PrintSmith wrote: What should determine whether or not their is a trial is the law, not community pressure to ignore the law and charge a person with a crime anyway, which is what has occurred here.
In your opinion..... Apparently not in the opinion of prosecutors. I believe this incident was mishandled by police from the get go and a jury should decide if it was self defense not a couple of cops on the scene, and not the statements of the man who killed the victim. Just my opinion too.
And I also think that you should accurately state the case when you mention "the prosecutors", don't you? Certainly the special prosecutor, who was emowered after the mob started clammoring for an arrest and a trial regardless of whether or not the evidence gathered supported such action, caved to the pressure and filed charges, but should she have bowed to political pressure instead of acting impartially? I would think the evidence presented at the trial answers that question quite well. Unable to prove the charges filed, the prosecution, at the 11th hour, wants additional options for the jury to consider. That's very telling, don't you think? Why ask for a compromise verdict if you have clear and compelling evidence of wrongdoing that justifies the taking of a man's liberty from him?
No, the prosecutors in this case are prosecuting for political reasons, not criminal ones. The State Attorney's office was trying to placate the mob, not impartially pursue justice. That much has been made very clear at this point. It took a court order to remove a judge who couldn't control their own bias and it really is too bad that there is not a similar structure in place to remove prosecutors who are similarly afflicted.
PS...it's in the JURY'S hands.......THAT is all the family ever wanted......a FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
collection of citizens to decide what Z. is responsible for......from my observation of YOU, I would
NOT expect you to accept 4 hours of investigation into YOUR child's death (with the release of
the suspect as the result)......I would EXPECT you would pursue ANY AND ALL means to find out
what happen to YOUR CHILD and WHY YOUR CHILD is no longer on this earth......THAT is exactly
what this family wanted....and FINALLY was able to achieve.
I agree that every parent who loses a child in some violent way would want answers. Just think of all those kids that die in places like Chicago every day and those parents don't get the media support, or the support from our president. This is only a story because of the racial component... just like the Duke Lacrosse case. And if this doesn't end like the media wants it to end, you'll see guys like Al Sharpton whipping up more hate and outrage. But, I believe Trayvon's parents will get what they want regardless of the evidence... feelings will trump all.
It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers−out of unorthodoxy
At least this trial wasn't the circus that the OJ trial was. The judge did a good job keeping the attorneys in line and keeping things moving. The racial part of if may be similar, or even stronger though.
It did seem they were working late nights and in court from around 8am to 10pm. That would of made it tough on the legal teams from both sides to prepare and adjust their cases. It will be interesting to see what if anything the lawyers will have to say about it.
While the jury is instructed to follow the law, they are still free to vote any way they want for whatever reason (though they only have 2nd degree murder and manslaughter to choose from). I'll accept the verdict, though I may or may not agree with it. It did seem like a fair trial to me.
If media hype changes the outcomes of court cases, our justice system is permanently broken. And we should have learned from the OJ case to keep cameras out of the courtroom imo.
It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers−out of unorthodoxy
pineinthegrass wrote: At least this trial wasn't the circus that the OJ trial was. The judge did a good job keeping the attorneys in line and keeping things moving. The racial part of if may be similar, or even stronger though.
It did seem they were working late nights and in court from around 8am to 10pm. That would of made it tough on the legal teams from both sides to prepare and adjust their cases. It will be interesting to see what if anything the lawyers will have to say about it.
While the jury is instructed to follow the law, they are still free to vote any way they want for whatever reason (though they only have 2nd degree murder and manslaughter to choose from). I'll accept the verdict, though I may or may not agree with it. It did seem like a fair trial to me.
When I was listening to the analysis of this trial.....THAT observation was brought forward and
the lawyer/consultant/commentator reminded the panel that the judge was ACTUALLY the
lawyer/supervisor for the jury and that jury was SEQUESTERED....she was making this trial
as expedient as possible and advocating for her JURY. As I recall the DEFENSE did object
vehemently (because of prep time or lack of)......can't remember if the other side voiced
objections,if they did, I did not catch it......the judge was/is covering ALL of her bases (dotting
ALL i's and crossing ALL t's.....so that there would be NO issue of appeal because of procedure.
Yeah I saw that bald defense attorney complain that he just couldn't go on at that pace with all the hours they had to put in. As he spoke, the judge just walked out on him. Cause for an appeal? Who knows. If it did compromise the trial then perhaps.
I also know the judge was keeping things moving for the jury's sake. But in our system you also have to provide a fair trial. Like I said it looked fair to me, but it will be interesting to hear if the attorneys have anything more to say about it.
Considering that the Community Relations Service (CRS), a unit of the Department of Justice, was deployed to Sanford, Fla., following the death of Trayvon Martin to help organize rallies against George Zimmerman, it is a foregone conclusion that Zimmerman will be found guilty of one charge or the other.