George Zimmerman-"Stand Your Ground"
usamamasan1
Posts: 4,695
Might not even go to a jury.
If it is determined by a judge that he acted in self defense and there is no jury trial, what's next?
George Zimmerman, accused in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, could be cleared of a second-degree murder charge if a judge rules in his favor in a new "Stand Your Ground" hearing.
Zimmerman's defense attorney Mark O'Mara announced on his website Thursday that there will be a "Stand Your Ground" hearing based on his client's claim he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense. A finding in Zimmerman's favor would end the criminal case against him, as well as immunizing him from civil action.
"Now that the State has released the majority of their discovery, the defense asserts that there is clear support for a strong claim of self-defense. Consistent with this claim of self-defense, there will be a 'Stand Your Ground' hearing," said O'Mara in a statement.
The law allows people to use deadly force, rather than retreat, if they believe their lives are in danger.
O'Mara described the hearing as a "mini-trial," with arguments, witnesses, experts and evidence that would be included in a criminal trial, but without a jury.
Zimmerman, 28, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. He is free on $1 million bond as he awaits trial. Zimmerman wasn't charged until 44 days after Martin's death, and in those weeks protesters accused the Sanford police department of being racist and botching the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/09/ta ... z233WkFR7k
If it is determined by a judge that he acted in self defense and there is no jury trial, what's next?
George Zimmerman, accused in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, could be cleared of a second-degree murder charge if a judge rules in his favor in a new "Stand Your Ground" hearing.
Zimmerman's defense attorney Mark O'Mara announced on his website Thursday that there will be a "Stand Your Ground" hearing based on his client's claim he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense. A finding in Zimmerman's favor would end the criminal case against him, as well as immunizing him from civil action.
"Now that the State has released the majority of their discovery, the defense asserts that there is clear support for a strong claim of self-defense. Consistent with this claim of self-defense, there will be a 'Stand Your Ground' hearing," said O'Mara in a statement.
The law allows people to use deadly force, rather than retreat, if they believe their lives are in danger.
O'Mara described the hearing as a "mini-trial," with arguments, witnesses, experts and evidence that would be included in a criminal trial, but without a jury.
Zimmerman, 28, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. He is free on $1 million bond as he awaits trial. Zimmerman wasn't charged until 44 days after Martin's death, and in those weeks protesters accused the Sanford police department of being racist and botching the investigation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/09/ta ... z233WkFR7k
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And for those that don't like the decision need to work toward changing the law.
"Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
if you're white or brown and live in florida you might want to have those supplys ready for your home... :shock:
if he is found not guilty I am predicting a race riot..which really sucks cause the courts disisson my be influanced by that thought/fear.
Godfather.
And then "defend ourselves."
Problem solved.
Self defense is a two-way street.
Oh please stop GF the courts are NOT going by nothing other than the evidence or lack of that is presented in court not a damn thing else. The courts will not base their decision on the presumption of a possible riot that's only your assumption.
I live here in FL and I won't need any plywood or nails only if a hurricane comes through Palm Beach County.
peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
o.k you're probably right, it was just a thought
Godfather.
http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmerman- ... tsrc=yahoo
Big time. From this and other.
BOYS IN THE HOODIES
Exclusive: Jack Cashill stresses significance of attacked Floridian's bloodied-nose photo
Published: 1 day ago
“That man [George Zimmerman] carried a 9-millimeter handgun,” wrote the New York Times’ Charles Blow last April in a typically reckless bit of media disinformation. “That boy [Trayvon Martin] carried a bag of candy.”
That boy also carried a hell of a punch, and now the evidence has emerged that proves it – a front-on, high resolution, color photo of Zimmerman, sitting in a police car, blood dripping from his swollen, disfigured nose.
“This type of evidence should have come out day one,” Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, told CNN’s John King recently.
As O’Mara observed, had this photo been shared with and by the media last March, it would have quelled much of the anger against Zimmerman. In fact, it might have killed the controversy altogether.
More evidence is still being withheld. This includes the unedited interview of the mysterious “DeeDee” by Martin family attorneys. DeeDee is the alleged 16-year-old who was on the phone with Trayon before and during the fatal incident.
In fact, however, DeeDee was not 16, as claimed by the state of Florida and the media, but 18. She was an adult and should have been treated as one. “That is crucial evidence,” said Omara of the unedited interview. “I deserve it and my client deserves it.”
Finally, O’Mara has learned that an additional police officer witnessed the playing of the 911 tape for Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin. When he heard this tape, Tracy Martin said it was not Trayon who was crying out for help. Tracy has since fudged his testimony, but the officer confirms his initial reaction.
Zimmerman is scheduled to be tried in June 2013. There will likely be a “Stand Your Ground” hearing set for April or May 2013. If the judge determines that the law does apply, the charges against Zimmerman could be dropped right there.
Given the political pressures that have been brought to bear, it is hard to imagine a judge in Florida with the fortitude to do the right thing and kill the case before it goes to trial.
If the case does go to trial and is televised, as seems likely, this will be the biggest judicial ratings bonanza since the O. J. Simpson case went to trial in 1995.
This time, however, justice, or something like it, will be done. Zimmerman may not get all 12 jurors to vote for acquittal, but he will get enough to prevent conviction.
The jury – and America, too – will learn what really happened that fateful night in February 2011. Kudos to theconservativetreehouse.com for their good work on this case.
6:21 p.m.
Trayvon Martin is seen on the security video through the 7-11 window approaching the store from the direction of the townhome of his father’s girlfriend, Brandy. In major media accounts, the helpful Trayvon ventured out in the rain in a mile-plus round trip to buy some Skittles and Arizona Ice Tea from Brandy’s young son. Not likely.
6:22
Trayvon grabs two items – Skittles and Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail. Trayvon, in fact, had become a devotee of the druggy concoction known as “Lean,” also known in Southern hip-hop culture as “Sizzurp” and “Purple Drank.” Lean consists of three basic ingredients – codeine, a soft drink and candy.
6:23
Trayvon pays for his purchases. He then appears to point to an item behind the counter, but the clerk seems to reject that option. Trayvon turns from the counter with a couple of dollar bills still in his hand.
6:24
Trayvon leaves the 7-11. Three squirrelly young men enter the 7-11 seconds later, all of them with their faces concealed in part or in full.
6:27
One of the three appears to be holding the two bills Trayvon walked out with. He buys two cheap cigars from behind the counter and then a third one as an afterthought. Seconds after he exits, Trayvon, can be seen through the window heading back toward Brandy’s house.
7:09
Zimmerman calls police while watching Trayvon near the gated community’s clubhouse. The walk to this point should have taken 10 minutes. It took 40 minutes. It seems likely that Trayvon got a “blunt” – street slang for cannabis rolled in a cigar wrapper –from the dude at the 7-11 and smoked it.
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” Zimmerman tells the police. “Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.” Trayvon’s autopsy showed the presence of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in both his blood and his urine.
It is possible, too, that Trayvon was up to no good. Trayvon had a history. Months earlier, a security guard at his school found 12 pieces of jewelry, a watch and a “burglary tool” in his tote bag.
7:10
“He’s coming towards me,” Zimmerman tells the police about Trayvon. “He’s coming to check me out. He’s got something in his hands.” Zimmerman sounds a little anxious, “Please, get an officer over here.”
7:11
After Trayvon passes his truck, Zimmerman says, “Sh–, he’s running.” Trayvon is heading toward “the back entrance,” says Zimmerman. That entrance is in the same general direction as Brandy’s townhouse.
7:12
When asked by the dispatcher, Zimmerman agrees not to follow Trayvon, and his heavy breathing ends. “He ran,” says Zimmerman. Even if running slowly, Trayvon could have made it to Brandy’s house in a half a minute.
7:13
“I don’t know where this kid is,” Zimmerman tells the dispatcher and heads back to the truck.
7:14 – 7:16
Trayvon comes back to confront Zimmerman. According to Zimmerman – and the new photo confirms this – Martin landed a sucker punch on Zimmerman’s nose, knocked him down and started banging his head against the pavement.
According to the autopsy report, Trayvon was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed 158 pounds. He was not the skinny little boy with the Skittles half of America still believes him to be.
Trayvon had clearly fallen victim to urban America’s lost-boy culture. In the past year or so, his social media sites showed a growing interest in drugs, in mixed martial arts style street fighting and in a profoundly vulgar exploitation of “bitches.”
A reckless and corrupt media made Trayvon a cause célèbre, but the obfuscation will end in court. There, the truth will out. When it does, the major media will lose a good chunk of whatever credibility they have left, and our nation may lose a good chunk of its urban real estate.
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Thank you for your contribution, I am now leaving this thread a changed man, with new things to consider...I thought I had my mind made up, but this rational post changes everything.
Bravo.
I do however think the law is stupid.
A brief outline of the facts. It’s February 26. Trayvon Martin is a 17-year old black kid watching a big basketball game in the home of his father’s fiancée in Sanford, a small-town outlier of Orlando, Florida. Sanford has a population of 55,000, about a third black. The fiancée lives in a mixed-race, gated community. At halftime Martin goes to the corner store and buys an iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
It’s raining and Martin has his hoodie up over his head and is talking to his girl friend on his cell phone. On his way back he is spotted by 28-year old George Zimmerman, self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher. Apparently he has pestered the police station for months with reports of “suspicious 12-year-olds” walking through the neighborhood. Zimmerman – white dad, Latina mother — is wearing a red jacket and blue jeans. In his pocket is a Kel-Tec 9 mm automatic pistol.
Zimmerman calls the local station and says he’s following a suspicious character. He describes Martin as black and says he’s acting strangely and could be on drugs. The teenager starts to run, Zimmerman says. A 911 dispatcher asks Zimmerman whether he’s following Martin, and Zimmerman says he is. The dispatcher says clearly that Zimmerman doesn’t need to do that.
There’s a lull in the transmission and you can hear Zimmerman mutter clearly to himself , “These assholes .. . They always get away.” On other calls between Zimmerman and the 9/11 dispatcher he refers to “fucking coons.” CNN says the words are indistinct, which they aren’t. CNN also says the case is “complicated”, which it isn’t.
Later the Martin family lawyer relays Trayvon’s girlfriend’s account of her last call with him. She says he told her that he was being followed. She says: “Run.” He says, “I’m not going to run, I’m just going to walk fast. Eventually, he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin. The girl later heard Martin say, “Why are you following me?” and then another man – Zimmmerman – saying, “What are you doing around here?” The girl thinks she heard a scuffle because his voice changes like something interrupted his speech.
Attorneys say the girl's identity was being withheld because "her parents are gravely concerned about her health and her safety." Her parents asked that only an attorney be allowed to ask her questions.
Mary Cutcher was in her kitchen making coffee that night with her roommate, Selma Mora Lamilla. The window was open, she said. “We heard a whining. Not like a crying, boohoo, but like a whining, someone in distress, and then the gunshot,” she tells Anderson Cooper on CNN’s 360.
They looked out the window but saw nothing. It was dark.
They ran out the sliding glass door, and within seconds, they saw Zimmerman.
“Zimmerman was standing over the body with — basically straddling the body with his hands on Trayvon’s back,” Cutcher said. “And it didn’t seem to me that he was trying to help him in any way. I didn’t hear any struggle prior to the gunshot. And I feel like it was Trayvon Martin that was crying out, because the minute that the gunshot went off, the whining stopped.”
The two women said they could not see whether Zimmerman was bruised or hurt. It was too dark.
“Selma asked him three times, ‘what’s going on over there?’ ” Cutcher said. “He looks back and doesn’t say anything. She asks him again, “Everything OK? What’s going on?’ Same thing: looked at us, looked back. Finally, the third time, he said, ‘just call the police.’ ”
The women, one white and one Latina, tell Anderson Cooper flatly they don’t believe Zimmerman’s story of how Martin had suddenly attacked him, punched him in the face, broke his nose — and that when Zimmerman –larger than Martin – feels he’s being overpowered he pulls out the gun and shoots Martin through the chest. (Later Zimmerman declined medical attention.)
Zimmerman stakes his defense on Chapter 7776.013 of the Florida criminal statute on home protection and the use of deadline force. Para 3 states “A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and 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 or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
This is what’s colloquially known as the Stand Your Ground law. Thirty states have versions of this old English legal concept of My Home is My Castle. The state may have a Stand Your Ground law, but it really doesn’t want people using it as legal shelter.
Not so in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman, the son of a former local magistrate judge, is not charged and walks away free. Though the Sanford cops leak to the press the news that he was once suspended from school as having been in possession of an empty bag that had once contained marijuana, Trayvon Martin had a clean record. On the other hand, Zimmerman was arrested in 2005 for battery on a cop. A former co-worker tells the New York Daily News Zimmerman was fired in 2005 from his job as an under-the-table security guard for “being too aggressive…. Usually he was just a cool guy. He liked to drink and hang with the women like the rest of us. But it was like Jekyll and Hyde. When the dude snapped, he snapped.” In 2007 an injunction was issued as a result of a domestic battery complaint by Zimmerman’s then girlfriend. He files a similar injunction against her.
http://rt.com/usa/257573-zimmerman-shooting-police-florida/
http://m.cnn.com/en/article/h_6b956455c4cf0b4aea4640bce6030305
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