Verdict Watch Thread Saturday July 13

[IzzyBlanche]

I pray if there is a guilty verdict that others won't say it WAS because they were females...and it WAS because they were mothers!! That's just not right, IMO. But, I guess that we'll have to wait for their interviews to know what they were thinking.

Just jumping off your post--I don't know why motherhood or being female is even being discussed. If MOM thought an all-female jury would be too emotional to come to a rational decision, he wouldn't have agreed to it.

 

[Just Sailing Thru]

Just an FYI per tweet
#zimmermantrial Parties agree permissible to provide clarification on specific question, but not a general discussion http://is.gd/ZrVdKi

 

[What'sThatClue]

I agree with Judge Alex in that GZ had his gun out and that he approached TM in back of the condo where he was staying. IMO that's how he got TM to come with him back toward his vehicle. But Trayvon tried to escape 70 yards away and was shot. I tried to say this during the trial, but was ridiculed that how did GZ make him come with him, flying saucers? So I more or less gave it up for a while. It kind of hurt my feelings because I thought I had as much right as anyone else to state my opinion. So, to make a long story short, which I haven't, I think that's what happened and all that the eyewitnesses saw was the scuffle when Trayvon tried to escape and then was shot dead.

Your post is valuable and I appreciate hearing your opinion. It's quite possible and I've considered that scenario myself.

 

[Chris_Texas]

The prosecution has really played on their emotions. Most of these women are mothers. Their emotional response cannot be denied.

I just pray their logic will overcome any emotional spin and that these women can rationally look at the EVIDENCE or lack thereof.

IMO.

I would respectfully suggest that gender is IRRELEVANT in terms of someone's willingness or ability to separate themselves emotionally from a case. To be blunt: women are no less rational, and no more governed by their emotions, than men are.

As your post demonstrates, stereotypes can lead to all kinds of flawed conclusions. Perhaps your position on this case is another example.

 

[RR0004]

Im curious why?

If the state did not prove their case the outcome is acquittal. That is there to protect us from false and over zealous prosecution.

I don't think it is shame. I think that is justice.

...except in this case, I think the entire affair was mishandled from the beginning...and the State's attorneys were not so great either. IMO, there weren't even playing fields here, and I do hold the State responsible for that. I did like their closing remarks, but IMO, it was a little too late.

 

[morrow68]

Chiming in here. Maybe it's just me, but I think if the jury was wanting to convict GZ of manslaughter because they knew there wasn't enough evidence to convict for Murder 2 and just wanted a compromise verdict, I think they would have already done it. I know us women are emotional and mothers more so, but I think most people have the sense that you can't convict somebody of something just because you want to find them guilty. I think it would be difficult to find 6 people who would all agree to that. Not saying it hasn't happened and all of the jurors won't do this, but I'm hoping common sense and logic prevails here. All IMO. Praying for both Trayvons and GZ's families.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

That is most certainly not the case. The jury may find the defendant not guilty not because it accepts the defense but because the state has not proven each element of the charge against him. And the elements are different for M2 and manslaughter.

Technically it is.. If they used self defense to clear him of murder, Then he is also not guilty of MS. If they used other means to clear him of murder say.. No ill will but not self defense they could still find him guilty of MS based on something else. willful negligence.

 

[mdana]

Actually no it doesn't. I am the mom of a teenager. I know that they do stupid things without thinking. I know that as a teenager myself I did stupid things without thinking. I also know that when I was 28 years old that I was no longer a teenager and knew that there were consequences for my actions and that if I was instructed to not do something then I would not do it. I would prefer to have a teenager live next to me that has time to realize what they don't yet know than a grown man that believes that he knows it all and knows what is best despite the instructions given to him when someone's life is on the line.

MOO

BBM

What exactly did GZ do that he was instructed not to do? He left his car and was following in TM's general direction when the dispatcher stated, "we don't need you to do that" which can be regarded as much as a suggestion as an instruction. IMO

 

[William N]

Hi Horace,
I think I may have missed some things. How was he out of control? I only know of his tardies and skipping school, I think they found some jewelry and a screwdriver in his backpack but couldn't connect it to anything and we know he smoked (which most teens do these days -- even some well-behaved teens).

I know I had some issues with lateness and skipping school in the past. But I don't think I was out of control.

So, I'm asking, because maybe I haven't read about the other things he has done?

Thanks!

TM didn't skip school. He was SUSPENDED from school. Why do you think he was in Sanford instead of in school in Miami?

 

[pinkfly]

very general question.....court may send back question asking jury to be more specific on their question about manslaughter instructions.

 

[Bee Happy]

Your post is valuable and I appreciate hearing your opinion. It's quite possible and I've considered that scenario myself.

I think we've considered a little bit of everything here. lol

 

[PaperDoll]

I just logged on, is the jury still deliberating? This thread isn't locked either.. woohoo!

 

[MeeBee]

Technically it is.. If they used self defense to clear him of murder, Then he is also not guilty of MS. If they used other means to clear him of murder say.. No ill will but not self defense they could still find him guilty of MS based on something else. willful negligence.

It is possible to find that murder wasn't proven but also find that it wasn't self defense, as many of us here feel, and that it equates to manslaughter.

 

[Etiana]

This is very nerve wracking. I'll admit that I'm beginning to fear that the verdict will be manslaughter especially since they are asking for clarification.

I have a question which will probably make me look stupid. Surely everyone doesn't sit in the court room hour after hour - where do they all go and how do they know when to come back?

 

[Just Sailing Thru]

now
Kathi Belich, WFTV @KBelichWFTV
They are trying to figure out whether the jury has a question about the law or the instruction and specifically what. #Zimmermanon9 MY answer Ask them and go from there JMO

 

[RANCH]

The court has to be very careful about what she allows the jury to hear. Even the wording of asking the jury for a specific question has to be worded carefully. MOO.

 

[Maryann123]

I agree with Judge Alex in that GZ had his gun out and that he approached TM in back of the condo where he was staying. IMO that's how he got TM to come with him back toward his vehicle. But Trayvon tried to escape 70 yards away and was shot. I tried to say this during the trial, but was ridiculed that how did GZ make him come with him, flying saucers? So I more or less gave it up for a while. It kind of hurt my feelings because I thought I had as much right as anyone else to state my opinion. So, to make a long story short, which I haven't, I think that's what happened and all that the eyewitnesses saw was the scuffle when Trayvon tried to escape and then was shot dead.

And so when he was on top of GZ he couldn't get away? Why was he shot in the chest and not in the side, the back, or whatever? TM was not being held down...it was the other way around. You can't make it what it isn't.

 

[bellaalex]

Wendy Murphy, victims rights advocate, tearing into the prosecution (mostly Corey) and predicting a not guilty verdict.
http://www.patriotledger.com/opinio...rge-Zimmerman-will-be-found-not-guilty?zc_p=0
A prosecutor with integrity would have refused to file charges in the first place, and would have found a way to address sincere concerns about racial profiling.

A decent prosecutor would have cared more about not stoking racial tensions and would have summoned together community leaders and stakeholders to transcend differences and find peace and common ground so that what happened to Trayvon Martin never happens again.

A smart prosecutor would have redirected the social conversation away from murder, and toward deeper problems of fear and disrespect.

George Zimmerman felt disrespected and fearful of intruders who terrorized his neighborhood with break-ins and robberies.

Trayvon Martin may have felt disrespected and fearful of George Zimmerman man who followed him and suspected him of criminal activity without justification.

But the prosecutor didn’t see the controversy for what it was, and she made everything worse by filing charges that pitted people against each other in a contrived narrative of black vs. white; guilty vs. not guilty; Zimmerman vs. Martin.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Hi Scarlett,
Where have you been? Been missing your level head. :seeya:

I have been here and reading here and there but don't want to participate unless it is about the facts or laws. I am just not into the emotion of the case.

I can not go there right now with every thing so charged and seemingly electric.

I care only about justice in this case.

 

[legalmania]

IMO George Zimmerman was a bit immature. At his age he wanted to become a MMA fighter when he found out he wouldn't make it past the ropes he moved on to wanting to be in LE. When he found he wouldn't qualify for that either he volunteered to be a neighborhood watch person. He ended up costing HOA 1mil plus. IMO he sounded like a kid trying to make up his mind what he wanted to do when he grew up.