BREAKING: JUDGE RULES JURY CAN CONSIDER LESSER CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER AGAINST ZIMMERMAN...

Drudge Report ^

[Perdogg]

DRUDGE Headline: BREAKING: JUDGE ALLOWS LESSER CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER...

[griswold3]

Reasonable doubt

[cuban leaf]

I learned in the live threads on this that in Florida this was part and parcel to Murder 2 anyway.

Doesn’t matter. The defenses self defense case speaks to both murder and manslaughter. The prosecution came nowhere close to even suggesting that Z did not fear great bodily harm, enabling him, legally, to use deadly force to get the thug to stop beating his head against the concrete. End of story.

[kristinn]

I’ve read that the state still needs to cross high bar of disproving self-defense in manslaughter.

[freebilly]

BREAKING: JUDGE ALLOWS LESSER CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER... Prosecutors seek 'child abuse' charge...

The above headlines are from Drudge. I'm surprised they're not charging Zimmerman with littering because he left Trayvon Martin on the grass....

[Mr. K]

So...?

He was still defending himself.

[Irenic]

Yep.

[VRWCarea51]

Note to Persecution team: Don’t forget illegal parking of his vehicle and jay walking. /s

[ScottinVA]

Looks like Zimmerman is going to prison where he’ll be forced into general population. He’ll last all of 30 minutes. Any juror who votes to convict, after knowing all the facts laid out, should have a special place in hell awaiting them.

[TexasCajun]

I would not be surprised if Obama & Holder have not reached out and touched these jurors and their families.

...spying on their calls and emails, making them an offer they can't refuse.

[lula]

Don’t give them any ideas...OMG!

[MestaMachine]

This sucks huge.

[C. Edmund Wright]

I agree, the bar may still be high, but it’s not as high as it was last night.

[VRWCarea51]

The above headlines are from Drudge. I'm surprised they're not charging Zimmerman with littering because he left Trayvon Martin on the grass....

I'd Argue he was putting down fertilizer.

[justlurking]

There’s no question in my mind he will be found not guilty of the murder rap, but I’m not sure how manslaughter reads on the jury instructions. May be challenging for them to convict on that as well.

I've read the instructions. The evidence doesn't support that charge, either.

However, I expect there will be at least one holdout that insists Zimmerman is guilty of "something, anything", and will hang on to that strawman as long as possible.

If I were on that jury, I'd announce as soon as we started the deliberations:

"The state has not proved Zimmerman has committed any crime. All they have done is offer one theory after another that isn't supported by the evidence. I am voting not guilty, and I won't be changing my vote. If you believe he is guilty of anything, then we might as well tell the judge now, so we can all go home.".

[cuban leaf]

Zimmerman is going to jail. This judge just gave the jury a way out.

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No they didn’t. His defense has the exact same veracity against manslaughter as it does against Murder 2.

[Orangedog]

If this trial wasn’t all over the media I imagine she would have just ordered the jury to return a guilty verdict.

[MestaMachine]

They were even talking about CHILD ABUSE since martin was only 17.

[DBrow]

Someone said that in FL manslaughter with a firearm of someone under 18 carries a life sentence- can someone verify? If the judge goes for this and does not fully inform the jury, the jury may go for the “lesser charge” not understanding that it carries the SAME SENTENCE as murder 2.

[LostInBayport]

Zimmerman is going to jail. This judge just gave the jury a way out. They are scared to death of rioting and are willing to put an innocent man in jail for decades to prevent it. This judge is completely out of control with judicial misconduct throughout the whole trial. What a travesty.

That pretty much sums it up. I haven't watched a minute of the trial, but have heard clips on the radio on various talk shows. There is an unmistakable tone of hostility in the judge's voice towards the defendant. When she addressed him yesterday it was as bright as a beacon.

[C210N]

littering because he left Trayvon Martin on the grass....

... and not using the bags provided at the beginning of the sidewalk.

I believe he'll be spending lots of time in appeal courts, but any conviction now will be overturned.