Zimmerman's Pointless Trial

George Zimmerman will be found not guilty if his attorney connects the dots in his closing argument and the jury is fair. Then the professional race-baiters can go to work spreading disharmony. The trial concerns whether Hispanic (Peruvian) Zimmerman was acting in self-defense when he shot Martin, whom we are constantly reminded happens to be Black.

Eight simple facts make it very easy to understand the now-famous murder trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin unfolding in Sanford, Florida. Finding the truth doesn't require all the subjective testimony and opinion dominating the trial:

(1) It had been raining, so the grass was wet. The shooting occurred at the edge of the sidewalk on the grass.

(2) The back of George Zimmerman's clothes were wet and "flecked" with grass, a police officer who investigated at the scene
testified, as if he had been lying on his back in wet grass.

(3) The knees in Trayvon Martin's jeans were stained, Medical Examiner Shiping Bao testified, as if Martin had been kneeling in the wet grass.

(4) The gun that killed Trayvon Martin was in direct contact with Martin's clothing when he was shot, according to the expert analysis and testimony of Florida Department of Law Enforcement firearm's expert Amy Siewert. She testified that the tear patterns in the cloth show a "contact shot" into the clothing.

(5) But the gun that killed Martin was at least 0.4 inches and up to 4 feet away from Martin's skin when Martin was shot, according to the expert analysis and testimony of Medical Examiner (coroner) Shiping Bao. He testified that the gunshot wound and condition of the skin show it was not a "contact shot" with respect to Martin's skin.

Therefore, Martin's clothing was not up against his body. Martin's clothing was hanging some distance away from his skin when the gun was fired. Martin's clothing was hanging downward from his body by the force of gravity when the gun was fired.

That is, Martin was leaning over Zimmerman. Martin was attacking Zimmerman and was on top of him. His clothing was hanging down, away from his body.

(6) A neighbor, Jonathan Good, testified that he saw Trayvon Martin kneeling on top of George Zimmerman in the wet grass and on the edge of the sidewalk, pounding Zimmerman with his fists.

Other witnesses testified that they thought they saw Zimmerman straddling on top of Martin as the men struggled in the grass next to a sidewalk, but were less certain. The reason they were unclear is because they did not know either of the young men at the time.

(7) Zimmerman suffered many very obvious cuts and bruises, especially on the back of his head, while Martin's body showed no injuries except on his hands.

(8) However, Trayvon Martin is Black and the liberal media is overwhelmingly racist, meaning that most journalists are obsessed with people's race and view and understand everything in terms of what color the person involved happens to be. This case would never have seen the inside of a courtroom except for the inherent racism of the news media.

There is only one possibility: Trayvon Martin was kneeling over George Zimmerman from above him, so that Martin's clothing was hanging down by the effect of gravity away from his body. When Zimmerman held up his gun, Martin's clothing fell down due to gravity and rested against the end of the gun. So his clothing was in direct contact with the muzzle when the gun was fired. But Martin's chest was an inch or two away from the gun. So Martin's clothes were a couple of inches from Martin's chest.

If George Zimmerman had been straddled on top of Trayvon Martin, with Martin lying on his back, Martin's clothing would fall down flat against the skin of his chest. So then both his clothing and skin would have been together in direct contact with the muzzle of the gun. The only way that Martin's clothing could be in contact with the gun yet not the skin of his body is if the clothing was hanging downward from his body under the influence of gravity.

Therefore, clearly Trayvon Martin was on top of George Zimmerman pounding Zimmerman with his fists, and pinning Zimmerman beneath him. At the moment the gun was fired, Zimmerman was underneath Martin, afraid for his life or of bodily injury.

Yet, overall, legal observers were baffled: What were Sanford, Florida, prosecutors thinking? Prosecutors kept calling witness after witness proving Defendant Zimmerman not guilty. Now, any lawyer can suffer an unpleasant surprise. But here we had a parade of one prosecution witness after another mostly helping the defense.

Only one explanation makes sense to this attorney: the prosecutors are resolving an ethical dilemma. The prosecutors know (according to this theory) that the State of Florida does not have a viable case against George Zimmerman. Yet prosecutors also knew that many people believe the shooting was racism. They knew there would be racial trauma or even riots if prosecutors just dropped the case.

So how can a prosecutor handle this? Only one way: lay all the cards on the table. Let the jury sort it out. Prosecutors are throwing everything on the table indiscriminately. That approach makes sense if prosecutors aren't convinced that Zimmerman is guilty. Then the public will understand why when the jury acquits.

However, the prosecutors do have to put on a good impression of trying to get a conviction. An attorney representing a client has a duty to represent his client (here, the State). Yet an attorney representing the State also has a duty to achieve justice.

So what really happened? It is offensive and outrageous for anyone to try to learn some greater lesson about Black people if one Black person commits a crime. It is equally offensive and outrageous to try to make some larger point about White people if a Peruvian Hispanic shoots a Black teenager, whether it actually was in self defense or even if it was murder.

Perhaps Zimmerman and Martin were each victims of the inherent racism of liberal opinion-leaders and the media. Raised to distrust each other by a race-obsessed official culture, both Zimmerman and Martin pursued reckless, dangerous and foolish paths careening toward needless confrontation.

Macho brinkmanship went horribly wrong. At the final moment ending in out-of-control violence, Zimmerman felt his life was in danger. But the mutual mistrust, fear, negative assumptions about the other, miscalculation and poor judgment that led to the clash caused a tragedy.

Zimmerman was overly-paranoid about criminal elements overrunning his neighborhood. Martin had to prove his gangsta street "cred" by standing up to the "creepy a@* [white] cracker." We need to find hip-hop and rap, violent movies, violent video games, and liberal journalists guilty as charged. 

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