Wow..how could he be found not guilty? Not even manslaughter?

[SummerSnow]

[kalli007]

1. No clue

Nt

[narnian60]

2. Hopefully the jury will be talking.

[noamnety]

3. That's how the law works.

You're presumed innocent (if you're white).

[davidn3600]

4. Too much reasonable doubt. The state failed to prove an alternative story.

Even if they proved Zimmerman is full of crap, the state still has to prove beyond reasonable doubt what really happened.

[DefenseLawyer]

5. Those cops weren't trying too hard.

No one from the Sanford Police Department that testified in that trial is unhappy with the verdict.

[TacoD]

9. I think that's what it comes down to. The cops had zimmerman's back from day one. (nt)

[SummerSnow]

15. Yes...they gave him his "wounds" to embellish his story.

[MADem]

6. Because it's Florida. Because the life of a black teenager had no value down there.

Because the jurors were stupid and didn't have the damn sense of a gnat. Because racism is an ugly thing. Because they didn't like Trayvon's "rough speaking" girlfriend.

Because, because, because.

Because life plainly is not fair, the right side doesn't always win (though I can't see any "win" out of the death of a kid), and people are assholes.

I'm sickened.

[Ilsa]

7. Crappy jury selection. nt

[budkin]

8. I said in the prediction thread this would happen

Too obvious. That letter killed them.

[vankuria]

10. I am sick

My heart absolutely breaks for Trayvon Martin's parents. This verdict says anyone can go out with his gun, pick a fight with a young black teen, shoot him dead, claim "self-defense" and you get off scott free.

[backscatter712]

11. Racist jurors.

Straight out of To Kill a Mockingbird.

[strategery blunder]

12. Because Florida's laws on self-defense are incredibly permissive

In the state I live in (to use an example), if claiming self-defense the defense must justify the claim by a preponderance of the evidence (however in the event of an acquittal by reason of self-defense the state must reimburse reasonable defense costs).

The state of Florida merely requires the defense be raised, and then the prosecution must prove it is NOT self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense need not prove anything (despite self-defense being an affirmative defense in most places) and has no burden other than to plead self-defense in the first place.

I was hoping for a manslaughter conviction, but the jury must work with the law it has and in the case of Florida the jury had to work with shite law.

Now I would like to see the Sanford Police Department held accountable for obstruction of justice (botching the initial investigation because of the good-ole-boy network) but I'm not holding my breath. The initial refusals to pursue the case hobbled the prosecution from the beginning, thereby leaving holes in the case--and remember that the case was only prosecuted after huge national outcry.

[TroglodyteScholar]

16. The fact that Z initiated contact with TM makes a lot of people less sympathetic for his position.

That's really easy to miss isn't it.

[MFM008]

19. Zimmer is guilty

he should have been hit with manslaughter or murder 3. I thought it should have been manslaughter. It isnt biased its common sense.

[DonCoquixote]

14. If this stands, every perosn on Death Row

should get a chance to appeal their verdict on the basis of stand your ground, but, to quote Don King, most have the wrong "complexion, therefore no connections."

[SoCalDem]

17. Here's how.

It was a dark & rainy night
witnesses were "ear" witnesses (too afraid to "help&quot
the kid is dead
guns are worshiped, and a guilty verdict could have led to questioning the gunslinger laws many have fought so hard to achieve
jury was gullible enough to believe the defense gobbledygook

fast forward a few years, & look for some backwater community to hire GZ as a deputy

[NoOneMan]

18. Because to so many, its ok to purge black people

We write laws subjective and arbitrary enough such that they can both protect white people and yet convict black people. We play with the schmarmy lawyer language enough to give people mental loopholes so they can feel good about being fuckwits for justice while ignoring their latent racial tendency.

This entire trial was about creating an excuse for the jurors to let the man off for purging. It was also about trying to convince us onlookers that the purge was arbitrary enough that we don't have to pretend to care.