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Jury weighing Zimmerman's fate asks question about manslaughter option
CNN ^ | 7/13/13 | Mariano Castillo and Greg Botelho

Posted on 07/13/2013 3:17:06 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks

(CNN) -- After more than 12 hours of deliberation, the six women deliberating George Zimmerman's fate asked the court Saturday evening for clarification on the instructions regarding manslaughter, the judge said.

That couldn't have even been a question a few days ago: Judge Debra Nelson ruled Thursday, over the defense's vehement objection, to include manslaughter as an option for jurors, in addition to the second-degree murder charge. Their third option would be to find Zimmerman not guilty.

The question -- which was read out in court, without the jurors present, shortly before 6 p.m. -- was the first posed by the jury since late Friday afternoon, when they requested an inventory of evidence. Afterward, lawyers from both sides approached Nelson's bench; their comments could not be heard.

How long other juries deliberated for in other high-profile cases One of 1,009 fatal shootings in Florida in 2012, Trayvon Martin's death stood out -- the various threads of the story helping to capture the public imagination.

There was, for instance, the fact that an adult had fired on an unarmed teen, soon after police told him not to follow the 17-year-old. And there was the accusation of racial profiling: that Zimmerman -- the son of a Peruvian mother and a white American father, who identifies as Hispanic -- had singled out Martin, at least in part, because the teenager was black.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: blackkk; florida; georgezimmerman; kangaroocourt; martin; trayvonmartin; zimmerman
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To: murron
"I was wondering the same thing. I never did hear an explanation from the defense."

Maybe the ME ran a sloppy shop. He did not do in-depth autopsy on GZ.

His underlings did the grunt work. If he didn't see anything wrong, he simply did not test for it. And, if evidence was not collected, it was not his job.

That ME is a major problem. His testimony was bizarre as he described the autopsy protocol (which he made sure to say, he didn't write) - to say sloppy is not enough.

221 posted on 07/13/2013 7:22:37 PM PDT by hummingbird (THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS by Mark Levin. He has a great plan.)
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To: chessplayer
I heard that. I'm thinking Holder won't take the case. I doubt the civil actions will go anywhere, either. George can countersue now because skittles was a minor and his parents are responsible!
222 posted on 07/13/2013 7:24:54 PM PDT by liberalh8ter (The only difference between flash mob 'urban yutes' and U.S. politicians is the hoodies.)
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To: ctdonath2

I’ve always heard that the longer it takes a jury, the better it is for the defendant.


223 posted on 07/13/2013 7:28:25 PM PDT by Catsrus (`)
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To: ilovesarah2012

You are making assumptions without any trace of evidence. Trayvon was weaving in and out of the buildings watching George. Watch the video of the re-enactment and you might get an education. If he felt threatened - he had 4 long minutes to get inside of the house where he was staying.

Glad you aren’t on that jury - you are grasping on what ifs - that don’t exist. The logic of some people scares me for this country.


224 posted on 07/13/2013 7:32:29 PM PDT by Catsrus (`)
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To: 3Fingas
My only disagreement is that he should have stayed in the car and this whole event would have ended a lot better for him and the community of Sanford.

Well, That is a point for his own safety, but not necessarily for others, for I believe Z was trying to improve the odds for apprehension.

I will say that way back, at the outset, after looking at sufficient facts my recorded opinion on FR was that Z was in the right, but that both were fools. We found out tonight that the live fool was also declared not guilty of wrongful death.

That does not say that his methodology was necessarily an approved way for right to triumph.

I would hope that he won't have to fend off civil damages.

Those who do carry concealed (or open) should be well warned of the costs of right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and not flex their power unnecessarily.

Sayonara --

225 posted on 07/13/2013 7:36:56 PM PDT by imardmd1 (An armed society is a polite society -- but dangerous for the fool --)
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To: AmericanVictory
"But assume, arguendo that he did get out of his vehicle to see more closely what Martin was up to: How is that a criminal act or an element of a criminal act? How is it an element of manslaughter, even were the judge to get away with injecting manslaughter into the case at the eleventh hour, after the defense had presented its case?"

I say not guilty and prosecute rioters. Jurors take their families on vacation.

Something occurred to me while reading your post. GZ turned down a uniform, a car with yellow lights and a computer, I think.

Since he did not have these identifiers as neighborhood watch, maybe TM thought it was something personal - you know, the "crazy ass cracker".

It might not have occurred to TM that GZ was neighborhood watch and might have a gun.

No excuse in TM circulating back to smack down GZ. At that point, I think TM made a very stupid assessment - he didn't count on GZ being armed even though any Floridian can "conceal carry", right?

After he was shot, TM said "you got me". I know what it means but I'd like to know what that meant to TM at the time. Just a small detail that sticks in my mind. No big deal in the big picture.

226 posted on 07/13/2013 7:37:24 PM PDT by hummingbird (THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS by Mark Levin. He has a great plan.)
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To: Jeff Winston
"As I've said before, if Trayvon felt threatened, all he had to do was continue home and go into the apartment. He had a full 4 minutes to cover a pretty short distance."

ABSOLUTELY!

I wonder if that genius witness Rachel ("no, sirrrr/yes,sirrrrrr) was egging TM to take down the "creepy ass cracker". I think she even said GZ might be a homosexual wanting to rape TM, IIRC.

Maybe that is why TM circled back. There are so many scenarios in this travesty against justice and truth. Again, IMHO. I think her name was something like Rachel Jeantel. If you saw her, you'd know immediately who I'm talking about! Not forgettable for all the wrong reasons.

227 posted on 07/13/2013 7:49:15 PM PDT by hummingbird (THE LIBERTY AMENDMENTS by Mark Levin. He has a great plan.)
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To: Clint N. Suhks

HOT DAMN, I'M WRONG!


228 posted on 07/13/2013 8:05:34 PM PDT by Carriage Hill (Guns kill people, pencils misspell words, cars drive drunk & spoons make you fat.)
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To: ilovesarah2012

‘But what if Trayvon felt threatened by Zimmerman and was defending himself?’

Interesting question.

I believe that the crime scene photo of Trayvon tells the best story of all. The one thing that stands out about the photo is that Trayvon doesn’t have a scratch on him. Nothing. He could be about to leave for his prom date if not for the bullet in his heart.

This tells me that Zimmerman never extended his arms toward Trayvon. The intense pain from his inconsequential broken nose had George grabbing his nose. With Trayvon raining blows down on him, George continued to cover his face.

This frustrated Trayvon that he was unable to deliver the clean knockout blow that he so craved. After 2 or 3 inclusive punches, Trayvon decided to start slamming George’s head into the concrete in an effort to soften him up.

With his nose being given a respite from being punished, Zimmerman went for his gun. At some point Trayvon realized that George must have a weapon, why else would he be grabbing at his belt the way he was. George grabbed the weapon fairly cleanly as he knew exactly where it was. Trayvon made a stab for the weapon, but not knowing exactly where it was probably grabbed George’s wrist instead. As Zimmerman raised his arm, Trayvon realized that he did not have the leverage necessary to prevent George from pointing the weapon at him. At this point Trayvon decided to flee.

It would have been at this point when Trayvon felt threatened by George.

If he had felt threatened before this time, he would have never doubled back and confronted Zimmerman.


229 posted on 07/13/2013 8:16:32 PM PDT by Delta Dawn (Fluent in two languages: English and cursive.)
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