The Trayvon Martin Case

[soul oasis]

Jay Polatnick


This case can't really have any good outcomes. I'm rooting for a 'Hung Jury'. Like this, it's not a blatant 'Acquittal' and would greatly lessen George Zimmerman's chances of unjustly receiving a long sentence. The Prosecution's case was largely based on assumptions and unproven 'intentions'.

[soul oasis]

Stephen Goodman

Ok I see this is a black and white thing as the media has desired...
I'm not saying another word. Reggie you are my friend .
I'm out . Goodnight!!!
Remember I live down here.
The photos of Trayvon you see are 4 yrs old and the kid was a bad kid. That's why his mom sent him upstate... And it was Trayvon who racially profiled Zimmerman as a white cracker (witness) and Zimmerman is Spanish . Go figure!
I am sad that the media won. This wasn't a black/ white/Spanish thing..... WE ALL OWN HOODIES!
A dumbass was roaming around stoned and ended up in a fight (we will never know who started it)
STOP using this as a racial war,,,,

[soul oasis]

Not Guilty!!!

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[soul oasis]

Let's be clear, just because Zimmerman wasn't found guilty does not mean he did not murder that child. It means the state did not prove it to that jury.

Zimmerman will learn what OJ and many other non guilty defendants of murder do––Karma is real! Rest In Peace Trayvon! Your death will not be in vain! ~

[soul oasis]

http://thepoliticalfreakshow.us/post...enario-of-what


Race Reversal: A Hypothetical Scenario Of What Would Happen If Trayvon Martin Were White And George Zimmerman Were Black, And Why Race Has Everything To Do With The Case

If you don’t understand how deeply and viciously racist has been the official and right-wing reaction to the murder of Trayvon Martin, all you have to do is consider what would have been the official and right-wing reaction had the races of Martin and his killer been reversed.

Imagine a lanky white teenager was walking in a strange neighborhood at night. He’s a good kid—according to one of his teachers "an A and B student who majored in cheerfulness"—although he’s not above making the foolish teenaged mistake of getting caught with an empty baggie with marijuana residue inside it. But he has no criminal record. The worst anyone can say about him is that he smokes some pot, which puts him in the company of nearly half of all American high school students, something more than half of all American adults would legalize. But he’s a good student and has no criminal record. In other words, he’s a pretty typical teenager. A good kid.

Then one night this typical teenager is walking alone in a strange neighborhood, munching on some junk food and talking on his cell phone. And remember that we’re reversing the races here, so now he’s a white kid walking alone in a strange neighborhood, and it’s a black man who steps out of an SUV and starts following him. A black man who outweighs the teen by nearly a hundred pounds. A black man who steps out of an SUV, pulls up a hoodie, and starts following the teen. The kid tells his friend on the cell phone that someone is following him. He tells her because he doesn’t understand why someone is following him. He’s nervous. He’s just walking along, munching on junk food, and someone has started following him.

Finally, he decides to confront the guy. Even though he is nervous, he probably can’t imagine that simply walking in a strange neighborhood would lead to someone shooting him dead. He’s standing up for himself, but the thought of violence, the thought of gunfire, doesn’t even enter his head. But when he confronts the big guy who had been following him, and asks why he has been following him, the big guy pulls a gun. It happens so suddenly, the teen probably barely has time to realize that something serious is now happening. This was just an innocent evening stroll, a big guy had started following him for no reason, and now his life is being threatened. This was just an innocent evening stroll, and now he’s looking at a gun. Pointed at him. By a big guy who had been following him for no reason. A big guy who now shoots him dead.

Three witnesses later report having heard the boy’s desperate cry for help. The police report (pdf) says he was found face down, with his hands under him. He was carrying no weapon. He was carrying no drugs. He was carrying the type of junk food typical teenagers carry. In our reversal of races scenario, the story then is that a lanky white teen was walking in a strange neighborhood, snacking on junk food, talking to a friend on his cell phone, when a large black man stepped out of an SUV, started following him, frightened him, and shot him dead. Imagine the reaction.

Now suppose we find out that the teen’s killer had a history of race-based paranoia. Suppose we find out that the teen’s killer’s neighbors had complained of his aggressive behavior. Suppose we find out that the teen’s killer had once been arrested for “resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer." Suppose we find out that the teen’s killer that night had ignored a police dispatcher who had told him to stop following the teen. And suppose that after all that, the much larger black man who had stepped out of an SUV, pulled up a hoodie, and started following the white teen had ended up shooting the white teen dead. What would have been the official response? What would have been the right-wing reaction?

Would a police officer have tried to coach a witness to change her story? Would the local state attorney and police chief have overruled even the lead homicide investigator, who recommended that the killer be charged with manslaughter? Would the police have neglected even to give the killer a routine drug and alcohol test? Would the police have neglected to contact whomever the kid was talking to on the phone just moments before he was shot, ignored the witnesses who contradicted the killer’s story, and later reported that the killer had been bloodied in a confrontation with the dead teen, even though the real time reports suggested no such thing, and even though the police surveillance video shows the killer had no discernible wounds or discomfort, and even though the funeral director who prepared the dead teen’s body for burial says there was no evidence he had been in a fight?

If Trayvon Martin had been white and George Zimmerman black, this would not have become a national story. If they had reported it at all, the right-wing media would have praised Martin for trying to stand his ground before a dangerous violent thug. It defies credulity to think they would be dismissing the killer’s behavior, making despicable excuses such as blaming the kid’s clothing, or if— unthinkable in this reversing-the-races scenario—there had been no criminal charges filed against the killer, dismissing the story altogether. The questions here don’t even need answers. The questions answer themselves.

Had Trayvon Martin been white and George Zimmerman black, Zimmerman would be headed for death row. Right-wing media would be hailing Martin as a hero. A martyr who had stood his ground against a dangerous predator. They would be saying that it’s too bad Martin hadn’t somehow fought back against Zimmerman, and that if he had somehow succeeded in fighting a man so much larger than him, it would have been justifiable if he had left Zimmerman dead.

There is no polite way to explain what has happened. There is no polite way to explain the reflexive defensive rationalizations by the right-wing media and their right-wing fans. This was a racist killing with a racist cover-up and the right wing’s reaction has been virulently and viciously racist. To understand the depth of the right wing’s racist depravity, all it takes is to consider the very different reaction to this horror had the races of the victim and his killer been reversed.

Welcome to post-racial America.

[soul oasis]

Justice could still be served.. dont get it twisted..the night is still young and this man cannot go anywhere without someone noticing his ass.. he may just have to put on a dress,wig and everything that will make him look like a woman..They will knock his ass wherever he is.

[blkmantheobscure1969]

soul oasis, I will say this. we need to educate our kids on how to deal with the law ( and wanna be law) . I remember a situation one time when I was in college and these police rolled by us. me and my pals were walking to a party in the neighborhood. the police claimed we fit the description of some guys that were in the neighborhood trying break into people's homes. me and another guy handled it well and told the police that we were sorry about what was going on but we were not the guys in question. we were on our way to a college party. however one of my friends started getting mad at the police for even insinuating that we fit the description. I believe if we as people talk to law enforcement calmly when approached by them and then later on lodging a complaint about them with their superiors we would be a little more successful with stamping out this kind of mentality Zimmerman had.

best believe Zimmerman will have his day when he goes to apply for employment. he may have beat the case but he has not beat society

[soul oasis]

Originally Posted by blkmantheobscure1969

soul oasis, I will say this. we need to educate our kids on how to deal with the law ( and wanna be law) . I remember a situation one time when I was in college and these police rolled by us. me and my pals were walking to a party in the neighborhood. the police claimed we fit the description of some guys that were in the neighborhood trying break into people's homes. me and another guy handled it well and told the police that we were sorry about what was going on but we were not the guys in question. we were on our way to a college party. however one of my friends started getting mad at the police for even insinuating that we fit the description. I believe if we as people talk to law enforcement calmly when approached by them and then later on lodging a complaint about them with their superiors we would be a little more successful with stamping out this kind of mentality Zimmerman had.

best believe Zimmerman will have his day when he goes to apply for employment. he may have beat the case but he has not beat society

I concur !!! This is why my son Seth is on some of these laws.I don't ever want to hear something like this has happened to him without him knowing his rights and "some" of the laws.

Laws can be very tricky if not interpreted correctly.I also highly encourage our youths to become more lawyers in this country.Enough is enough.

[soul oasis]

FUCKIN WOW !!




Musician, Known for Work with Chambers Brothers, Assaulted for Dedicating Song to Trayvon Martin


http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/201...rayvon-martin/

[soul oasis]

MIAMI (AP) — As they began deliberating in George Zimmerman's murder trial, three of the six jurors wanted to acquit him while the other three wanted to convict him of either murder or manslaughter, one of the jurors said.

The six-woman jury ultimately voted to acquit Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in last year's shooting but the jury also was allowed to consider manslaughter.

The woman, known as Juror B37, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday that when the jury began deliberations Friday, they took an initial vote. Three jurors— including B37 — were in favor of acquittal, two supported manslaughter and one backed second-degree murder. She said the jury started going through all the evidence, listening to tapes multiple times.

"That's why it took us so long," said B37, who said she planned to write a book about the trial but later had a change of heart. When they started looking at the law, the person who initially wanted second-degree murder changed her vote to manslaughter, the juror said. Then they asked for clarification from the judge and went over it again and again. B37 said some jurors wanted to find Zimmerman guilty of something, but there was just no place to go based on the law.

B37 said jurors cried when they gave their final vote to the bailiff. "I want people to know that we put everything into everything to get this verdict," said the juror, whose face was blacked out during the televised interview but who appeared to become choked up.

The interview came two days after the jury acquitted Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin in a gated community in Sanford, Fla. Martin was black, and Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic. Zimmerman was not arrested for 44 days, and the delay in charging him led to protests from those who believed race was a factor in the handling of the case.

While prosecutors accused Zimmerman of profiling Martin, Zimmerman maintained he acted in self-defense. Juror B37, the only juror to speak publicly about the case so far, said Monday that the actions of Zimmerman and Martin both led to the teenager's fatal shooting, but that Zimmerman didn't actually break the law.

While Zimmerman made some poor decisions leading up to the shooting, including leaving his car when police told him not to, Martin wasn't innocent either, the juror said. "I think both were responsible for the situation they had gotten themselves into," said the juror. "I think they both could have walked away."

The juror said Sanford Police Detective Chris Serino made a big impression on her, because he would have been accustomed to dealing with murders and similar cases. He would have known how to spot a liar, and yet he testified that he believed Zimmerman, the juror said.

Legal analysts agreed that Serino's testimony was a blow to the state's case. The Sanford police were criticized last year for not arresting Zimmerman, and Gov. Rick Scott later appointed a special prosecutor, who brought charges against the neighborhood watch volunteer.

The juror said she didn't think Martin's race was the reason Zimmerman followed him on a dark, rainy night. She said she also believed Martin threw the first punch and that Zimmerman, whom she referred to as "George," had a right to defend himself.

"I have no doubt George feared for his life in the situation he was in at the time," the juror said. The juror said she was not impressed by the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, who was talking with Martin by cellphone moments before he was fatally shot by Zimmerman.

"I didn't think it was very credible, but I felt very sorry for her," the juror said. "She didn't want to be there." The juror also commented on defense attorney Don West's knock-knock joke about knowing who Zimmerman was during opening statements.

"The joke was horrible. Nobody got it," she said. Juror B37 outlined to CNN the process she and the other five jurors went through in their deliberations. She said they spent the first day electing a foreman and getting organized. She said the jury instructions weren't immediately clear and the evidence was in no order whatsoever.

She said it was a difficult process. "We thought about it for hours and cried over it afterwards," she said. "I don't think any of us could ever do anything like that ever again." Martin Literary Management announced Monday that it was representing B37 and her husband, who is an attorney. The names of the jurors have not been released, but during jury selection it was disclosed that B37 works in an unspecified management position and has two adult children.

But agency head Sharlene Martin released a statement late Monday saying she was no longer representing the juror and that the juror had dropped the book idea. It included a statement that she said was crafted in conjunction with agency in which the juror explained that being sequestered had kept her shielded "from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of the case." The juror said that the book was meant to show that our justice system "can get so complicated that it creates a conflict with our 'spirit' of justice."

The Associated Press was unable to reach the juror. In a separate interview, Jeantel was asked by CNN's Piers Morgan whether she thought race was a factor in Zimmerman's decision to follow Martin prior to their fight.

"It was racial," she said. "Let's be honest. Racial. If he were white, if Trayvon was white and he had a hoodie on, what would happen?" She noted that the altercation happened in the early evening, when many people are out walking their dogs or doing other things.

Morgan played back a recording of the juror's comments to CNN about Jeantel's education level and speech, and the witness said it made her sad and angry. Jeantel, who is black, said she also had a feeling that the jury would return a not-guilty verdict.

"They're white," she said of the jury at one point. "Well, one Hispanic. But she's stuck in the middle. I had a feeling it was going to be a 'not guilty.'" While the court did not release the racial makeup of the jury, the panel appeared to reporters covering jury selection to be made up of five white women and a sixth who may be Hispanic.