Posted on 07/04/2013 11:33:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
I started this article over a year ago, when the wounds of Trayvon Martin’s death were still fresh. I never finished it, in part, because the emotions were still so raw. There hadn’t been enough time to process what had happened to that young man who only wanted to get back home with his Skittles & tea and watch basketball, only rage and disgust. Then there was the feeling that nagged me, a sense that Trayvon Martin’s killer might get off. The rage and disgust are gone–not gone, never gone–subsided; but I still can’t shake that feeling.
Keeping up with the case, as presented so far, the prosecution has done a fine job of establishing many of the facts, but a number of the prosecution’s witnesses have played into the hands of the defense. Some of the testimony has bolstered their claims that, at the moment of the shooting, it was the killer who felt his life was in danger, that regardless to what happened prior to the shooting, the killer thought he needed to kill in order to survive.
Whether that’s true or not doesn’t matter. What matters is what the twelve jurors believe to be true. And if we’ve learned anything after the Rodney King, OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony, and so many other trials of the recent past, juries are a tricky thing. You can, like me, listen to all of the testimony, but we’re not sitting in that jury box watching through their eyes, thinking with their minds, feeling with their hearts. Their job is not to determine whether the killing of Trayvon Martin was right or wrong, just or unjust. Their job is to determine whether the defendant abided by Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Did Trayvon Martin’s killer “reasonably believe… …it [was] necessary to [‘stand his... ...ground and meet force with force, including deadly force’] to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony?” Was he within the law?
I don’t think that question is an easy one to answer for any jury, so much so that I would not be surprised by a hung jury, and I certainly wouldn’t be shocked at an acquittal. Trayvon did put up a fight, the same way I taught my children to if they were ever accosted by some creep that could have easily been a pedophile. I’d go so far as to say that Trayvon would have whipped his assailant’s ass, were it not for the gun.
So, what would that mean? Would we see rioting in the streets, again, if Trayvon’s killer is found “not guilty”? I hope not. I hope people could look past the apparent miscarriage of justice and understand that a verdict of “not guilty” is the only way to change how things are done in Florida, not to mention other states with similarly barbaric statutes.
Don’t get me wrong. Trayvon Martin deserves justice. His death is nothing less than murder, plain and simple. But too many states have essentially legalized murder with laws that allow anyone to kill anyone else on the pretext that they fear for their life. MMA training or not, there is nothing fiercer than a teenager who’s afraid for his well-being. I would have been afraid. I wouldn’t have been carrying a gun, though. A verdict of “guilty” will put the killer in jail for a bit, but it will also justify the law. Florida can say, “See, the law works.” Nothing changes, until the next poor, unsuspecting victim falls prey to an overzealous vigilante with deluded aspirations of grandeur.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, “Which outcome would be best for everyone?” Travon Martin is already a martyr. No verdict will bring back all that lost life and potential. Trayvon’s legacy will be measured in how his tragic death affects this country and its laws. While I would love to see Trayvon’s killer locked away for what he did, moving this country in a more humane direction would be the bigger prize. A verdict of “not guilty” may not accomplish that, but I think it’s the only chance. Brace yourselves.
It continued to sail full steam from the facts after that.
They aren’t able to grasp that no one has a right to just walk up and smack anyone who seems to insult their imaginary sense of manhood.
“But...he looked at me hard!” /sarc
Exactly what "potential" is this fool talking about?
The potential for more burglaries, more assaults, and more murders? The potential for more drug abuse? The potential for more fatherless babies?
Or does he think that Trayvon would have turned his life around and entered medical school? Would he have become a great scientist? An author? A musician? An athlete?
People make choices in their lives, sometimes the bad ones can be overcome, sometimes not. Sometime you only get one chance. Trayvon had the chance to make the turn that rainy night, and chose not to.
The only tragedy is that GZ's life is ruined, for all practical purposes.
” Their job is to determine whether the defendant abided by Florida’s Stand Your Ground law”
He’s an idiot. This is not part of the case.
The word "humane" speaks to the extreme vanity of humans. Humans are the most deadly killer to ever walk the face of Earth, and the only animal that kills in hate. The word human means tribal war maker, not God. This country is moving in a more "humane" direction alright. Buy more guns and ammo.
This attitude will result in tens of thousands of black deaths.
Injustice is Travon alive
Nearly correct. St. Trayvon wasn't a child so the "pedophile" part doesn't apply.
In his own words Trayvon said he considered Zimmerman a "creepy ass-cracker."
His friend on the phone teased him about being raped, to which St. Trayvon replied to her, "don't play me."
In my opinion, this was convinced St. Trayvon to seek out the "creepy ass-cracker" and beat him for his assumed homosexual stalking.
so, it is imagined sexual, not racial provacation?
Except the laws of the state of Maryland, where the individual which wrote this screed resides. There, it is "duty to retreat", and *that* is vigorously enforced by TPTB...
In the minds of those who agree with that particular legal insanity (duty to retreat), *anything* other than that becomes, in the black hole which passes for their intellects, the hated and feared "stand your ground"...
the infowarrior
” Travon Martin is already a martyr.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No he’s not he’s a dead punk and nothing more.
If you are on your back, the “duty to retreat” becomes immaterial. You can’t.
I suspect even under the laws of MD, the most likely story for this event would qualify as self-defense.
Whether the state’s officials accept it as such, would of course be another story entirely.
BTW, I believe there are flaws in SYG as a concept, at least as it has been applied here in FL. Some very troubling cases with guys walking who probably shouldn’t.
Most people don’t realize it, but “duty to retreat” is not a modern touchy-feely liberal notion. It is many centuries old in English common law.
Creepy-ass cracker. Creepy ass-cracker implies he WAS a pervert. :-)
I don't disagree with this assessment whatsoever.
I suspect even under the laws of MD, the most likely story for this event would qualify as self-defense.
Quite likely, on the face of it.
Whether the state’s officials accept it as such, would of course be another story entirely.
And there's the rub...
the infowarrior
In Urban Feral Youth speak "creepy" means 'pervert' and "ass-cracker" means homosexual sodomite.
ditto
“Fact is, “Saint Trayvon” didn’t WANT to go home. He wanted a confrontation. He wanted to smash George Zimmerman’s nose and pound his head against the concrete.”........
Recalling some testimony, wasn’t Martin encouraged to return and to seek out Zimmerman out buy Jantell? If this is the case, and Zimmerman be found “guilty”, would she then be considered to have been an accessory to murder? BIG TIME CRIME!!!
Biased opinion only—no basis in a trial where a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty—beyond a reasonable doubt.
Sorry if that hurts your rant...
Biases:
...young man who only wanted to get back home with his Skittles & tea and watch basketball...
I hope people could look past the apparent miscarriage of justice...
His death is nothing less than murder, plain and simple.
...laws that allow anyone to kill anyone else on the pretext that they fear for their life.
...an overzealous vigilante with deluded aspirations of grandeur.
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