Zimmerman's Pointless Trial

[_Brackite]

From The AP:

Jurors in Zimmerman trial have question

...

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- Jurors in the George Zimmerman trial have a question about the charge of manslaughter.

The jurors sent the judge a note asking for clarification on the charge after deliberating for about eight hours Saturday.

The six female jurors began deliberating Friday afternoon on whether Zimmerman committed a crime when he fatally shot Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder. He claims he shot the 17-year-old Martin in self-defense.

Jurors have the option of considering manslaughter.

...

[_EAllusion]

There's another name for what has come to be called in pc-speak, "racial profiling," and that's simply "good police work..."

Favoring racial profiling and attendant police state-like encroachments against largely poor, minority people does not mean it doesn't exist.

However, anecdotal reports in the WNYC and the standard logical fallacies (disproportionate stops or arrests regarding minorities indicates discrimination based on racist bias) don't do much for Def D's intellectual credibility.

If you bothered to actually examine what was linked, you'll note that it wasn't simply anecdotal reports, but rather systematic data showing that the vast majority of stop and frisks are happening against young minority males - and not only that but they are so common that to be a young minority male in the area gives you a high degree of probability of eventually being stopped and frisked by the police more than once. That's a state of affairs not far off from martial law for those living under its thumb that a white suburbanite might never have ever heard of because it is so far removed from their experience. The anecdotes were meant to personalize the reported data. You want to retort that this is only happening in areas where the crime likely to be detected by stop and frisks is happening, thus demonstrating you didn't read anything you were given, but the distribution of known crime - such as drug possession - that the practice is meant to stop is not distributed in the way the systematic searches are.

The practice is grossly discriminatory in such an obvious way that it makes sense to offer it as a bright line example. It will be defeated sometime in the near future, and perhaps you'll show up again to cut and paste some hack authoritarian right wing website article on the subject while you pretend to care about liberty.

[_Brackite]

From CNN:

George Zimmerman found not guilty of murder in Trayvon Martin's death

...

(CNN) -- George Zimmerman is not guilty of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida jury decided late Saturday.

The fact that Zimmerman fired the bullet that killed Martin was never in question, but the verdict means the six-person jury had reasonable doubt that the shooting amounted to a criminal act.

The verdict caps a case that has inflamed passions for well over a year, much of it focused on race and gun rights.

The six-person jury -- all women -- had three choices: to find Zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder; to find him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter; or to find him not guilty.

The jurors deliberated for 16½ hours total, including 13 on Saturday alone, before delivering their verdict.

When he learned his fate, a subdued Zimmerman had little visible reaction. His face was mostly expressionless. He turned and shook one of his attorney's hand before sitting back down. His parents, Robert and Gladys Zimmerman, were seated nearby, but Martin's parents were not in the courtroom.

Earlier in the day, the jury had asked the court for clarification on its instructions regarding manslaughter. The jury couldn't have even posed such a query a few days ago: Judge Debra Nelson ruled Thursday, over the defense's vehement objection, to include manslaughter as an option for jurors, in addition to a second-degree murder charge.

To convict Zimmerman of manslaughter, the jurors would have had to believe that he "intentionally committed an act or acts that caused the death of Trayvon Martin." That charge could have carried a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, though the jury was not told of that possible sentence.

For second-degree murder, the jurors would have had to believe that Martin's unlawful killing was "done from ill will, hatred, spite or an evil intent" and would be "of such a nature that the act itself indicates an indifference to human life."

Ultimately, they believed neither. And that means Zimmerman can walk free.

...

[_beastie]

Move over, OJ and Casey.

[_Bond James Bond]

Florida: Pick a fight, let them punch you, and then shoot'em. It's legal.

[_bcspace]

Florida: Pick a fight, let them punch you, and then shoot'em. It's legal.

The only problem with that is Zimmerman didn't pick a fight. Your logic also assumes no responsibility on the part of an offended or angered individual to control themselves.

[_beastie]

Florida: Pick a fight, let them punch you, and then shoot'em. It's legal.

The only problem with that is Zimmerman didn't pick a fight. Your logic also assumes no responsibility on the part of an offended or angered individual to control themselves.

There are only two people who know who started the actual physical part of the confrontation. One is dead, the other has told multiple lies about what happened and has a glaring motive for lying. But yeah, let's believe him.

[_beastie]

by the way, one way to detect that this was a really bad decision is the fact that Ann Coulter is absolutely gleeful over it.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

The only racism I'm seeing here is on the part of TM's supporters.

I don't see any rational thinking on their part. None. This is bizarre.

- Doc

[_beastie]

The only racism I'm seeing here is on the part of TM's supporters.

I don't see any rational thinking on their part. None. This is bizarre.

- Doc

Please provide the actual evidence that proves TM's supporters here have been racist. Thanks.