Zimmerman Not Guilty
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Great news.
I was just watching a video clip on Hannity where the team of lawyers, cops etc were discussing the case, and most said not guilty.
Actually, this was reported over here a day or so after it happened – the TV was showing a photo of Trayvon as a 12 yr. old, and people here were generally saying what a useless p o s George Zimmerman was – and that same photo was shown on our (liberal left wing/CBS/CNN style TV stations) just a week or two ago. I have never seen , on our TV, a photo of the tall strong looking young man that Trayvon was.
I did, however, watch Fox new a few days after the story broke, and saw the whole story laid out by Hannity and others, including his interview with Zimmerman, and have seen what a patently false picture that had been painted of him; saw on TV Obama saying how, if he had a son, it would look like Trayvon, and the whole thing became a national racial issue – aided and abetted by your DOJ, and many others. The Florida cops did not even want to prosecute – but politics became involved, and goodnight nurse.
It was a political show trial from start to finish Don, and I am glad that the six ladies of the jury decided not to play along. That took some courage.
The Obama/Holder regime spent 17 months fanning polarization and race hate . . .
Let the riots begin.
I actually had a dog.
I hope the dog Obama ate didn’t look like my poor pooch.
For the six Zimmermans (and Grandma Meza) a plea for intercession:
http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-gertrude-of-nivelles/
They need to relocate to some place where they can live a quiet life.
—
For Alicia Stanley, Stephen Martin and a number of others, a plea to the Blessed Virgin.
—
And a plea to St. Thomas More for the disciplinary officers of the Florida Bar. They have some work to do.
Heartfelt thanks for the action of pure help, which is not of this world.
I have never seen , on our TV, a photo of the tall strong looking young man that Trayvon was.
Taller than my husband, weighed more than my husband at that age, and dear TrueBlue was stupid-strong. (still is, but aches more and…ahem… his pants keep shrinking at the waistline, while his weight is a bit higher)
What lawyer for a parent would put THAT picture out?
Foxfier.
🙂
You think he’s got that on his own?
Actually, I’m lucky I – and my beloved for that matter – are the same weight we were when we got married 45 years ago. Trouble is, I’m no where near as strong as I was( now 71) but she seems to be as strong as she was (now 66)
Is that called “the law od relativity”? 😉
Chris Wallace indicated this morning that George was a fault for getting out of his car.
Metaphorically I wish America (and the World) would get out of their car. There’s a lot of questionable illegal and immoral stuff going on even within our government and governors–and we should get out of our cars.
We should look into it, and try to be responsible citizens.
The 20 plus people who watched Kitty Genovese around their curtains and didn’t call in to report something in their neighborhood avoided responsiblity and avoided trouble.
I think George was racially profiled that night and was not only ambushed then, but he will also be beat up as time goes on.
Meanwhile the fanning of the flames goes on. I wish the media would get back to national security. Gwen Ifill talked last week about the scandals of this administration being a distraction. The continuing race baiting continues to distract us and allow other bad things to go on. We need lots of “neighborhood” watchers–the “neighborhood” being fields of interest such as freedom of religion, pro- life and human dignity, wealth redistribution, co-opting the military — co-opting in general.
It’s not like you needed additional evidence that journalists are as equally evil and moronic as are politicians.
“If don’t you read the papers (don’t watch TV news) you are uninformed. If you read the papers (watch TV news) you are misinformed.” Either Will Rogers or Mark Twain.
Don-
I claim it’s sympathy baby weight. ^.^
I’m not holding my breath waiting for the mainstream press to admit this, but maybe saner heads will one day realize that any culture that excuses petty theft, pot-smoking, gangster pretensions, fighting – in particular, assaulting any cracker deemed sufficiently creepy – as ordinary teenage bravado (as one white liberal pundit put it), is a culture that is suffocating its young men with low expectations. That kind of profiling is what what really killed Trayvon Martin, RIP.
Best of luck to George Zimmerman in prevailing against any civil suit.
Praise God!
I wonder if both the prosecution and the judge deliberately threw the fight. They did not dare do the honest thing–dismiss the charges. But, whether from residual human decency or some other cause, did not really want a conviction. So they introduced ludicrous evidence, tossing in a few patently reversible errors just to make sure.
I don’t think the prosecutor threw it. I think he made the best case he could with terrible witnesses, a bad timeline, lack of evidence that would help his case, and plenty of evidence that would cast doubt on it. The judge though…
I wonder. She made a curious call in allowing the jury to convict on manslaughter. One possibility is that it was obvious to her that there was no way to convict and that she hoped to avoid appeals and allegations against her as one who facilitated an acquittal.
[…] in Heaven – Greg Hurst We Are All Saints . . . In Progress – Diane McKelva, Catholic Stand Zimmerman Not Guilty – Donald R. McClarey JD, The American Catholic I Love You: An Idiot’s Apology to Any Skeptic […]
PRM
In Scotland, where we do not have coroner’s inquests, it is usual for all cases of killing in self-defence to be prosecuted as murder. The prosecution’s task is simply to see that the Crown case gets a fair hearing and they call all the witnesses to the incident, whether they support the Crown case or not, so that the defence has the advantage of cross-examining them. Often, at the close of the Crown case, there is a finding of no case to answer.
Similarly, many cases of industrial accidents are prosecuted as culpable homicide, simply to ensure a thorough examination of the evidence.
I disagree on the verdict, in my opinion the charge should have been manslaughter.
No witnesses, here is a seventeen young man returning from the store near his home. this man Zimmerman had the power a gun! he could have talked to him .I am sure Traven Martin would have explained. this man coming at you would be enough to frighten anyone. we don’t now what was said? but Traven could have been wrestling Zimmerman to defend himself and that how Zimmerman received those injuries. the jurors need to think of common sense along with the info of the case. in todays mentality I would never want to go before the jury
Witnesses called by the prosecution stated that they saw Martin on top of Zimmerman. Zimmerman had injuries to the back of his head consistent with his statement that Martin was on top of him hitting him on the head. The only injuries to Martin were the gunshot wound and abrasions to his knuckles. In that confrontation Zimmerman had every right to use his pistol in self defense. The State had the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The State only succeeded in proving at trial that Zimmerman acted in self defense.
Without trust in God, the faithless have only to demand Justice; they cannot deliver Justice
Mildred’s scenario reminds me of the phrase “whatever you want to believe”. In turn that leads me to wonder what it means that people who think conservatively see this case so differently than people who are liberal thinkers.
When I was a liberal maybe I wanted the facts to fit my schemata, rather than my schemata to fit facts. What I wanted to be true, I wanted to be true. An old quote not original to Bobby Kennedy but often attributed to him, about “dreaming and saying “why not?” ” pops into my mind. And J. Lennon saying “you say that I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one”
If liberals (Peter Pan) can think positively,it can be true. No need to Fight for the right, no need to have possessions because everybody has everything, no need for neighborhood watchmen against burglars and home invaders because hey mi casa es su casa… it’s a dreamy hazy world.
As a liberal cum conservative, I didn’t change my viewpoint because someone talked me into it, but because I connected the dots. The world that wants to convict George of Somethiing imagines how it Might have happened, how it Could Have Been.
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
What if all the people who hate whites were born that way?
I live and work in the NYC area. A few weeks ago, a home invasion was “caught” on a “nanny” camera and ran all over local TV news.
The man was filmed exhibiting his MMA skills to a 33 year-old mother in front of her three-year old daughter in their suburban, NJ home.
If I had a daughter, she would look a like that little girl.
Like Obama’s son (he never had), that man’s son looks like Trayvon Martin.
Mildred’s comment communicates misplaced mercy, and the (sadly not uncommon) acceptance of the evil, unjust (Obama) regime’s wilful lies.
In general, the feral thugs just don’t think things out.
I disagree on the verdict, in my opinion the charge should have been manslaughter.
This would be a good time to reference Art Deco’s summary of the case. I realize that for many of those outraged by the verdict, any reference to actual evidence is regarded as impertinent.
yes- “In general, the feral thugs just don’t think things out”
Mark O’Mara called them on that when he said that the media just accepted the story that was fed to them. They didn’t do their homework, they didn’t think.
They are responsible for the innuendoes and guessing that continues now.
I don’t think they are “born that way” : ) but through conditioning, and social leading choose (and get to choose ) what they want to believe.
What they want to believe is that there is no need for self-defense, no need for war. Remember the “Truce” or “Peace of God” ? a good try that was predicated on a fairly cohesive Christian society.. but only limited success. Now they want to “Imagine” that peaceful world sans God.
As a mom as I have had to face the reality about my kids;(their behavior which I wanted to deny) and the difficulty of the situations they got themselves in. I know, with Trayvon’s mother that God is my only help and the only help for my children. God does not forsake us or abandon us His children. We all – the O’Maras, the Martin, the Zimmermans – have hope, now and even after death.
From Zero Hedge: “’I am so old that I can remember when most of the people promoting race hate were white;’ Thomas Sowell begins in this poignant essay amid the protests across the nation this evening. Apparently other Americans also recognize that the sources of racism are different today from what they were in the past. According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 31% of blacks think that most blacks are racists, while 24% of blacks think that most whites are racist. The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country.”
I read this: “In general, the feral thugs just don’t think things out.”
As: “In general, the federal thugs just don’t think things out.”
Considering how quickly any justice in the case was sacrificed on the altar of politics, I think my version is more accurate.
I wonder. She made a curious call in allowing the jury to convict on manslaughter.
If I am not mistaken, manslaughter by act is a lesser included offense under Florida statutes and had to be included in the charge to the jury. She had no discretion on that. The shyster prosecutors attempted to get her to include felony murder as an option in the jury instructions, on the goofy theory that the Trayvon Martin was killed auxilliary to an act of child abuse. The judge declined to be a party to that bit of pettifoggery. The judge also made it a point to explicitly rule out a finding of negligent manslaughter in the instructions.
WK:
I like it.
The Zimmerman’s opposition to including Manslaughter in the instructions suggests to me that there is a subtlety to this that I’ve missed.
By the way; “pettifoggery” is a great old word that I haven’t seen used in a conversation before. Excellent! Perhaps it will make a comeback.
Slamming a persons head against the concrete sidewalk is aggravated assault and battery. It could have resulted in Mr. Zimmerman being maimed or killed. If Martin were the only one to survive, would he have been charged with similar crimes? The case is closed. Leave it be. Federal intervention in a matter settled by a state court would be Ultra Vires and a tyrannical violation of the Constitution. It would also reflect badly on an Administration that is excessively ideological and has so many serious high priority problems to resolve. Our foreign policy is a shambles. Our economy is in the toilet. Further, this country has not been so divided since the Civil War. The President should not have commented, the Justice Department should not have dispatched demonstrators last year and the President should do nothing, if he wants to avoid the creation of more troubles. Intervention will be fan the flames and demean his office.
It saddens me that so many will be hurt and/killed because of poor reporting and demagoguery. We have had two beat downs here in Wisconsin if media reports are correct. How tragic.
Zimmerman disobeyed police orders not to get out his car. He followed Trayvon looking for trouble. I am sure he felt sooooooo powerful with his Piece in his waistband. He not only followed Trayvon, he Caught Up With Him. Who knows what was said to Trayvon at this point? Perhaps Trayvon was DEFENDING himself from what he suddenly saw as the Lynch Mob. Trayvon was NOT looking trouble that night. Zimmerman was. Otherwise, he would have stayed in his car as instructed. He couldn’t sit still with his trigger finger itching. Mr. Wannabee Cop envisions the Limelight shining on him while he saves the neighborhood that he so desparetly wants to control. He wants to be Boss. They wouldn’t let him be a Cop. So, let’s show them who the REAL COP is!! And a 17 year old boy lay dead.
cherie, it would behoove you to read the facts of the case before displaying your ignorance:
http://neoneocon.com/2013/07/16/et-tu-wsj/
Zimmerman disobeyed police orders not to get out his car.
No, he didn’t, per the very person who said “you don’t have to do that.” Go check out Legalinsurection.com’s coverage, she testified.
He followed Trayvon looking for trouble.
He followed a guy acting strangely. Hate break it to you, not unusual– have had it happen to me walking around my old complex, and I’m not a large (6’2 per his family, 158lb per the autopsy) male– and not justification of assault.
Perhaps Trayvon was DEFENDING himself from what he suddenly saw as the Lynch Mob.
Sudden onset terror is not justification for trying to beat someone to death.
Trayvon was NOT looking trouble that night.
Probably true– per his past experience, he wanted an easy victim. That is how the “knock down” game goes, after all– no fun beating the hell out of someone that gives you trouble.
Unfortunately, the short, fat guy he attacked was able to defend himself. Guess he should’ve chosen an unarmed woman, like the prior criminals at the complex.
*tries to picture a one person, short, fat. soft, on the phone with the police, mob*
What is amazing about this conversation is that the incredible persistence in misunderstanding the facts must be willful. No one could be that obtuse not on purpose!
The purpose of the willful stubborn misunderstanding is to facilitate social engineering .
“Trayvon was NOT looking trouble that night.” (sic)
How do you know?
Truth is: the system failed poor, little Trayvon.
Truth: He was staying with his father’s girl friend 200 miles away from home. He had been suspended twice from HS when he twice should have been arrested. If the local school (!!!) PD chief had not ordered his people not to arrest anyone (so he could monkey with his crime stats) your poor little predator would be safely ensconced in a FL juvenile detention center and today be still breathing.
“Trayvon was NOT looking trouble that night.”
Cherie, here is a handy map of the Retreat at Twin Lakes Complex.
http://zimmerman-vs-martin.blogspot.com/2013/01/retreat-at-twin-lakes-map.html
1. The fight commenced at the point marked 3. (Zimmerman’s key chain was dropped at that point) and concluded at point 4. What George Zimmerman was doing there (loitering about waiting for the police to arrive) is passably explained by the call to the non-emergency police dispatcher. (Not all of his movements are explained, but his presence is explained).
2. Point “3” is along a walkway which connects two streets which run parallel for a time. One is called “Twin Trees Lane” and the other “Retreat View Circle”. George Zimmerman’s truck was parked near where this walkway connects with “Twin Trees Lane”
3. Trayvon Martin passed by George Zimmerman’s truck during the course of the phone call. Given the distances involved, it would have taken Trayvon Martin between 2 and 3.5 minutes to return home at an ordinary loping pace, depending on which of three routes he might use. (Zimmerman was on the phone with the dispatcher for another couple of minutes).
4. Martin proceeded from Zimmerman’s truck up the walkway to point 3, then abruptly ran out of sight. The townhouse of Brandi Green, his father’s baby-mamma was about 85 yards away down the block (its front door facing Retreat View Circle). It would have taken him less than 20 seconds to get to the back door and get inside.
5. Martin shows up about four minutes later and breaks George Zimmerman’s nose at some point between point “3” and point “4” on the map.
6. Either Martin walked back up the block (85 yards or more) to where George Zimmerman was schlepping around or Martin hid in some shrubbery or hid in in some shadows and then re-emerged. Neither would be indicative of someone whose objects were benign, though I suppose you could manufacture some excuse.
But what’s going on with the WSJ editors? Have they really paid that little attention to the facts of the case?
They employ ‘reporters’ at the Wall Street Journal, right? Do the reporters ever talk to the editorial writers?
I have had to conclude that a great deal of the commentary on this has been driven by the games people play when they are trying to make a point, maintain stauts, or maintain their sense of self. That’s the only way I can make sense of it. The sequence of events is not that complicated, the inferences one might draw not that counter-intuitive, the important evidence all online and easy to locate. The assessments of culpability the Zimmerman-despisers make are just perverse and I cannot imagine ordinary people making them in the course of their daily lives or reading a low-temperature news story. I can imagine Todd Flowerday trading in that, but he’s a serial sophist. (What ever happened to Todd? “Peace, All”).
What’s interesting about this is that its not just the usual portside status games being played. Nor are the starboard remarks confined to the usual Republicans-for-hire (Scarborough, &c). The American Spectator has published two idiot articles on the subject (one bereft of factual content but indicting Zimmerman due to a supposed resemblance to other neighborhood watch captains the author had known; the other dismissing Zimmerman as a wimp). If you are a student of starboard opinion journalism, you now know who the social climbers are.
RACISM IN AMERICA: A black man with pistol permit shot a white teen, and was acquitted. Unbelievably, the trial didn’t get any MSM/DOJ coverage. ‘Cuz it did not advance the narrative.
Perhaps if Mr. Zimmerman had possessed the intestinal fortitude to take the stand and tell the whole world the truth we would not be voicing endless subjective opinions.
Perhaps if Mr. Zimmerman had possessed the intestinal fortitude to take the stand and tell the whole world the truth we would not be voicing endless subjective opinions.
1. His videotaped statements to police, both at the station house and at the scene, were entered into evidence. These were offered without counsel present.
2. There was ample forensic, photographic, and third-party evidence of his claims.
3. Criminal defendants seldom take the stand at their trials. It just is not done. No need to insult Mr. Zimmerman for his absence of ‘intestinal fortitude’.
“Perhaps if Mr. Zimmerman had possessed the intestinal fortitude to take the stand and tell the whole world the truth we would not be voicing endless subjective opinions.”
No competent criminal lawyer will ever allow his client to testify unless necessary for an acquittal. A competent prosecuter will twist whatever the defendent says against him. Neither truth nor intestinal fortitude has anything to do with it.
“subjective opinions” (I repeat myself). I think that you means facts that you don’t like: they don’t support your agenda/narrative/opinions.
Let’s try this “subjective opinion.” You couldn’t tell from DOJ race-baiting and media coverage but that 48% of Americans believe the Zimmerman verdict was correct and 34% think it wrong; and 18% (the smart ones) don’t care.
‘Cuz the Holder DOJ and the media exist to serve the evil, unjust regime and the sordid, subjective narrative.
Had I been called to jury duty, I should hope I would not have been chosen to serve on this jury. I had it clearly in my mind, just a few hours after the story broke, that the narrative presented was darned close to the truth. I could not have been an impartial juror because I sucked up the story and failed to question it further.
Unfortunately, this is the reality of our mass media age. A narrative is put forth before facts are known. Many of us form our opinions on the basis of that narrative and, having “made sense” of it, shelve the issue. As required, we dust off our opinion and present it in as new and fresh a light as we can – like re-gifting that crystal decanter that one received as a wedding present.
I was wrong. Wrong in the facts, wrong in how the facts I DID know fit together, wrong in my assessment of the characters of the characters, wrong in everything… That is what happens when one lets others do the thinking for us.
I will do my darnedest to just stand down from the next story – to step back, ignore first narrative presented, and wait for facts. Please call me on it – as y’all did on this site – the next time I act like the Democrat Party’s mascot.
“No competent criminal lawyer will ever allow his client to testify unless necessary for an acquittal. A competent prosecuter will twist whatever the defendent says against him. Neither truth nor intestinal fortitude has anything to do with it.”
Bingo Mike! In this case it was obvious that the prosecution was doing a lousy job and it would have been malpractice to toss them a life ring by putting Zimmerman on the stand. After an hour of agressive cross examination even Saint Francis of Assisi would come across as a liar to a jury.
“I will do my darnedest to just stand down from the next story – to step back, ignore first narrative presented, and wait for facts. Please call me on it – as y’all did on this site – the next time I act like the Democrat Party’s mascot.”
O K Dave, but only if everyone also overlooks my complete misreading of the 2012 election from start to finish. Being mistaken has never been a handicap for giving an opinion on this blog! 🙂
I would be interested in hearing your current reading, or the changes in your perception of the 2012 election.