I figured out what I don't like about the Zimmerman verdict

[justalurkr]

Assuming for the sake of argument that George Zimmerman was telling the pristine, God's honest truth as he understood it, he still killed someone through the exercise of exceedingly poor judgment and got away with it. Last time I checked, Neighborhood Watch is supposed to report suspicious people to the police and never, ever engage.

I still don't understand why the jury didn't at least see manslaughter in that.

Comments

[superbadgirl]

Word.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

*high fives* Also, I don't happen to think he was telling the pristine, etc., truth. Pushing age 30 is past the point of doing things that could hurt or kill you just for the testosterone of it; I believe Zimmerman knew he was stalking a child he had a reasonable chance of controlling in an altercation.

In my eyes, he's a bully with a gun. This should have bumped it to 2nd degree, at least.

[nialla]

When you consider a woman in Florida shot in the air in attempt to scare off her ex and got 20 years in jail despite trying to use the same Stand Your Ground law, I think the reasoning behind the law is obvious. Stand Your Ground and kill someone, so they can't testify against you for attacking them. And you'll look like a pussy if you don't kill them.

Also, don't be black and/or female and try to invoke SYG.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Drr. It's not as if anyone but white dudes is sufficiently responsible and of sound enough judgment to stand their ground in a well-ordered society.

[nialla]

Which is why they're trying to use their sound judgment to regulate women's right to have an abortion, use birth control, etc. We wimmen folk cannot make those sorts of decisions, not even if they're seeing a male doctor.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

It's rage-making, is what. Now, imagine what our mothers went through. That's pretty much all that makes me bite my tongue sometimes. My mother the systems engineer defaulting to fetcher-of-coffee because as the only woman in the room, she must the the secretary, right?

[khek.livejournal.com]

Yes. It seems like it was manslaughter at the very least; the guy was definitely guilty of killing someone through his own choices and actions.

I don't understand Florida jurors. (And why was it only six jurors, not twelve? That was probably covered somewhere, but I missed it if it was.)

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I missed why a six-person jury, too. See my response to Superbadgirl above about why I think it should actually have been 2nd degree...boils down to "Zimmerman is a lying sack of crap who knew enough to think he could control the kid he was stalking."

[captain-tiv.livejournal.com]

It's almost like they completely ignored the fact he was a grown man following a kid and started the situation. Let's face it, what would anyone think if someone was following them?

They should have got him for manslaughter.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I believe they ignored that because they believed he didn't know. I don't. I think at the time he was a bully with a gun, and knew very well he was stalking someone (he thought) he had a reasonable chance of dominating in an altercation. I mean, even real cops don't approach 'armed and dangerous' in broad daylight without backup. Only a moron or a lying bully would do it at night.

Bumps it to second degree for me, but I am advised this has more to do with how Florida law is written that with what's right.