Posted on 04/21/2012 3:29:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Not only will it be impossible to find a jury without preconceived opinions in the Trayvon Martin case—it will be impossible to find one that will convict, says Mansfield Frazier.
An editor I used to work for had a favorite saying: “Predicting the future is usually as easy as stating the obvious.” In the upcoming trial of George Zimmerman, the “obvious” is this: there’s little, if any, chance to avoid not only a mistrial, but a series of them if the state continues to reindict him, which it has the right to do and no doubt will, but with the same result over and over again.
At some point in the future, after endless retrials, it will seem as if this case—like the racial discord that will cause it to hang around our nation's collective neck like an albatross—has always been a part of American life, like Mount Rushmore, the Liberty Bell, or the Washington Monument.
The problem for the Florida legal system is that at this juncture, the case really isn’t about points of guilt or innocence that a jury can make reasoned decisions on. The case has become a referendum on the Stand Your Ground law and, more importantly, a referendum on the thorny issue of race in America. How to bridge the chasm that divides the races in America (which, amazingly, seems to both widen and narrow at the same instant in this country) is not only a question we don’t have the answer to, it’s a question we don’t even like to ask.
However, the case at hand is forcing our hand—it quite simply won’t allow us to duck the issue of race, at least for a while. Whether this is a good or bad thing is yet to be seen. Will this forced confrontation of racial attitudes help to solve our national problem, or will it only be made worse?
Voir dire is the process whereby attorneys from both sides get to ask potential jurors questions. Under Florida law six jurors (not 12) will hear the case against Zimmerman. In the state’s code of criminal procedure, the section that outlines the “grounds for challenge to individual jurors for cause” (Section 913.03) is the longest and most detailed by far, and for good reason. All criminal-defense lawyers (and prosecutors, as well) know cases can be won or lost during jury selection. In addition to striking a juror for “cause,” each side has six “preemptory” challenges, which means a potential juror can be dismissed without a reason being given. After Jim Crow laws were abolished, these preemptory challenges were the tool used to keep blacks off of juries.
But all-white juries are a thing of the not-too-distant past, and there’s no way to impanel a jury in the case at hand that doesn’t have at least one or two blacks on it. And with Florida’s liberal use of cameras in courtrooms (unless the judge rules them out in this case or instructs that the jury not be shown), everyone in the country is going to know who is sitting on the jury, and therein lies the rub.
The facts of this case, no matter if they are for or against Zimmerman, ultimately will have very little to do with the outcome. Jurors, when it comes to voting on guilt or innocence, are most likely going to break down along racial lines. Try as they might to be good citizens and follow the instructions of the judge to put their personal feelings aside and make a decision based only on the facts of the case, the odds are that they will deadlock. This is not to say they are weak people; rather, it indicates how strongly race factors into decisions in American life, and it’s hard to see how this case will be an exception. Jurors are not superhuman.
Because of this, no matter how many times the state puts Zimmerman on trial, the outcome will probably be the same: a hung jury. Few, if any, whites in the South are going to want to be forever known as a member of a jury that voted to convict Zimmerman, and conversely, no black is going to care to be known as the person who voted to acquit him. It’s a recipe for deadlock.
Talk is already circulating of a change of venue, but a change to where? The moon? There’s no place in the country where potential jurors haven’t heard about the case, and most folks (black and white, rightly or wrongly) have already formed opinions that by now are virtually intractable.
Besides, the cult of celebrity worship that’s developed in this country virtually assures that the good folks in the state of Florida, who are about to participate in what promises to be the most high-profile court case of the century so far—perhaps even eclipsing the Casey Anthony trial—are not about to let their shot at fame (and a potential book deal somewhere down the line) slip through their fingers. There will be no change of venue—bet on it.
This trial will afford us the opportunity, albeit by way of force, to deal with the skeleton of race that’s been hanging in the national closet for centuries. How well or badly we use it is really up to us.
I feel sorry for anyone so stupid they can't figure out how to be struck from that jury pool. All you have to do as a white guy is wear a tie, probably.
At the end you'll end up with a group of rocket scientists similar to the OJ jury.
That must be because they haven't been successfully brainwashed into self-loathing "white guilt" like us northerners.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~Albert Einstein
AFFIDAVIT OF PROBABLE CAUSE - SECOND DEGREE MURDER
Mark Levin livid over evidence not submitted with Zimmerman affidavit...
“I agree. A proper AND COURAGEOUS judge would dismiss it. However, I suspect that’s not going to happen.”
I think you entirely correct, but one can aways hope.
The judge that dodged was an elected one. An elected judge is fried no matter what they do. If they don’t toss, the white population will vote him/her out of office. If they proceed and don’t get a conviction, the black population will potentially threaten his/her life. Sucks to be a judge there right now.
A lot of Seminoles have African ancestry - there was a lot of mixing with runaway slaves, an African-Seminole alliance. And being Indian was better than being black, so some people of mixed black and white ancestry claimed to be Seminole.
The judge who recused herself was also a new judge of only 18 months. Apart from being elected she may have felt she wasn’t ready for a high profile politically charged case. If she had presided and dismissed the case you can just imagine the charges of inexperience, incompetence etc. Just speculation but that’s my look at the more positive possibilities of it.
Pretty much correct. Zimmerman can call for a hearing on his self-defense claim before the trial. If he's successful (and he only needs a preponderance of the evidence to prevail), he is immune under FL law from charges or from civil actions.
Yes, but it will not go to trial. There is simply not enough evidence to charge him, much less hold a trial. Any judge (outside of Wisconsin) will throw it out.
Let me tell you a short story.
We went over to South Africa for the UN’s Sustainabilty Conference in 2003. The economists were let loose to poll the shantytown residents. They asked the citizens there what they wanted most. Here’s the result:
1. Private property.
2. The rule of law - contracts.
This freaked out the eco-fascists and the poll was only published in a Brit newspaper and other obscure sources.
My thought is to trade America-hating African-Americans one-for-one with Shantytown entreprenuers.
We send afro-American haters to South Africa for all the South Africans that want to immigrate to America.
Yep, I watched the entire hearing and certainly agree that it should not go to trial but I believe it will.
Lots of political pressure from $harpton, Jack$on et al.
Exactly my thinking.
There are plenty of liberal whites who agree 100% with everything said on MSNBC. A jury with 3 black jurors and 3 white liberals could find Zimmerman guilty based on what they have heard on TV.
Don't count on it. The white Judge stepped aside and the replacement is (I think) black . . .
“The white Judge stepped aside and the replacement is (I think) black . . .”
A “black” Judge would be the most likely to get away with tossing the case based upon the law. He/she would be ostracized, but probably wouldn’t be threatened.
This is a sad state of affairs when a criminal case is prosecuted based upon entirely upon “emotion” with no regard for proper legal procedure.
I do suspect that should, and God forbid, they could get a conviction, that an appeals court would throw out the case based upon improper evidence, etc. When Alan Derschowitz screams the case is an immoral case of prosecution misconduct (a flaming liberal), then something is terribly wrong.
Angela Corey should be left alone, because the decision to charge George Zimmerman with second degree murder was foisted upon her from above. She did what she was told to do. The state of Florida knows that Zimmerman acted in self-defense, thus the charge of second degree murder. That charge either sticks if the state of Florida can prove that to a jury, or....Zimmerman either gets a involuntary manslaughter charge or goes free. Ms. Corey, weak as she was, just pulled an Obama, and kicked the can down the road. So.....hung juries, here we come!!!
It is even worse that the Obama media and the Black Racist thugs have convicted Geroge Zimmerman without a trail. The Zimmerman defense will hammer this fact home and keep pointing to the real injuries head injuries to Zimmerman, inflicted by Gangsta, thug Trayvon Martin. IMHO, this case is a loser for the Obama media, Black racist thugs and, of course, Barack Hussein Obama.
Remember, the TV show, Dragnet, with Joe Friday. “Just the facts, madame, just the facts”!!! Have you noticed that Sharpton and Jackson are nowhere to be found at the recent bail hearing. Actions speak louder then words. And....Obama keeps his yap shut, not uttering a word!!! Go Figure.
Zimmermam will be found Not Guilty.
That was the WHOLE point of these types of laws across the US - to prevent cops and prosecutors from throwing innocent people who had just saved themselves from a violent assault into the meat-grinder of the court system, on nothing more than the theory of "let the courts sort it out."
The prior "duty to retreat" created a huge legal grey area, where you would have to determine if someone who defended themselves had the ability and means to retreat from the confrontation. And huge legal grey areas mean huge legal fees.
It may turn out to be very unfortunate that the law wasn't strong enough to protect George Zimmerman under this kind of withering onslaught of lies, race hustlers, and ginned-up outrage.
Bull puckey! Angela Corey should be investigated.
Zimmerman prosecutor under fire (CNN video)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.