Zimmerman tweets Photo of Trayvon Martin's Corpse

[Fawlty]

"Stalking" wasn't used because it has a legal definition:Had the prosecution referred to him as a stalker, the defense would have gained an opportunity to attack and color the prosecution as being ignorant of the law. Both sides in the trial went well out of their way, it seems, to not use the word "stalk".

Instead they went for - So what does the defense do? They call the volunteer program co-ordinator for the city's police department - the person in charge of preventing overzealous vigilantes from joining the neighborhood watch.

She testifies to the prosecutors that Zimmer-douche was the second coming of Gandhi (and now this is the kind of crazy part) AND that she wanted to promote Zimmy to the next level up; literally what the Sanford PD calls a "Citizen On Patrol" Volunteer. Zimmerman would have been issued a polo shirt with a sewed-on cloth badge PLUS he'd be allowed to drive around with a light bar on his vehicle!

But he turned it down! Jesus!- what kind of overzealous cop wanna-be vigilante turns down a free pseudo-police uniform and flashing light bar? This is just one of many examples of the prosecution slow pitching right in to the defense's strike zone.

I don't use stalking as a legal term here, and I would guess you're right that it didn't have a place as a legal term in the trial. That's funny about the vigilante/neighborhood watch thing. In hindsight any defense of Zimm's character is a goddamn joke, yet he actually came out of the trial looking somewhat clean.

 

[n...not crazy]

That's not how it works, though. The jury was given lesser charges and they acquitted him of manslaughter.

I didn't know that when I posted that
But
I'm still reading that the jury had asked questions at the time and was confused about the late-added Manslaughter charge. Apparently it's a little confusing in FL. Anyways the answers they got from the judge weren't very helpful. Honestly I have to read/interpret Statutes for my job sometimes and it's like dissecting an ant.

782.07
"The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification according to the provisions of chapter 776 and in cases in which such killing shall not be excusable homicide or murder, according to the provisions of this chapter, is manslaughter, a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084."

776.012
"
(1) A person is justified in using or threatening to use force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. A person who uses or threatens to use force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat before using or threatening to use such force.
(2) A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be."

So you tell me, I don't frickin know. They were under a lot of pressure in addition to the fact they probably weren't accustomed to reading through bullshit like this. There was of course more to read elsewhere. Regardless, that last paragraph probably let Zimmerman off the hook.

 

[Dolomite]

He never denied shooting Trayvon Martin - but maintained he had to do so in self defense. That's the lawful justification mentioned above in 782.07.

If he was NG of 2nd Degree because of self-defense, he'd necessarily have to be NG of manslaughter as well.

 

[MT7]

Zimmerman is 32 years old right now. I seriously doubt he will live to see his 40th birthday, with the way things have been going.

 

[Lead]

Everyone needs to be mindful with their comments in here. Whether by sarcasm or not, a lot of racist slurs and comments are being tossed around. Makes it very difficult to moderate and even if you are mocking/using sarcasm, it may get you infractions. Please watch your comments while in this thread. Using a racial slur or censoring out an implied slur is not a good idea. This thread was bumped from over a year ago and I'd be best if it just dropped of the first page again.

Edit: Mods agreed this should just be locked. No reason to bump it in the first place.