The Official Zimmerman Trial Verdict Thread

[Defer09]

Zimmerman may have kept his blows less than full-strength, knowing he had the gun.

That is one of the stupidest things I've yet heard on here, Quick! Seriously...get a grip. The two men had a confrontation and Martin suckered Zimmerman in the face. It happens thousands of times every night all around the world. The next thing you'll be telling us is that Zimmerman hit Martin in the fist with his face to make it LOOK like Martin attacked him.

Fights happen for many reasons. To insinuate that is ok or legal to use that as an excuse to kill someone is the stupidity.

You assume it was a mutual fight.
Zimmerman was being beaten to death and he had the right to defend himself.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

We're supposed to use "common sense" to figure out who started the fight?

Yeah. We are supposed to use our brain and look at the evidence.

And while that may be a novel concept for you, it really is the best way to go about it.

Who started the fight was never resolved, and you can't provide a link where it shows the matter has been resolved. You're welcome to try.

 

[Cecilie1200]

And let's clear up a little misconception here... We don't convict people of murder on the basis of how we personally feel about the death of the victim, the color of skin, whether some other action could have happened, or anything other than the criteria for conviction, which was simply not met in Zimmerman's case. We have an established rule of law, and that's what we follow, not our emotions. What you need to do at this point, is take a step back, take a deep breath, and try to absorb what has happened here. The jury didn't share your zeal to lock a man away for 30 years, because he may have used poor judgement in dealing with a poor little black kid. The case wasn't made, and they acquitted. This does not translate to people not caring about the poor black kid, or feeling sorry for the loss. It doesn't mean we are racists or the jury were racists, it means the evidence for conviction was not there. It doesn't matter if Martin was black, white, green or purple, the evidence for conviction of murder, was not there.

Yeah, well, if the same exact scenario played out, and it was me wearing a hoody and walking back from the store, and Zimmerman ended up killing ME, he would have been convicted and sent off to prison...you know why?

Because it would have been a hispanic man killing a white woman.

But because it was a hispanic man killing a black kid...somehow the SAME evidence didn't support a conviction.

Of course, I'm not psychic, maybe they wouldn't have convicted him of killing little ol' me. But I know in my heart they would have.

No, you dumb racist broad, he'd have been convicted because YOU wouldn't be capable of assaulting him and beating him up. I know you, as a good liberal, are completely dedicated to rewriting history to suit yourself, but I have to tell you that no matter how hard you try, you are not going to get ANYONE to forget that Martin started the fight and was NOT "walking home from the store" when he was killed.

So why don't you log the fuck off the computer, go sit in front of a mirror, and lie to yourself? You're the only one around here stupid enough to believe you.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

That is one of the stupidest things I've yet heard on here, Quick! Seriously...get a grip. The two men had a confrontation and Martin suckered Zimmerman in the face. It happens thousands of times every night all around the world. The next thing you'll be telling us is that Zimmerman hit Martin in the fist with his face to make it LOOK like Martin attacked him.

Fights happen for many reasons. To insinuate that is ok or legal to use that as an excuse to kill someone is the stupidity.

You assume it was a mutual fight.
Zimmerman was being beaten to death and he had the right to defend himself.

Are fights that occur in bars called "mutual"?

 

[Avatar4321]

We're supposed to use "common sense" to figure out who started the fight?

Yeah. We are supposed to use our brain and look at the evidence.

And while that may be a novel concept for you, it really is the best way to go about it.

Who started the fight was never resolved, and you can't provide a link where it shows the matter has been resolved. You're welcome to try.

That's why we suggest common sense:

No injuries to Trayvon but the gun shot and the bruises to his knuckles from hitting Zimmerman.

Hmmm Now 1 person has wounds consistant with a fight. The other doesn't. Who could have possibly started the fight?

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

This is a good interview that asks the question why there isn't a requirement to retreat in these fights.

Hardball with Chris Matthews

Why should you be required to retreat from a place you are legally allowed to be if they try to cause bodily injury or death to you?

To avoid jail? Unless you can absolutely prove you weren't ever the aggressor?

 

[Avatar4321]

Angela Corey should go to jail for withholding exculpatory evidence.

Man you guys are like scorpions.

Didn't you see her after the verdict was read?

She was happy.

That's the outcome she wanted. She's a conservative republican, and she wanted Zimmerman cut loose.

So she tanked the case and is going to lose her license for ethical violations because she wanted to cut Zimmerman loose?

You realize if that's what she wanted to do, she had full authority to do just that, right?

 

[Cecilie1200]

You know what I find appalling? That so many people are so callous about a kid getting shot to death because he didn't know exactly the right way to handle a situation. He was a kid, barely turned 17.

But he was a black kid, wasn't he? And I know without a doubt that's why so many of you just don't give a fuck about what happened to him.

You've profiled him in your minds just as Zimmerman profiled him on the streets that night. It MUST have been his fault. Those kind, they always cause trouble.

If this had been a white kid walking down the street with Skittles and iced tea, would Zimmerman had thought him suspicious? I have Black friends who were scared to death of going through White neighborhoods as kids because of the possible consequences.

Maybe your black friends should have learned not to be so racist and hung up on their own skin color. I had a black friend once who was convinced that if she went to an apartment complex and applied to become a new tenant, they would turn her down because "no one wants to rent to black single mothers." Just because she believed it and lived in terror of it didn't make it true.

If this had been a white kid, dressed the same way and the same size and build and just as unfamiliar to Zimmerman as Martin was, yes. Zimmerman would have found his behavior suspicious. Feel free to show me proof other than "Everyone knows this is a racist country" to show otherwise or shut your flapping racist piehole.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Yeah. We are supposed to use our brain and look at the evidence.

And while that may be a novel concept for you, it really is the best way to go about it.

Who started the fight was never resolved, and you can't provide a link where it shows the matter has been resolved. You're welcome to try.

That's why we suggest common sense:

No injuries to Trayvon but the gun shot and the bruises to his knuckles from hitting Zimmerman.

Hmmm Now 1 person has wounds consistant with a fight. The other doesn't. Who could have possibly started the fight?

Zimmerman didn't have to cause injuries if he first showed the gun to Trayvon. He could have shown it to him whether he pulled it or not. GZ could have also pulled it before the fight started.

 

[Cecilie1200]

None of us were there, therefore we only have the physical evidence to go by, so what did the evidence suggest? Come on now, this is an easy lay up. According to the physical evidence, which person was more likely to have thrown the first punch?

The fact that you, others, nor myself KNOWS nor CAN KNOW, means we cannot nor should not SPECULATE.

Case closed.

Stop saying the victim, Trayvon Martin, threw the first punch.

It's simply not true.

It is true, which is why Zimmerman was found not guilty. He was acting in self defense, therefore by default, Trayvon was the aggressor, and Zimmerman was the victim. Quit blaming the victim for Trayvons vile behavior.

Even Rachel Jeantel said after the trial that she thought Martin "probably threw the first punch". Time to move on from THIS little fairy tale.

 

[horselightning]

The fighting injuries on both sides could be consistent with just about any old fight, and we don't know for a fact who started the fight. We never will.

Are you saying it's ok to get in a fight and allow a few light injuries knowing all along that you were going to kill the person you're fighting with? Because you had a gun or because you know you really have the superior fighting ability and aren't going to stop, when you got the person down on the cement and will just keep punching, not stopping when the person is losing consciousness?

You've never been in a real fight, have you, Quick? That shot Zimmerman took to the nose would have been seriously painful. Are you now making the claim that Zimmerman "allowed" Martin to sucker punch him and slam his head on the cement so that he had an excuse to pull his gun and kill the teenager? Is that REALLY the story you want to go with?

Common sense tells you who started the fight. It's the guy without any injuries EXCEPT for the gunshot. If you'd been in some fights you'd know how that works.

We're supposed to use "common sense" to figure out who started the fight?

The fight does not always start with the first punch.

 

[Avatar4321]

This is a good interview that asks the question why there isn't a requirement to retreat in these fights.

Hardball with Chris Matthews

Why should you be required to retreat from a place you are legally allowed to be if they try to cause bodily injury or death to you?

To avoid jail? Unless you can absolutely prove you weren't ever the aggressor?

You don't have to prove that you weren't the aggressor. The State has to prove you were.

There is no reason I should have to run away from a place I am legally allowed to be because someone is trying to threaten my life or bodily security.

 

[Avatar4321]

Zimmerman didn't have to cause injuries if he first showed the gun to Trayvon. He could have shown it to him whether he pulled it or not. GZ could have also pulled it before the fight started.

So according to your theory, Trayvon saw Zimmerman's gun and decided to attack him.

So the true killer is Darwinism

 

[Cecilie1200]

How about not act like a thug or an animal, for one.

Trayvon wasn't acting like a thug when he was walking home, was he?

Apparently, he was, or he wouldn't have looked "suspicious". And at the point where, instead of walking home, he chose to come back and commit assault, he was DEFINITELY acting like a thug.

Did you actually miss the part where that happened, or are you just trying to do the good liberal thing where you rewrite history to suit yourself?

 

[Cecilie1200]

How about not act like a thug or an animal, for one.

Trayvon wasn't acting like a thug when he was walking home, was he?

No. When he was beating the crap out of Zimmerman.

Why do you guys want to conveniently ignore that?

Because of the word I bolded.

 

[Wry Catcher]

52 looks and no one has formed an opinion. Amazing.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Why should you be required to retreat from a place you are legally allowed to be if they try to cause bodily injury or death to you?

To avoid jail? Unless you can absolutely prove you weren't ever the aggressor?

You don't have to prove that you weren't the aggressor. The State has to prove you were.

There is no reason I should have to run away from a place I am legally allowed to be because someone is trying to threaten my life or bodily security.

Joy Ann-Reid says in the video I posted the SYG laws (in general) encourage confrontations, and Reid says because of the verdict the racial profiling so prevalent among police is now being transferred to private citizens as long as you kill the person.

What is the future of the Stand Your Ground law? - Video on NBCNews.com

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Zimmerman didn't have to cause injuries if he first showed the gun to Trayvon. He could have shown it to him whether he pulled it or not. GZ could have also pulled it before the fight started.

So according to your theory, Trayvon saw Zimmerman's gun and decided to attack him.

So the true killer is Darwinism

Someone coming up to you sporting a gun at night with no one else anywhere near wouldn't concern you?

 

[MikeK]

The very worst thing to do in a situation like Martin/Zimmerman is to come on like a smart-ass thug. Because that behavior invariably escalates, creating situations that rarely end well.

The best frame of mind in any such situation is, even if you aren't, to imagine you are armed with a concealed handgun. Because the kind of confidence that comes with such self-induced self-assurance serves two important functions. It enables you to assume a passively polite attitude without feeling intimidated, and the confidence it projects has the effect of discouraging aggressive conduct toward you. Behave exactly as you would if you had a .357 magnum derringer in your pocket but would prefer to transact peacefully and politely, but not meekly.

I don't know how the Martin/Zimmerman transaction began or how it evolved into a shooting incident. But I'm sure it could have been avoided if Martin had chosen to control the situation by politely and intelligently assuring Zimmerman that he was simply passing through on his way home.

It is likely that Martin chose to express his resentment of Zimmerman's pursuing him, which quite obviously was the wrong thing to do. Because regardless of how right he might have been and how wrong he felt Zimmerman was, the fact is Zimmerman was strapped with a 9mm pistol.

It is always best to think about -- what if? and to proceed accordingly. People who come on aggressively with no provocation are quite possibly psychopathic and should be thought of as potentially rabid dogs. Graceful avoidance is smart -- not cowardly.

 

[Avatar4321]

Zimmerman didn't have to cause injuries if he first showed the gun to Trayvon. He could have shown it to him whether he pulled it or not. GZ could have also pulled it before the fight started.

So according to your theory, Trayvon saw Zimmerman's gun and decided to attack him.

So the true killer is Darwinism

Someone coming up to you sporting a gun at night with no one else anywhere near wouldn't concern you?

Not really. Should it?

I don't tend to give people a reason to shoot me. Not to mention I know enough to try to persuade them to not point it at me if they for some reason started aiming it at me.

The last thing I would do is punch a guy with a gun. And if I was going to punch a guy with a gun, my first priority would be to take it out of his hand, not pound him onto the ground. Probably dodge to the side pushing the gun away, kicking his knee out from under him and controlling the firearm so if it fires it either goes away from me or at him.

Sorry, but if Zimmerman is flashing a gun at Trayvon, it doesn't make sense to attack him. Which Trayvon was clearly doing based on the eye witness and forensic evidence.

Do you normally fear people walking up to you with a gun?