dkf
dkf's JournalJury instructions...
George Zimmerman has entered a plea of not guilty. This means you must presume or believe George Zimmerman is innocent. The presumption stays with George Zimmerman as to each material allegation in the Information through each stage of the trial unless it has been overcome by the evidence to the exclusion of and beyond a reasonable doubt.
To overcome George Zimmerman’s presumption of innocence, the State has the burden of proving the crime with which George Zimmerman is charged was committed and George Zimmerman is the person who committed the crime.
George Zimmerman is not required to present evidence or prove anything.
Whenever the words "reasonable doubt" are used you must consider the following:
A reasonable doubt is not a mere possible doubt, a speculative, imaginary or forced doubt. Such a doubt must not influence you to return a verdict of not guilty if you have an abiding conviction of guilt. On the other hand if, after carefully considering, comparing and weighing all the evidence, there is not an abiding conviction of guilt, or, if having a conviction, it is one which is not stable but one which wavers and vacillates, then the charge is not proved beyond every reasonable doubt and you must find George Zimmerman not guilty because the doubt is reasonable.
It is to the evidence introduced in this trial, and to it alone, that you are to look for that proof.
A reasonable doubt as to the guilt of George Zimmerman may arise from the evidence, conflict in the evidence, or the lack of evidence.
If you have a reasonable doubt, you should find George Zimmerman not guilty. If you have no reasonable doubt, you should find George Zimmerman guilty.
http://www.flcourts18.org/PDF/Press_Releases/Zimmerman_Final_Jury_Instructions.pdf
Actress Leah Remini quits Scientology after years of 'interrogations'
Exclusive: Actress Leah Remini quits Scientology after years of 'interrogations'
Last Updated: 11:14 AM, July 11, 2013
Posted: 12:17 AM, July 11, 2013
“King of Queens” star Leah Remini is making a dramatic break from the Church of Scientology, a source said, after being subjected to years of “interrogations” and “thought modification” for questioning leader David Miscavige’s rule.
The source tells us Remini is quitting because of policies that don’t allow parishioners to question Miscavige’s management or the reported abuse of members of its Sea Org religious order — and for forcing followers to “disconnect” from family members branded as “suppressive persons” if they choose to leave the church.
“It all began when Leah questioned the validity of excommunication of people,” a source said of her decision. “She is stepping back from a regime she thinks is corrupt. She thinks no religion should tear apart a family or abuse someone under the umbrella of ‘religion.’ ”
Former Sea Org member Mike Rinder blogged this week that at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ 2006 wedding, Remini innocently asked where Miscavige’s wife, Shelly, was. Former Scientology Celebrity Centre head Tommy Davis scolded her, “You don’t have the [bleeping] rank to ask about Shelly.” Mrs. Miscavige reportedly hasn’t been seen in public since 2007.
As a result, Remini “was put through interrogations and blacklisted within the church that she donated millions to and that her family has spent their lives in. She was put through ‘thought modification’ for five years,” our source said.
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/remini_quits_scientology_kPy6Yw4WymA6dSg9VQYVEN
Snowden watch: Today’s Moscow-Havana flight taking a very odd detour that avoids the U.S.
Thursday’s unusual flight path for Aeroflot Flight 150 from Moscow to Havana. (FlightAware)
At 2:13 p.m. Moscow time on Thursday, or 6:13 a.m. EST, the four-times-a-week Aeroflot flight from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to Havana, Cuba, took off as usual.
But then something strange happened: The plane did not follow its normal route, which takes it northwest over Scandinavia, then across Iceland and Greenland before turning south over Canada and the continental United States. Although this might look like a curve on flat maps, it’s actually the shortest route, following the curve of the Earth, and also the safest as it keeps the plane near land in case of an emergency.
Instead of taking the usual route, Flight 150 headed west over Central Europe, crossing Belarus, Poland, Germany and then France. As of this writing, it’s over the vast expanse of the Atlantic ocean — an extremely unusual path for a trans-Atlantic flight. The route is longer and, because it’s so far from land, potentially less safe.
Today’s flight path is at the top of this page. At the bottom are the last six flight paths for Aeroflot 150, all of which headed over Scandinavia, Canada and the United States.
So why is today’s Moscow-Havana Aeroflot commercial flight taking this very strange detour from its route? It’s not clear why, but suspicion is naturally turning to one Edward Snowden, the NSA leaker who’s been stuck in Moscow’s airport and is probably trying to find a way to get to Venezuela, Bolivia or Nicaragua, the three Latin American countries that have offered him asylum. To be clear, it is entirely possible there is another reason for the detour; the speculation that the plane carries Snowden and is diverting to avoid U.S. airspace may well turn out to be groundless.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/11/snowden-watch-todays-moscow-havana-flight-taking-a-very-odd-detour-that-avoids-the-u-s/
Had Snowden stayed in US, the surveillance story would have made less news. Run=massive exposure
@ggreenwald: NYT: Snowden "succeeded" in triggering "broadest and best-informed public debate in many years" about civil liberties http://t.co/gjI3tVB6F0
@AnonymousIRC: @ggreenwald A thought: Had Snowden stayed in the US, the surveillance story would have made even less news. Few in EU heard of Drake before.
@ggreenwald: @AnonymousIRC Good and interesting point.
@AnonymousIRC: @ggreenwald It would have been much easier to keep it a 'domestic' issue, we think. But "Snowden's Run" = Massive exposure.
WAPO: Lawmakers say administration’s lack of candor on surveillance weakens oversight
Lawmakers tasked with overseeing national security policy say a pattern of misleading testimony by senior Obama administration officials has weakened Congress’s ability to rein in government surveillance.
Members of Congress say officials have either denied the existence of a broad program that collects data on millions of Americans or, more commonly, made statements that left some lawmakers with the impression that the government was conducting only narrow, targeted surveillance operations.
The most recent example came on March 12, when James R. Clapper, director of national intelligence, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the government was not collecting information about millions of Americans. He later acknowledged that the statement was “erroneous” and apologized, citing a misunderstanding.
On three occasions since 2009, top Justice Department officials said the government’s ability to collect business records in terrorism cases is generally similar to that of law enforcement officials during a grand jury investigation. That comparison, some lawmakers now say, signaled to them that data was being gathered on a case-by-case basis, rather than the records of millions of Americans’ daily communications being vacuumed up in bulk.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lawmakers-say-administrations-lack-of-candor-on-surveillance-weakens-oversight/2013/07/10/8275d8c8-e97a-11e2-aa9f-c03a72e2d342_print.html
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