Zimmerman trial has all the ingredients for a miscarriage of justice

The Chicago Tribune ^ | June 30, 2013 | Eric Zorn

[2ndDivisionVet]

In following the George Zimmerman trial somewhat closely online last week, I noted a familiar pattern:

A "heater" case that draws intense media interest.

Sympathetic victim.

Unsympathetic defendant.

Evidence of innocence explained away with far-fetched theories or else ignored.

Evidence of guilt magnified and bolstered with irrelevant detail and innuendo.

These are among the key ingredients for all the wrongful convictions I've written about in the last 20 years.

Investigators and prosecutors put on the blinders early, before all the facts come in. They fill the gaps and inconsistencies in the case with suppositions inspired by sympathy for the victim, rage at the defendant and a desire for what they've decided is justice.

I don't presume to know exactly what happened between Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin on the subdivision walkway on that rainy night in Sanford, Fla., in early 2012. And, a week into the prosecution's case, I don't know how anyone else can presume to know....

[2ndDivisionVet]

"Sympathetic victim"? A trouble-making gangbanger suspended for marijuana possession and possibly assault on a bus driver who had burglar's tools and women's jewelry on his person? A young man who had just bought the ingredients for "Purple Drank/Purple Lean" when shot and had THC in his blood system? Back in my day that would've described a serious juvenile delinquent, at best. Has everything changed that much?

[longfellow]

yeah I would say that witness was a miscarriage.

[Kozak]

That’s the Truth. The “ Pravda” is he was a young innocent kid just going for some Skittles when he was stalked and murdered by a Racist Gun Nut Vigilante.....

[JaguarXKE]

Yeah, but ever notice that the media always show pictures of him as an angelic child? Never the thug-wannabe pictures, though the exist, are rarely seen on Prime time.

[arthurus]

The fact is that bringing this case to trial and taking two years out of Mr. Z’s life for it is already a gross miscarriage of justice.

[Zhang Fei]

What a trayvesty of justice.

[Vision]

Can the media be any more evil?

[BenLurkin]

The original gloss on the story that galvanized protests nationwide was that a white, armed vigilante had pursued and murdered a black child just for sport, and authorities were shrugging it off.

This summary had great appeal to many of my fellow liberals for whom it confirmed their worst fears about firearms, the malignant endurance of racism and the cheapness with which law enforcement regards African-American lives.

I felt it too. But they've clung to this narrative long after the emerging facts have shown that the actual story is, at best, far more complex and murky than the first news stories and protest chants had suggested.

Martin wasn't the slight middle-school student seen in first photos of him made public, but a tall, athletic 17-year-old who'd had plenty of time to walk safely home once he knew he was being followed.

[rktman]

Sympathetic victim? I thought he meant Zimmerman. Oh well.

[RoosterRedux]

Zimmerman will be acquitted or there will be a very strong case for appeal.

The question is "what does Obama have planned in response to acquittal?"

The professional agitators are using this event for a purpose...probably because the case against Zimmerman was weak and likely to lose. This is a trigger.

[xzins]

Writing for a Chicago paper put real restraints on this writer. You knew he wanted to just say, “the evidence is pointing strongly toward Zimmerman’s version of the story”, but he didn’t have the courage to say it.

So, he hid it between the lines.

[Dutch Boy]

Yes they can be and they will be. The 2014 election is going to be an all out war on anyone conservative. The lying they did to Zimmerman is barely a blip compared to what I expect in 2014.

[max americana]

“Can the media be any more evil?”

You meant the same enemedia which made sure obama got elected twice, tried to create their own Vietnam by demoralizing our troops in Iraq, hid the true economic Depression, protect obama whenever a problem arose and made sure to vilify conservatives in America?

Does water make you wet?

[UCANSEE2]

Can the media be any more evil?

Just wait and see what they PRINT if George Zimmerman is found not guilty.

[hoosiermama]

How does wet sound?

[shibumi]

"Has everything changed that much?"

Yes.

[BlueStateRightist]

As if fearful of his job, the writer engages in liberal handwringing, avoiding what he clearly sees as the unequivocal reality: Zimmerman should be acquitted.

[Political Junkie Too]

The question is "what does Obama have planned in response to acquittal?"

I was wondering the same thing. Are we about to find out why Homeland Security hoarded all that ammo?

-PJ

[Diogenesis]

Why did CNN scroll "facts" opposite what happened?

Answer: Obama and the MSM (in bed together, see below)
are saliently lying (see above) to START a race war.

[fatnotlazy]

Obama can’t wait for the riots to begin. Then he can declare martial law and make himself king, president for life or whatever he wants to call himself.