Zimmerman cleared of all charges

[Colanth]

I believe that the police/DA said that they did not consider stand your ground in deciding not to initially charge Zimmerman, deciding instead that it was "normal" self-defense. However, I think it may have had an impact in the initial investigation and decision not to file charges at least in as much as the law is seen as increasing the burden of proof necessary to overcome a self-defense claim (showing the defendant passed a reasonable opportunity to retreat doesn't weaken his claim to defense)

Before Stand your Ground, he would have been required to retreat if retreat were possible.  Considering that Martin wasn't armed (it couldn't have been evident to Zimmerman that he was, and that's what matters), and that Zimmerman was initially in a truck and Martin was on foot, retreat would have been trivial.  Without considering Stand your Ground, not arresting Zimmerman was a wrong move.  It would only be self defense under that law, not under previous laws.  The whole thing back then just smells.

[aitm]

It's not a civilian's responsibility to ensure that someone who hasn't done anything wrong "doesn't get away".

well I would suggest that every, even "self-appointed" neighborhood watch dogs would be following someone who may not belong in that neighborhood, this is what they do. Now take into consideration a neighborhood that has been hit before and due to the police inability to respond fast enough would certainly want someone, especially a homeowner in the same area to make sure no hanky panky is afoot.

I think the more I learned of this the less judgmental I became against ole georgy. Not to excuse the death away, non-the-less I find it harder to say the man killed this kid with malice aforethought, or even had any malicious intent other than making sure the kid did not " do anything wrong yet", and since I wouldn't know if he had already done something wrong or not, making sure he didn't "get away" would rather be a priority.

[Nonsensei]

Tell me: What would you do if all you were doing is following someone in a high crime area at night

In uniform or off-duty?  I certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to play cop and follow someone if I weren't on the job.  It's not a civilian's responsibility to ensure that someone who hasn't done anything wrong "doesn't get away".

This.

Also, the U.S. Justice Department, FBI and Attorney's office is now going to be conducting their own investigation as well.

What federal crime could they charge him with?

[Hijiri Byakuren]

It's not a civilian's responsibility to ensure that someone who hasn't done anything wrong "doesn't get away".

Be that as it may, Zimmerman's reaction was prompted by police repeatedly failing to act quickly enough in the past. The neighborhood had been hit multiple times by a burglar who matched Martin's description. It may not be his job to keep an eye on the guy, but if the police have never been quick enough on the draw then what else is he supposed to do? Funnily enough, the police initially choosing not to arrest Zimmerman backs up this alleged incompetence beautifully.

I am not saying he should have escalated it to an on-foot pursuit (much less what happened after), but I can't really blame the guy for a lack of confidence in the local police force if this is their typical MO.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Civil rights crimes.. He may or may not be charged and there are still civil lawsuits.

[FlatEarth1024]

So...what have we learned.  Well, if you're Florida, nothing.  But if you are the rest of the world, you learn once again that you cannot rush to trial if you do not have a case.  You would think that the Casey Anthony debacle illustrated this well enough.  I don't know what it is about Florida that they allow themselves to be rushed to trial without a solid case against a suspect simply because Nancy Grace howled loudly enough.  What it comes down to, plain and simple, is that it is difficult to convict someone of a crime even after exhaustive and painstaking case-building.  It is damn near impossible when you have large holes in your presentation, as we have now learned for the second time in just a few years.

Johnny Cochrane famously said "If the glove does not fit...you must acquit."  The mantra in Florida is clearly "If you have no case...get outta my face."  Bring some evidence, Florida prosecutors, or don't come to trial.  Clearly letting Nancy Grace bully you into the courtroom prematurely is not working out so well.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I kind of doubt that particular town in Florida is anything even resembling Detroit where calling an ambulance can take hours and police? Forget it. They're to busy protecting the Ford family fortune to be bothered with crime..
I wasn't there so as to what actually happened only Zimmerman can say for sure and he ain't really telling, but one thing particularly bothersom is the ONLY jurors they could seat were 6 old white ladies and that was because they were the only people they could find who hadn't heard about the case ahead of time..6 ignorant old women out of touch with society at large..

[Hijiri Byakuren]

I kind of doubt that particular town in Florida is anything even resembling Detroit where calling an ambulance can take hours and police? Forget it. They're to busy protecting the Ford family fortune to be bothered with crime..
I wasn't there so as to what actually happened only Zimmerman can say for sure and he ain't really telling, but one thing particularly bothersom is the ONLY jurors they could seat were 6 old white ladies and that was because they were the only people they could find who hadn't heard about the case ahead of time..6 ignorant old women out of touch with society at large..

Such are the consequences when the media chooses to sensationalize a court case. If you blast that information over the airwaves like they've been doing, the only way you can get an impartial jury is to search out in the boondocks. As mentioned earlier, it probably didn't help that it was a horribly rushed trial. The prosecutors either had or took no time to get their arguments in order, nor to find appropriate charges (of which 2nd degree murder clearly was not one).

I wonder how long until we get a movie about this...

[PopeyesPappy]

I wonder how long until we get a movie about this...

Probably not long. If I was George Zimmerman I would have had my book/movie deal inked before the verdict came back.

[aitm]

The media did indeed go out of its way to convict ole georgy. Starting with posting trayvons pick as a what? 14 yr old still being weaned and ole georgy as a pudgy ex-con? It was like the media was going out of its way to present itself as being anti-racist instead of just reporting the news. "Hey, lets make sure no one can call us racists by being pro-trayvon all the way". They started the snowball rolling and it ran right into a giant camp fire.

[aitm]

I wonder how long until we get a movie about this...

Probably not long. If I was George Zimmerman I would have had my book/movie deal inked before the verdict came back.

get  Bruce Willis to play and call it "almost die hard"

[Johan]

It's not a civilian's responsibility to ensure that someone who hasn't done anything wrong "doesn't get away".

Be that as it may, Zimmerman's reaction was prompted by police repeatedly failing to act quickly enough in the past. The neighborhood had been hit multiple times by a burglar who matched Martin's description. It may not be his job to keep an eye on the guy, but if the police have never been quick enough on the draw then what else is he supposed to do? .

What else was he supposed to do? Nothing. If doing that meant it took that much longer for a criminal to get caught, so be it. There is no justification for Zimmerman following Martin. None.

[aitm]

There is no justification for Zimmerman following Martin. None.

what? Of course there was. The neighborhood had been the scene of recent robberies. The man did not appear to be from the area, (he would know after all, he lives there) Natural suspicion, hell the guy had every right to follow him. I would have done the same thing If I gave a shit enough to be in a neighborhood watch, and I damn sure would be carrying a piece.

[Smartmarzipan]

There is no justification for Zimmerman following Martin. None.

what? Of course there was. The neighborhood had been the scene of recent robberies. The man did not appear to be from the area, (he would know after all, he lives there) Natural suspicion, hell the guy had every right to follow him. I would have done the same thing If I gave a shit enough to be in a neighborhood watch, and I damn sure would be carrying a piece.

Bullshit.

"Did not appear to be from the area"?

What's the criteria for looking like you belong? Do they have a pamphlet they hand to all the residents? "We do not wear hoodies in this community".

This whole "that guy looked different" defense pisses me off. Who decides who looks "suspicious"? Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

And while you have a constitutional right to follow and walk behind someone, you're escalating the situation. That's why 911 told Zimmerman to back the fuck off.....because people don't like being actively followed by strangers. It weirds them out. Bad things can happen. Sure, you have the right to follow people, that doesn't mean it makes sense.

Being part of a neighborhood watch means you report things to the police....it does not mean you're fuckin' Batman.

[aitm]

To many thousands of neighborhood watches they appreciate that their neighbors are looking out for them. It sure is easy to make judgment calls after the fact, but when the cops have a history of being too late to do anything, it sets in motion the idea that "we" must look out for each other and I would suggest that we most certainly need more of that. It is not the governments job to protect us we should all do that instead of hiding in our homes hoping the bad guys hits the neighbor and not us.