Whelmed...But Not Overly...7/15/13

NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS

So let’s talk about what everyone is talking about. Yes the jury deliberated the fate of neighborhood watch asshole George Zimmerman for the killing of Treyvon Martin for 16 hours, which is usually a good sign for the prosecution. Yes they asked for clarification of the definition of manslaughter, another good sign. Let me broad-stroke this for you: Anyone who knows the law is not totally shocked by this verdict, but for six women, some who are parents themselves, to not find him guilty of anything is more than a bit surprising. And yes gender is an issue. You are not stupid enough to believe that lawyers pick jurors for their objectivity are you?

Did you watch the trial? CNN’s pundits were all over every aspect of this trial, and constantly referred to the issue of the gender of the jurors as the “elephant in the room.” Yet another group of legal talking heads constantly referred to the race issue as the “elephant in the room,” which confused me because every time they said “elephant in the room” I though they were referring to George Zimmerman.

So who wants a reality break? Sorry Sunny Hostin, (the black Nancy Grace) but no matter how subjective, personal and petty that you get, as I correctly predicted last year when the charges were filed, there was no way Zimmerman was going to be found guilty of second degree murder. Even the judge knew this, which is why she instructed the jury before deliberations that they can charge him with manslaughter if they cannot reach a verdict on the murder charge. Needless to say the defense was outraged at this instruction and would have certainly brought it up on appeal, but ultimately to no avail.

Speaking of which, although I might not have totally agreed with his position, Mark O’Mara is an outstanding attorney, his defense was masterful, but in a deep-rooted case like this, no one really wins, and even I have to admit that I thought a complete acquittal was out of the question. Now why did the judge give this instruction? Because Judge Debra Nelson is an intelligent, well-versed judge, and she does not want her town to turn into 1992 Los Angeles.

And you know what else? George Zimmerman may not be guilty of murder, but he killed an unarmed kid because Zimmerman himself was too fat, stupid and emotionally unstable to join the police force, and you shouldn’t get to do that in America and get away with it. Insofar as a Federal Civil Rights case or a civil case for monetary damages, the acquittal makes both of those increasingly more difficult. I would ask those who are asking for these things to be careful. Don’t try to bully the government into pressing charges they cannot make stick…look what happened in the criminal case.

I think that as far as a Civil case against Zimmerman himself, the burden of proof is less, and it is here that I believe that the whole idea of Zimmerman getting out of his car after the 911 operator told him not to will come into play. Mark O’Mara brilliantly stated in his defense that not following the instructions of the 911 operator was not illegal. True, but in a civil case you have to be negligent, not criminal, so Zimmerman may still have some explaining to do. As for his supporters saying that he won’t have much of a life now, I really don’t give a shit.