Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Trayvon Martin’s family settles wrongful death lawsuit with Sanford, Florida, homeowner’s association
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz2PiiyAIbl
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1308943
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Zimmerman's Mom: This Is an Injustice
Alleged killer's mother speaks out on the anniversary of arrest
How would you feel about the Trayvon Martin case if you were George Zimmerman's mother? Well, judging by the open letter she published on Real Clear Politics to mark the anniversary of his arrest, pretty angry. "April 11, 2012 will be forever remembered by the Zimmerman family as the day the justice system failed us as Americans," Gladys Zimmerman writes, complaining that an innocent man was arrested "solely to placate the masses."
Zimmerman says there's a "vast amount of information and evidence" to support George's self-defense claim that the media, intent on forwarding a false narrative, refuses to publish. "When George was incarcerated, the food he bought was considered 'news,' the snacks he ate and even the undergarments he purchased were fodder for even more 'news reports,'" she complains. Now, the media is silent. Still, she thanks those who have stood by her son. "Stay vigilant," she tells them. "Stay focused on facts and evidence, stay focused on prayer." Click for her full column
http://www.newser.com/story/166076/z...injustice.html
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Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
To Mrs Zimmerman I say...
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Cop Axed Over Trayvon Shooting Targets
Martin family decries 'reprehensible' behavior
Newser) – A Florida cop is out of a job following the less-than-brilliant decision to bring targets with Trayvon Martin's image to on-duty shooting practice. As CNN reports, Sgt. Ron King of the Port Canaveral Police Department brought a couple of the targets—which he apparently purchased online—to an April 4 training session and offered them to fellow officers, who declined. He was fired Friday after an internal review; a Canaveral Port Authority spokesman calls King's action "unacceptable," and says an apology to Trayvon's family is in the works. "Whether his act was hatred or stupidity, none is tolerable," he tells WFTV.
The Martin family is unamused, and issued this statement via their lawyer: "It is absolutely reprehensible that a high-ranking member of the Port Canaveral Police, sworn to protect and serve Floridians, would use the image of a dead child as target practice. Such a deliberate and depraved indifference to this grieving family is unacceptable." King had a little more than two years on the force; he has seven days to appeal.
http://www.newser.com/story/166204/f...g-targets.html
Quote:
Originally Posted by
natina
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1308943[/quote]
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Zimmerman to Argue Self-Defense, Not ‘Stand Your Ground’
SANFORD, Fla. (CNN) — George Zimmerman, set to stand trial in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, on Tuesday waived his right to a “stand your ground” pretrial immunity hearing.
Zimmerman’s attorneys have decided they will try this as a self-defense case.
Florida’s deadly force law, also called “stand your ground,” was passed in 2005.
It allows people to meet “force with force” if they believe they or someone else is in danger of being seriously harmed by an assailant. Under the law, a person can use deadly force anywhere as long as he is not engaged in an unlawful activity; is being attacked in a place he has a right to be; and reasonably believes that his life and safety are in danger as a result of an overt act or perceived threat committed by someone else.
In a pretrial immunity hearing, a judge would have ruled whether Zimmerman’s actions were protected under the “stand your ground” law; a ruling in favor of the defendant would have meant that no criminal or civil trial could proceed.
Martin was shot and killed on February 26, 2012, while returning from a nearby convenience store to his father’s fiancée’s house in a gated community in Sanford, Florida.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, acknowledged that he shot the unarmed 17-year-old, but said Martin physically attacked him and he fired in self-defense.
Initially, no charges were pursued, and the case soon became the center of a national controversy.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder on April 11, 2012.
During Tuesday’s motions hearing, Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O’Mara told the judge there was nothing in the law that required the immunity hearing to take place before Zimmerman’s trial.
O’Mara said the hearing could be requested after the defense has presented its case, but “we’d much rather have the jury address the issue of criminal liability or lack thereof.”
After the motions hearing ended, prosecutors and defense attorneys were to meet in private with the judge to discuss jury issues for the June 10 trial.
http://ktla.com/2013/04/30/zimmerman...#axzz2S232O994
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Zimmerman gambles by waiving 'stand your ground' hearing before trial.
By choosing not to invoke the Florida law known as “stand your ground” before his trial, George Zimmerman took a gamble — passing up the chance to have a judge dismiss his second-degree murder charge before it ever gets before a jury.
His lawyers said they want a jury to decide the case, concerning the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin last year, because it has taken on enormous national significance.
But one legal expert said the move was carefully calibrated in another way, too.
Under the law, which broadens the right to self-defense for people who feel threatened outside their homes, a defendant can ask the judge to grant criminal immunity before a case goes to trial. Zimmerman had that chance Tuesday and declined it.
The risk in pursuing immunity at this point, NBC News legal analyst Kendall Coffey said, is that Zimmerman could have lost before the judge, creating a strike against him in the minds of potential jurors who are following the case. And in the Trayvon Martin case, which goes to trial June 10, finding an impartial jury will be a monumental task as it is.
Zimmerman’s lawyers said it could take as long as three weeks.
“There would be considerable risk that, no matter how you tried to deal with it during jury selection, you’d get some jurors that would know that the judge had already rejected the self-defense claim,” said Coffey, a former federal prosecutor.
The decision not to ask for an immunity hearing, which Zimmerman announced while standing in a Sanford, Fla., courtroom and answering Judge Debra Nelson in a soft-spoken voice, applies only before trial.Coffey still expects “stand your ground” to be the linchpin of Zimmerman’s defense once the trial begins.
The law says people do not have to retreat if they believe they are in imminent danger of being killed or badly injured outside their homes.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...id=msnhp&pos=2
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
I questioned whether or not he could have won the case under stand your ground, anyway, since he admitted to the dispatcher by phone that he was getting out of his vehicle and following Martin on foot. Lots of people forget that Martin was a human being. If so, it would be reasonable that he would feel fear for someone following him at night. So then it would be reasonable that he could have felt in danger and fought Zimmerman, not as an attacker but self defense. In fact the "Stand your ground" law, could be used on behalf of Martin.
And if Zimmerman is innocent, that means that I could take a class, and then be able to follow women walking at night, while I am armed. They also could be planning to break into homes. I could expect them to have provide identifying information, etc. Thanks for the update Natina.
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Quote:
In fact the "Stand your ground" law, could be used on behalf of Martin.
But only if he had survived. The Stand-Your-Ground laws are only available to the survivors of a violent dispute, which is a deep flaw in the concept of these kinds of laws. They are of more use to drug dealers and perpetrators of violence, who always claim self-defense, than to the average citizen.
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
THE zimmerman MURDER TRIAL BEGINS
George Zimmerman Trial: Possible Testimony From Voice Recognition Expert Challenged
SANFORD, Fla. -- Former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman is questioning the expected use of a voice recognition expert at his murder trial next month.
Zimmerman's attorney filed a motion made public Monday asking for a hearing to determine whether testimony from the expert would be allowed.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year in a gated community in Sanford during a struggle. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty.
Neighbors called 911 during the struggle and cries of help can be heard on the calls. Martin's family claims the voice is that of the South Florida teen.
Zimmerman's father has said in court he believes the cries are from his son.
Zimmerman's attorney says jurors could be confused by a voice expert's testimony.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...trayvon-martin
Re: 17yr old black kid shot and killed for walking in white suburbia?
Whose voice it is is not that important. Zimmerman created a situation, by following someone at night with his gun, which caused an unnecessary death. I am assuming that Martin was a human being, who could reasonably feel fear, of someone following him. Zimmerman was not following Neighborhood Watch guidelines by carrying a pistol. His reason for being out there was to 'watch', not pursue. And he was thus advised by dispatch. Someone died. Why was he out of his vehicle? This is strong evidence that he created a situation, for which he should be held accountable.
One of our city's kidnap victims was like three years older, when she was kidnapped, than was Martin when he died. It was reasonable Martin could have felt fear. Having a gold tooth, or being photographed with a raised middle finger, does not have any bearing on whether a person feels fear.
