed it at a man once who was in the same room as me, just over them trying to steal something.
It was just a thing, something I did not wrap my head around until many years & much maturity later.
I almost ruined my life & took his.
I am not saddened that someone later broke into my house & stole all my firearms.
It only takes a second of a not-thought-through action to ruin lives.
I hate even talking about it, it makes me nauseous.

That's all I got.
- Garro.

[XR2]

Without that gun in his pocket, Zimmerman never would have got out of his car.

-g

Exactly. A pussy with a gun somehow became a badass. He (Zimmerman) went looking for trouble and when he found it it was beyond his ability to cope with. So he resorted to the pussy's way out. Hell even good ol' John Wayne took an ass whoopin' on occasion.

What happened was he went looking for a fight and when that materialized he wasn't man enough to accept defeat. Self-defense does not mean killing the opponent.

I have had instant access to firearms since I was a child. Still do at home. Don't feel the need to carry and am more than capable of self defense w/o a firearm. Had my ass kicked more than a few times and have yet to see it necessary to shoot anyone. What I took away from that was to pick my fights more carefully.

So don't think I'm anti-gun here. I'm all for private gun ownership,self defense and didn't get this old and ugly being a pussy. 54 and still willing to throw down when challenged. Last time I got in a fight I threw the guy through the windshield of my Mom's car. The cop that responded couldn't stop laughing while the guy squirmed around trying to get out cussing me the whole time. That windshield cost me $800 dammit. Mom wouldn't tell the insurance co. she hit a deer.

[Dallas Tex]

What I can't get past is this confrontation could have been completely avoided if Zimmerman had simply followed the 911 operators instructions that cops were on the way, and to stay in the car.

Zimmerman bears the bulk of responsibility for what happened simply because he got out of the car and tried to play John Wayne..

GETTING OUT OF A CAR, asking questions, following someone, or calling the police on someone walking through your neighborhood is perfectly legal. Physically beating someone is NOT legal. Banging someone's head on the cement sidewalk is an attempt to kill/maim them is not legal. Whether Zimmerman was a douchebag or whatever, he was asking questions & following - the other guy escalated the event to a physical, life threatening altercation.

Given that Zimmerman's the only survivor of the encounter, and there were no other witnesses, I'm disinclined to believe his story. .

Well, the tangible evidence that was available supported the Zimmerman version of the story. But, you are definitely entitled to your opinion.

[Dallas Tex]

Without that gun in his pocket, Zimmerman never would have got out of his car.

-g

Huh? How do you know that? What is that based on?

[Jonathan]

GETTING OUT OF A CAR, asking questions, following someone, or calling the police on someone walking through your neighborhood is perfectly legal. Physically beating someone is NOT legal. Banging someone's head on the cement sidewalk is an attempt to kill/maim them is not legal. Whether Zimmerman was a douchebag or whatever, he was asking questions & following - the other guy escalated the event to a physical, life threatening altercation.



Well, the tangible evidence that was available supported the Zimmerman version of the story. But, you are definitely entitled to your opinion.

That's not entirely true. Zimmerman is is on tape saying the punks always get away with it. He ran after Martin according to testimony to the point Martin was out of breath. You like your facts as much as you accuse the other side of likening theirs.

[Jonathan]

Huh? How do you know that? What is that based on?

While not a direct answer, there is much evidence Zimmerman was a cop wannabe. Iirc, he could not make it past the psych evaluation. I think the law emboldened him, and evidence during trial supports that and his attempt to cover that up.

[72gmc]

Whether Zimmerman was a douchebag or whatever, he was asking questions & following - the other guy escalated the event to a physical, life threatening altercation.

All due respect, there's no way you can know that this is true. There's no way anyone can know except George, and he's got a bit of a conflict of interest. But you're as entitled to your perspective as I am. The only objective truth I can see is that the guy with the gun won.

[Dallas Tex]

Newspapers and TV have never been sacred institutions. They've always been about sales, circulation and ad rates. The early papers in this country were essentially political pamphlets and mouthpieces of the early parties. The Spanish-American War started mostly because of yellow journalism fervor.

The right of a free press is protected, but that's about it.

You are wrong. The NYT, the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post were THE (and often times the only) source for accurate truthful information. They are all now just a shadow of what they once were.

[Dallas Tex]

All due respect, there's no way you can know that this is true. There's no way anyone can know except George, and he's got a bit of a conflict of interest. But you're as entitled to your perspective as I am. The only objective truth I can see is that the guy with the gun won.

The closest eyewitness supported the Zimmerman version of the story. The physical evidence supported the Zimmerman version of the story. TM's phonecall to his girlfriend said Z was following him.

Doesn't seem like if he were a vigilante wanting to kill a random black guy he would've called the cops first? Does it?

[GrantM]

What is that based on?

My view of the world.

-g

[Jonathan]

Doesn't seem like if he were a vigilante wanting to kill a random black guy he would've called the cops first? Does it?

Gaap, I quoting you a lot because you are getting at the points. It's not personal. What you write above is key. It's clear to me Zimmerman was not out to kill Martin, but he did. The state tried to prove murder 2 and there is a condition in the jury instructions that Zimmerman would have to have been depraved. I don't think he was. If the state would have sought manslaughter all along maybe their case would have focused on negligence and that verdict would have been reached. They only added manslaughter after they had tried their case. I question why the state did such a poor job. Witnesses were poorly prepared, evidence was weak etc.

[savine]

What goes around comes around......Zimmerman will end up paying somehow, thats the way things go. Never judge a book by a cover but he don't look kosher to me.