但是,奥巴马手下是有一批人专门发掘种族仇视话题的,觉得此事是个富矿,奇货可居。所以,黑人被立即挑动上街闹事,他们控制的自由派媒体业也以此为借口,大造舆论。奥巴马甚至公开声称:要是他有一个儿子,一定长得象Trayvon Martin (If I Had A Son, He'd Look Like Trayvon) 。
既然总统都认干儿子了,美国的自由派媒体当即高潮了。其中CBS就高潮过头了,居然篡改剪辑了ZIMMERMAN的911电话报警录音,造成 ZIMMERMAN是种族主义分子的假象,掀起铺天盖地的媒体和黑人政治团体攻击。CBS手段太拙劣了(如果有谁比CNN更拙劣,那就是CBS),被零成本抓了现行。于是CBS被迫公开道歉并开除了至少3个记者。但Zimmerman律师不依不饶,称道歉太迟了,依然决定起诉CBS,罪名诽谤及故意心理伤害 defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress。由于铁证如山,CBS如不和解,官司必输无疑。
在此情况下,法官在政治压力之下,使出了非常卑劣的一招,即允许检方在二级谋杀基础上增加过失杀人罪名。二级谋杀可判终身监禁,过失杀人可判30年监禁。但在庭审基本结束的情况下,允许检方增加罪名是非常有争议的。依法,自陪审团组成并宣誓之日,就算一重危境了(Jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled and sworn),如果允许随意增加罪名,即使不算DOUBLE JEOPARDY(双重危境),也有违背程序正义(DUE PROCESS)的。
检方甚至还异想天开地试图加入三级谋杀罪名(即虐待儿童致死罪)。但吸了毒的TRAYVON MARTIN 比ZIMMERMAN个子高十几公分,还壮实不少;ZIMMERMAN被打得鼻青脸肿,后脑流血,但TRAYVON MARTIN只有一处枪伤,虐待儿童罪实在太匪夷所思了。法官怕落笑柄,不敢答应检方这个要求。
此案中,被告律师团队的出色工作,早已证明了ZIMMERMAN超过50%的可能性是在正当防卫,超过了被告的举证责任(preponderance of evidence)。从法律上讲,由于检方在否定正当防卫一节证据不足,就既不能证明二级谋杀,也不能证明过失杀人。法官允许检方修改罪名,徒见有意构陷,是不足以成事的。另外,佛州采用6人制陪审团,这样的陪审团必须意见一致才能定罪。只要一人咬死检方证据不足,就不足以定罪。如果陪审团迟迟不能定罪,就叫悬而未决的陪审团(HUNG JURY),一般要重审。但此案对ZIMMERMAN证据方面太有利了,不存在HUNG JURY的情况,顺利达到了意见一致。
July 14, 2013
George Zimmerman left a Florida courtroom Saturday night a free man after being acquitted of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, but his troubles are likely far from over.
Although jail time is no longer a threat for Zimmerman, his lawyer says he fears for his life and may have to remain in hiding. He also potentially faces civil suits, which could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and cause possible financial ruin.
In criminal cases, the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, and in most jurisdictions the jury's decision has to be unanimous. But in a civil case, the standard of proof is lower: The plaintiff's burden is, in essence, "more likely than not," rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.. 作者: Tiger2005 时间: 2013-7-16 10:50
Key witness in Zimmerman case says defense attorney is ‘lucky I’m a Christian’
The young friend of slain teenager Trayvon Martin made her first public remarks since George Zimmerman was found not guilty on Saturday, vigorously defending Martin's reputation and saying race played a role in his death and Zimmerman's acquittal.
Appearing on CNN’s “Piers Morgan” program, Rachel Jeantel responded to avalanche of public attention following her testimony as Zimmerman’s trial.
“Don West is lucky I’m a Christian,” Jeantel, 19, said when asked how she was treated in the courtroom by defense attorney Don West. “The only reason I have not said anything to Don West is because my parents have taught me better.”
Asked for her response to the jury’s not guilty verdict, Jeantel was circumspect, saying, “Disappointed. Upset. Angry. Question [sic]. And mad.”
She also added that while Trayvon Martin did occasionally smoke marijuana, he never displayed aggressive behavior or expressed an interest in firearms. She said that Martin likely smoked marijuana about two times per week, and that it was a normal amount for teens in the area.
“In my area, weed for Trayvon, weed don’t make him go crazy,” she said. “It just make him hungry.”
And despite recent comments from one of the jurors in the case, Jeantel says she does believe race played a role in Zimmerman’s actions and in the jury’s decision to acquit him.
“It was racial. Let’s be honest,” she said. “If Trayvon was white and he had a hoodie on, would that have happened? It happened around 7 o’clock, that’s when people walk their dogs.”
And on the jury saying race played no role: “They’re white.”
Jeantel says she “had a feeling” that Zimmerman would be found not guilty.
She also had a strong response to those who have mocked her for her unusual speaking style during her testimony, explaining that her speaking style is due to an overbite for which she has received medical treatment.
“A lot of people have the same issue I have right now. I have an under bite,” she said.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to be there,” she added. “There was a lot of stress. I’d been dealing with a lot of stress for 16 months. I had been grieving.”
She also said she thinks Zimmerman should have taken the stand in his own defense. When asked what she now thinks of Zimmerman, she said, “Weak. Scary. Hiding from his father. If you were a real man, you would have stood on that stage and told them what happened.”. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-16 20:34
这个事件从另一角度看,如果没有持有枪支,那么Zimmerman and Martin也就是一场打斗,Zimmerman被打得头破血流,Martin兄弟毛发无损。
事实也是这样,从Martin兄弟身上并未发现打斗留下的伤,而Zimmerman脑后和脸上都有伤并流血。所以,推断出Zimmerman被打。Zimmerman 29岁,白+西裔,块头不小,居然被打得头破血流,我只能认为Martin兄弟战斗力实在是很强,这跟他刚服过大麻有关。
While Zimmerman did not ultimately use the "stand your ground" defense in his case, Sanford police did not arrest him until almost two months after the shooting because of the Florida stand your ground rules that require police to have specific evidence to refute a self defense claim in order to arrest someone claiming self defense.
The police initially did not have evidence to disprove Zimmerman's self-defense claim, said former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, Jr.
It was not until the case drew national attention and a Department of Justice investigation that prosecutors found evidence to charge Zimmerman with second-degree murder. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is urging Attorney General Eric Holder to undertake a review of the case and encouraging Trayvon Martin's family to pursue civil action against Zimmerman.
Last year, a Florida task force headed by the lieutenant government reviewed the state's "stand your ground" law, but in a final report, the task force only made minor recommendations that required no action from the legislature. No changes were made to the law this year.
"The liberal activists tried to use that tragedy (the shooting death of Trayvon Martin) as an opportunity to take our rights as Americans," said Florida House Speaker Rep. Will Weatherford, a Republican, on the attempts to change the state's stand your ground law. "We stood our ground on Stand Your Ground."
Across the country, at least 22 states have "stand your ground" laws, with varying degrees of requirements for when citizens may use deadly force to protect themselves. Before these new laws were put in place beginning in 2005, people who felt threatened outside their home were required to flee from an attacker before they were allowed to use force to defend themselves.
The new laws make clear, however, that if someone feels threatened either inside or outside their home, they do not have to run away and are legally justified in using force to protect themselves.
"If (my family and I) are walking through the mall and someone attacks us, I should not have to retreat. I should be able to defend myself in any place or forum that I need to," said Florida Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a Republican, on Sunday in an interview with CBS Miami.
Some states just allow people to defend themselves in their homes or businesses, while others extend the law to cars or any place someone "has a right to be." Florida's law falls into this second category.
The Zimmerman case drew national attention to the "stand you ground" laws, which were promoted by the National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council through model legislation and advocacy.
In a study of "stand your ground" laws commissioned by the National Bureau of Economic Research, researchers found that in states with "stand your ground" laws, the number of homicides had significantly increased from the years before the law was enacted. They found that the provision that allows self-defense "in any place a person has a legal right to be" is the driver of the increase in homicides. The increase in homicides, they argue, negates the claim that these laws reduce crime.
(CNN) -- One of the jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman said she had "no doubt" he feared for his life in the final moments of his struggle with Trayvon Martin, and that was the definitive factor in the verdict.
The woman, who was identified just as Juror B37, spoke exclusively to CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" on Monday night. She is the first juror to speak publicly about the case.
She said she believes Zimmerman's "heart was in the right place" the night he shot Martin, but that he didn't use "good judgment" in confronting the Florida teen.
"I think George Zimmerman is a man whose heart was in the right place, but just got displaced by the vandalism in the neighborhoods, and wanting to catch these people so badly that he went above and beyond what he really should have done," she said.
"But I think his heart was in the right place. It just went terribly wrong."
Juror B37: 'It's very emotional' for me
If anything, Zimmerman was guilty of not using "good judgment," the juror said.
"When he was in the car, and he had called 911, he shouldn't have gotten out of that car," she said.
She also said she believes Martin threw the first punch in the confrontation that followed.
"I think George got in a little bit too deep, which he shouldn't have been there. But Trayvon decided that he wasn't going to let him scare him ... and I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him," she said.
Zimmerman felt his life was in danger before shooting Martin, and it was his voice that was heard screaming for help in 911 calls, the juror said she believes.
"He had a right to defend himself," she said. "If he felt threatened that his life was going to be taken away from him, or he was going to have bodily harm, he had a right."
Split vote
An initial vote was divided. Three of the jurors first voted Zimmerman was guilty, while three voted he was not guilty, she said. Juror B37 was among those who believed he was not guilty from the start.
"There was a couple of them in there that wanted to find him guilty of something and after hours and hours and hours of deliberating over the law, and reading it over and over and over again, we decided there's just no way, other place to go," she said.
Jurors were not identified by name during the trial, which sparked a broad debate about gun laws and race in America.
The juror said she did not believe Zimmerman profiled Martin, who was African-American, because of the color of his skin.
She believes he thought Martin was suspicious because of the way he acted.
"Anybody would think anybody walking down the road, stopping and turning and looking -- if that's exactly what happened -- is suspicious," she said.
"I think all of us thought race did not play a role," the juror said . "We never had that discussion."
At one point during the interview, she grew emotional and her voice cracked. She said jurors cried after putting in their vote.
"It's a tragedy this happened. But it happened," the juror said.
"And I think both were responsible for the situation they had gotten themselves into. I think both of them could have walked away. It just didn't happen."
Book plans canceled
The juror was planning to write a book about her experience with the case, literary agent Sharlene Martin said before her interview aired.
But hours later, the agent released a statement from Juror B37 saying she would no longer write one.
"Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury," the juror said.
"I realize it was necessary for our jury to be sequestered in order to (protect) our verdict from unfair outside influence, but that isolation shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case.". 作者: Tiger2005 时间: 2013-7-17 09:23
其实说他有个李刚爹,也是从这句话中演绎出来的。我想这是有可能的。
“Weak. Scary. Hiding from his father. If you were a real man, you would have stood on that stage and told them what happened.”. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-18 10:24 标题: 回复 30楼Tiger2005 的帖子
最后还是回到司法体制和法律条款上,遵行有效的法律,则通;否则,不通。
至于陪审团制,好像有质疑,但更多的是认可。
至于stand your ground laws,既然可以立法,也可以废除,看各方博弈吧。. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-19 01:52 标题: George Zimmerman’s Father Says The ‘True Racists’ Are African-American
As the murder trial for George Zimmerman begins, his father has released an emotional and highly unusual e-book, publicly opining on all aspects of the case. The book by Robert Zimmerman Sr., called “Florida v. Zimmerman: Uncovering the Malicious Prosecution of my Son, George” was released today on Amazon for $3.99.
The most striking chapter is called “Who Are The True Racists,” an apparent effort to rebut claims that his son’s actions were racially motivated.
Previously, Zimmerman Sr. “believed generally racism was a thing of the past.” He says that, personally, he hadn’t encountered much racism, even though his wife is Hispanic. But after his son shot and killed Trayvon Martin, however, Zimmerman learned that racism is “flourishing at the insistence of some in the African American Community.” He then goes on to list various black leaders and organizations that he believes are racist:
Congressional Black Caucus. “[A] pathetic, self-serving group of racists… advancing their purely racist agenda.” He later adds that “all members of Congress should be ashamed of the Congressional Black Caucus, as should be their constituents.” And finally: “They are truly a disgrace to all Americans.”
The NAACP. “[S]imply promotes racism and hatred for their own, primarily finical, interests” and “without prejudice and racial divide, the NAACP would simply cease to exist.”
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. “[W]hat I would expect of a racist.”
Trayvon Martin’s funeral director. A “racial activist and former head of the local NAACP.”
Benjamin Crump, Natialie Jackson and Darrly Parks, attorneys for Travyon Martin’s family. “The scheme team.”
The National Basketball Players Association.
Black Chamber of Commerce.
National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers.
National Black United Fund.
United Negro College Fund.
While stopping short of explicitly calling President Obama a racist, Zimmerman Sr. does say that Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have “shamelessly” sought to exploit his son’s case “to obtain great advantage in the African-American community.”
Zimmerman Sr. says that because of Holder’s decision to investigate whether Trayvon Martin’s death violated federal civil rights laws, the FBI did not have “adequate resources to investigate clearly identified potential terrorist [sic] in the Boston area.” Now, “tragically, we have suffered the consequences of Mr. Holder’s politically motivated decisions.”. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-19 01:55
据悉,本周末各大城市会有游行。
天很热,兄弟们都悠着点哈。. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-19 04:06 标题: Zimmerman jurors passed time with manicures, movies and bowling
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Sequestered jurors locked away from the rest of the world during George Zimmerman's three-week murder trial in Florida fended off cabin fever with manicures, movies and mall shopping.
Under the round-the-clock watch of the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, the sequestered jury of six women who listened to long days of testimony in the highly charged case blew off steam with an occasional side trip.
The jury found Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in a case that captivated the U.S. public and triggered lengthy discussions about race, guns and self-defense laws.
There was the all-day excursion to the historic town of St. Augustine, where jurors gawked inside Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. They knocked down pins at a bowling alley, perused merchandise at the Daytona Beach mall and munched popcorn watching two court-approved movies: "World War Z" and "The Lone Ranger."
"I think people have to understand that you (sequestered jurors) are under 24-hour, seven-day-a-week jail. I don't know how else to describe it," said Maryanne Morse, the Seminole County Clerk of Courts whose office provides jurors for trials.
"At some point, to not be stir crazy and get on each other's nerves, you have to take them somewhere and give them some entertainment," Morse said.
The jurors stayed in private rooms at a 3-star Marriott hotel a short drive from the courthouse in Sanford, Florida.
The cost of sequestering them for 22 days, and for the four alternate jurors who spent a portion of that time incommunicado, totaled approximately $33,000, according to a tally revealed on Wednesday by the sheriff's office.
Taxpayers footed the bill, including $350 for side trips, although jurors were responsible for personal expenses, such as manicures, pedicures and haircuts. They received their $30-a-day jury pay in cash every week, Morse said.
Jury sequestration is rare but typically comes into play in high-profile trials awash in media coverage. Zimmerman jurors were allowed visits from family and friends on weekends, only after signing an agreement to not discuss the case or tell anyone about the visit.
Their hotel rooms were stripped of televisions, radios and all electronics and they were allowed their cell phones only once a day to retrieve voicemails and make phone calls in the presence of a sheriff's deputy, Morse said.. 作者: pp_dream 时间: 2013-7-19 04:18 标题: Zimmerman juror calls for change in self-defense laws
NEW YORK/TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - A member of the jury that found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin called for changes to Florida's self-defense law, which she said gave jurors no option but to acquit the defendant.
The juror's statement adds to pleas from around the country to change the "Stand Your Ground" laws that many states adopted after Florida did so under former Governor Jeb Bush in 2005.
Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson also urged authorities to toss out "Stand Your Ground" laws on Wednesday and highlighted what many see as racial bias in the U.S. justice system by drawing attention to the case of Marissa Alexander.
Alexander, a 32-year-old black woman, got a 20-year sentence for firing a bullet against a wall to scare off her abusive husband. The judge would not allow her to use a "Stand Your Ground" defense and it took the jury just 12 minutes to find her guilty of three counts of aggravated battery.
"In one case, Mr. Zimmerman kills a young man and walks away, free to kill again," Jackson told reporters soon after meeting Alexander in a Florida prison. "Marissa shot no one, hurt no one, and she's in jail for 20 years."
In the Florida capital, Tallahassee, demonstrators occupied a part of the governor's office for the second straight day on Wednesday demanding that the state repeal "Stand Your Ground."
With her identity kept secret, the juror, designated B-37, gave an interview to CNN on Monday that stirred further debate in the case that captivated the U.S. public and triggered lengthy discussions about race, guns and vigilantism.
After a torrent of criticism, including a statement from four other jurors who said she did not speak for them, the juror issued a statement further stressing her position that Florida's self-defense law forced the jury to vote not guilty.
"My prayers are with all those who have the influence and power to modify the laws that left me with no verdict option other than 'not guilty' in order to remain within the instructions," juror B-37 said. "No other family should be forced to endure what the Martin family has endured."
According to the instructions given to the jury, Zimmerman had "no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force" if he reasonably feared for his life or great bodily harm.
LAW CHALLENGED
Among the many voices demanding change, singer Stevie Wonder said he will not perform in Florida until the state discards a "stand your ground" law.
A day after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder questioned those laws in a speech, the Florida president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) urged Republican Governor Rick Scott on Wednesday to return to Tallahassee to meet with the scores of young demonstrators occupying his office to protest the verdict.
The protesters, hastily organized by a group called "Dream Defenders," are among those demanding Scott call a special session of the Republican-led Florida legislature to repeal "Stand Your Ground."
"The consequence of this verdict and the 'Stand Your Ground' law has made Florida an increasingly unsafe state for its citizens, especially its black and Latino youth," Adora Obi Nweze, president of the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, wrote in a letter hand-delivered to Scott's office.
An aide said the governor was out of town.
After three weeks of testimony and 16 hours of deliberation, the jury of five white women and one of mixed race acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting death of Martin, inside a gated community in the central Florida town of Sanford on February 26, 2012.
Shortly before the shooting, Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, called police from his car to report a suspicious person, Martin. The rapid-fire chain of events ended when Zimmerman shot Martin through the heart with his 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
The Democratic leaders of Florida's legislature, who are in the minority in both chambers, were due to hold a news conference in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday to announce plans for action in response to the Zimmerman acquittal. They tried to get the "Stand Your Ground" law changed in the past session, but couldn't manage to get a committee hearing on the issue.
Juror B-37, a mother of two who grew up in a military family and used to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, said one holdout juror switched her vote to "not guilty" after half an hour of agonizing over the law.
"She wanted to find him guilty of something but couldn't because of the law. The way the law was written, he wasn't responsible for (negligent) things that he had done leading up to that point," she said.
原本人之将死,其言亦善,马丁的不正常死亡,忽然让他变成了一个黑人小旗帜,似乎成为美国种族冲突的导火索,美国各地的黑人集会,声讨杀人者,因枪杀马丁的白人乔治·兹伯曼(George Zimmerman)刚刚被宣判无罪。连黑人总统奥巴马都出来说话:“马丁很可能是三十五年前的我(Trayvon Martin could’ve been me 35 years ago)。”死去的马丁一下变得风光无限,父母也不计前嫌,联合在一起,为他成立了基金,要誓死为他讨公道。
马丁死了,乔治·兹伯曼的日子也不好过,他不仅要一辈子受误杀人后良心上的谴责梦魇,还受着时刻被激进分子暗杀的生命危险。美国全国有色人种工会(NAACP :National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)誓言要和执法部门为马丁争取权益,黑人霍霍群愤,世道变得不安宁。
杰克逊和夏普顿一口咬定这是“谋杀”。杰克逊甚至在案子还没审之前,就称马丁是“被谋杀和烈士化”(murdered and martyred)。一个族群的领袖,居然可以如此“未审先论断”,根本不为自己的言论负责。他为什麽敢这样?就是因为一路都被“政治正确”、绝口不可批评黑人的主流媒体惯坏了。夏普顿则在陪审团裁决之後宣布∶“战争没有结束,我们要继续战斗。”否定由六个普通人组成的陪审团的判案结果,就是公然蔑视和否定美国的司法程序。
值得庆幸的是,和世界上任何一个民族一样,美国黑人中当然有优秀者、真正为黑人的前途负责任者。他们面对目前多个城市出现的黑人抗议示威,甚至砸毁店铺等暴力行为,已经发出了强烈的批评声音。 连激进的“美国全国有色人种协进会”(NAACP),它的前德州分部主席布莱德(C. L. Bryant)都痛斥夏普顿和杰西.杰克逊是“种族皮条客”(race hustlers),在马丁被杀案上煽动种族对立,榨取个人资本。