Two part question: Do you think George Zimmerman is guilty of 2nd degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin? Do you think George Zimmerman will be found guilty of 2nd degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin?

He’ll get manslaughter at best. He’s not going to walk out of there with nothing because there will be riots and even more death and they want to avoid that. Its only a guess because the only one who really knows what happened is the defendant.

Yes, guilty, yes, he will be found guilty.

Where I disagree is on the concept of manslaughter. I think this was premeditated; not a crime of passion. otherwise, why was Zimmerman stalking Martin and tailing him down the street?

This is Florida, the same place that allowed an infanticidal pathological liar to walk free as a fucking jay bird.

I don’t follow cases like this anymore. It gives me an ulcer.

Having a legally registered handgun is not premeditation of any crime. If that was the case nobody would dare have one. Looking at people or following people is not a crime. Neighborhood watch programs would be outlawed. Martin had no reason to expect Zm was carrying a weapon. The 911 operator asked Zm to stop following but that was after he was already out there doing it. I recall reports saying Zm breaking it off after that, and was going toward his car to wait for the police. If this is true then TM took it upon himself to flip the tables on Zm while he was retreating. Any good defense will try to turn that action into a separate incident that was all on TM and could have been avoided had he kept on his route moving away. The whole thing is unfortunate. Looks like Zm took one hell of a beating before realizing he had to stop it.

Seminole County Courthouse happens to be around the corner and within walking distance of our house. As you might imagine, every day the parking lot is packed with news vans from what looks like everyplace on the planet.

Zimmerman was WAY overzealous (and a little stupid) when this incident occcurred, but will get some sympathy from the jury because his neighborhood had endured something like 14 break-ins during the previous year.

I think he will be found guilty of some lower-level crime, and maybe get a year or so in prison, if only to pacify the public.

Zimmerman will write a book, have a TV movie made of this awful event, and then be financially set for life.

Trayvon Martin will be remembered as a young man with a naive, street-thug mentality who stuck up for himself at the wrong moment.

The punk-ass, 2:00 a.m. roving gangs who made the fear and anger in this neighborhood reach the level of idiots carrying guns around to protect it will continue to be punk-ass, 2:00 a.m. roving gangs….

I’m with @Seek_Kolinahr, it’s not that I don’t care, but I’ve watched OJ, Casey Anthony, and Jodi Arias and now my opinion of our justice system is at a low-point. I’m taking a break.

Yes, I think he is guilty. He continued following im when the cops told him to stop. He used a gun when the Trayvon was unarmed.

No I don’t think he’ll be found guilty.

@KNOWITALL you just had to say it didn’t you. Cough… Jody Arias…gag

@woodcutter You know that Crazy Beeyotch song, I think they wrote it about her. :)

I think he is guilty and I think he will walk.

@KNOWITALL I never heard of that one. Who does it?

@woodcutter Buck Cherry. I say that because so many of my guy friends have been through similiar situations of good sex versus crazy stalker chicks.

It’s a trade off I suppose. Maybe if he married her she would have suddenly became Lil miss dullinthesack and still be breathing.

did i just say that out loud?

I’m keeping an open mind and letting due process take its course.

I strongly disliked how Mr. Zimmerman was tried and convicted, in the court of public opinion, last summer. People were taking to the streets for Anti-Zimmerman-Pro-Trayvon marches and rallies.

If Zm had used a pocket knife to fend off TM he would have been less of a heel. I think the anti gun zealots have been effective to stir this up and use public media to already try this not in a court of law. Ironically this may work in Zm’s favor.

I can’t say with certainty what happened during the few minutes of their face-to-face encounter.

Prior to the confrontation, I’m trouble by the actions of Zimmerman. I don’t think he did anything illegal, but: Block Watchers are instructed to observe and report. He did that. He called 911, and was told by the dispatcher to wait for LE to arrive. Instead of waiting, he pursued.

Martin would still be alive if Zimmerman had listened to the advice of the dispatcher.

@bossob “Martin would still be alive if Zimmerman had listened to the advice of the dispatcher.”

There is no way to know that. If there was there would be no need for a court trial. The msm are for good reason concerned that Zm will walk. So they did their best to get out ahead of legal proceedings to have their own trial in the court of public opinion. Nobody wants to see anyone go to prison falsely but I think in this case there is a faction who would want it, if nothing more than for the sake of a cause.

I am curious to know if the string of crime that plagued that area slowed down any or kept on going as before.

Let’s put it this way:

Florida has a 10–20-Life law, as well as the Stand Your Ground law.

If Zimmerman had fired his gun, but not hit Martin, he would be doing 20 years for discharging a firearm in a residential area.

The fact that he hit Martin with a bullet means he should be receiving a 25 to Life under the 10 20 Life statute, unless the court finds he was protected under self-defense.

Basically, if you’re in Florida, and you shoot a gun, you sure as fuck better kill someone. Otherwise, you get a lot of jail time.

@OneBadApple There is a “Son of Sam” law that prohibits felons from making money from writing books or movies of their crimes. If he is convicted of a lesser crime, then yes, he might be able to capitalize on his murder of Trevon Martin.
To answer the question, my mind hasn’t changed from last year either. I think he is guilty, that had he stayed in his car as he was instructed, this could be a totally different story.

How can non compliance be established (don’t follow him) when, the “following” was already in progress at the time of the directive? The horse is already out of the barn at that point. The closest thing anyone would be able to do to comply is to stop at that point and go back. If that is indeed what he did, then you may as well hang the man for walking outside his door that morning.

If this woman was guilty then Zimmerman is MORE than guilty

If there is any justice he will be found guilty.

@Judi -Its all in who you get for a lawyer sometimes. It smacks more of racial discrimination. Maybe if you fire a warning shot it will be looked at as you weren’t too afraid for your life at the time. Warning shots are bad anyway. If there is a real and present danger you shoot the person, not something else. Bullets go where you can’t see.
These cases are so far and few in between but the media gets hold of them and drums them into the ground. Same for mass shootings because of the horror and drama it makes good ratings. Don’t do warning shots all you are doing is a favor for they person you are running from.

I frankly don’t care if Zimmerman is punished or not. I think that both of the people involved were wrong. They were both stupid and dis-respectful to each other. I think Z will get a manslaughter charge and spend a year in jail and have his guns confiscated. Other than that, I just don’t care.

@woodcutter , do you have data to back that up? My guess is that it happens MORE than we want to believe and that the media rarely picks it up.
I agree that you shouldn’t have a gun in your hand unless you are prepared to use it. That’s why I would like to see some sort of education requirement before owning guns.

My hopes are yes and yes.

@Judi I believe all the times that responsible use of firearms get overlooked are way more than bad things happening with them. People would get sick and tired of hearing about them and…the msm has no interest in those accounts.

Oh. I thought you were talking about the times black people are convicted for crimes white people are exonerated for.

@Judi That too because often times black defendants won’t have the resources to get top shelf council. G Zimmerman will probably have good attys.

However there has been another shooting in Fla where a black man killed a white man who used MMD defense and got away with it. All over a kid skateboarding on an outside basketball court. And this is when the black guy actually walked out of his house out to the court and started shit with the guy because he told him to lay off the kid. So it isn’t always the black guy loosing. Black guy could have stayed in his house? White guy was an Iraq war vet. If Zimmerman had been a black man this wouldn’t have been as publicized. Even though he is Hispanic, not even white. You don’t even get to be Hispanic if its a black fatality. They are to be considered white for ID purposes. Maybe if his name was Lopez or something he’d been better off but we don’t get to pick our names or our color.

@woodcutter , but here are the stats. There IS racial discrimination going on when it comes to arrest and conviction.
In my opinion, the case you pointed out was just as unjust as the Zimmerman case if the facts you say are true. Can you provide a link?

I don’t know. If you ask me all the media coverage of the “crime” and case (who knows if it is or not…) is either confusing or biased. Whatever.
For once I don’t have an opinion.

@Judi Try this http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/article/311679/28/Widow-says-Floridas-Stand-Your-Ground-law-is-free-pass-for-murder.

I suppose right now is as good a time as any to let you, and me , illustrate why we needed to do an internet search to find this story. Even though it happened shortly after the TM tragedy. Same state. Why is this?

@woodcutter , every bit as horrific as the Zimmerman case. The stand your ground law is ludicrous.
Keep in mind that a pretty Blonde girl who is missing will always get press over a pretty brown girl.
The press chooses what will sell papers and commercials that’s it.

@Judi You are partially right. Black man slays white man…same circumstances, more or less but get almost zero news coverage, mostly local. Now- White man, derp….Hispanic guy kills black man….all over the news probably all over the world now. See my point? If not let me explain. It’s just bad politically to portray blacks in any way that might stir up any of the black stereotypes thus angering advertisers and well…everyone in general. The two dead men are equally terrible but we don’t want to ever make hay out of the fact a black guy might have done something bad..It would cause a major shitstorm or at least, the threat of one is enough to make editors carefully choose the front page layouts. Nobody gets hurt and nobody complains so no harm done.

The stand your ground law was set up in the spirit of protecting people who have been victimized once already by an attacker who are then victimized by an attackers family or sometimes the law. Just for defending themselves. You can imagine it puts a person fighting for their life in a precarious spot. If they save themselves but hurt the bad guy in the process their lives are ruined. If they fail to save themselves their lives are lost. Its a no win deal. Someone trying to survive an attack shouldn’t need to worry they are gonna get in trouble for it. Naturally any law passed can and does get its share of abuse but try to keep the whole thing in prospective. These scarce incidents while bad are totally over blown by the press causing the image of them happening all the time. It’s not intentional but the people who put these on the 24 hr news cycle know the effect they have trust me. The fact that there are cries to repeal these expanded castle laws is living proof of this.

@woodcutter, the stereotypes make it not newsworthy. It’s not right but in our profit driven society it has to be something different to be newsworthy. It has to be “sensational.”

I’m not hopeless, but still sceptical that justice will be served since the case is in Florida, and the fact that Martin is not white. To me it’s a moot point to even get as far as the beating that Zimmerman obviously took since in my opinion (from what I know about the case thus far) there was no justifiable reason to stalk Martin anyways.

I’m not sure if this is a first degree murder case, but Zimmerman should be found guilty of more than just manslaughter in my opinion. My opinion is the case will end in a hung jury, with there being mixed races in the jury. I’m not sure about the fact that the jury being all female will play a role, but the race might.

@Judi Yeah, it’s hard to feel outrage if it’s a white guy being shot and killed. You know,,,payback for white privilege and all.