Not Guilty
By Mitch Berg
George Zimmerman was declared not guilty at 10pm Eastern Time.
Let the demigogueing begin.
UPDATE: Let’s watch the media work to delegitimize the trial, even though judge Nelson seemed to be taking orders from Eric Holder.
UPDATE 2: Well, this was inevitable, wasn’t didn’t it?
July 13th, 2013 at 10:00 pm
The case never should have been prosecuted.
Once again, Dog Gone is exposed for the fool she is.
July 13th, 2013 at 11:52 pm
You know what I find amazing. Whether it’s the prosecutors, Martin family lawyers, people who support Zimmerman should’ve been found guilty they all still haven’t figured out the fact that Trayvon went and attacked George Zimmerman.
If he had just kept walking home from the seven eleven he would still be alive today.
Don’t any of them get that?
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
July 14th, 2013 at 2:12 am
We are in a madhouse.
Jeffrey Toobin is a legal writer for the New Yorker, TNR, etc. Impeccable elite credentials. Father and mother were both wealthy, well known journalists, attended private schools as a child, graduate of Columbia and Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard Law.
Here is what Toobin tweeted when the verdict came in:
Trayvon got the death penalty for buying Skittles in a hoodie. I understand it, but still . . . #zimmermantrial
This is objectively false. Who gives a !@#$% about the skittles? It makes no difference whether Martin bought candy, or cigarettes, or liquor.
Somewhere in the dim recesses of his brain, Toobin — an honors graduate from the most prestigious law school in the country — must know that if profiling were a justification for violent assault, it would lead to the breakdown of law and civil order.
I can beat the crap out of someone if I think that they are ‘profiling’ me? Really?
July 14th, 2013 at 6:01 am
The Zimmerman trial is going to be used as an example of why you don’t ever want to be involved in a self defense situation by permit to carry instructors for many years to come.
July 14th, 2013 at 7:41 am
The Zimmerman trial is going to be used as an example of why you don’t ever want to be involved in a self defense situation by permit to carry instructors for many years to come.
This.
July 14th, 2013 at 10:03 am
Yes, it turned out just as Joel used to always warn you: having to use your gun in self defense is the second worst possible outcome.
July 14th, 2013 at 10:30 am
Whether the case should have “never” have been prosecuted is besides the point. The juror’s did what was expected of them. A jury should convict based on the evidence, not emotion. The jury did their job. Mr. Zimmerman is much better off as a result of the decision to be prosecuted and to have been found “not guilty”.
July 14th, 2013 at 10:36 am
If the feds decide to prosecute Zimmerman their action will demonstrate two things: first, their zeal to make certain race is exploited and, secondly, that the government has taken sides in a matter the courts, constitutionally, ought to decide.
The rule of law would be the biggest loser.
July 14th, 2013 at 11:10 am
Here’s a silly question. We have riots in the streets because Zimmerman is found not guilty on strong evidence, yet there were no celebrations when O.J. was acquitted AGAINST a preponderance of the evidence. Why? Does racial justice require that justice is determined by the race of the defendant, or by the race of the victim? Or do we just switch sides to always favor the black “side”? How is that justice in any way, shape or form?
July 14th, 2013 at 11:12 am
Those persecuted in the Rodney King affair were subsequently charged federally after the first acquittal andnd O. J. Simpson was nailed in a civil suit after acquittal. I disagree with that, also.
However, one good but painful benefit from this is reflected in nerdbert’s comment: use of deadly force is a lose-lose proposition which should only be exercised when the other option is death/serious harm. However, while this might keep people from using the option without enough consideration, it might keep me from using it to rescue you. Or your wife and kids.
I doubt if Zimmerman, his mental health, or bank account feel “better off.” Those out to get him will not be swayed by a verdict. If anything, it might provide them with additional vitreol. Having a trial only for appeasement is not much better than false imprisonment.
This, coupled with the Paula Deen situation, could send race relations back to the days of Jim Crow and “seperate but equal.” The public pillorying both have experienced might make even liberals cautious about interacting with persons in “protected classes”. Fear of being subjected to punishment for sins not defined as such at the time of commission and without any statutes of limitation could cause non-members of these groups to keep their respectful distances.
This, combined with the perception that the “justice” in “criminal justice” doesn’t apply equally, further enhances the possiblity of cautiousness trumping diversity.
That’s unfortunate.
July 14th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Constitutional scholar?
When President Obama proclaimed that those who commit sexual assault in the military should be “prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged,” it had an effect he did not intend: muddying legal cases across the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/us/obama-remark-is-complicating-military-trials.html?hp&_r=0
Yes, that is the New York Times.
Obama reached his level of peak competence when he was a crooked machine politician.
July 14th, 2013 at 1:09 pm
If there is any substantial rioting, the irony is that is will be leftist cesspools being destroyed: NYC, LA, Chicago, Oakland, Miami, whats left of Detroit…the racist muckrakers shall reap the bitter harvest of the hatred they’ve sown.
I shall munch popcorn.
July 14th, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Meanwhile, the black-on-black holocaust continues in cities like Chicago – virtually unreported by the national media and ignored by the President, Eric Holder and Al Sharpton.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-shootings-violence-20130714,0,4764624.story
July 14th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Oh yes, one more irony. Many black “protesters” who express outrage that Martin was marked as a potential thief will use any rioting as cover for theft.
July 14th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
Since the sinner was not punished it’s time to attack the mechanism of the sin.
A tragedy in need of rescue from waste; Newtown II: The Trayvon Story.
Or: Heather get your sign …
July 14th, 2013 at 1:46 pm
It’s especially rich that so much of the pro-Trayvon crowd is on record as saying that a citizen has a duty to obey the commands not just of the police, but a police dispatcher.
And all the while they bring up the cases Amado Diallo and other black men unjustifiably killed by the cops.
July 14th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Going off Just A Mom and Swiftee’s comments:
http://www.soopermexican.com/2013/07/14/in-513-days-between-trayvon-dying-and-the-zimmerman-trial-verdict-11106-blacks-have-been-murdered-by-other-blacks/
July 14th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
Michael Dunn on deck this fall.
July 14th, 2013 at 6:00 pm
This Michael Dunn?
http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2013-04-09/story/michael-dunn-remains-adamant-police-interview-after-killing-jordan-davis
The cases don’t seem to be similar. Lots of witnesses, no assault preceding the shooting, and the cops had to hunt down the (white?) shooter.
July 14th, 2013 at 6:08 pm
There is absolutely no similarity in the cases, “Emery”. Zero.
This is the first I’ve heard of the case, so Dunn is no cause celebre among shooters. Why? Because – assuming the media are reporting the facts correctly (let’s call it a leap of faith) – Dunn did pretty much everything wrong; shooting first and asking questions later, fleeing the scene and failing to report the shooting as soon as safely possible. It’s not apples and oranges, it’s apples and typewriters.
If the media and left (ptr) are trying to turn this into Martin II, it’d be a pretty collossal piece of disinformation.
July 14th, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Apparently the Jacksonville shooter was returning to a hotel room from a wedding. If he had been drinking, it would explain a lot.
July 14th, 2013 at 8:26 pm
From what I have read about Mr. Dunn, he intends to use “stand your ground” as his defense.
July 14th, 2013 at 8:34 pm
Ok. So what?
There’ll be a hearing. Either SYG will apply, or it won’t.
The fact that someone might (possibly) wrongly claim SYG doesn’t invalidate law.
July 14th, 2013 at 8:38 pm
Emery/
Success in a case that goes to court requires
(1) a good deal of money;
(2) a good deal of patience;
(3) a good cause;
(4) a good lawyer;
(5) a good counsel;
(6) good witnesses;
(7) a good jury;
(8) a good judge;
and (9) good luck.
compare and contrast Zimmerman & Dunn – are they, as you suggest, equivalent?
Explain why.
July 14th, 2013 at 9:04 pm
You all project way too much. The defenses are similar, the circumstances are not.
July 14th, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Jeebus, Emery, Zimmerman didn’t use ‘stand your grand’ in his defense.
In what way are ‘the defenses similar’? Did Zimmerman fire 8 shots? Did Zimmerman say that Martin had a gun? Did Zimmerman refuse to retreat?
Seriously, please tell me how the defenses are similar? I haven’t got a clue. It’s not obvious.
July 14th, 2013 at 9:36 pm
Wasn’t Jeebus the only son of Gosh?
July 14th, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Emery said:
Wasn’t Jeebus the only son of Gosh?
Always the coy pissant huh? You really work at making yourself insignificant.
July 14th, 2013 at 9:57 pm
Emery, sometimes you sound like a person who trusts AP or HuffPo as a news source. The only similarity between the Dunn case and the Zimmerman case is that they both involve an innocent plea — and I suspect that will change and Dunn will plea down to manslaughter (if he has a competent lawyer).
The cases are so dissimilar I really wonder how you could come to the conclusion that they involved anything like the same circumstances, unless you read something by an ignorant, biased ‘journalist’ who said they were similar.
July 14th, 2013 at 10:10 pm
From WaPo:
July 14th, 2013 at 10:26 pm
Fixing blockquote . . .
July 15th, 2013 at 6:39 am
../[“Dunn will plea down to manslaughter (if he has a competent lawyer).”
Good advice.
July 15th, 2013 at 8:31 am
../[“Dunn will plea down to manslaughter (if he has a competent lawyer).”
Good advice.
Thank you Alan Dershowitz
July 15th, 2013 at 11:35 am
Question: how many new burglaries have been reported in The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida since Trayvon Martin was killed?
July 15th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
Question: how many new burglaries have been reported in The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Florida since Trayvon Martin was killed?
Now that’s an interesting question.
July 16th, 2013 at 9:17 am
William F. Buckley, Jr., explained the difference between Liberals and Conservatives by this story:
A little old lady is standing on a street corner. A man pushes her into the street, in the path of an oncoming bus. A second man leaps beside her, pushing her out of danger. The Conservative eye witness says “One is a criminal, the other a hero.” The Liberal eye witness says “They are identical: men pushing around a little old lady.”
Emery thinks Dunn is similar because a Liberal only analyzes facts to a limited depth. White on Black, Pistol, Self-Defense . . . identical!
Now if a Black man shot a White man with a pistol and claimed self-defense, that would be totally different. “Black on White” is not “White on Black.” The first is justified by centuries of slavery; the latter is a hate crime. And that’s pretty much all you need to know to form a Liberal opinion.
.