George Zimmerman Trial

[Blackstar*]

Anybody following it?
What do you think of the jury selection?
Did you hear the defense attorney's opening statement?
What about him trying to ban Trayvon Martin's parents from the courtroom?

[Tropicana]

I have been following it just a bit and was meaning to post about it. I am royally ticked by the make-up of the jury. Not sure why they only need 6 jurors. You KNOW he is going to get off. The jurors are all White, 5 female, one male all over 45. I guess that is why I haven't followed it that closely. No I did not know they tried to ban the parents. Frankly, I am completely disgusted by the whole affair.


Guess I should re-post this in order.

George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood watch leader who shot dead an unarmed teenager in his Florida housing development in a case that sparked controversy across the US, believed it was "his right to remove anyone he believed didn't belong", a jury heard on Monday.  "When he saw Trayvon Martin, he didn't see a young man walking home," assistant state attorney John Guy told the court in Sanford, Florida, describing the moments leading up to the defendant's fatal encounter with the 17-year-old on 26 February last year. "He saw someone that was 'real suspicious', someone that was 'up to no good'." During a lively opening statement on behalf of the prosecution, Guy told the all-female jury of six that Zimmerman, who is standing trial on charges of second-degree murder, had already profiled the hoodie-wearing youth, a stranger to him, because of a series of recent burglaries at the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community.

[Blackstar*]

You haffi tek bad ting mek joke, Tropicana. Coo pan dis yah wan pan Fox News:

“But he didn’t take that iced tea and bang Zimmerman over the head with the bottle,” the host noted.

“The thing is, yeah, you’re spinning a lot of hypotheticals,” Burns agreed. “And you could break a bottle of iced tea, right, with the jagged edge, and you could kill somebody with it.”

“You could use it as a weapon,” Colby concluded.


Source

[Blackstar*]

Zimmerman's defense atty. got jokes too.

[Tropicana]

I would never have known him.



Mi noh undersan how onoo conduc' onoo bizniz dung deh. How onoo can ave jury wid only 6 jurors.

The prosecutor cursed and the defense attorney told a joke as both sides laid out opening arguments in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the man who killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin in what his lawyers say was self-defense and authorities say was a case of fatal profiling.

The all-female jury of six took in both unconventional statements, alternately stunned, taking notes and at times appearing to nod in agreement. Jaws in the jury box dropped when prosecutor John Guy electrified the courtroom with a short, but profanity-laced and impassioned argument that sought to paint the defendant as an angry and out-of-control vigilante who was stalking Martin when he shot the teen in the gated community in Sanford, where he lived.


“EDIT punks,” prosecutor John Guy said in open court, quoting Zimmerman's own words to a non-emergency police dispatcher. “These EDITs, they always get away.”
The language -- rare for open court -- appeared to stun the six female jurors who must decide whether Zimmerman shot and killed the 17-year-old African-American teen in self defense, or if he stalked the youth and provoked the deadly 2012 confrontation.

“Those were the words in that grown man’s mouth as he followed, in the dark, a 17-year-old boy who he didn’t know,” continued Guy, as jurors in the Florida courtroom listened intently, some taking notes. “And excuse my language, but those were his words, not mine.”


When Guy said Zimmerman "made a decision that brought us all here today," the juror identified as E6 nodded her head in apparent agreement
Zimmerman appeared to show no emotion inside the courtroom as Guy made his statements.


Guy discounted the expected defense version of events, that Zimmerman was on the losing end of a violent confrontation and pulled his registered gun in self-defense, calling it a "tangled web of lies."


The prosecutor said Martin had no blood or DNA from Zimmerman on his hands or under his fingernails, and he wrapped up his statements in about a half-hour, telling jurors Zimmerman "did not shoot [Martin] because he had to, but because he wanted to."


Don West followed with opening statements on behalf of Zimmerman, offering a knock-knock joke that fell flat before the stone-faced jurors.
"Who's there?" West said. "George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Okay, good. You're on the jury."


West later apologized for the joke, saying he was sorry if he offended anyone.


Prior to the failed attempt at humor, West told a somber version of events, one that portrayed his client as a victim who acted to save his own life.


“The young man lost his life. Another is fighting for his," West said. "The evidence will show that this is a sad case. There are no monsters here.”


West then proceeded to explain to jurors the sequence of events that led to Trayvon Martin's death.


He displayed a map of the community where the shooting occurred, pictures of Zimmerman taken after the altercation and shooting, and played back calls between Zimmerman, a non-emergency dispatcher and neighbors.


In the call to the dispatcher, Zimmerman said Martin looked suspicious and "black," and noted that there was a string of recent crime in the neighborhood. The call was the one in which Zimmerman used the obscenities that Guy recalled.


As West played the 911 call a neighbor made -- which captured screams from the altercation -- Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, walked out of the courtroom.
"Tragically there was nothing that could be done," West said, referring to Martin's condition after he was shot.


West told jurors that Zimmerman was being viciously attacked when he shot Martin. Zimmerman was sucker-punched by Martin, who then pounded Zimmerman's head into the concrete sidewalk, West said. He played for jurors the call to a police dispatcher in which Zimmerman used the obscenities.


Martin had opportunities to go home after Zimmerman followed him and then lost track of him, West said, but instead the teen confronted the neighborhood watch volunteer.
West opening statements lasted nearly two and a half hours, compared to Guy's 30-minute remarks.


On Monday afternoon, the prosecution began calling in their first witnesses in the case for questioning.


Chad Joseph, 15, who is the son of Trayvon Martin's father's girlfriend, said Trayvon left to buy Skittles for him while they were watching TV and playing video games on the night of the shooting.


Joseph said he briefly spoke to Trayvon over the phone as he was walking home from a 7-Eleven store, but did not talk to him after that. Joseph found out about Trayvon's death when he came home from school the next day.


The second witness, 20-year-old Andrew Gaugh, was working the cash register at the time Martin purchased the Skittles at the 7-Eleven. Gaugh said he did not see anything suspicious about Martin's behavior.


Before Guy and West gave their statements, Zimmerman's family was asked to leave the courtroom.
Martin's family was seen inside the courtroom earlier Monday sitting next to their lawyer, Benjamin Crump. Zimmerman's mother, father and wife also were present, but were later escorted out after prosecution lawyers invoked sequestration rules, which bar witnesses from courtroom proceedings until the state concludes the case.
Zimmerman's defense team responded by asking Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to order the Martin family and Crump to leave, but they were allowed to stay. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara argued with Nelson over the decision, calling it "prejudicial."


West said in his opening statement that the Zimmerman family members were not allowed in the courtroom because they are not related to the deceased and may testify, as they are on the witness list.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/24...#ixzz2XB24EJZt

[Tropicana]

See what I mean...sick mi stomach:

Transcript for Legal Victory for George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin Case


A major rung this evening in the trial of george zimmerman accused in the murder of trayvon martin. It involves the recording of a 911 call on which screams for help can be heard. But whose screams are they?

Tonight the judge ruling that the jury will have to decide that for themselves. Here's abc's gio benitez. Reporter: It's a central question in the george zimmerman trial.
Who is crying for help in that 911 call? Is it zimmerman or trayvon martin? So you think he's yelling help?



A major rung this evening in the trial of george zimmerman accused in the murder of trayvon martin. It involves the recording of a 911 call on which screams for help can be heard. But whose screams are they?
Tonight the judge ruling that the jury will have to decide that for themselves. Here's abc's gio benitez. Reporter: It's a central question in the george zimmerman trial.
Who is crying for help in that 911 call? Is it zimmerman or trayvon martin? So you think he's yelling help?

Yes. Reporter: Zimmerman claims that's his voice, and he shot martin in self defense last year. But the martin family and prosecutors argue it's the 17-year-old crying for help.
But now a judge rules prosecutors can't bring in their voice experts. Writing in an order, there's no evidence to establish that their scientific techniques have been tested and found reliable. The two sides have battled it out.
Prosecutors trying to convince the jung to allow voice experts. Defense trying to dismiss them. This is not unusual for scientists to have very different views.
I don't follow the difference. The 911 recording is probably the best evidence of what happened, other than george zimmerman himself, and remember, we don't have the testimony from trayvon martin. Reporter: It's so complicated even a voice analyst abc news brought the recording to said he couldn't be sure whose voice is on the tape.



Because the recording isn't clear enough. There are standards for voice identification, that this case doesn't match. Reporter: And opening statements are scheduled to begin monday morning.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/legal-victory-george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-case-19465125

Cyaan boddah follow dis. Sickening.

[Tropicana]

[Tropicana]

[Tropicana]

Trayvon Martin witness denies he was the aggressor

Prosecution builds case that George Zimmerman was on top of Martin in fight that led to teenager's death

A woman who was on the phone to Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot has rejected attempts by a lawyer in a Florida court to depict Martin as the aggressor in a struggle that ended in his death.

A former resident of the gated community where Martin was killed also testified on Thursday that she saw George Zimmerman on top of Martin during the fatal encounter.


During an argumentative cross-examination of the phone call witness, 19-year-old Rachel Jeantel, a defence lawyer said she embellished her account of the conversation with her longtime school friend after news coverage portrayed the shooting as "a racial thing".


In earlier testimony in Seminole County criminal court on Wednesday, Jeantel had said that shortly before Martin was fatally shot, he complained about a "creepy" man who seemed to be hunting him down as he walked back to the house where he was staying with his father.


Jeantel repeatedly denied altering her story and said she never watched the news.


On Thursday, Jeantel also rejected defence attorney Don West's attempts to depict Martin as the aggressor in the fight that ended with his death, a portrayal that would support Zimmerman's claim that he fired in self-defence. She suggested Martin would have ended the phone call first if he was preparing to attack someone.


West asked whether the noises Jeantel heard on the phone call could have been Martin smashing Zimmerman in the face.She refused to agree with West that Martin hid and approached Zimmerman.


"Trayvon told me the man was behind him and kept being close by him," Jeantel said.


Zimmerman, 29, was a neighbourhood watch volunteer in the Retreat at Twin Lakes community in the central Florida town of Sanford at the time of the shooting on 26 February 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and could face life imprisonment if convicted.


A former Twin Lakes resident testified on Thursday that she heard the scuffle behind her home and heard someone yelling "help".


Speaking through a translator, Colombian-born Selma Mora testified that the person who was on top during the scuffle was the one who survived the fight, and that he got up and walked away after the gunshot was heard.


The person on top was wearing a garment in "some sort of a pattern between blacks and reds", she said, which were the colours of a jacket Zimmerman was wearing that night.


So far, three former residents have testified for the prosecution that they saw someone who appeared to be Zimmerman on top during the incident, which took place by a walkway between units.


The prosecution highlighted the fact that none of them heard a crude death threat that Zimmerman says Martin made moments before he shot him, even though several were close enough to hear the struggle.


One neighbour who was watching TV with her husband at the time told the court on Thursday it sounded so close that she thought the fight might end up crashing into her back porch.


"They kept getting closer and closer," said Jenna Lauer, who muted her television when she heard the cries for help.


The defence is expected to have witnesses who will provide a different version of events, with Martin on top during the scuffle.


Prosecutors say Zimmerman profiled Martin, suspecting him of being up to no good and killed him in an act of vigilante justice. The defensc says Zimmerman was out doing his job as part of the neighbourhood watch and simply trying to investigate something he perceived as suspicious.


Zimmerman does not deny killing Martin. He says he did so only after he was attacked and Martin smashed his head repeatedly into a concrete sidewalk.


The jurors paid close attention to Jeantel's testimony, taking notes and asking several times for her testimony to be repeated because they could not hear her soft-spoken, sometimes mumbled, words.


Jeantel has acknowledged she lied about her age and about her reason for skipping Martin's funeral. Jeantel said she was merely seeking anonymity and never imagined she would be called as a witness.


The prosecution must convince all six jurors that Zimmerman acted with "ill will" or "hatred" and "an indifference to human life".


Under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which was approved in 2005 and has since been copied by about 30 other states, people fearing for their lives can use deadly force without having to retreat from a confrontation, even when it is possible.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-beaten-prosecution-witnesses/story?id=19517236#.Uc5pRfmgXrx

[Tropicana]

How can he say Zimmerman was not hostile when he was calling Trayvon who he had never met an EDIT punk.

The prosecution has botched this from the get go. This case is definitely going to come down to raise and unfortunately the clean cut White male witnesses who speak standard English are going to be perceived as more credible by this predominantly White, predominantly female jury over 45. I do not understand why they have called certain witnesses who are not helping their case. They can't cross examine them or treat them as hostile because they have called them.

Still need someone to explain why they only need 6 on the jury.

You know, something hit me about this case. When I used to speak about race on here, boardites based in the USA swore up and down that things had changed in the US. I remember challenging them on it and my insistence on the point was what lead to many arguments.

Fast forward to 2012-2013 and it is abundantly clear that many US communities are still de facto segregated by race and that there are a host of very serious and deep seated racial issues. The dynamics of this trial makes it abundantly clear.

[My Looh]

I realize much has been made of the jury members in this case (mostly white). I'm just asking because I don't know how things run in Florida, but doesn't both the prosecution and the defence have input on who is chosen to sit on the jury?

[Tropicana]

My Looh, the prosecution has really blown this case from jury selection to who they are calling as witnesses. I still have to see the prosecution's opening arguments.

[Tropicana]

I haven't watched it on TV, TV has not even been on in days...but every time me read or watch more mi feel .

Why did the prosecution call him as a witness?

Notice they didn't ask him where he was born or where his parents were born or his ethic background.

Witness who saw “tussle” testifies in Zimmerman trial as social media explodes over photo of defense lawyer




Only a silly blonde would say something that insensitive and stupid.

Deep into the prosecution’s case against George Zimmerman, some witnesses who took the stand Friday seemed to bolster the defense case by corroborating at least part of the neighborhood watch volunteer’s account that he was defending himself during a violent confrontation with Trayvon Martin moments before the shooting.Neighbor John Good said he saw Trayvon Martin, 17, pinning Zimmerman to the ground — the first eyewitness to report seeing that and in contrast to earlier testimony. Sanford Police officer Tim Smith said the back of Zimmerman’s clothing was wet, another indication he may have been at the bottom of a fight before fatally shooting the Miami Gardens teen on Feb. 26, 2012. And Smith, the first police officer on the scene, testified that Zimmerman told him he asked for help but no one came.
“He stated to me that he was yelling for help and that nobody would come help him,” Smith said under cross-examination by Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O’Mara.
As witnesses offered their recollections of the encounter between Trayvon and Zimmerman, social media — which has played a critical role in the case — erupted after a controversial Instagram photo of Zimmerman defense attorney Don West and his daughters came to light.
Molly West, a 20-something daughter of West, posted the photo to her Instagram account. It showed her, her father and her sister eating Chick-fil-A ice cream cones Monday, with the caption: “We beat stupidity celebration cones” and the hashtag #dadkilledit. Don West had on Monday made a joke in his opening statement that some found insensitive.
As news of the photo rapidly spread, Molly West and her sister, Rachel, quietly left the courtroom for the day. Defense team spokesman Shawn Vincent said, Molly “is mortified... for bringing negative attention to her father and the case.” The Instagram account is now closed.
“Don had no idea that she’d post it on Instagram, and he also knew nothing about the comments associated with it,” he said, acknowledging the bad taste and timing of the image. “We understand the context of the comments with what’s happened in court this week are grossly insensitive.”
He added: “Don told me, ‘As a parent, we’re not always proud of the things our children do, but we love them anyway, and then we move on.’”
In court Friday, a string of witnesses testified to what they saw or heard that night.
Good said he saw a “tussle” between Zimmerman and Trayvon a few feet from his patio and that he believed — based on the colors of clothes he saw — that Trayvon, 17, had pinned down Zimmerman on the ground.
Good was the first person to testify that he thought he saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman, and that it was Zimmerman who may have been crying out for help from underneath. His testimony contradicts witness Selma Mora, now a Miami resident, who testified Thursday that she thought she saw Zimmerman on top during the scuffle.
Good stopped short, however, of saying that he saw the person on top throwing punches or slamming the other man’s head on the sidewalk, as Zimmerman contends Trayvon did to him.
Zimmerman, 29, has said he acted in self-defense, shooting Trayvon after the unarmed teen attacked him. Prosecutors say Zimmerman profiled and pursued Trayvon. He’s charged with second-degree murder, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison if convicted

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/28/3475059/state-presses-on-in-george-zimmerman.html

[Tropicana]

The 7 Most Important Things That Happened In The George Zimmerman Murder Trial This Week

t was an interesting first week in the George Zimmerman second degree murder trial. The prosecution brought out a number of witnesses including law enforcement officers, residents of the neighborhood, and a number of eye and ear witnesses.
The dynamic in the courtroom was both tense and emotional.
Trayvon Martin's parents walked out on multiple occasions, including when their deceased son's face and body was shown. Trayvon's hoodie was also put on display, as well as his bag of Skittles, making the images that have driven this case through the media over the past year incredibly real.
On the defense, Zimmerman's attorney Don West began his opening arguments with a knock-knock joke and later in the week, he bumped heads with Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak to Trayvon before he was killed.
We heard a lot of testimony in this first week, but we broke it all down for you. Here are the 7 most important things that happened:

1. John Good, a resident of The Retreat At Twin Lakes, testified that Trayvon Martin was on top of George Zimmerman, punching him MMA style, though he is the only witness to claim it was Trayvon on top.
[Good for defense]

He will be perceived as credible by the jury because he is White male and speaks clear English.

2. Jeannee Nanalo, a resident of The Retreat At Twin Lakes, testified that "the bigger person" was on top during the fight, and after seeing the two men on the news, could tell it was George Zimmerman on top.[Good for prosecution

Not white, soft spoken, English not first language will be perceived as less credible.

3. Any and everything Rachel Jeantel, the prosecution's key witness said. [Good for both prosecution and defense]

White jury will have a lot of problems perceiving her as credible.

4. Selena Bahadoor, a resident of The Retreat At Twin Lakes, testified she saw the fight moving "from left to right" out her window, which completely goes against Zimmerman's claims of where and how his confrontation with Trayvon began.[Good for prosecution]

Not white, soft spoken jury will perceive as less credible.

5. Police Officer Timothy Smith, first officer to arrive on scene and also the officer to handcuff George Zimmerman, testified George Zimmerman told him he had been yelling for help, but no one came to help him.[Good for defense]

6. Although George Zimmerman has claimed on two occasions that after he shot Trayvon Martin, he got on top of him, on his back, took his arms and he spread them out, every witness to arrive on the scene testified Trayvon was face down with his hands under him when they arrived. Even crime scene investigator Diana Smith (who is also Officer Smith's wife).[Good for prosecution]

7. Then there was Lindzee Folgate, the last witness of this week. The physician's assistant treated Zimmerman the day after the shooting and also testified in earlier visits that Zimmerman had started intense mixed martial arts in 2011. She also described Zimmerman's injuries. He had two lacerations on his head, but no stitches were needed and said that his nose was "likely" broken.[Good for both prosecution and defense]

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/importan...#ixzz2Xc91R9MW

[Blackstar*]

If Zimmerman is found not guilty, I will_______________. (Fill in the blank.)