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In reply to the discussion: Check in if you're a white person who thinks Zimmerman should have been convicted of something.... [View all]mnhtnbb
(31,391 posts)Once you learn what the basis of the 'stand your ground law' does--gives anyone who starts a fight
and feels he is losing it the right to shoot the other person without any consequences--then it seems
to me that getting a conviction is very, very difficult. I also had to look up why FL is able to get away
with having juries of only 6 people. Seems it would be very easy to turn a jury with so few members.
I sat on an all white jury in a southern state (Missouri)about 20 years ago where the defendant was black and
accused of assault with a deadly weapon (knifed a white guy--and he was white trash)
and three of us turned that 12 person jury to a verdict of not guilty on the basis of self defense.
The white guy started the fight--the black guy was not armed--picked up a knife in the kitchen
to defend himself and stabbed the white guy. When the verdict was read, the white guy was in the courtroom
and he had to be removed, he was so pissed.
The defendant admitted using the knife to defend himself. The white guy admitted starting the fight. He also admitted
picking up a bar stool and swinging it at the black guy--claiming he was defending against knife strikes. The defendant's attorney asked him--in the witness box--to pick up the bar stool (put in evidence) and show how he used it. That, for me, was the convincing moment. And it was really interesting, because when we were talking about it in the jury room, the other two who had voted not guilty had noticed the same thing. He was using it as a weapon, not protecting himself from the black guy. Yet when we took our first jury vote--to see where we all stood--it was 9 guilty and 3 not guilty. I've often wondered if
the defendant realized how lucky he was to get that verdict and whether he refocused his
life to avoid getting into another situation like that.
Yes, I do think that Zimmerman should have been convicted of something. I suspect he had intent to use that gun and not to just
hold Martin at bay until the police arrived. I doubt Z was in fear of his life, given that there was no evidence on Martin's hands of putting a beating on Z, but I have little doubt that Martin was in fear of his life once Z produced that gun.