Sanford, FL – George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty In Second-Degree Murder Trial

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    George Zimmerman, right, is congratulated by his defense team after being found not guilty during  Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla. on Saturday, July 13, 2013. Jurors found Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Martin in Sanford, Fla. The six-member, all-woman jury deliberated for more than 15 hours over two days before reaching their decision Saturday night. (AP Photo/Gary W. Green, Pool)Sanford, FL – Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice.

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    Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled when the verdict was announced. He could have been convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter. But the jury of six women, all but one of them white, reached a verdict of not guilty after deliberating well into the night. Their names have not been made public, and they declined to speak to the media.

    Martin’s mother and father were not in the courtroom when the verdict was read; supporters of his family who had gathered outside yelled “No! No!” upon learning of the not guilty verdict.

    The teen’s father, Tracy, reacted on Twitter: “Even though I am broken hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY.”

    His mother also said on Twitter that she appreciated the prayers from supporters.

    “Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have,” she wrote.

    The jurors considered nearly three weeks of often wildly conflicting testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

    Defense attorneys said the case was classic self-defense, claiming Martin knocked Zimmerman down and was slamming the older man’s head against the concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun.

    “We’re ecstatic with the results,” defense attorney Mark O’Mara after the verdict. “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense.”

    Another member of his defense team, Don West, said he was pleased the jury “kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty.”

    Prosecutors called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was a “wannabe cop” vigilante who had grown frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood committed primarily by young black men. Zimmerman assumed Martin was up to no good and took the law into his own hands, prosecutors said.

    State Attorney Angela Corey said after the verdict that she believed second-degree murder was the appropriate charge because Zimmerman’s mindset “fit the bill of second-degree murder.”

    “We charged what we believed we could prove,” Corey said.

    As the verdict drew near, police and city leaders in the Orlando suburb of Sanford and other parts of Florida said they were taking precautions against the possibility of mass protests or unrest in the event of an acquittal.

    “There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence,” Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said immediately after jurors began deliberating. “We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will continue to act peacefully.”

    O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney, said his client is aware he has to be cautious and protective of his safety.

    “There still is a fringe element that wants revenge,” O’Mara said. “They won’t listen to a verdict of not guilty.”

    The verdict came a year and a half after civil rights protesters angrily demanded Zimmerman be prosecuted. That anger appeared to return Saturday night outside the courthouse, at least for some who had been following the case.

    Rosie Barron, 50, and Andrew Perkins, 55, both black residents of Sanford, stood in the parking lot of the courthouse and wept.

    “I at least thought he was going to get something, something,” Barron said.

    Added her brother: “How the hell did they find him not guilty?”

    Perkins was so upset he was shaking. “He killed somebody and got away with murder,” Perkins shouted, looking in the direction of the courthouse. “He ain’t getting no probation or nothing.”

    Several Zimmerman supporters also were outside the courthouse, including a brother and sister quietly rejoicing that Zimmerman was acquitted. Both thought the jury made the right decision in finding Zimmerman not guilty — they felt that Zimmerman killed Martin in self-defense.

    Cindy Lenzen, 50, of Casslebury, and her brother, 52-year-old Chris Bay, stood watching the protesters chant slogans such as, “the whole system’s guilty.”

    Lenzen and Bay — who are white — called the entire case “a tragedy,” especially for Zimmerman.

    “It’s a tragedy that he’s going to suffer for the rest of his life,” Bay said. “No one wins either way. This is going to be a recurring nightmare in his mind every night.”

    Meanwhile, authorities in Martin’s hometown of Miami said the streets were quiet, with no indication of problems. The neighborhood where Martin’s father lives in Miami Gardens was equally quiet.

    Zimmerman wasn’t arrested for 44 days after the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting as police in Sanford insisted that Florida’s Stand Your Ground law on self-defense prohibited them from bringing charges. Florida gives people wide latitude to use deadly force if they fear death or bodily harm.

    Martin’s parents, along with civil rights leaders such as the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, argued that Zimmerman — whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic — had racially profiled their son. And they accused investigators of dragging their feet because Martin was a black teenager.

    Before a special prosecutor assigned to the case ordered Zimmerman’s arrest, thousands of protesters gathered in Sanford, Miami, New York and elsewhere, many wearing hoodies like the one Martin had on the night he died. They also carried Skittles and a can of iced tea, items Martin had in his pocket. President Barack Obama weighed in, saying that if he had a son, “he’d look like Trayvon.”

    Despite the racially charged nature of the case, race was barely mentioned at the trial. Even after the verdict, prosecutors said the case was not about race.

    “This case has never been about race or the right to bear arms,” Corey said. “We believe this case all along was about boundaries, and George Zimmerman exceeded those boundaries.”

    One of the few mentions of race came from witness Rachel Jeantel, the Miami teen who was talking to Martin by phone moments before he was shot. She testified that he described being followed by a “creepy-ass cracker” as he walked through the neighborhood.

    Jeantel gave some of the trial’s most riveting testimony. She said she overheard Martin demand, “What are you following me for?” and then yell, “Get off! Get off!” before his cellphone went dead.

    The jurors had to sort out clashing testimony from 56 witnesses in all, including police, neighbors, friends and family members.

    For example, witnesses who got fleeting glimpses of the fight in the darkness gave differing accounts of who was on top. And Martin’s parents and Zimmerman’s parents both claimed that the person heard screaming for help in the background of a neighbor’s 911 call was their son. Numerous other relatives and friends weighed in, too, as the recording was played over and over in court. Zimmerman had cuts and scrapes on his face and the back of his head, but prosecutors suggested the injuries were not serious.

    To secure a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors had to convince the jury that Zimmerman acted with a “depraved” state of mind — that is, with ill will, hatred or spite. Prosecutors said he demonstrated that when he muttered, “F—— punks. These a——-. They always get away” during a call to police as he watched Martin walk through his neighborhood.

    To win a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors had to convince the jury only that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification.


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    57 Comments
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    sheepheadsbayyid
    sheepheadsbayyid
    10 years ago

    lets hope all will be quiet in Sanford, FL

    10 years ago

    Mazel Tov! Unfortunately his life was already destroyed and won’t be the same.

    murray059
    murray059
    10 years ago

    Baruch Hashem…….Justice has been served!

    Realistic
    Realistic
    10 years ago

    I’m scared to walk the streets now, everyone with a gun can feel free to scare and harass anyone, in the worst case I’ll shoot him and clams self defense. (Poor Martin wasn’t old enough to have a gun to defend him).

    I’m glad I live in NY where guns are illegal.

    Mark Levin
    Mark Levin
    10 years ago

    Hey Not Sharpton, how about rabble rousing all the murders in Chicago. Or don’t you care about those because blacks are doing the crime?

    Deveee
    Deveee
    10 years ago

    Good. Obama mourning his crooked son.

    10 years ago

    Thisis great news!

    Oyvey
    Oyvey
    10 years ago

    The only reason this case was prosecuted was political pressure.

    It was clear from day one that under Florida law there was no way that he could be convicted.

    murray059
    murray059
    10 years ago

    I understand the Black Panthers are bussing in tens of thousands to burn the town of Sanford down to the ground……This is awful, the Police and army need to Not let this occur as was Not done by the W.A. Dinkins allowed in Brooklyn

    chayamom
    chayamom
    10 years ago

    thank g-d! I’ve had it with the inmates running the asylum!

    WiseDude
    WiseDude
    10 years ago

    This case was racial profiling at its worst. They first thought Zimmerman was a Jew because of his last name. The case was brought ONLY because a black punk was killed by a non-black. What a disgrace, and now if there are race riots, we will see that Obama has only made things worse in this country. He should have kept his mouth shut.

    Yaakov2
    Yaakov2
    10 years ago

    Of course it was all about Race and about nothing else except Race.

    If Zimmerman was not white and if the one who attacked Zimmerman was not Black, he would never have been charged.

    Zimerman should never have been charged to begin with, as indeed he was not charged for 44 Days, because Police KNEW it was a case of self defense.

    It was only after the RACIST Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton started Rabble Rousing, and allegedly, potentially Inciting to Riot, playing the Race card, that the Police who knew he was innocent decided to arrest him anyway, just to keep the racists, from Rioting in the streets.

    Our President also stuck up for the Racists in this case, for obvious reasons.

    lalakishkish
    lalakishkish
    10 years ago

    Oh thank God. Obama, would your son beat up someone like Mr. Martin did?? If he would then thank God you don’t have one

    ABRAMO
    ABRAMO
    10 years ago

    The verdict was blatantly obvious! In advance the Govt. set up patrols and places for blacks to converge in quiet protesting instead of all out chaos and rioting.
    Poor guy..zimmerman has gained a lot of weight with all the stress surrounding this case but justice has prevailed!

    10 years ago

    On October 3, 1995, when a nearly all Black jury acquitted Orenthal James Simpson of viciously murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, the Blacks cheered and celebrated, and stated “Get Over it”. Yet, when the shoe is on the other foot, many of the news commentators who were Black (many of whom were Attorney commentators on the cable channels), could not contain their anger, and acted in a very unprofessional manner on the air. Nobody ever comments about the disproportionate amount of vicious and violent crime, including homicides, which takes place by Blacks against Whites, including Yidden. Yet, it is incredible that even the NAACP has tried to make a civil rights case out of this one, and has openly called for federal civil rights violations charges to be filed against Zimmerman. Also, these same organizations have the chutzpah to compare Trayvon Martin to Medgar Evers, and Emmett Till! Also, last year, our esteemed President, had the chutzpah to stick his nose in where it didn’t belong, and further fanned the flames of racial division, and hatred.

    blahblah
    blahblah
    10 years ago

    I’m happy the right verdict was made, but worried the inevitable riots. Hope Florida stays safe!

    Teddybear
    Teddybear
    10 years ago

    STATEMENT BY REV. AL SHARPTON ON GEORGE ZIMMERMAN BEING ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES IN THE SHOOTING OF TRAYVON MARTIN

    Saturday, July 13, 2013 (New York, NY) “The acquittal of George Zimmerman is a slap in the face to the American people but it is only the first round in the pursuit of justice. We intend to ask the Department of Justice to move forward as they did in the Rodney King case and we will closely monitor the civil case against Mr. Zimmerman. I will convene an emergency call with preachers tonight to discuss next steps and I intend to head to Florida in the next few days.”

    Teddybear
    Teddybear
    10 years ago

    @BillThompsonNYC: Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black. There was no justice done today in Florida

    mayu4205
    mayu4205
    10 years ago

    Good for the jury! This time they got it right. all the evidence pointed to Zimmerman being innocent . If Zimmerman was black this would no have even made the news. Enough with the race card being used to justify criminal activity.

    Yaakov2
    Yaakov2
    10 years ago

    Here is the proof that it WAS * ONLY * about race and nothing but Race:

    (CNN) — The George Zimmerman investigation was hijacked “in a number of ways” by outside forces, said the former police chief of Sanford, Florida.
    Bill Lee, who testified Monday in Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial, told CNN’s George Howell in an exclusive interview that he felt pressure from city officials to arrest Zimmerman to placate the public rather than as a matter of justice.

    “It was (relayed) to me that they just wanted an arrest. They didn’t care if it got dismissed later,” he said. “You don’t do that.”

    When Sanford police arrived on the scene on February 26, 2012, after Zimmerman fatally shot unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, they conducted a “sound” investigation, and the evidence provided no probable cause to arrest Zimmerman at the scene, he said.

    It had nothing to do with Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, he said; from an investigative standpoint, it was purely a matter of self-defense.

    10 years ago

    B”H
    If Zimmerman were a Jew, as some furiously had claimed in the beginning, another story would have been. See Rubashkin’s case. Lesson is, that you are not supposed to defend yourself against a punk, especially if he’s black. They are untouchable. Ask Mr President.

    10 years ago

    It’s the next day and there are no riots. No one is throwing rocks, bottles, diapers or cinder blocks. No one is burning dumpsters or spitting on the police. Those who might oppose this verdict are behaving far better than some of the residents of Meah Shearim or Ramat Beit Shemesh do under similar circumstances.

    Brian
    Brian
    10 years ago

    By the way, Trayvon Martin DID possess a deadly weapon. I remember a few years ago a Lubavitcher Yungerman was punched in the face (by a black man) and passed away from the force of the blow (or blows?). A fist CAN be a deadly weapon. So in addition to his “skittles” he possessed a super dangerous weapons, and with the traces of illegal substances that the toxicology report found in his bloodstream and the rage he had, I’m glad I didn’t cross paths with Martin.

    770607
    770607
    10 years ago

    If Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton incite to Riot, they should be arrested immediately.

    Why isn’t our president in front of Cameras now, announcing proudly that “JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED”?

    If the Jury would have returned a Guilty Verdict, we all know that the President would immediately be on National News announcing that “Justice has Been Served”.

    So where is our President now?

    Racism in America is not only by the countless dozens on Twitter who are making death threats daily against Zimmerman.

    The Racism stems all the way from the top, from the President all the way down, who refuse to arrest the Racists who make death threats.

    I guess America has learned their lesson now, and will think twice, about the Race of the President whom they choose to elect.

    Benny
    Benny
    10 years ago

    #7 “I’m glad I live in NY where guns are illegal.”

    I can’t believe somebody can be as stupid as you are!

    Almost all the killers have illegal guns.

    Next time you will be beaten by 17 year olds – you will wish you had a gun!
    But might be too late, because you live in “wonderful” NY!

    Mark Levin
    Mark Levin
    10 years ago

    You are all missing the point. This was an around tragedy that didnt have to happen but now that it did, the facts need to be looked at.

    Presuming Martin had a right to be where he was AND that Zimmerman had a right to be where he was, one cannot deny that the one who threw the first punch WAS Martin. When Martin continued the “ground & pound” mixed martial arts beating of Zimmerman, breaking his nose in the process as well, there was legal ground for Zimmerman to protect himself to the point he did.

    Dont fall for the poor little black kid story that the press is feeding you. This little “kid” was 6’3″ and strong too. He was NOT innocent.