Jimmy Carter: Jury made ‘right decision’

[DallasNE]

60. Yes, Judge Nelson Was In Over Her Head With This Case

And that set the stage for her being bullied. In hindsight it was a mistake to sequester the jury as that lead to a lot of rushed decisions like the ruling on striking the responsibility to retreat from the jury instructions. The defense also very clearly was allowed to badger Rachel Jeantel, put words in the mouth of several witnesses. It was a lesson in how not to conduct a trial.

Why the prosecution could not fit the pieces of the puzzle together is one of the biggest mysteries of the trial. I was not aware until the trial that there were two encounters between them. The first encounter at the truck set up the second encounter. The pieces that matter most are as follows. A testy verbal exchange happened at the truck that ended when a frightened Trayvon Martin took off running and was able to lose Zimmerman by hiding in some bushes. Zimmerman got out of his truck to hunt him down. That set up a cat and mouse game where both were waiting the other one out. After a couple of minutes in hiding Martin called Jeantel and told her about events and when he thought Zimmerman had given up and the coast was clear he came out from behind the bushes only to discover that Zimmerman was rushing up behind him. After another testy exchange Zimmerman gave Martin a shove that knocked the cell out of Martin's hand. Martin retaliated with a hard left jab that hit Zimmerman squarely in the nose, knocking him down where his head struck the sidewalk. A brief struggle happened on the ground but the 46 pound heavier Zimmerman quickly got on top then got up and pulled out his gun. Martin then struggled to retreat but Zimmerman grabbed Martin's hoodie with his left hand while using his right hand to shoot Martin. By then they were about 10-12 feet from the sidewalk. The pieces fit from the available evidence. But the jury only got the picture painted by the defense that was loaded with holes.