General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Check in if you're a white person who thinks Zimmerman should have been convicted of something.... [View all]Wolf Frankula
(3,601 posts)would have voted manslaughter. Here's why. 1. The police told Zimmerman (hereafter SA) that he did not need to follow Martin (hereafter NLN). SA did not follow their instructions and leave NLN alone. 2: Although NLN was wearing a hoodie and probably was walking 'the walk' he was minding his own business. He had committed NO crime in that neighborhood and walking back to where he was staying. He was most likely looking forward to an evening of teevee and sleep. 3. It seems that by following NLN , (against the advice of the police remember) SA made NLN nervous. I would be nervous too, if I were minding my own business and someone the size of SA was pursuing me. SA initiated the confrontation. It was not self defense. I know people, who if confronted by a man of SA's size, would have assumed a crime was intended and plugged him first with their legally carried firearms. 4. SA seemed to be a wannabee TV cop, like the ones on Law and Order: Special Violence Unit. (You know "In New York City, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. So heinous, we don't even bother to try them any more. We just have our thug cops beat a confession out of them". ) SA should not have been on Neighborhood Watch, should not have been allowed a carry permit. He had a history of violence. 5: There was no original intent to do violence, nor premeditation, but someone died because of SA's behavior. It was manslaughter. Recommended sentence: ten years.
Wolf