A Florida jury of 6 females found George Zimmerman NOT GUILTY of 2nd degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin. Since the teenager’s tragic death, the public outcry for “justice” has grown more fervent with each pressing day. The public perception is that Zimmerman murdered this young boy and should be punished for his crime.
Large groups across the country have amassed to protest the verdict. I’ve read reports of added police officers needed because of growing violence amongst some participants of the protest. No matter your opinion of the case, violence is never the solution.
Most experts believed Zimmerman would be found not guilty. In a criminal case, the prosecution has the “burden of proof to prove without a reasonable doubt” that the defendant committed the crime in question. Many believed there wasn’t enough evidence to prove this burden. After all legal cases should be judged on legal merit and not on public opinion.
Many are outraged at the verdict. They decry that Martin has now been deprived of “justice.” They think Zimmerman has essentially gotten away with murder.
Personally, I don’t know what exactly happened. In reality most people don’t. The only two people who definitively know what happened were Zimmerman and Martin. Zimmerman should have heeded the police and stayed in his car. Everyone agrees with that. However, that does not equate to guilt. Zimmerman could very well have confronted Martin. Again that still does not equate guilty to manslaughter.
Zimmerman states that Martin began the fight and that Trayvon was profusely punching and hitting his head against the pavement. It is possible that Zimmerman feared his life in danger and therefore shot Trayvon. This is a plausible story. Of course that could not have been the case.
We just don’t know. Trayvon’s girlfriend’s testimony was ultimately tarnished by her lies. Because she lied on at least one occasion she discredited her entire testimony. There wasn’t any concrete evidence that Zimmerman was guilty of the charge.
Therefore, I am not really sure why there is such conviction in the tweets I have been reading. How do these people know for sure what happened that night? Were they even there? I think it would have been different if there was video-graphic evidence that Zimmerman was the aggressor. But there isn’t. We may never know what really happened.
In this case, the jury correctly reached the verdict. Juries are supposed to reach a decision based on the facts presented during the trial. They are supposed to remain objective in reaching a verdict. I know my opinion isn’t amongst the majority. It wasn’t last year during the Casey Anthony trial when again I think the jury correctly reached a verdict.
There could however be enough evidence to potentially find Zimmerman guilty in a civil case though. I think a civil case is probable.
Again I don’t know if Zimmerman is guilty of murder. And probably nor do you. Based on the evidence the verdict was correct.
There is one more thing I wonder though. And I mean this in no disrespect to Trayvon Martin or to his grieving family. Where is this outrage when people are killed each day on the streets of our neighborhoods?
Last weekend in Chicago, 74 people were shot and 14 people died. Where were the protests at the Daley Center that weekend?
Did the jury get it right?
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Twitter: @adrakontaidis & @talkrealdebate
