Christopher Darden Believes There May Be Justice Yet for Trayvon ~ Daily Beast

[mzmolly]

“The struggle continues, our work isn’t over,” were the words of Melissa Harris-Perry an hour after the not-guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. I agree. Work within the African-American community, work within the criminal-justice system and work on a national level to further the debate over racial profiling, civil rights and “stand-your-ground” laws must continue. The power of racial profiling and the power of the gun lobby is a lethal combination in America.



Averri Liggins, 22, of Atlanta, chants while holding a picture of Trayvon Martin during a protest on July 14, 2013, in Atlanta. (David Goldman/AP)

As a former prosecutor, I never would have brought the Zimmerman case to court. There was a high burden of proof giving way to reasonable doubt. That said, as an African-American, I know it was a victory just putting Zimmerman on trial.

No doubt, there will be a civil suit, and Zimmerman will have to testify. The outcome may echo OJ Simpson’s civil trial, in which he was forced to testify and was found guilty. (I was on the prosecution team in the Simpson criminal case.) Today, the NAACP wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that the government prosecute Zimmerman under the Civil Rights Act. So truth and justice might be found for Trayvon Martin—in several other courts of law.

Yet I still believe in the criminal-justice system, as I did after the Simpson verdict. The OJ case polarized America, dividing us among hard racial lines. African-Americans felt justified supporting OJ as a “payback” for all the profound injustices we have suffered at the hands of the criminal justice system. But OJ Simpson was the wrong poster child for that righteous campaign. He was no hero, framed by the police. He was a cold-blooded killer, guilty of a gruesome double murder. ..........

More at THE DAILY BEAST

[PoliticAverse]

1. "As a former prosecutor, I never would have brought the Zimmerman case to court." n/t

[Cha]

3. I know.. that part seemed weird to me.

Wonder if it would have been better to just bring it as a charge of Manslaughter?

Fucking Zimmerman.

[Skittles]

4. that strikes me as odd too

[JI7]

5. it would have been an easy conviction of Trayvon was not black

the trial was a joke, especially the defense. but because of racism people will believe any negative said about the black person.

but i'm thinking darden wants to avoid discussing this part , at least for now.

[mzmolly]

14. Yep.

[Demo_Chris]

21. No, sadly, and I say this as someone who believes Zimmerman was guilty of murder 1...

Race aside, it was ALWAYS going to be a basically impossible conviction. This is one of those cases -- and police encounter them every day -- in which everyone knows what really happened but you just cannot prove it. The only thing they had going for them were Zimmerman's many often contradictory statements which cast doubt on his credibility, but ultimately all anyone really knows is that Zimmerman followed him, they eventually met and a fight broke out, Zimmerman was slightly injured and Martin was killed.

Now as I said, I believe Zimmerman actually committed murder one. I believe this based on the 911 tape. If you listen to this, and know what you are listening for, it is nothing more than Zimmerman reciting a checklist for a "justified" shoot. Anyone who has had some law enforcement training would know this list. Zimmerman was setting the entire thing up right there, and in my opinion he was PLANNING on blowing Martin away right there on the street, with the 911 operator in the background. But Martin ran.

Based on their questions in follow up interviews I believe the law enforcement shares this opinion.

In my opinion, Zimmerman is a sociopath. Note as well how eager he was to share his wildly varying stories. He's comforatable lying his ass off -- he invents his own reality as he goes along, and doesn't feel even the slightest concern when that invented reality fails to match the physical evidence in front of him or the stories he has told in the past.

But there it is. Can you prove it? Nope. Can you prove that Zimmerman wasn't jumped by Martin? Nope -- it's ludicrous, it's obviously unbelievable, but you can't prove it. And since you cannot prove it, that's it. There's nothing there. All the following and stalking and running, all the stories and fanciful claims, all of that goes out the window.

[mzmolly]

22. That is an odd sentiment

IMO, as well. He likely made that remark due to the conflicting witness testimony etc.

[Cha]

2. "OJ was the wrong poster child for

Last edited Mon Jul 15, 2013, 06:30 AM - Edit history (2)

that righteous campaign. He was no hero, framed by the police. He was a cold-blooded killer, guilty of a gruesome double murder." Exactly. But, look what happened to him after he was freed by the jury. He's in prison. , and, I'm probably not the only one who was glad he got sent to prison for something else. Evidently, there was no reasonable doubt that time.

Not that it means it will happen to Zimmerman but with the mentality he's displayed in his past and with Trayvon Martin and afterwards.. he's going to have to make a 180 change or his anger and ignorance are going to keep on boiling over.

[font size=lg]"The media did not make this case a race case. The family of Trayvon Martin did not make this a race case. George Zimmerman did."[/font]

At the press conference, after the verdict, Zimmerman’s defense team was deplorable. Those lawyers felt the need to spike the football with no regard for the death of Trayvon or the grief of the Martin family. They chose not to acknowledge the killing of this teenage child.

Sickening.

Mahalo, mzmolly.. excellent piece from Chris Darden

[JustAnotherGen]

8. +1

[mzmolly]

12. Thanks Cha.

The article gave me a bit of hope.

[mazzarro]

6. I was not impressed by the prosecution's performance

"Within the legal community, many feel the Zimmerman trial’s prosecution team was never really in the game. The prosecutors did not have a consistent story to tell the jury, and they shied away from race." and so is Christopher Darden as well.

[Pelican]

7. Their story was shaky enough as it was...

... what concrete proof should they have offered that race was a motivating factor?

It would have just come off as desperate, just like it does now.

[all american girl]

10. The story they should have told, and stuck with, was a kid minding his own business

and a man staring, following in a car, and following on foot. Stranger danger was that was needed to be said...over and over again. Trayvon did what we teach our kids and he was murdered for doing what we tell our kids.

[mzmolly]

13. The proof was watered

down.

[Pelican]

15. In what way?

[mzmolly]

16. Coons vs. punks

for sstarters.

[Pelican]

18. It is clearly punks...

You can hear the P and the hard K at the end.

[polly7]

19. Wrong. nt.

[mzmolly]

20. Nope.

Eom

[qazplm]

11. the prosecution was incompetent

from start to finish. They made so many 101 mistakes.

I think it was simple incompetence.

[mzmolly]

17. They had a tough case with mega gun lobby bucks

behind the accused.