The future George Zimmerman Acquittal Trial Megathread!

[Admiral Yi]

No, it would not have been.  If someone is following me, and I think that the threat of me calling the cops would dissuade them, then I won't feel threatened in the first place. 

Bingo.

I think you really have to twist yourself up like a pretzel to postulate that a guy following you in his car in a suburban subdivision poses a reasonable threat. 

Drive by mugging?  Kidnapping a 17 year old boy? 

I can, however, put myself in an immediate disadvantage by getting within the talking distance to the guy stalking me.

Exactly.  Either you think he's a harmless kook, in which case you confront him, or you run like hell.

[Admiral Yi]

For what it's worth, my guess is that Z told M he was neighborhood watch, asked him what he was doing around there, and M flipped out.

[DGuller]

That's what I get for scrolling through the discussion where it looked like Raz and Bravo were flinging poo at each other.  I inadvertently prove Yi's point. 

[11B4V]

That's what I get for scrolling through the discussion where it looked like Raz and Bravo were flinging poo at each other.  I inadvertently prove Yi's point. 

Poo. I dont think so. A minor miscommunication.

[Razgovory]

I think you really have to twist yourself up like a pretzel to postulate that a guy following you in his car in a suburban subdivision poses a reasonable threat. 

Drive by mugging?  Kidnapping a 17 year old boy? 

Really a guy following you around at night in car then gets of car and starts shouting at you would send of the danger flag to me.

[Admiral Yi]

Really a guy following you around at night in car then gets of car and starts shouting at you would send of the danger flag to me.

Did Zimmerman do that?

[Admiral Yi]

I hadn't heard that, but it would matter a great deal *what* he was shouting.

[Razgovory]

Really a guy following you around at night in car then gets of car and starts shouting at you would send of the danger flag to me.

Did Zimmerman do that?

That is what what one of the witnesses stated ( the one that Martin was talking to on the phone).  She said she heard a confrontation before the phone went dead.  She also seemed to indicate that Martin was agitated by this guy following him "Creepy ass cracker".  From that alone I think it's a good indication that Martin was perceived Zimmerman as a threat.

I believe Zimmerman claimed he got lost and had to get out of his car to see the street sign and Martin jumped out the bushes telling him (zimmerman) that he was going to die.  I do not find this to be a compelling story.  It seems odd that the man would get lost in his own neighborhood, and I believe the body was found in someone's backyard, which seems an odd place to be looking for a street sign.

[Admiral Yi]

The fat girl's testimony was that she heard Zimmerman shouting at Martin before Martin said anything to him?

Martin was pounding Zimmerman's face on a sidewalk.  That doesn't sound like a back yard to me.

"Creepy ass cracker" doesn't sound very threatening either.  It sounds contemptuous and hateful.

[jimmy olsen]

Is this accurate? Seems crazy that if Zim started the fight he'd still be able to shoot Martin in self defense.

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

In Florida, a person "who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked" has no duty to retreat. He or she has the right to "meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself." The jury could have faulted Zimmerman for starting the altercation with Martin and still believed him not guilty of murder, or even of manslaughter, which in Florida is a killing that has no legal justification. If the jury believed that once the physical fight began, Zimmerman reasonably feared he would suffer a grave bodily injury, then he gets off for self-defense.

Maybe that is the wrong rule. Maybe people like George Zimmerman should be held responsible for provoking the fight that they then fear they'll lose. And maybe cuts to the back of the head and a bloody nose aren't enough to show reasonable fear of grave bodily harm. After all, as Adam Weinstein points out, the lesson right now for Floridians is this: "in any altercation, however minor, the easiest way to avoid criminal liability is to kill the counterparty." But you can see the box the jurors might have felt they were in. Even if they didn't like George Zimmerman—even if they believed only part of what he told the police—they didn't have a charge under Florida law that was a clear fit for what he did that night.

[Razgovory]

The fat girl's testimony was that she heard Zimmerman shouting at Martin before Martin said anything to him?

Martin was pounding Zimmerman's face on a sidewalk.  That doesn't sound like a back yard to me.

"Creepy ass cracker" doesn't sound very threatening either.  It sounds contemptuous and hateful.

Yeah, there was a sidewalk going through the backyards.  I don't know about you, having creeping people stalk is a reason to be fearful.



A map of the area and where Martin was found dead.

[CountDeMoney]

Why didnt he run?

Why should he have to?

What most of the creepy ass crackers on this board fail to comprehend, because it's not their world, is the simple fact is that a lot of young black men are told very early on not to run, by the cops, by Moms, by their friends.  Running only makes you more suspicious.  So when you do, you better have a damned good reason.

[Admiral Yi]

Like feeling threatened?

[CountDeMoney]

He ran, didn't he?  Obviously he didn't run far enough or fast enough.

[The Brain]

I always run when I see ethnics.