The show trial is over. Thank goodness for the jury system.
The prosecutors should be disbarred. This case was a fraud from the start. The judge was corrupt-- in the tank for the prosecution-- and should be removed from the bench.
There may now be violence (I just called my relatives in Miami and suggested they stay home for a few days).
The blood of anyone killed or injured by rioting now is on the hands of the race-baiting bastards who hijacked this tragic but obvious case of self-defense to stir up race hatred.
A sickening spectacle.
My prayers go out to Trayvon Martin's family, to Mr. Zimmerman and his family, to the defense attorneys who did a superb job and to the jury for their honest and courageous verdict. Let there now be peace, please.
Thank goodness the jury got it right. I share your hopes for peace, Doctor.
ReplyDeletePS. Did you mean to write in the tank for the defence? or was that a mistake? I thought she was surely biased for the prosecution.
Thanks crus. My error. Corrected.
Deletere: corruption
ReplyDeleteThe "criminal justice system" is not about justice; anything but that. It hasn't been for decades.
Mike, If there are riots following this correct verdict, as many have either suggested or hoped or threatened there would be, will you say that the verdict was "imprudent" and that on those grounds the opposite verdict ought to have been returned?
ReplyDeleteIlion,
DeleteOf course not. Prudence must be consistent with justice (and temperance and fortitude). Accepting a bribe isn't prudent. Accepting pay for work done is prudent.
Zimmerman could have accomplished his legitimate goals-- advancing the safety of his neighborhood-- by doing what he did with the exception of getting out of his car to follow Martin.
I point out that highly trained police officers consider the scenario of following a suspect alone on foot (particularly when you lose sight of the suspect) to be a quite dangerous act for a cop. Many cops have been been killed doing just that.
I believe Zimmerman was imprudent to get out of his car to pursue Martin. All of his other actions were either laudable (participating in Neighborhood Watch, etc) or justifiable (shooting Martin to protect himself).
You're judging -- and morally condemning -- Zimmerman based on what you know now, rather than what he knew then. Moreover, you're studiously ignoring the most important parts of what you know now, namely that Martin was a violent and vicious thug, who willingly and intentionally attacked, with intent to seriously harm (and probably murder) and innocent man who had done him no harm and in no way posed a threat to him. And, moreover again, you’re pretending to know what we can’t know: that had Zimmerman not followed Martin, Martin wouldn’t have attacked some other “creepy-ass cracker” or that the police would actually have found him, to verify that he was just going about his business, if they ever did show up.
DeleteConservatives rejoice! You can kill black children and not be held accountable as long as you can prove you’re scared of black people!
ReplyDeletellion, when are you moving to Florida?
-KW
Popeye, it was only yesterday afternoon that you said Zimmerman was "a pretend cop, stalking and confronting an unarmed child..."
DeleteToday, Zimmerman was "scared of black people".
It must be weird living in a world that appears to be a series of uncorrelated events. Your life must be chaotic and miserably unsuccessful. I hate to tell you this, but there is no government program that can rescue you from your own chaos. Simply eliminating the personal consequences of your own inability to adapt by appropriating the fruits of other people's success will never be enough.
CR: "I have travelled through Florida many, many times and it is a very diverse and modern place."
DeleteI, too, like parts of FL. My wife and I are particularly fond of Apalachicola on the Panhandle. We may move there when she retires. I also like Everglades City.
But I wouldn't give you a nickel for Miami and environs. Unless I was 30, owned a Ferrari 458 Spider, and affected Armani suits with silk pastel t-shirts. :-) I can hear the "Miami Vice" music now.
[W]e will continue to fight for the removal of Stand Your Ground laws in every state...
ReplyDelete--- T. Jealous, CEO-NAACP
Apparently, there is no greater civil rights priority than threatening the arrest and imprisonment of law-abiding citizens unless they flee in the face of violent threats from lawless thugs. We need a Thug Protection Act, and we need it now.
This is, of course, despite the fact that the SYG law had nothing to do with the Zimmerman trial:
George Zimmerman, set to stand trial in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, on Tuesday waived his right to a "stand your ground" pretrial immunity hearing. Zimmerman's attorneys have decided they will try this as a self-defense case.
--- CNN (5/1/2013)
This is, of course, despite the fact that the SYG law had nothing to do with the Zimmerman trial:
DeleteUnless, of course, you bother to read the jury instructions, in which case one will find that the Stand Your Ground Law was very much integral to the case. But don't let reality get in the way of your fictional narrative.
As my late father used to say -- for he had lived and worked there (as an agricultural migrant worker) for a few years before he met my mother -- "I didn't leave anything in Florida". I've visited the state a few times and heartily agree with my father: there is nothing in Florida I need to go back for.
ReplyDeleteWatch! These leftists -- these self-proclaim champions of the common/little man -- will in due course, and not all that distant in time from today, imagine that they can mock and belittle me due to my humble background. They imagine I give a damn about anything they say; they imagine they have the power to wound me.
DeleteI have plenty of fond memories in Florida, and getting to and from there. My own father (God rest his soul) took me on a few road trips and holidays there as a boy.
DeleteI am planning on taking my little boy there in a few years, when he is old enough to really appreciate it and we can save the small fortune required for a trip to the 'parks'.
I also want to take my adult son, as we never went when he was a lad. Instead we travelled through the archaeological zones of south and central America while I did my post grad (fun/work mix).
Hopefully we can relive a few of those fond Floridian memories and make some new ones. Disney is a big 'to do', as I can still recall the amazed feeling I had as a child when I first explored that vast park (was a new attraction in those days).
It has changed a lot over the years, but some of it's old charm remains. Enough for me to want to head down memory lane with the little guy anyway. Coral Castle is another thing I want him to see. I sometimes wonder, though: Will the trip be to the United States the way things are going...
"They imagine I give a damn about anything they say; they imagine they have the power to wound me."
DeleteThat's the spirit, Illion. Water off a duck's back. Consider the source(s).
What this trial left me with was a real sense of a legal imbalance.
ReplyDeleteI still cannot understand why the prosecution was allowed to dig into Mr Zimmerman's past in order to illustrate the 'hate in his heart', while the defence was prevented from introducing compelling evidence that Mr Martin had become involved with a violent and criminal sub-culture. Obviously the imbalance proved impotent in the eyes of the jury, and the obviousness of that imbalance may well have helped them make their decision. Even a sequestered jury can see a slant toward a weak argument.
One wonders what the jurors will think now they can read and see all the probative details held back from them. Details like the popular (made so by Mr Martin's favourite musicians) mix required for 'sippinz' (DMX laced drinks), pictures of illegal handguns, conversations about the buying and selling of arms and drugs, 'fight clubs', etc etc.
All that said, it's a real shame the kid was killed. If he had just gone home, or just called the police, or just simply NOT attacked Mr Zimmerman...
God bless the families.
Was the defense allowed to present real evidence to the contrary of that "hate in his heart" leftist narrative? Such as that it was Mr Zimmerman -- and, apparently, he alone -- who motivated the local "black community" to *finally* protest the abuse (and official protection of the politically-connected abuser) of a homeless black man?
Delete"... or just simply NOT attacked Mr Zimmerman..."
DeleteExactly. But he was a thug. And a racist. His whole life demanded that he to attack an innocent man (and try to kill him, once he had him down).
Ilion
DeleteSorry, I keep misspelling your moniker for some reason. My old eyes must be wearing out on this screen.
Anyway, when you say "His whole life demanded that he to attack an innocent man", I think I know what you mean.
'Thug' culture. I have had the experience of meeting plenty of young men who want to train to be military, and many more in an academic environment. Some of those lads are from the American (and Urban Canadian) 'black community'. Some of them, again, are quite open about explaining the ridicule and scorn they received from their peers for 'talking and acting' like a 'white man'. They are told they are traitors to their 'people' for wanting a career in defence. Often they are mocked for their choice of music (ie not 'Gansta' stuff), and laughed and ostracized by their peers (often childhood friends) for not condoning a criminal lifestyle. The 'culture' they came out from is saturated with this shit.
The 'cure' for what ails that community must come from within. I can say, as a father, that none of that mindset will be allowed in my own home. I will NEVER allow my children to think that Dad is cool with it - even if they think it's 'hardcore' during that rebellious period.
It starts with parents and schools. We need (all of us - but especially these self segregated 'sub cultures') to focus on being parents and educated - not friends and 'cool' to our kids.
My tuppence.
"Sorry, I keep misspelling your moniker for some reason. "
DeleteNot to worry. Everyone does.
In non-Stand Your Ground states, whites are 250 percent more likely to be found justified in killing a black person than a white person who kills another white person; in Stand Your Ground states, that number jumps to 354 percent.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/criminal-justice/is-there-racial-bias-in-stand-your-ground-laws/
-KW
From KW's post:
Delete"Since Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, invoked the stand-your-ground defense, these laws have been defended by gun rights groups for empowering civilians."
This is incorrect. Zimmerman's attorneys rejected the SYG defence for a simple SD case. They won without SYG.
"So the disparity is clear. But the figures don’t yet prove bias. As Roman points out, the data doesn’t show the circumstances behind the killings, for example whether the people who were shot were involved in home invasions or in a confrontation on the street."
Okay... so the stats actually mean?
"Additionally, there are far fewer white-on-black shootings in the FBI data — only 25 total in both the Stand Your Ground and non-Stand Your Ground states."
Just about says it all.
"In fact, the small sample size is one of the reasons Roman conducted a regression analysis, which determines the statistical likelihood of whether the killings will be found justifiable."
Small sample size = white on black. Regression analysis= reducing the number of killings to statistical coefficient. End result: Spin.
"And lastly, whether a homicide is ruled justifiable only tells part of the story."
Aha! Well. Then maybe that explains why the statistics only tell the 'part of the story' that gets the grant.
"The system offers substantial discretion to authorities at every level, which is much more difficult to monitor and evaluate — and much more vulnerable to creeping bias."
Suggestions to counter bias would be appropriate here, not convictions of people defending themselves. This is human life we're talking about - not some damned coefficient!
"Yaki said he planned to examine a handful of states that have enacted Stand Your Ground laws, most likely including Florida. His study should take at least a year."
That should keep him (looking) busy and on payroll.
So what are we left with? Another disguised attempt to inject racial politics into the legal system in the form of statistical analysis. The whole damn thing is based on the false premise that Zimmerman's defence was SYG. It was NOT.
Some "creep-ass crackers" followed me off the interstate several years ago. Then they followed every turn I made, no matter how doubled-back it was.
ReplyDeleteObviously, there was no way I was going to go home. This was before cell phones were everywhere ... though, I did have one (I had been a Sprint employee when I got it). So, I called the local cops and drove down to the station. Yet, rather than simply asking the driver to remain there while I drove out of his sight, they wasted at least a half hour of my time taking useless reports.
The whole reason I was headed home is that I was sick. I wish I could have puked on one of the cops.
When I told a friend about it, he said I should have called him and then driven into *his* neighborhood, into an alley and then stopped, and he'd have pulled into the alley afterward and stopped, blocking them in. This friend is very black. It was funny to talk about and imagine the looks on the faces of the "crackers", but I'm sure he was at work in Columbus, just as I had been.