Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

The Lynching Continues

26 Comments

Wow. It’s not just the prosecution who should be disbarred for this, but the judge as well, or at least sanctioned. She’s certainly provided plenty of basis for an appeal in the unlikely event of a conviction. Sounds like Zimmerman was smart to have his gun ready — Martin certainly could have been armed. So much for the false narrative of the innocent twelve-year-old, hunted down by the murderous white man.

26 thoughts on “The Lynching Continues”

  1. I think the firearms issue is largely legally irrelevant; it’s not something Zimmerman could have known, and therefor could not reasonably inform his decisions.

    However, I also think it’s most highly relevant that Martin’s texts prove he was both a skilled fighter who fought often and also bragged about cold-cocking at least one guy. That goes directly to the core argument of the case.

    I certainly agree that we have both prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

    I’m absolutely delighted the the defense now has a solid gold grounds for appeal, because I fear they’ll need it. I’m going to make a prediction that I very much hope is wrong; the jury will be given several lessor offenses to choose from (apparently they can do this in Florida) and will convict on a “low” charge, like simple assault, as a “compromise” verdict. The judge will then, per Florida’s very strict laws concerning any crime committed with a firearm, sentence Zimmerman to 25 years. (Remember, the Jury is not given any info on penalties).

    Florida law seems a bit weird to me, but law (not just self defence law) does seem to very a lot from state to state. Take homicide for example, a conviction for murder in Texas stands a high chance of getting the needle, whereas the same conviction in another state might get effectively (early release) a decade, but its a roll of the dice in some cases. In Massachusetts, homicide can result in capitol punishment: the chair (one of two the state has in the US Senate).

    1. it’s not something Zimmerman could have known, and therefor could not reasonably inform his decisions.

      That’s not the point. It gets to Martin’s state of mind, and makes it much more plausible that he was the aggressor.

      1. Rand, you make a good point; the gun issue does get to Martin’s state of mind, and that would make it legally relevant.

        However… would that be a wise path (linking a gun with state of mind regarding propensity to violence) for the defense to follow under the circumstances? I could see it being twisted to slam Zimmerman with.

      2. A jury is well aware that cops and robbers both carry guns, and I don’t think it confuses them.

        I wouldn’t see a problem with introducing the gun evidence, because if your defense is essentially that you were attacked by a violent gangsta drug user, and the prosecution is claiming that you were the aggressor against some completely innocent, non-violent, pubescent wall flower, establishing the violent nature of the deceased is crucial to your defense.

        Martin is not on trial and is not the defendant, where such evidence could sway a jury into an otherwise unsupported conviction followed by a long prison stay, but Zimmerman is a defendant who’s not being allowed to introduce evidence to support his case.

        1. I would agree with you if this were a normal case, but it isn’t.

          My fear is that, given a biased judge, the persecution could get away with making use of Zimmerman’s gun ownership and conflating it with Martin’s illegal dealings. (I’m talking about introducing the gun issue alone here, not in conjunction with the fighting texts. If all the texts were admitted, then I think even under these circumstances it would be quite favorable for the defense.)

          I think it’s a travesty that the defense was denied the option of admitting the texts, but I’m even more concerned that the forensics guy who found them was so afraid of prosecutorial misconduct that he retained an attorney. Frightening.

      3. Even if Martin was a straight up gang-banger, don’t see how it would help/or hurt Zimmerman much. The Prosecution we all seem to agree over-charged Zimmerman. Under Florida law however the jury can convict as many here including myself have stated, under a lesser charge of manslaughter or some kind of assault. I just think IMHO that a jury is simply not likely to find in favor of someone who is broadly perceived as being at fault for causing the situation (i.e. following Martin) thereby causing the violent encounter. Even if under the statue technically Martin on top of Zimmerman pinning him (and hitting him) it defaults to self-defense. The jury simply may not care about that, just see the whole altercation as being Zimmerman’s fault and convict based on that.

  3. There is NO win in this thing.

    If Zimmerman walks, the streets will run red from riots, like the Rodney King riots, but it’ll be nationwide.

    If Zimmerman is convicted, the anti-gun crowd will think they’ve got some ‘push’ from the people to take all the guns. I think there will ALSO be celebrating and, again, the streets will run red, likle after an NBA win in Detroit, L.A. or Miami.

    There is NO win in this thing.

    1. Who needs gun control? Just make it a crime to use them.

      Make self-defense illegal, as has already been done in England.

    3. If Zimmerman walks, the streets will run red from riots, like the Rodney King riots, but it’ll be nationwide.

      With all due respect, I believe you are over-reacting.

      There is no teevee news spamming a video of Martin getting shot on a nightly basis to foment the kind of rioting we saw 20 years ago. Indeed, the actual coverage has been exculpatory beyond the dreams of most defendants, and the Cathedral will find it uphill work to whip-up a riot this time around. I’m expecting less violence than a garden-variety “beat whitey night” if Zimm walks.

    4. I predict there will be no riots, regardless of the verdict. There isn’t enough visual evidence to whip up emotions on either side — for the average viewer it feels too much like hearsay.

      Reading Breitbart and other right-leaning blogs, I get the sense that there are people who would really like some kind of race riots to erupt.

      1. “Average” trial-watchers and rioters are non-intersecting sets. The people the race-baiters want to put into the streets — if they were watching the trial — would already know there was never a case against Zimmerman in the first place. They’re counting on their riot fodder not watching the trial.

        Low-information voters make great riot fodder because they don’t know what’s really going on.

        Or, because they’re incapable of making crucial distinctions about what the people around them are talking about…

    5. I expect riots if Zimmerman walks. As to how wide spread, as Yoda said “Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future. “

  4. Dave, from watching the main stream media I get the same sense…they also seem to want riots. More viewers, more Pulizter prize winning images

  6. I will give the judge some credit for not jumping with the prosecutors desire for 3rd degree murder premised on child abuse. IMHO, that’s a significantly different question than 2nd degree murder. In my reading of Florida’s statutes, you get to child abuse, through proving aggravated battery. Aggravated Battery, which includes use of a deadly weapon, can be child abuse if the victim is under 18. However, child abuse also includes “intent” language. If the jury were to decide 3rd degree based on child abuse, then Zimmerman should have the opportunity to prepare a defense on his intent to harm a child. I think it is very reasonable to say Zimmerman did not intend to abuse a child, because he had no idea Martin’s age.

    Again, this is IMHO. But if I was a juror, this would be my thoughts. If the judge, who originally told me this was a 2nd degree murder trial, now told me I could find a 3rd degree charge for child abuse; I’d say in deliberations, “we don’t know if Zimmerman knew Martin’s age, so I have reasonable doubt that he committed that crime.”

  7. If I were a truly evil b@$tard, I would start running a series of ads on Spanish language TV, radio, and in the barrios blaming the black-led anti_Zimmerman lynch mob on Obama, Holder, DoJ, and the media, and suggest they remove the lynch mob office holders from office, since it is the only way to shut this garbage down. Rinse and repeat for the next couple decades and watch the democrats’ hoped for new majority via illegal immigration dry up and blow away. If they want to play race war, which they have been doing for half a century, perhaps it is time to give them one.

    1. In a similar vein, I’ve been saying for years that if the Republican party really wanted to help itself electorally, they’d go for a chunk of the black vote. How? By reminding blacks, many of whom already dislike hispanics, just who is hurt the most by illegal aliens and unskilled immigrants taking their jobs and also competing with them for welfare dollars, and who stands to be hurt the worst by amnesty. The answer to both is blacks. This also feeds into existing opinions; take a look at how amnesty polls amongst blacks. The opening is there, ready and waiting.

      Oh, I know that blacks won’t become a republican block, but if Republicans can just erode a bit of the black vote, say 15%, that’s actually a much bigger help than the best-case increase they claim they’ll get among hispanics, and it doesn’t entail creating millions of voters who vote mostly D.

      Doing this would also, unlike amnesty, avoid having the party alienating a somewhat important voting block; Republicans. Many Republicans (me, for one) are so pissed off that if the party passes this thing, we will never again give one damn dime, or ever vote for an R who supported this.

      It’d also be good for the country, and good for blacks as well; breaking the D’s stranglehold on them could only help.

    2. This isn’t evil, this is politics (then again, politics is mostly evil.) But it is the kind of evil the stupid party should embrace to fight fire, with fire. The problem then being to light a match in the media hurricane or as IowaHawk says.

    3. That raises a point. We’ve all seen the race pimps, from Sharpton to Obama, lionizing Martin. Zimmerman was a politically active Hispanic Democrat… where’s his brothers, racial or political either one, to get his back? If I was him, I’d be asking myself that question an awful lot.

  8. Listening to low information people today watching the trial. They know NOTHING but want the death penalty. They are FULLY committed to the innocent little black boy being hunted down and murdered in cold blood by the evil white guy concept.

    The things that lynch mobs are made from.

    1. “The media set the tone in this case by talking about a potential 13-year sentence. It had a tendency to infuriate the public instead of informing it. Anyone in the system, the lawyers and anyone involved, knew that maximum sentence would never be handed out but still it was reported.”

      “infuriate the public” damned right and about time. Back to our subject…

      Trayvon was a thug but is played as an angelic child. George should not have to go through this or the threat it contains. If only ‘was’ could be used for a great many other thugs.

Comments are closed.