Zimmerman drops ‘stand your ground’ defense in Trayvon Martin murder case
zuky:
Lawyers acting for George Zimmerman, who shot dead the unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin on a Florida housing estate, have abandoned their attempt to have his murder charge thrown out on the grounds of self-defence.
Neighbourhood watch leader Zimmerman, 29, had been expected to claim immunity from prosecution at a hearing in April under the state’s stand-your-ground law, which allows for the use of deadly force when a person feels their life is in danger.
But in a surprise move, his lawyer, Mark O’Mara, told a judge that the defence would take its chances at Zimmerman’s trial in June for second-degree murder. He said he still intended to pursue the argument that his client was acting in self-defence in February 2012 under a violent onslaught from 17-year-old Martin.
The unexpected decision changes the entire direction of a case that sparked racial tensions when Zimmerman was originally released without charge. The case also put America’s gun laws under the spotlight.
His fate will now almost certainly rest with a jury instead of circuit court judge, Debra Nelson, who could have thrown out the case at next month’s immunity hearing. It leaves the defendant at more risk of the minimum 25-year sentence that would follow a conviction.
“The real focus is going to be on getting ready for a jury trial,” O’Mara said at a hearing on Tuesday in Sanford, close to the Retreat at Twin Lakes community where Martin had been staying with his father on the night of his death.
“As you know I’ve been counting. We’re only at 96 days [from trial] right now. So that only gives us time to really get ready for one hearing. And that’s going to be a jury trial where he gets acquitted. George wants to have a jury of his peers decide the case.”
the bolded is mine. and i can’t stand how people are acting like it’s some big “surprising” deal that zimmerman is doing this. are you kidding me? he’s got an *extremely* good chance of walking clean and free now—he has MUCH better odds facing a jury of “peers” (who are all scared of scary black people and who can see themselves in the position of being attacked by a scary black people) than he does a judge who is usually (not always, but usually) held more accountable to the law that a jury is.
they don’t need a ‘stand your ground defense” when they have centuries of white supremacy…
The way this reads to me is that Zimmerman’s lawyers believe they have what they need to get acquitted in a jury trial, so they don’t want to give away their strategy to the prosecution in a pre-trial “stand your ground” hearing which they might lose anyway. This means that their defense probably doesn’t rest on “stand your ground” laws but probably in a more fundamental legal framework which is less controversial or confusing. This move also puts the defense in the driver’s seat, forcing the prosecution to react to their initiative, which is always advantageous in any conflict (according to Sun Tzu). With the new information about “witness 8” lying under oath about some minor tangential detail, I agree that it doesn’t look great for the prosecution, but the truth is that we hardly know anything about what the various legal teams are doing behind closed doors and there’s still a lot more to this story and this trial to be revealed. Jury selection becomes the next big fight. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed, with skeptical hope, for a conviction by jury.
(Source: rather-facile, via jhameia)
speaking of art history
this is Undine by Chauncey Bradley Ives. she’s at the Smithsonian.
and this is her from the back
that is marble, y’all.
MARBLE.
carved so thin you can SEE THE LIGHT THROUGH IT.
i just.
wow.
fucking art, y’all.
fucking.
art.
marble is actually translucent even uncut, it’s one of the things we teach students in basic geology courses to help with the rock ID process. that statue is fucking amazing either way, though.
(via litteraenimoccidit)
Focusing on the word “cunt” is a distraction; for example, the Onion debacle kinda overshadowed how sexist the Oscars were overall. And that’s the goal, right? If we’re busy being outraged over how “cunt” is the nastiest nasty thing to ever nasty, we’ll waste the energy we need to fight against a system that denigrates women for wanting to be treated as equals.
I can understand the argument that calling a woman a “cunt” is akin to telling her that is all she is: a brainless hole that needs to be filled, etc. But since so many politicians and comedians and cops and college kids seem to think that anyway, the solution isn’t to be afraid of the word and therefore scared to admit we have cunts — and are capable of acting like cunts, if the situation calls for it.
‘Cunt’ Is Not a Bad Word by Katie J.M. Baker
- ” overshadowed how sexist the Oscars were overall. And that’s the goal, right? If we’re busy being outraged over how “cunt” is the nastiest nasty thing to ever nasty, we’ll waste the energy we need to fight against a system that denigrates women for wanting to be treated as equals.”
Okay she want us to focus on how the oscars was sexist overall and i guess that means how it was sexist toward just the white women who are grown? but not the 9 year old who is defenseless? she wants us to focus on sexism as a whole meanwhile forgetting that black women/girls are women!
OKAY SIMPLE BITCH. OOPS I CALLED YOU A BITCH..IS THAT SATIRE? CAN IT BE SATIRE..CAN WE RECLAIM BITCH? I BET YOU DIDNT LIKE THAT..
AND THEY DIDNT CALL A WOMAN A CUNT THEY CALLED A LITTLE GIRL WITH DOG PURSES A CUNT..A LITTLE GIRL..WHO WAS NOMINATED IN THE BEST ACTRESS CATEGORY
(via howtobeterrell)
fuck you selfish white bitches, to utter HELL.
(via searchingforknowledge)
This is why white feminists don’t win at life, tbh.
(via kyssthis16)
These white bitches will get mad as hell when Toronto Police call y’all sluts, Get pissed off when Sandra Fluke gets called a name by a white man.
But the minute a NINE YEAR OLD BLACK CHILD gets called a cunt, all of a sudden y’all wanna talk about ‘EQUALITY?’
White women are not feminists.
They are only consolidating their power under white supremacy.
Which is why they will defend sexist and racist white men to the DEATH before they ever help a Black CHILD.
(via sourcedumal)
bolded especially the last two sentences
(via searchingforknowledge)
(via freshmouthgoddess)
