Posted on 07/06/2013 12:52:17 PM PDT by marktwain
Prosecutors in the George Zimmerman second degree murder trial have pushed hard on two points as they seek to make their case against him: that the injuries to Zimmerman on the night Trayvon Martin died were “insignificant” and that he had studied Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law in a college class in 2010.
To win conviction on second-degree murder, the prosecution has to show that the death was caused by a criminal act “demonstrating a depraved mind without regard for human life.”
That’s why the prosecutor keeps pushing the claim that Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was black. Meanwhile, the lesser charge of manslaughter generally is a crime that's been committed in the heat of passion, where there is no premeditation. The jury would have to believe Zimmerman lost his temper in shooting Martin.
People can use force to protect themselves when they reasonably believe it is “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to themselves.” On this score, the testimony of the Jacksonville medical examiner, Valerie Rao, that Zimmerman injuries were “insignificant” is largely irrelevant.
A broken nose, a head being slammed into cement, and punches to the face may not have left Zimmerman incapacitated. The important question is whether such an attack with a man on top of him would leave Zimmerman to “reasonably believe” that there was a threat of “imminent death or great bodily harm to himself.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That depends, at least in part, on how threatened the jurors can be made to feel, or whether they perceive it their duty to avoid riots and such on the theory that it is better that one man should die than that the nation should suffer...
This should be coupled with the situation.
If I were visiting the home of my father’s girlfriend, some 50+ miles from where I call home,...and he and she sent out leaving me alone,...and I decided to go to a convenience store to buy some soda and snacks,...and was returning the the home I was visiting,....at past 11pm hours of darkness, ...in a stranger’s neighborhood, where I was obviously considered a stranger to the neighborhood,....and I saw a neighborhood watch in the area,....I would either go out of my way to introduce myself to them so they knew who I was and where I was going and what I was doing there OR I would avoid them like the plaque, go directly to the home where I was staying, and remain there until parents returned.
I do this because I would fully expect EVERYBODY in that neighborhood to consider me a likely burglar/thief/criminal for simply presenting myself in the fashion Trayvon presented himself.
If he had an inkling of virtue in him, he wouldn’t have been where he was at, behaving in the way he was behaving, and then assaulting anybody in that foreign neighborhood, especially somebody seeking to defend the property rights of the neighborhood.
Had he been preoccupied in a phone call and merely meandered about, he would have been apologetic to the locals, instead of adversarial.
He then started a fight, attempted to murder Zimmerman who defended himself, and ended up a casualty to his own arrogance. Had not been killed, he would have then further degenerated into even more heinous criminality.
“First rule of a fight is you never know how it’s gonna end.
I would never initiate any physical conflict while carrying.
I will back away like a coward if it means not having to shoot at someone, as long as I and any innocents threatened are safe in doing so.”
Good advice.
The state is still peddling the notion that it was Z on top based on the one witness who said it was the larger man on top based on the press pictures showing Mr. Martin as a cherubic 14 year old.
“That’s why the prosecutor keeps pushing the claim that Zimmerman profiled Martin because he was black.”
Being a minority himself, I doubt that GZ is racist. I have a feeling he has several good relationships with minorities, including blacks. I hope this is true, and I hope the Defense hauls them all out as character witnesses.
Why didn't Mr Zimmerman place a pillow under his head?
And if GZ's testimony is true, he shot Martin in the heart and L thorax.
Martin wouldn't be doing any "screaming" with a collapsed lung. Maybe a whisper, but that's about it.
Don't minorities have families and homes they'd like to protect, too?
And statistically, BLACK people are victims of crime WAY more than any other racial group.
Shouldn't they be in full favor of such a law?
I think SYG is a reminder to the state that if someone is justified in shooting another, retreat was not a viable option.
There was no rioting in the Korean neighborhoods of L.A. after the Rodney King. The Korean merchants were armed and the rioters knew it.
At least he wasn't beheaded like the soccer ref in South America.
You’re right about how he’d have degenerated had he not been killed. Indeed, he’d have “made his bones” by murdering Zimmerman. After that he’d have been a full scale gangsta with a lot of ‘tude. That would have led him into even more crimes that were more and more dangerous to him. He’d have probably been dead in two or three years, or sooner, probably at a brudder’s hands.
I think the prosecution feels that it has the upper hand with the jury because they are all women and may have the maternal instincts for Trayvon. Trouble is, George could also be their son and he seems to be a more savory character - would they want their son railroaded for defending his life against a thug? After watching the prosecution and defense styles, I think the defense is more in tune with the jury and reality..
Women on criminal juries vote to acquit more frequently than men on juries.
“And statistically, BLACK people are victims of crime WAY more than any other racial group. Shouldn’t they be in full favor of such a law?”
2 reasons:
1) They think SYG encourages whites to shoot them when they attack or break in. Then, SYG keeps the survivors from suing the home owner. This disrupts “spreading the wealth around”.
2) I doubt that many Blacks are disinterested in protecting themselves, or that they hold back depending on whether SYG would protect them. They just don’t want to be caught up in the “law”, due to our very real history of institutionalized racism. (Curiously, the GZ prosecution occured from Blacks USING the law to their advantage, not to seek justice). If nothing else, the Zimmerman trial has opened my eyes to prosecutorial and judicial misconduct at a scale and boldness I never would have believed possible. BdlR doesn’t seem new to calling fake experts and lying witneses. If this has gone on with high-priced lawyers, Defense funds, under extensive public scrutiny, imagine what happens to poor, unknown slubs of any race? (Answer - coerced plea deals, whether guilty or not).
My guess is that many Blacks feel that they or someone they know has been wrongfully questioned, detained, arrested and/or railroaded. But it is probably true in enough cases to add credibility to the self-serving fantasy that it happens every time.
Ironically, it appears that a Sybrina Fulton family member (I think her father but I am not sure) killed some guy who wouldn’t leave his apartment. He was convicted but later released on an appeal based on SYG! Sybrina doesn’t want this mentioned for some reason...
Vila v. State, 74 So. 3d 1110, 1112 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011).
I hope it is quoted in court on the record.
All these white commentators must not have ever been in a fight in their lives
Or bumped their head on something causing the “ I see stars effect”
They are clueless
None of which, sadly, the jury has been nor will be allowed to hear.
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