Five Ways the Prosecution Messed Up the Zimmerman Case

[red dog 1]

New York Magazine
July, 15, 2013

5 Ways the Prosecution Messed Up the Zimmerman case


"So far, the Monday-morning quarterbacking over the acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin has largely been about America's terrible inability to see past race,
even in the age of Obama -- with side discussions about Florida's gun laws and what should and shouldn't constitute self-defense.

But beyond those issues, was there anything the prosecution could have done better to hold Zimmerman accountable for what happened to an unarmed 17-year-old African-American boy on his way home on the night of February 26?
Daily Intelligencer consulted with several experienced trial lawyers who followed the proceedings closely and came away thinking the state blew it in more ways than one."


The article goes on to list the five ways the prosecution blew it.
1) The special prosecutor jammed the charges through.
2) They should have asked for manslaughter from the start.
3) Prosecution witnesses seemed poorly prepared.
4) The scream.
5) The prosecutor allowed Trayvon Martin to be put on trial.


Read more:
http://www.nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/07/5-ways-the-prosecution-blew-the-zimmerman-case.html/

[blm]

1. All law enforcement and every parent testifying needed to be asked: What were your children

taught to do when they are being followed by an adult stranger who then gets close enough to them to trigger fear of being grabbed or harmed?

What do child safety officers who go into schools teach these kids to do from grade school through high school?

Fight, punch, kick at the adult stranger in hopes that he will find the young person too difficult to victimize and leave the area promptly.

Gun changed everything, didn't it?

[red dog 1]

4. You're right..the gun changed everything

and that's the way the NRA likes it, since they are the ones responsible for the bullshit "Stand Your Ground" laws, along with the good 'ol boys from the American Legislative Exchange Council.

[Lee-Lee]

21. Any parent or adult who teaches

a child to fight in any situation other than when they already have been grabbed and are being held from getting away is teaching wrong.

Run, get home, get to people, call 911 if you have a phone.

The minute you have hit, kicked, punched, bitten and gouged eyeballs enough to get out of their grasp, run again.

You would have a hard time arguing that Trayvons fighting was a response of responsible self defense training for a child, because the defense would just bring up the "he had 4 minutes to get home to his father, he had 4 minutes to call 911, he had 4 minutes to ask any of the other adults close by for help" and raise serious doubts about that- and probably just further cement him as an aggressor in the juries minds. You also couldn't balance that with claims of being on top and hitting- if you are on top, you jump up and run woudl be what a child should be instructed.

[blm]

23. Cellphone and teen bravado kept him occupied and the fear kicked in for real when he realized

that Zimmerman was close enough to grab or harm him. That fear triggered an instinct to fight since he knew that predators usually run rather than continue with a target punching and kicking at them.

Young people have to make serious decisions instinctively based on what they're taught and make those decisions in a matter of seconds. I think that whole 4 minute scenario is misleading, and deliberately tossed into the mix to be misleading.

[Lee-Lee]

25. In four sentances

you just did a better job of laying out a plausible sequence of events than the prosecution did in the entire trial.

[blm]

28. I just remember most everything I went through as a kid, as a young adult,

and every step in-between. Who here never put a false front when you were really scared sh!tless. I expect a teenage boy to be full of bravado walking alone at night.....but.... fueled by fear.

[Quantess]

2. Take a look at the prosecution's self-congratulatory appearance.

The female attorney appears happy they lost. It's bizzarre.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017131674

[red dog 1]

3. You're right, she does look happy, doesn't she?

Perhaps a nice check is in the mail heading her way from the NRA, ALEC & the Koch brothers, who fund ALEC

What kind of a state is this?

They let a white guy who kills go free; and they put a black mom in jail for 20 years for firing warning shots to stop her abusive husband from beating her up.

Perhaps if the mom had actually shot her abusive husband, she'd be home with her kids now?

IMO, the "Stand Your Ground" law should be declared unconstitutional.
It's one thing to defend your home, but to be able to go out and kill anyone who looks suspicious, and then plead self-defense, as Zimmerman did, is pure bullshit!

[hrmjustin]

6. Are you a zimmerman fan and supporter?

[red dog 1]

7. Look how many posts this guy has....IMO, he's a troll.

[hrmjustin]

9. LOl I am just making small talk.

[uppityperson]

8. The signal is flying, high above the ground on the clouds....

[HardTimes99]

10. Holy shit! I never dreamed I'd read such a silly statement here of all places. What, are

you out on a day pass from vigilanteunderground.com?

[red dog 1]

11. "They had no case"?...An innocent & unarmed teen is shot to death,

and his killer gets off because of a right-wing gun law?

I think you are a Republican troll.

[arthritisR_US]

13. I think your stay may be short ....

[red dog 1]

15. He's already gone.

[arthritisR_US]

18. Excellent! I have no patience for trolls these days. n/t

[red dog 1]

20. I have no patience for trolls either.

IMO, DU has a few very clever trolls, probably all Republicans, who have MANY posts behind their name; (so as not to be obvious); but who post inflammatory comments and love to argue

This creep was an easy spot....Inflammatory comment & 1 post.

[arthritisR_US]

27. No kidding, talk about an easy catch. I so agree with

your other point about clever trolls with time and posts behind them, they frustrate the b'jeezuz out of me. My patience, as of late, has been pathetic so when wonderful DUers have PM'd me about various tombstonings, I really do breath a sigh of relief!

[HardTimes99]

17. I did not watch the trial, preferring to read about it here where I could

get at least a little emotional distance from it.

But I did see the post-verdict press conferences and I'm hard pressed to say which was creepier, this DA with her simpering smile or the older defense attorney (West?) snarling that the prosecution was 'disgraceful' while O'Mara looked on smilingly.

[R B Garr]

26. Ah! She's the one. I was in the car and heard her first and thought Z was convicted!

We were driving when there was a breaking announcement that a verdict had been reached in the Trayvon Martin trial, so we started frantically searching for other stations that already had the news on. She was the one we started listening to and were certain from what she was saying and how she was thanking people that Zimmerman had been convicted. I kept listening to see whether he was convicted of 2nd degree or manslaughter. Then we switched to another station, apparently a right wing station, and they were talking about Zimmerman's acquital on all charges.

Now I see she was actually smiling as she was talking, so we were right that she did seem happy about the verdict, which is why we first thought he was convicted! What's her deal.

[JI7]

12. after hearing b37 not sure it would have mattered

but i would actually like to hear from the other women who served, especially the hispanic woman. if what b37 said is true about where people first stood i have a feeling she was one of the 3 who said he was guilty at first.

she was the one who was said to have teared up during John Guy's closing .

i wonder if these women feel manipulated by b37 and maybe some others. if they feel they let the others influence them too much. if they regret not fighting for their position.

what do they think of b37 going out there and the things she said, especially how she tried to get a book deal which fell through(because the publisher backed out of it first).

[red dog 1]

14. Here's why the publisher backed out of B37's book deal.

http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/2013/07/persistent-tweeter-ends-juror-b37s-book-deal/

[JI7]

16. and hopefully it causes anyone else from offering anything

[LearningCurve]

19. Unlikely

http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~farley/humor/books.html

[Blue_Tires]

22. all i want to know is if the prosecutor was inept, or if she threw the case...

[hack89]

24. She is politically ambitious with a reputation of overcharging

what is telling to me is that she took advantage of a quirk in Florida law to present the indictment directly to a judge instead of going through a grand jury.

[Blue_Tires]

29. i.e., incompetent

either way she should clear out her desk while there's still some piece of her career left intact...