I've been following the case all along and have been watching the trial coverage. I would be a terrible juror, I've already made up my mind. Have you?
-
i'm right there with you about being a terrible juror. the prosecution would love me, though.
-
Guilty: He stalked the young man. He ignored the dispatcher's instructions not to pursue the young man. He instigitated the fight/ dispute. If it was not for his self-righteous over zealous behavior the young man would not have been killed that night.
-
Another guilty here. If he had heeded the 911 operator's explicit directions to NOT follow Trayvon, then none of this would have happened. I honestly don't know which way this jury is going to go, though.
-
Guilty.
-
Guilty for all the same reasons @Mrs. Lemon-Lime stated.
-
I hope the jury finds him guilty. But I think the reasonable doubt is there as well because there are things that the jury will have to infer about how Mr. Zimmerman felt at the time and if they were in his shoes would that have felt the same way.
-
Completely guilty.
-
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: A gigantic +1
-
I can see how a juror could feel either way.I mean, he shot the guy so i'm pretty sure he's not going to walk away.
I do wish they would stop showing the biased pictures of them though. Trayvon was not a 12 year old boy walking through the neighborhood with skittles like they're showing him in pictures. (not saying he was doing anything wrong by any means) He was a fully grown man. I think that if they had shown the current pictures of them or even just Trayvon that night it would be a completely different public response.
I guess what it boils down to is that someone who didn't need to die, did..and i'm sure George will be dealt with accordingly.
-
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Agreed...I think shooting the kid could have been avoidable.
-
I think what happened was a tragedy that easily could have been avoided, but I'm actually leaning toward innocent. I completely agree that he was wrong for following Trayvon and what the heck was he doing with a loaded gun even if he did have a permit for it, but I don't think he broke the law.
And I'm actually disgusted with the media for how they've handled this story. Clearly they are trying to start a huge race war and to be honest I don't think we 100% know GZ's side of the story - at least I haven't been able to figure it out from media coverage. Editing that 911 call to make him sound like he was being racist and only flashing photos of Trayvon from when he was an innocent looking 12 year old and not current photos of him with a larger build, facial hair and grills on his teeth are just totally irresponsible and insulting to our intelligence.
Regardless though, I think this is something that we all need to learn a lesson from and something's gotta give. Like I don't think neighborhood watch volunteers should be allowed to carry loaded weapons. And maybe the 'stand your ground' law needs some updating. It's currently too easy for something like this to happen which definitely needs to change.
-
@Modern Daisy: I agree that the most recent photos should be used. Having looked at the recent photos, though, I wouldn't say Trayvon was a big, scary guy or anything, so I'm not sure that it really changes my opinion or would change many others'. At reportedly about 6'0" and 140-160 pounds I'd actually say he was pretty skinny. I also don't see how a picture of him wearing grills should change people's minds about him. But definitely no guns for neighborhood watch people -- that's just asking for people to engage in dangerous vigilante justice!
-
Guilty, but I fear that he may be judged as "not guilty."
-
Guilty. I hope he gets the maximum punishment. And yes I do think it was racially motivated.
-
@MrsSCB: Oh, I totally agree with you - I'm not saying it would change people's minds about him or the situation at all. I'm just saying it was irresponsible of the Media since they were clearly trying to portray him differently just to get us even more riled up. Not that it should matter what he looked like, but it was pretty obvious why they only used the most innocent looking photos of Trayvon possible.
-
@Modern Daisy: Ahh, ok, gotcha
-
Guilty, according to the definition. But the media has handled this situation extremely poorly, regardless of the outcome of this trial.
-
I hate this whole situation. I don't think it was racially motivated and I don't think he stalked the kid, but shooting him was definitely excessive. I guess I'm going with guilty but not of 1st degree murder.
-
I think it is so, so, so, scary that in Florida and other "stand your ground" states that someone can shoot you out in public and then claim self defense just because he/she felt threatened. I think that law is ridiculously reckless.
Based on what I know (from the media) about this case, I can't comprehend any other outcome except for guilty.
p.s. Fund-raising for his defense by playing to racists and gun enthusiasts and lying about his finances left a really bad taste in my mouth.
-
@TemperanceBrennan: I agree with your PS, and I also hate that people are using images of him flipping the bird (how unusual for a teen boy, right?) or even pictures that are not actually HIM to try to paint him as this evil thug. I feel bad for his family. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/02/06/playing-games-with-trayvon-martins-image/
-
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: 100% agreed. Guilty.
-
@MrsSCB: That link is incredible and I am astonished people are using pictures of a different person trying to depict him one way.
-
I don't want to use the word innocent because I don't think either party was innocent but I do think he will be found not guilty due to the fact that there are photos of GZ with a bloodied face after the altercation. It is reasonable to assume that Trayvon did in fact hit/threaten him and that GZ acted in a way that would be protected under the state's law. Now, I'm not saying the law is right or wrong but it is the law.
-
@TemperanceBrennan: Same. It's probably a good thing the jury is sequestered, although who knows what they saw before the trial started.
-
@Meltini: I understand that perspective, but what if
- Trayvon also had a gun
- When GZ approaches him they get in a tussle
- Trayvon gets a bloody face
- and then Trayvon shoots GZ.
Would he be found not guilty too? Does it come down to declaring a duel and whoever survives is not guilty? I'm not trying to be flippant, but I don't understand how this law works in reality. -
@TemperanceBrennan: The law basically says that the shooter must feel threatened in order to use force so in your scenario I would say that Trayvon would have a very good case and could possibly be found not guilty.
-
I haven't made up my mind yet . . . but a key witness for the prosecution (Rachel Jeantel) was discredited on the stand.
-
I don't think I could weigh in on official guilt or innocence without hearing the weight of the evidence, but I will say that the stand your ground law has got to go!
-
@Modern Daisy: I COMPLETELY second what you said about the media!!! They are so full of it!
-
Based on what I've read of the transcripts of the phone call to the police and the initial questionings I think he's guilty.
-
@Mrs. Jacks: Like I clairified to @MRSSCB, I don't think that at all. It definitely shouldn't change our perception of what happened, who cares if Trayvon was tall, short, young, old, etc. My point was only that the media was clearly trying to get us all riled up by only showing the most innocent photos possible of Trayvon. I actually thought that was a current photo of him until someone I know told me it wasn't at all!
-
Guilty.
-
@Modern Daisy: I totally read down further in the comment stream and revised my post
Thank you for the clarification. I continue to think that appearance should not dictate someone's response to a teen (who was carrying skittles and walking home)... but I get what you are saying.
-
i haven't made up my mind yet either, i would need to read more details on the case...
@Mrs. Jacks: i do NOT think they should get rid of the stand your ground laws....i once read a case about a dad in Texas who beat a man to death because the man was raping his young daughter and he walked in on it. he was not charged for anything because of this law- which is how i think it should be.
-
I don't want to say innocent, but I don't know that given what I know so far, I could find him guilty.
-
He was a minor less than 200 feet from his fathers house when he was shot and killed after being stalked by a grown man with a gun. I think I would feel threatened too and might think I needed to fight for my life. At the least this needed to go to court, that was horrible to just try and sweep it under the rug as stand your ground, I dont know exactly how the altercation went down but i hope zimmerman is convicted of at least something.
-
@NovBaby1112: Here's a nice discussion (and it points to some data to support it) as to why stand your ground laws are generally not making people safer.
http://open.salon.com/blog/steve_klingaman/2012/04/11/ten_reasons_to_repeal_stand_your_ground_laws
-
@googly-eyes: I know, it really disgusts me. Especially how NBC has conducted themselves in regards to covering this story. There is a defamation lawsuit against them for the way they edited that call and they are acting all high and mightly like they didn't do anything wrong and are continuing to cover the story in a completely biased way.
-
@NovBaby1112: I remember that case, and I really doubt a jury would have convicted him even without stand your ground. Just my opinion.
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
130 comments