The Zimmerman Trial - My View

I cannot wait for this trial to be done.  This case has gotten on my nerves from the very beginning.  The coverage on this trial has been irresponsible at best.  Both sides have been gone overboard. There is zero proof that Zimmerman is a racist.  Even the federal investigation has said that.  Of course, the race baiters have kept this meme going, but that is what they do best.  They will continue this regardless of what the facts are.  Even after the attorney for the Martin family has said this case isn't about race, they continue.

Here are some things that I think that have gotten lost in whole melodrama that has been playing out.

For the Zimmerman Supporters:

While it is true that he was under no legal obligation to listen to the 911 operator, he still should have gone back to his car and gone to the meeting place he set up.  Had he done that Trayvon would likely still be alive and his life would have gone on as normal.

The fact that Trayvon smoked pot proves nothing.  Many people in this country smoke pot and are not drug dealers, gang members, or thugs.  I have smoked pot in my lifetime and I can assure you I have never been any of those things.  I was a stupid kid who made some bad choices when it came to using drugs.  People who smoke pot have a habit of discussing it and using it with their friends.

The injuries to Zimmerman were relatively minor.  It is a medical fact that injuries to the skull have a tendency to bleed a great deal, it is not indicative of a severe injury in many cases.

Just because Zimmerman is the only witness, doesn't make his story true.  A lifetime in prison is a very good incentive to lie.

Zimmerman has not been totally consistent in his story.  On the 911 call he said he believed Trayvon to be teenager.  In his Hannity interview he said he believed him to be the around the same age as him.  That is troubling, any time a person who is accused of crime changes a key element in his story, it is reasonable doubt he is not telling the truth.  If he is lying about that, what else is lying about?

Having pot in your system also means nothing.  It is said that Trayvon had traces of it.  Pot can stay in your system for quite some time.  If I am not mistaken it can be found in your blood for up to 14 days.  All that says is that some time in the two weeks before his death he smoked pot.  So what?  Pot isn't a drug that is known to cause aggressive behavior.  Usually you want to sit and eat.

Most, if not all, neighborhood watch groups do not want you to carry a weapon.  The legality of the weapon is beside the point.  While he had the legal right to carry it, the chances increase that things get out of control and someone ends up dead.  This being a perfect case in point.  It also opens up that homeowners association to liability.  Another case in point, they did indeed settle a lawsuit in regards to wrongful death.

If you are going to call the parents of Trayvon liars for saying it is their son they heard on the tape, then you must do the same for the Zimmerman family and friends.  The FBI experts say it is not possible to tell.  All of them are speaking from their hearts, not from something that is fact based.

If you going to say that Zimmerman had the right to "stand his ground", then you must say the same for Martin.  It is just as likely that Martin felt intimidated by being followed by a man he didn't know.  Evidence has been presented that is indeed the case.  Trayvon had the same rights under the law that Zimmerman had.  Rights are extended to everyone, not just who you think is the more sympathetic.

I have read and seen a great deal about Martin's mother trademarking her son's name once the protests and rallies were in full force around the country.  That was a very smart thing to do.  Why should some jerk get to make money of her son's death?  As far as I know she has done nothing to profit off it, she just protected her family from others doing just that.  She was given sound legal advice and she followed it.  Remember when Jay-Z decided to sell shirts during the whole Occupy Wall Street thing?  He went to make money for himself and did nothing to further any other cause than to make his bank account bigger.  People would have done exactly the same thing in this case.  If you just buried your child would you want to see that happen?

There is zero evidence that Martin was a gang member.  A kid who seemed to be heading down the wrong the path yes, but that doesn't make him a gang member.  Generally speaking, in a court of law that isn't relevant to the case at hand and what happened on that night.  That is the only issue that really matters; what happened the evening he was shot to death?

Zimmerman also had a criminal past, including incidents of violence.

It has never made sense to me that Martin would say "you are going to die tonight".  I have never believed that.  Now, had the comment been I am going to kick your ass, that I would believe.  But for it to escalate immediately to a death threat doesn't seem logical.

The next time you feel inclined to make statements about Trayvon Martin's mother, just remember a few things.  It is very likely she sent her son up to stay with his dad because he seemed to be heading down the wrong path.  That choice cost her son his life.  Imagine the guilt that mom feels.  She buried her youngest child.  That should never happen. I don't care what your child does, you never want to bury them.  

For the Martin Supporters:

Zimmerman was well within his rights as a neighborhood watch member to call the police and to watch what a stranger was doing in the neighborhood. Zimmerman was under no legal obligation to follow orders of 911.  They have no legal authority to "order" anyone to do anything.  They can advise, but they can't order.

Martin is not Emmett Till.  The comparisons are simply ludicrous.  I have actually heard people say that Zimmerman should be found guilty to make up for those that didn't get justice in the past.  Huh?  Zimmerman shouldn't be expected to pay for sins of the past that he has no control over.  

The Department of Justice did an investigation to see if this could be labeled a hate crime.  No evidence that Zimmerman acted in malice because of the race of Martin exists.  It just isn't so.  Zimmerman has lived a life that most others have, they people of all colors in his life.

Just yesterday we heard of a case that a man who found out his dad was cheating on his mother put him in a coma with one punch.  To say that Martin had no way of defending himself is sheer nonsense.  He was close to six feet tall. Martin was taller than Zimmerman, by four inches in fact.

There is some evidence that Martin may have committed theft in the past.  If this report is true the police in Miami let him slide on the theft to keep the numbers of crime stats down in the public school system.  Clearly, he was not a saint.  That jewelry came from somewhere and the screwdriver was there for a reason.  It is possible that Zimmerman simply nailed him for what he was, a thief.  

One of the things that has always bothered me about this case is that the phone call that Martin was on disconnected.  Doesn't it make sense that had it been Zimmerman that started the fight wouldn't the phone just have been dropped and stayed connected?  That seems the most logical.  The fact that the phone was disconnected makes it seem more likely that Martin started the fight.  If it is true that Martin started the fight, it goes a long way to it being self-defense and not some racist wannabe cop who targeted some innocent black child.

There is no other way for Zimmerman to have had the injuries that he had other than Martin causing them.  Martin did have scraped knuckles from being in a fight, he also showed no sign of defensive wounds.  He clearly got the better of Zimmerman in that fight.  That doesn't mean he started it, but he did cause injury to Zimmerman.  That gives credence to  Zimmerman's claim of self-defense.

The law doesn't state that Zimmerman had to be in danger of losing his life, it only states that he had to reasonably believe that he was in danger of his life or bodily injury.  You can disagree with that, but that is what the law states.  Many victims who shot intruders/criminals are never touched, but are still covered under the law of self-defense.

One thing that rarely gets mentioned in the coverage of this trial is the fact that there was a reason that there was a neighborhood watch set up.  There had been breaks-ins in the recent past.  Many of those break ins were done by young  black males, it adds a layer to what George Zimmerman saw as suspicous.  The profiling wasn't based on race, but on recent past criminal history.  

The eyewitness that had the best view of the fight has said clearly that Martin was on top of Zimmerman.  Which again, backs his claims of self defense.  

The gun shot evidence shows that the gun didn't make contact with his body, but did have contact with the hoodie.  That also backs Zimmerman's claim that Martin was on top and leaning over him.  

We have seen people turn this into a media mess.  One side saying this innocent little child was gunned down in cold blood by some bigger white guy who was doing it for no other reason than he was black.  The other side saying he was just some thug who got what he deserved.  That I take real issue with.  Simply because someone has done things that are against the law, doesn't make them worthy of a death sentence at the hands of a man from the neighborhood watch.  Who exactly gets make those decisions if that were the case?

The cold hard truth is this.  We don't know who started the fight.  That piece of information is crucial to knowing what happened and who holds any criminal liability for the death of Trayvon Martin.  Had Zimmerman started that fight he simply couldn't use self-defense as an excuse simply because Martin got the better of him.  If that were the case, I could go pick a fight with any one that I didn't like and use it as excuse for killing them.

Both parties made bad choices that night.  A 17-year-old died because of those bad choices.  Zimmerman should have gotten into his car and drove to the area where he was to meet the police.  Martin should have used his phone to call 911 instead of talking with his gal pal.  The bit of the time-lapse seems to indicate that he had enough time to return to his home.  Had any of those choices been made that evening none of us would even know the names of these two families.

This is a tragedy, not entertainment.  One family buried a son and brother.  The other family has lost virtually everything trying to defend themselves against these charges,  have been living in hiding, in large part due to irresponsible media and even some "movie stars".  No one wins here no matter how this turns out.  The Martin family truly believes that their son was murdered.  If they are wrong about that, it doesn't change what they feel in their hearts.  The Zimmerman family believes that he acted in self-defense and has no criminal liability.  He could spend the rest of his life in jail for something he firmly believes he had to do in order to protect himself.  It will take a long time for the Zimmerman family to get back to "normal" after this.  He will continue to have to live in hiding if he is found not guilty, for at least a time.  

You never know what a jury will decide, but the court has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman's story is not true.  Based on that, they must acquit. We can hope we don't see riots in the aftermath as we did with the Rodney King Trial.  Now, that doesn't mean that Zimmerman is not guilty.  It just means that prosecution didn't prove the cause beyond a reasonable doubt.  We will never know what really happened that night.  But this trial has given the Martin family justice, as much as the law can give to the family.  What they want is their son back.  No court can ever do that.  But Zimmerman was judged by a jury of his peers.  That is justice, no matter how it turns out.