I avoided following the trial of the George Zimmerman case which took place in Sanford, Florida for many reasons. Sanford is one of the main reasons since I associate it with a man I met in Florida in 1974 who attended Wright State University and who was writing a paper about God. I have not forgotten this man since his license plates on his car were from Sanford, Florida. I suspected a lot of hooey in this case for that reason alone. I shall not mention his name. He was a person who I had rather simply let pass into history right now.
But finally I did watch the closing statements for both the defense and the prosecution. I had had my own ideas about this case when it first began, but promptly let them fly out the window as I did not care to take much interest in this case.
Because I had studied court reporting in Florida, i am well programmed to understand Florida law, and I also have learned that as in the state of Tennessee, that with the law one does have a friend. There are certain requirements by law that do protect people from bad judgement calls and potential harm. One can never underestimate the power of the law in the hands of a good attorney.
I argued both sides of this case while listening to the attornies who argued their cases. I could see through both since neither seemed to present a truly definitive argument. It would be difficult to argue this case since there is a one sided version of it, but some facts were obvious whether one liked it or not.
The media was a bit intrusive and partial in my opinion. Everyone rushed to judgement, including the president of the USA. As an attorney he should have known better but he was trying to apparently make waves with the black community when he suggested that his own son had he had one would have looked a lot like this young victim. I rather doubt that but that was his feeling at the time. Why did he rush in? Did some other kid who looked more like Mike Tyson probably not get that same benefit?
At any rate, sides began to take shape and it became a black versus white battle in fact as demonstrated now by marches and demonstrations with one guy so stupid as to say that some white folk needed to be present to help the black folk. That was utterly irresponsible of channel 15 to air that in my opinion but sure enough, it was on the news tonight about a demonstration here in Phoenix. Stupid!
The law is not about a black kid or a hispanic man whose mother is from Peru. It is about the facts in the case as presented in court, and heard by the jury. It did not matter that Trayvon was a former football player with lots of muscle and energy to match someone who was 4 inches shorter, and only slightly heavier. The age difference is a matter of maturity, and the fact that the watch captain seemed to think that he had some authority in playing guardian of the neighborhood.
Whatever transpired so that the two came face to face is not a known fact. We have only George's word for it and a few eye witnesses who claim to be able to see in the dark well enough to identify the person on top and the person on the bottom. There is little doubt that the two came into close proximity with one another.
The attornies played to the jury using cardboard cutouts and a mannequin of some kind to attempt to prove that it would have been impossible for the defendant to have taken his gun out while under the tall, lean Trayvon Martin. So when did he take his gun out? When did he get the chance to aim and shoot? Nobody can be sure. But it is a fact that he did do it and he admitted to it, never regretting his actions at all as stated to Hannity on a televised show with his attorney present at his side.
So what does this all mean? In the end, the burden of the proof to get a conviction was impossible and everybody knew it would be. I found it difficult to like either side's presentation in court because they both soft pedaled it so much. Nobody wanted to offend the grieving parents and the black community who everyone seemed to believe would riot and cause mayhem if their side wasn't vindicated in court.
Personally, I think that the emphasis should have been on how frightening this tall, muscular teenager appeared to George Zimmerman. It is a bit like a Tim Conway figure or Barney Fife figure meeting up with a tall threatening athlete like Mean Joe Green or Mike Tyson. Naturally, this teenager did not look like either of those nor does Zimmerman appear that weak and shaky, but the idea is that the kid was portrayed as a child when as an adolescent he is a strong and potentially dangerous person. He was very intimidating to say the least since he had apparently tossed and tumbled with George on the ground so that George felt compelled to resort to his weapon to defend himself.
I wonder why George did not try to wound him in the leg, but I suspect that fear so gripped him that he simply aimed and shot, not caring about anything but saving his own skin. That is why they have the self defense law in Florida. It is to protect those who fear for their lives to be able to save themselves from bodily harm or death. I recall my neighbor in Florida telling me that I needed a gun to protect myself then. In fact, he may have been correct. But I have yet to purchase a gun to protect myself.
So now that the jury came together to render a verdict that seemed the only logical one to give, the marches are on and people are protesting that the poor black kid did not get treated properly. That the system is such that black kids cannot walk the streets of America without getting shot and killed. Balder dash! There are any number of black and white youngsters, aged, and others who are shot and killed without a mention in the media at all.
This is a poster card case. This is the cause of extreme martyrdom in which the black people can yell foul because a small community in Florida decided that the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof.
It is time for the hysteria to die down, for the professional bleeding hearts to shut up, and for life to return to normal without having to cater to every minority interest groups marches and demonstrations.
Had this happened to any of my football relatives, not a bit of publicity would have happened. It probably would not get into page 3 of the local presses. That is life in America. Too bad unfortunately for the over magnified and over publicized victims of the case. No publicity is better than this kind.
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