Boy killed for walking while black

You'd be surprised.

Cyberwulf wrote:

Quote :

"I do wish that there was something, anything I could have done that would have put me in the position that I wouldn't have to take his life,"

How about STAY IN YOUR FUCKING CAR, instead of following him with a massive, power-tripping erection?

Don't be silly, Cyberwulf, that would make too much sense.

Cyberwulf wrote:

Quote :

Zimmerman told Hannity he'd like to have the opportunity to apologize to Martin's family.

Oh he's so sorry and yet he can't think of A DAMN THING HE COULD'VE DONE DIFFERENTLY.

He can't think, period.

Snake Bandage wrote:

In any case, the asshole is not getting back on the street anytime soon unless something drastic happens. Like all of the US becoming racist overnight.

Or zombies attacking the judge, jury, and prosecutors in his trial.

All joking aside, O'Hara hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of getting his client acquitted. After everything that's gone down in Sanford since Trayvon was shot, and after all the times Zimmerman's put his foot in his mouth, it is simply inconceivable that the trial can end in any way other than Zimmerman going to prison. Even if he's only convicted of manslaughter he can expect to spend much of the next several years as a guest of the Florida Department of Corrections. And if he's found guilty of murder? He's looking at life without parole(with an outside chance the prosecution might push for the death penalty).

^
Or the jurors apply the law properly.

Or, you know, all that bullshit you said.

I don't really fault O'Mara for this clusterfuck. After all, everyone is entitled to an attorney who is willing to do their absolute best to offer a credible defense. Zimmerman's worst enemy here is, clearly, Zimmerman himself.

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As memorials to Trayvon Martin continue to pop up in the Florida town where the teen was killed earlier this year, some residents in Sanford are reportedly trying to block a permanent memorial.

WKMG-TV reports that a petition is being circulated by some local residents to block a permanent memorial to honor the teen killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman on Feb. 26. And although a proposal for such a memorial doesn’t exist, Orlando Mayor Jeff Triplett confirmed to the station that a discussion on the matter occurred last week with Martin supporters.

Frank Taafe, a former neighbor and supporter of Zimmerman, began gathering signatures from neighbors on Monday in a pre-emptive strike to prevent the potential memorial from moving forward.

"We've no problem with memorials. If they want to place one in downtown Sanford, fine. Just don't put it in front of our place here," Taafe told the station. "I just hope and pray that everyone realizes that a tragedy did happen here and no one's gloating over this."

Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the unarmed Martin, has pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense.

How lovely. Here's hoping the mayor tells them to fuck off.

Ya know, maybe they oughtta wait for the court to sort out what happened first, either way.

Either way, they probably shouldn't stick a memorial in the middle of the neighborhood. At least not without near unanimous consent from the residents. If they want to have some memorial at a park or city hall, that's another thing.

So he managed to get a new judge. We'll just see how this works out for him.

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With a new judge, Zimmerman’s attorneys are now looking for evidence against Martin, starting with his school records. Last week, Zimmerman’s legal team issued subpoenas to obtain the dead teen’s attendance, academic testing and discipline records going back to his middle school years.

WTF do Trayvon Martin's school records have to do with his being killed? Zimmerman and Martin weren't exactly having an argument over Martin's grades.

Lady Anne wrote:

Quote :

With a new judge, Zimmerman’s attorneys are now looking for evidence against Martin, starting with his school records. Last week, Zimmerman’s legal team issued subpoenas to obtain the dead teen’s attendance, academic testing and discipline records going back to his middle school years.

WTF do Trayvon Martin's school records have to do with his being killed? Zimmerman and Martin weren't exactly having an argument over Martin's grades.

Probably something along the lines of 'Look at Martin's record. He deserved to be shot. George Zimmerman is a god damned hero you bastards.' To which statement even the new judge will blink twice and sustain the prosecution's objection to the attempt to introduce this.

I swear, the defense is trying to introduce this so they can later claim they were incompetent council and get Zimmerman another trial after they lose this one.

Ghost in the Machine wrote:

Probably something along the lines of 'Look at Martin's record. He deserved to be shot. George Zimmerman is a god damned hero you bastards.' To which statement even the new judge will blink twice and sustain the prosecution's objection to the attempt to introduce this.

I swear, the defense is trying to introduce this so they can later claim they were incompetent council and get Zimmerman another trial after they lose this one.

I'd say it's more likely they're trying to get him portrayed as a "rebellious teen" or some such shit to add some weight to Zimmerman's claim that he was hooliganistic.

Hawaiian Shirt wrote:

Ghost in the Machine wrote:

Probably something along the lines of 'Look at Martin's record. He deserved to be shot. George Zimmerman is a god damned hero you bastards.' To which statement even the new judge will blink twice and sustain the prosecution's objection to the attempt to introduce this.

I swear, the defense is trying to introduce this so they can later claim they were incompetent council and get Zimmerman another trial after they lose this one.

I'd say it's more likely they're trying to get him portrayed as a "rebellious teen" or some such shit to add some weight to Zimmerman's claim that he was hooliganistic.

Yeah. Basically they're trying to make Zimmerman's phone call statements that Martin looked like he was up to no good sound more like "reading body language" than "noticing black teenager in my neighborhood."

I feel really bad for the lawyer. He has a case that he'll never win (unless he is the God of lawyers), with a guy who wouldn't stop talking, and for years people are going to go "Hey! Aren't you the guy who was on the Zimmerman case?"

bleachedblackcat wrote:

I feel really bad for the lawyer. He has a case that he'll never win (unless he is the God of lawyers), with a guy who wouldn't stop talking, and for years people are going to go "Hey! Aren't you the guy who was on the Zimmerman case?"

Don't lawyers in the US have a choice in the cases they take? I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest. He took the brief voluntarily, unless the US has a system whereby newbie lawyers have to take whatever shit is presented to them. Somehow, seeing the massive number of lawyers practising in the US, I doubt that's the case.

Well, thus far O'Mara doesn't seem like a fame-hungry lawyer, but you never know.

Dixie wrote:

bleachedblackcat wrote:

I feel really bad for the lawyer. He has a case that he'll never win (unless he is the God of lawyers), with a guy who wouldn't stop talking, and for years people are going to go "Hey! Aren't you the guy who was on the Zimmerman case?"

Don't lawyers in the US have a choice in the cases they take? I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest. He took the brief voluntarily, unless the US has a system whereby newbie lawyers have to take whatever shit is presented to them. Somehow, seeing the massive number of lawyers practising in the US, I doubt that's the case.

It depends on if he works for a company or not. IIRC your bosses give you the job and you need a reason other then "this case is stupid" to get out of it.

bleachedblackcat wrote:

I feel really bad for the lawyer. He has a case that he'll never win (unless he is the God of lawyers), with a guy who wouldn't stop talking, and for years people are going to go "Hey! Aren't you the guy who was on the Zimmerman case?"

Honestly? It's not unwinnable. In fact, it'd be a damn easy win if it weren't for the fact that Zimmerman won't shut up. Frankly, I'm amazed this hasn't ended with a plea bargain to get his wife out of trouble with the whole perjury sideshow.

The only thing the defense has to show is that Trayvon Martin was, as claimed, on top of Zimmerman and beating his head into the ground when he got shot. Either the evidence proving that happened is pretty shakey, or the lawyer's incompetent.

bleachedblackcat wrote:

Dixie wrote:

bleachedblackcat wrote:

I feel really bad for the lawyer. He has a case that he'll never win (unless he is the God of lawyers), with a guy who wouldn't stop talking, and for years people are going to go "Hey! Aren't you the guy who was on the Zimmerman case?"

Don't lawyers in the US have a choice in the cases they take? I don't feel sorry for him in the slightest. He took the brief voluntarily, unless the US has a system whereby newbie lawyers have to take whatever shit is presented to them. Somehow, seeing the massive number of lawyers practising in the US, I doubt that's the case.

It depends on if he works for a company or not. IIRC your bosses give you the job and you need a reason other then "this case is stupid" to get out of it.

There's more than just that. One thing the lawyer has to prove if he wants to drop the case is that his leaving will not effect perception of his client. In this case doing that is practically impossible.

O'mara is doing all he can, running along with with whatever Zimmerman wants, and hoping for a retrial later.

To be fair, he's doing a good job of building a case for incompetent defence. It might actually be his plan.

[edit]

Penguin wrote:

The only thing the defense has to show is that Trayvon Martin was, as claimed, on top of Zimmerman and beating his head into the ground when he got shot. Either the evidence proving that happened is pretty shakey, or the lawyer's incompetent.

The evidence is very shaky. The one witness who stated that later withdrew the statement.

And the scrapes on the back of his head, but, y'know. Hard to prove where he got those.

I get scrapes on my head carrying corrugated plastic. (Not to mention on my arms and legs from various other inventory items. But it's still better than the bruises I just to get on my legs tossing around mailbags full of contact lenses and condoms.) Mind you, since Martin is on the defense in a criminal trial, all he has to do is go for reasonable doubt. In the inevitable wrongful death civil suit, it'll be preponderance of the evidence.

Cop fired for bringing Trayvon Martin targets to shooting range.

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A police officer accused of bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range has been fired.

Port Canaveral Interim Chief Executive Officer John Walsh told WFTV on Saturday that Sgt. Ron King was leading a target practice with two other Port Canaveral police officers and a civilian port employee when he pulled out the targets April 4. Walsh says King asked the group if they wanted to use the targets and they said no, telling King to put them back into his patrol car.

Now what possible justification could that guy have for even making those targets in the first place? How could even a racist think it's OK to make practice targets that look like a dead teenager? That just boggles my mind completely.

xerrofoot wrote:

Cop fired for bringing Trayvon Martin targets to shooting range.

Quote :

A police officer accused of bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range has been fired.

Port Canaveral Interim Chief Executive Officer John Walsh told WFTV on Saturday that Sgt. Ron King was leading a target practice with two other Port Canaveral police officers and a civilian port employee when he pulled out the targets April 4. Walsh says King asked the group if they wanted to use the targets and they said no, telling King to put them back into his patrol car.

Now what possible justification could that guy have for even making those targets in the first place? How could even a racist think it's OK to make practice targets that look like a dead teenager? That just boggles my mind completely.

They could include a picture of the targets. Just because it's a black silhouette doesn't make it Trayvon Martin

B-bah?

Why did he even think that would be a good idea?

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"As a result of last year's Trayvon Martin shooting, a company offered for sale a target of a faceless silhouette wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pockets, one of which was holding two objects, these objects in the hand were non-threatening and the target was something that I viewed as a no-shoot situation," he said.

So did he put the face of the kid onto the targets, or were they just people in hoodies holding cell phones and people freaked?

If they're like the Trayvon targets I've seen, the objects were a bag of skittles and a can of Arizona. No face visible, but it was obvious who it was supposed to be.

It's kinda funny how people proud of being politically incorrect get all offended when you call them scumbags...