|
I for one think Mr. Zimmerman was guilty but having served as a juror I believe in our justice system as a whole even if it failed here.
The fault in the outcome lies at several different levels; the Florida SYG law is flawed as it goes far beyond the "castle doctrine" of protecting your property or yourself against intruders.
How on earth does the Florida judicial code only call for 6 jurors in a capital murder trial???
Our jury selection system allows for picks and strikes from both sides but 6 white women hardly represents the parties involved, a black man and a caucasian-latino.
Sadly, every trial comes down to the lawyers on both sides. In my opinion the proscecution failed when they chose the charge of 2nd degree murder when it should have been manslaughter. The charge they chose was harder to prove. Also, trial outcomes depend on the judge, who blocked evidence the proscecution was depending on to win.
We can speculate all we want but what if the outcome had been reversed and Mr. Martin had had a gun and stood his ground and killed Mr. Zimmerman? Based on statistics Mr. Martin wold have been arrested on the spot and charged and found guilty!
The jury found Mr. Zimmerman not guilty based on the facts that the judge allowed and the legal arguments but the verdict does not exonerate him. I have a feeling he will be living in hiding and looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, so maybe there is some justice.
|