Zimmerman Found Not Guilty in Killing of Trayvon Martin

This just in: stay home tonight.  Zimmerman has been released.

George Zimmerman is not guilty of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida jury decided late Saturday.

The fact that Zimmerman fired the bullet that killed Martin was never in question, but the verdict means the six-person jury had reasonable doubt that the shooting amounted to a criminal act.

The verdict caps a case that has inflamed passions for well over a year, much of it focused on race and gun rights.

The six-person jury — all women — had three choices: to find Zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder; to find him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter; or to find him not guilty.

The jurors deliberated for 16½ hours total, including 13 on Saturday alone, before delivering their verdict.

When he learned his fate, a subdued Zimmerman had little visible reaction. His face was mostly expressionless. He turned and shook one of his attorney’s hand before sitting back down. His parents, Robert and Gladys Zimmerman, were seated nearby, but Martin’s parents were not in the courtroom.

bloody zimmerman art

In the end, there was just not enough proof that Zimmerman’s version of the story was wrong.

The problem, according to this writer — http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/07/10/george_zimmerman_trial_trayvon_martin_s_shooter_is_probably_going_to_walk.html — is simply that it was not possible to reach the high standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”  Even if we all suspect that we know what happened there, we don’t know what happened there, so we can’t reject Zimmerman’s version of events, and that allowed Zimmerman to walk.  (As with the OJ Simpson case, a civil trial for wrongful death — in which the “preponderance of the evidence” (“more likely than not”) standard applies, will probably be forthcoming.  (And then Zimmerman will declare bankruptcy as soon as the judgment is levied against him.)

Convenient that this only seems to happen when someone with more social power kills someone with less of it!

To me, the basic truth is this: if Trayvon Martin had shot George Zimmerman under similar circumstances, even without corroboration, he would not be walking free.  He’d have been lucky to even make it out of the scene of the shooting alive.  He’d have been essentially forced to cop a plea.  If he didn’t, he’d be convicted and probably sentenced to die — despite using the same damned defense with no less right to credibility.

This helps move the U.S. back into the Django Unchained world of worry about slave revolt, where for our “master class” the main goal in life is to keep the downtrodden from having guns and the secondary goal is to make sure that if they do have guns they don’t get past the hired guards.  This summer just got a whole lot more perilous for everything.

On the (now-rejected) manslaughter option:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/11/zimmerman_manslaughter_judge_nelson_rules_jury_will_be_instructed_they_can.html

On the lack of empathy across races:

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/06/racial_empathy_gap_people_don_t_perceive_pain_in_other_races.single.html

Analyzing the verdict and finding Florida guilty:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/07/zimmerman_acquittal_blame_florida_for_trayvon_martin_s_death.html

The jury instructions:

http://www.flcourts18.org/PDF/Press_Releases/Zimmerman_Final_Jury_Instructions.pdf

(The notable thing here is that rather than justifiability of a homicide being raised as an affirmative defense — which is hard if

More to read on the verdict:

http://illumemagazine.com/zine/articleDetail.php?5-Reasons-Why-George-Zimmerman-Was-Acquitted-14396

http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/07/law-and-justice-and-george-zimmerman/277772/

I find the former likely true — but the latter one unpersuasive.

A cop’s take on the verdict — VERY MUCH WORTH READING:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/14/1223459/-A-Cop-s-take-on-the-Verdict

 


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)