Posted on 07/13/2013 3:17:06 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
(CNN) -- After more than 12 hours of deliberation, the six women deliberating George Zimmerman's fate asked the court Saturday evening for clarification on the instructions regarding manslaughter, the judge said.
That couldn't have even been a question 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 the second-degree murder charge. Their third option would be to find Zimmerman not guilty.
The question -- which was read out in court, without the jurors present, shortly before 6 p.m. -- was the first posed by the jury since late Friday afternoon, when they requested an inventory of evidence. Afterward, lawyers from both sides approached Nelson's bench; their comments could not be heard.
How long other juries deliberated for in other high-profile cases One of 1,009 fatal shootings in Florida in 2012, Trayvon Martin's death stood out -- the various threads of the story helping to capture the public imagination.
There was, for instance, the fact that an adult had fired on an unarmed teen, soon after police told him not to follow the 17-year-old. And there was the accusation of racial profiling: that Zimmerman -- the son of a Peruvian mother and a white American father, who identifies as Hispanic -- had singled out Martin, at least in part, because the teenager was black.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
They are under pressure to give ‘justice for Treycon’. They are thinking of their own lives too. IF they find him guilty of manslaughter...I believe they did it for themselves.
Will the court tell the jury that the lesser charge carries a 25 year sentence?
Didn’t think so...
Buffaloguy, how do you go from Manslaughter to Walks? Manslaughter means Zimmerman HAS to spend time in prison just because he defended himself from a teenage thug who was set on murder? There is no manslaughter here - this is clear as day self-defense and this is a groundless show-trial!
They could also be ‘compromising’ between Murder 2 and manslaughter....
Prosecutorial misconduct and a slimy judge.... When reading the instructions, the judge spend 90% of her time explaining what constitutes Zimmerman’s guilt. Hardly any time was spent on explaining justifiable homicide and self-defense. I believe that Zimmerman is going to be convicted of man-slaughter because that’s what the state wants. I personally think Zimmerman is an idiot for not avoiding the confrontation in the first place, but he had every right to defend himself when attacked. There is no justice in this case, just state officials trying to avoid a riot.
A hung jury would be alright with me.
Not as satisfying as a NG but with six women I’d sure take it.
They need 12 with a mix of backgrounds and at least one male.
I was troubled as to why Trayvon did not have any of Zimmerman’s blood on his hands.
Yep. And why at least 1 man should have served on the jury.
0bama, Holder and the Black Panther Party may well get their way in this case and "win" this battle, but they will surely lose the PR war.
Does it really matter to you whether Treyvon had his hands over his mouth?
CNN still reporting police told Zimmerman to quit following him...the dispatcher said something like it wasn’t necessary, he was not instructed to not follow by anyone that I know of...
Good point. Shows some differing views. And it appears there off 2nd degree and on to this...I say not guilty or hung jury
I was thinking the same thing. 4 following the law and evidence and 2 following irrational emotions. Oh and I am a woman
I have thought that since yesterday. He had a lousy attorney, biased judge, and dishonest Prosecutor.
Is it possible this means they have decided Zimmerman is not guilty of murder and have moved on to considering manslaughter?
I don’t know how Florida works, but I’ve seen trials here where jurors found a defendant not guilty on the more serious charge then deadlocked on the lesser charge.
Is that possible here?
Is that fence you're sitting on hurt much?
What will YOU do when you own home is being staked out by folks you d*mn well KNOW don't belong to the neighborhood OR across the street?
It's possible Bubba already knows Zim's underwear size.
A middle ground decision of manslaughter getting 20+ years is no “compromise” b/w 2nd-DM at 30 years & full acquittal ... this obsession with trying to please everybody cannot be done at the expense of individual freedoms.
Yes, it is very possible. The issue of right to defend his own life by the means at hand (a 9mm pistol) should be in their minds. There could be one or more of these women who believe George should be held responsible for an act that was completely legal and applied by Zimmerman because he thought someone was trying to kill him! The confusion is what Bernie the goat was hoping for ... MOM tried to make clear in his closing that if Man2 was tossed then for the same reasons manslaughter should be tossed.
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