Justice?
Well, nothing inspires a long winded rant like a good old murder trial, right?
So, everyone has an opinion about the George Zimmerman thing. Some of y'all on my feed see it as an example of justice winning out despite media bias. Most of y'all see it as a tragedy of injustice (especially considering that a Florida woman who fired a warning shot in the air to stop her abusive husband from beating her and her children was given 20 years in jail just a few days ago... under the exact same "Stand Your Ground" law). Some of y'all are saying it's a race thing, some of y'all seem to think that bi-racial Hispanics can't be racist. The truth of the matter is, we'll never know for sure what actually happened the night Trayvon was killed.
What we do know is this: to be convicted of First Degree Murder, it had to be proven that George Zimmerman took his gun out with him to deliberately track down and murder Trayvon Martin. That is the definition of First Degree - a deliberate and premeditated killing. Honestly, that's not very likely in this case, as the evidence suggests that it was just unfortunate happenstance that Trayvon and Zimmerman's paths crossed. Therefore, Not Guilty of First Degree homicide would be a perfectly acceptable outcome.
So then, on to our next option - Second Degree Murder. Second Degree murder is a death resulting from an assault wherein the death of the victim is a distinct possibility, but wasn't the intended outcome. Shooting someone in the chest seems like an action that might result in someone's death... but at the same time, the evidence seems to indicate that shooting him in the chest wasn't the intended action. Zimmerman didn't plan to shoot anyone that night (at least so he claims). All he planned to do was to take a loaded weapon, and stalk a teenage boy through his neighbourhood, despite the urgings of the 911 dispatcher who asked him repeatedly not to continue following the boy. He wasn't out looking to assault anyone, he was just looking to scare the shit out of a child who looked like he didn't belong. This charge fits a little better than First Degree... except that that the first person to respond with violence was in fact Trayvon Martin. Some of y'all may not know, or may have chosen to ignore, the fact that Trayvon threw the first punch. In fact, he threw the first few punches (well... two, at least) and did draw first blood on Zimmerman. So, in theory, it is possible that Zimmerman felt his life was in danger from this boy, regardless of the fact that he was only being attacked by Trayvon because he was following him around the neighbourhood like some creepy Neighbourhood Watch pedophile. Should Trayvon have reacted with violence? No, he shouldn't. Violence is never the answer. Should Zimmerman have responded with violence? Nope, sure shouldn't have... but still, the evidence in the matter just isn't strong enough to state without a doubt that Zimmerman intended to assault Trayvon, so Not Guilty of Second Degree homicide is also a viable verdict.
But here's the problem. Next on our list is Manslaughter
So, everyone has an opinion about the George Zimmerman thing. Some of y'all on my feed see it as an example of justice winning out despite media bias. Most of y'all see it as a tragedy of injustice (especially considering that a Florida woman who fired a warning shot in the air to stop her abusive husband from beating her and her children was given 20 years in jail just a few days ago... under the exact same "Stand Your Ground" law). Some of y'all are saying it's a race thing, some of y'all seem to think that bi-racial Hispanics can't be racist. The truth of the matter is, we'll never know for sure what actually happened the night Trayvon was killed.
What we do know is this: to be convicted of First Degree Murder, it had to be proven that George Zimmerman took his gun out with him to deliberately track down and murder Trayvon Martin. That is the definition of First Degree - a deliberate and premeditated killing. Honestly, that's not very likely in this case, as the evidence suggests that it was just unfortunate happenstance that Trayvon and Zimmerman's paths crossed. Therefore, Not Guilty of First Degree homicide would be a perfectly acceptable outcome.
So then, on to our next option - Second Degree Murder. Second Degree murder is a death resulting from an assault wherein the death of the victim is a distinct possibility, but wasn't the intended outcome. Shooting someone in the chest seems like an action that might result in someone's death... but at the same time, the evidence seems to indicate that shooting him in the chest wasn't the intended action. Zimmerman didn't plan to shoot anyone that night (at least so he claims). All he planned to do was to take a loaded weapon, and stalk a teenage boy through his neighbourhood, despite the urgings of the 911 dispatcher who asked him repeatedly not to continue following the boy. He wasn't out looking to assault anyone, he was just looking to scare the shit out of a child who looked like he didn't belong. This charge fits a little better than First Degree... except that that the first person to respond with violence was in fact Trayvon Martin. Some of y'all may not know, or may have chosen to ignore, the fact that Trayvon threw the first punch. In fact, he threw the first few punches (well... two, at least) and did draw first blood on Zimmerman. So, in theory, it is possible that Zimmerman felt his life was in danger from this boy, regardless of the fact that he was only being attacked by Trayvon because he was following him around the neighbourhood like some creepy Neighbourhood Watch pedophile. Should Trayvon have reacted with violence? No, he shouldn't. Violence is never the answer. Should Zimmerman have responded with violence? Nope, sure shouldn't have... but still, the evidence in the matter just isn't strong enough to state without a doubt that Zimmerman intended to assault Trayvon, so Not Guilty of Second Degree homicide is also a viable verdict.
But here's the problem. Next on our list is Manslaughter