Zimmerman Trial About To Commence

[Bocefish]

Jury selection ended up with 6 women chosen, 5 white & one hispanic. The panel will be sequestered during the trial, which will begin with opening statements Monday at 9 a.m. and is expected to last between two and four weeks.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... y/2444883/

 

[CallMeWilliam]

http://legalinsurrection.com/ has some pretty interesting wrap ups on each day of the jury selection, they comment on the main points of the potential juror's interview.

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/06/zimmerman-jury-selection-day-four-wrap-up/

 

[Bocefish]

From what I've seen so far, Zimmerman may not even have to testify. The prosecution's case looks weak, at best. Their star witness admitted lying twice and isn't exactly the most credible, atleast IMO.

I was a bit shocked at what she said around the 2:07 mark:



I feel horrible for Trayvon's parents sitting through all of this, especially the first part of the trial with that attorney's asshat move opening up with a lame joke and then having to view all the pictures.

 

[Anonymous]

Trayvon's dad was shaking his head in disappointment and burying his face in his hands while Rachel was testifying.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but I was cracking up over the "Why you following me for?" thing. I've heard people say stuff like that ("Why you mad at me for?"), but it was pretty funny hearing the attorney repeat it back like 50 million times.

 

[Bocefish]

Ya, that Don West guy can't hold a candle to Mark O'Mara. If anyone looks like a creepy ass cracker it would be Don West, lol.

 

[mynameisbob84]

From what I've seen so far, Zimmerman may not even have to testify. The prosecution's case looks weak, at best. Their star witness admitted lying twice and isn't exactly the most credible, atleast IMO.

I was a bit shocked at what she said around the 2:07 mark:



I feel horrible for Trayvon's parents sitting through all of this, especially the first part of the trial with that attorney's asshat move opening up with a lame joke and then having to view all the pictures.

She didn't cover herself in glory. That said, I can't stand it when sneaky fucking lawyers pounce on innocuous shit like "creepy ass cracker". If there are meaningful inconsistencies in her story, then concentrate on that, ya know? Trying to manipulate the jury into believing the witness' testimony should be completely disregarded because she used a racial slur to describe the man who killed her friend is so fucking underhanded.

 

[bawksy]

Trying to manipulate the jury into believing the witness' testimony should be completely disregarded because she used a racial slur to describe the man who killed her friend is so fucking underhanded.

You know, sort of like trying to manipulate the jury into believing GZ intended to kill Trayvon that night just because he'd made some racially heated comments in the past.

 

[mynameisbob84]

Trying to manipulate the jury into believing the witness' testimony should be completely disregarded because she used a racial slur to describe the man who killed her friend is so fucking underhanded.

You know, sort of like trying to manipulate the jury into believing GZ intended to kill Trayvon that night just because he'd made some racially heated comments in the past.

That's a little more pertinent at least. But yeah, Zimmerman's defence should ultimately be judged on whether he was justified in shooting Trayvon, and not whether he's guilty of saying something racially insensitive.

 

[Just Me]

 

[Jupiter551]

Why would the girl write 'creepy-ass cracker' to Trayvon's mother in a letter? And the fact she didn't means...what?

This shouldn't be about race on either side.

At least Trayvon's camp knows even if GZ walks he won't be walking far - at this rate he'll explode from overeating within a year or two.

 

[Anonymous]

At least Trayvon's camp knows even if GZ walks he won't be walking far - at this rate he'll explode from overeating within a year or two.

:lol:

 

[Mirra]

Dear lord. I sure hope the prosecution didn't put a lot of time into preparing Rachel because she was NOT ready to be on that witness stand.

Trying to manipulate the jury into believing the witness' testimony should be completely disregarded because she used a racial slur to describe the man who killed her friend is so fucking underhanded.

You know, sort of like trying to manipulate the jury into believing GZ intended to kill Trayvon that night just because he'd made some racially heated comments in the past.

The fact of the matter is both Martin and Zimmerman are real, flawed people. I put a bit more weight on anything that can shed light on Zimmerman's intentions than Trayvon's because ultimately Zimmerman was the one doing the following, the one who pulled the trigger, and the one who is now on trial. The main thing I can determine from about Trayvon that makes any difference to me is that he obviously knew he was being followed, felt hostile about it, and *may* have initiated the confrontation that led to his shooting because of those feelings.

Worst case scenario for the prosecution they *should* be having to make the jury mentally justify a fatal shooting as a defense to an ass kicking. Unfortunately I think the defense is doing a good job of blurring everything in spite of the terrible opening statement joke.

 

[Bocefish]

The majority of the state's witnesses that I've seen seem to be ultimately benefitting the defense.

Why would the girl write 'creepy-ass cracker' to Trayvon's mother in a letter? And the fact she didn't means...what?

To establish she knew it was a disrepectful, racist term, I'm assuming.

This shouldn't be about race on either side.

Agreed, however, it's the state (prosecution) alleging Z profiled him due to his color.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Jupiter551]

This shouldn't be about race on either side.

Agreed, however, it's the state (prosecution) alleging Z profiled him due to his color.

Yes and they never shut up about it. The defense hasn't shut up about race since day 1 lol, constantly making sure everyone knows Zimmerman is half hispanic and therefore can't be racist...not including the racist diatribes about Mexicans he posted online...If anyone is constantly making it about race it's the defense attorneys. Anyone would think Zimmerman was the victim.

 

[Bocefish]

The defense hasn't shut up about race since day 1 lol, constantly making sure everyone knows Zimmerman is half hispanic and therefore can't be racist...not including the racist diatribes about Mexicans he posted online...If anyone is constantly making it about race it's the defense attorneys. Anyone would think Zimmerman was the victim.

Racist diatribes?

Where?

I've heard about one statement he made on his FB page back in 2005 about driving and not being afraid of hitting Mexicans, or something like that.

As far as your satement about the defense attorneys constantly making it about race, I have not seen anything close to that being reality. They're defending thier client and emphasizing race wasn't a part of it, when it does come up, which is their job. If you want to blame anyone about the racist overtones, blame the media and race baiters who try to make anything and everything about racism, not unlike what you posted above about all his so-called racist diatribes (plural) that are either unfounded or exaggerated.

 

[Bocefish]

This is what I found:

The Internet is forever. The Lookout reports a MySpace page formerly maintained by accused Trayvon Martin killer George Zimmerman has more elements of racism in his online angst from 2005. In the "About Me" section, he posted, "I don't miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street." Zimmerman had just moved away from his home in Manassas, Va.

Hard to judge anything by that one sentence and not knowing the overall context, situation... it seems quite a stretch to call him racist from that and far from a "diatribe."

 

[Jupiter551]

This is what I found:

The Internet is forever. The Lookout reports a MySpace page formerly maintained by accused Trayvon Martin killer George Zimmerman has more elements of racism in his online angst from 2005. In the "About Me" section, he posted, "I don't miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street." Zimmerman had just moved away from his home in Manassas, Va.

Hard to judge anything by that one sentence and not knowing the overall context, situation... it seems quite a stretch to call him racist from that and far from a "diatribe."

Agreed, that certainly wasn't the only thing on there though. I don't want to make too much of his myspace remarks - I think they illustrate a point that he's certainly NOT above racist slurs and generalisations. You can say this stuff is all normal if you like - I dunno about you but my social media doesn't refer to ethnic groups as 'all' being thugs, vandals and attempted muggers.

http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/news/george-zimmerman-racist-comments-myspace

The rest of the statement, bolded after the section you included was:

"I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book. Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!

No, we don't know the context - but frankly context would seem secondary considering he's just assumed that members of a certain race act the same way, are all thugs etc. You have to admit, though none of this has any bearing on his case, it's hard not to think that he MIGHT have applied the same logic to Trayvon. I mean GZ wrote that, his attorney confirmed it was his myspace.

If you want to subsitute 'Mexican' for 'Black', and then look at what happened with Trayvon...I find that chilling:

'I dont miss driving around scared to hit n*****s walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book. Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every n***** you run into!'

Heh you know as well as I do if it had said that, he'd be crucified - now, it DIDN'T say that, and I'm NOT ready to say I believe this was entirely or significantly racially motivated but there is NO QUESTION that GZ has made racist public (myspace) rants.

 

[Bocefish]

If you want to subsitute 'Mexican' for 'Black', and then look at what happened with Trayvon...I find that chilling:

Substituting one word for another is called twisting the facts. As far as I know, there is nothing anywhere that shows or anyone that says he was remotely racist other than that one FB rant and what the media has alleged. In fact, there are people of other races that knew him saying the exact opposite. I tend to believe the people that knew him over the one rant we don't know all the circumstances to. Every one of us has said something stupid at one point or another while buzzed, drunk, or pissed off at the moment. If he had used a racial slur instead of Mexican, I might add slightly more weight to it.

Furthermore, if the media hadn't hyped this up from the beginning about it being a racial thing, or they were both the same race, I doubt any of us would have even heard anything about it.

At this point, I just hope there won't be any riots if the jury doesn't find him guilty.

 

[pg240]

Any observations about why we tend to call one by his first name and the other by his last name? Is it an age thing? Is it because a young man is dead and we feel empathy? Victim and accused? Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George? I just happened to notice that people tended to use Trayvon and Zimmerman on the cable news networks the other day, and it got me to wondering.

 

[Nordling]

Any observations about why we tend to call one by his first name and the other by his last name? Is it an age thing? Is it because a young man is dead and we feel empathy? Victim and accused? Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George? I just happened to notice that people tended to use Trayvon and Zimmerman on the cable news networks the other day, and it got me to wondering.

Can't speak for anyone else but I'd say for me it's because I identify with the victim rather than the killer. I really don't want to get all personal with a killer, even while he's "alleged." Calling Trayvon by his first name isn't so much getting too personal as it's keeping the two people separate, emotionally, in my mind.

 

[bawksy]

At this point, I just hope there won't be any riots if the jury doesn't find him guilty.

I'm only expecting category 2 race riots, but still, sometimes there are benefits to living in a bleached white community.

 

[Mirra]

Any observations about why we tend to call one by his first name and the other by his last name? Is it an age thing? Is it because a young man is dead and we feel empathy? Victim and accused? Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George? I just happened to notice that people tended to use Trayvon and Zimmerman on the cable news networks the other day, and it got me to wondering.

Can't speak for anyone else but I'd say for me it's because I identify with the victim rather than the killer. I really don't want to get all personal with a killer, even while he's "alleged." Calling Trayvon by his first name isn't so much getting too personal as it's keeping the two people separate, emotionally, in my mind.

To me it's the uniqueness factor. I know lots of Georges. I don't know many Mr. Zimmermans. I know at least a few with the last name Martin and many more if you take into account it's more frequently used as a first name. I could call them by their first and last name every time I suppose but when just one suffices I'm inclined to go with it.

 

[Just Me]

Any observations about why we tend to call one by his first name and the other by his last name? Is it an age thing? Is it because a young man is dead and we feel empathy? Victim and accused? Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George? I just happened to notice that people tended to use Trayvon and Zimmerman on the cable news networks the other day, and it got me to wondering.

Can't speak for anyone else but I'd say for me it's because I identify with the victim rather than the killer. I really don't want to get all personal with a killer, even while he's "alleged." Calling Trayvon by his first name isn't so much getting too personal as it's keeping the two people separate, emotionally, in my mind.

To me it's the uniqueness factor. I know lots of Georges. I don't know many Mr. Zimmermans. I know at least a few with the last name Martin and many more if you take into account it's more frequently used as a first name. I could call them by their first and last name every time I suppose but when just one suffices I'm inclined to go with it.

Not to derail the thread but while we are on the subject. Why are serial killers, mass murderers and assassins full names (first, middle and last) almost always used?

 

[pg240]

Any observations about why we tend to call one by his first name and the other by his last name? Is it an age thing? Is it because a young man is dead and we feel empathy? Victim and accused? Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George? I just happened to notice that people tended to use Trayvon and Zimmerman on the cable news networks the other day, and it got me to wondering.

Can't speak for anyone else but I'd say for me it's because I identify with the victim rather than the killer. I really don't want to get all personal with a killer, even while he's "alleged." Calling Trayvon by his first name isn't so much getting too personal as it's keeping the two people separate, emotionally, in my mind.

To me it's the uniqueness factor. I know lots of Georges. I don't know many Mr. Zimmermans. I know at least a few with the last name Martin and many more if you take into account it's more frequently used as a first name. I could call them by their first and last name every time I suppose but when just one suffices I'm inclined to go with it.

Not to derail the thread but while we are on the subject. Why are serial killers, mass murderers and assassins full names (first, middle and last) almost always used?

Don't really know, but I wonder if an attempt is made to define the notorious as distinctly as possible. Maybe there are many Lee Oswalds out there, but only one Lee Harvey Oswald. I once had friends call to see if I'd been arrested for cocaine possession. Perhaps if the news report had listed all three names of the offender, I'd have been spared some grief by not having to explain my innocence.

 

[Anonymous]

Is Trayvon just a cooler name than George?

Yeah.

If I just use a person's last name, I'll feel like a high school basketball coach or something ("Zimmerman, you're filling in for Peterson!")...lol.

I find it a tad annoying when an attorney keeps saying "Trayvon Martin" (the full name) every time they're questioning a witness on the stand. I know they're probably just trying to keep things professional, but after several minutes of talking about him, you'd think they would just drop the last name and refer to him as 'Trayvon'.

 

[Bocefish]

I've used Z, Zimm, Zimmerman, GZ, Trayvon, and TM all in the past, guess it's whatever strikes me at the moment. :dontknow:

 

[Jupiter551]

 

[Bocefish]