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发帖数: 29846 | 1 July 13, 2013 - 11:36 PM
By MIKE SCHNEIDER and KYLE
George Zimmerman, right, is congratulated by his defense team after being
found not guilty during Zimmerman's trial in Seminole Circuit Court in
Sanford, Fla. on Saturday, July 13, 2013. Jurors found Zimmerman not guilty
of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin
in Sanford, Fla. The six-member, all-woman jury deliberated for more than 15
hours over two days before reaching their decision Saturday night. (AP
Photo/Gary W. Green, Pool)
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was
cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the
unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S
. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice.
Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled when the verdict was announced. He
could have been convicted of second-degree murder or manslaughter. But the
jury of six women, all but one of them white, reached a verdict of not
guilty after deliberating well into the night. Their names have not been
made public, and they declined to speak to the media.
Martin's mother and father were not in the courtroom when the verdict was
read; supporters of his family who had gathered outside yelled "No! No!"
upon learning of the not guilty verdict.
The teen's father, Tracy, reacted on Twitter: "Even though I am broken
hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY."
His mother also said on Twitter that she appreciated the prayers from
supporters.
"Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have," she
wrote.
The jurors considered nearly three weeks of often wildly conflicting
testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old was
shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was
staying.
Defense attorneys said the case was classic self-defense, claiming Martin
knocked Zimmerman down and was slamming the older man's head against the
concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun.
"We're ecstatic with the results," defense attorney Mark O'Mara after the
verdict. "George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting
himself in self-defense."
Another member of his defense team, Don West, said he was pleased the jury "
kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty."
Prosecutors called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was a "wannabe cop"
vigilante who had grown frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood
committed primarily by young black men. Zimmerman assumed Martin was up to
no good and took the law into his own hands, prosecutors said.
State Attorney Angela Corey said after the verdict that she believed second-
degree murder was the appropriate charge because Zimmerman's mindset "fit
the bill of second-degree murder."
"We charged what we believed we could prove," Corey said.
As the verdict drew near, police and city leaders in the Orlando suburb of
Sanford and other parts of Florida said they were taking precautions against
the possibility of mass protests or unrest in the event of an acquittal.
"There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence," Seminole
County Sheriff Don Eslinger said immediately after jurors began deliberating
. "We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will
continue to act peacefully."
O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, said his client is aware he has to be cautious
and protective of his safety.
"There still is a fringe element that wants revenge," O'Mara said. "They won
't listen to a verdict of not guilty."
The verdict came a year and a half after civil rights protesters angrily
demanded Zimmerman be prosecuted. That anger appeared to return Saturday
night outside the courthouse, at least for some who had been following the
case.
Rosie Barron, 50, and Andrew Perkins, 55, both black residents of Sanford,
stood in the parking lot of the courthouse and wept.
"I at least thought he was going to get something, something," Barron said.
Added her brother: "How the hell did they find him not guilty?"
Perkins was so upset he was shaking. "He killed somebody and got away with
murder," Perkins shouted, looking in the direction of the courthouse. "He
ain't getting no probation or nothing."
Several Zimmerman supporters also were outside the courthouse, including a
brother and sister quietly rejoicing that Zimmerman was acquitted. Both
thought the jury made the right decision in finding Zimmerman not guilty —
they felt that Zimmerman killed Martin in self-defense.
Cindy Lenzen, 50, of Casslebury, and her brother, 52-year-old Chris Bay,
stood watching the protesters chant slogans such as, "the whole system's
guilty."
Lenzen and Bay — who are white — called the entire case "a tragedy,"
especially for Zimmerman.
"It's a tragedy that he's going to suffer for the rest of his life," Bay
said. "No one wins either way. This is going to be a recurring nightmare in
his mind every night."
Meanwhile, authorities in Martin's hometown of Miami said the streets were
quiet, with no indication of problems. The neighborhood where Martin's
father lives in Miami Gardens was equally quiet.
Zimmerman wasn't arrested for 44 days after the Feb. 26, 2012, shooting as
police in Sanford insisted that Florida's Stand Your Ground law on self-
defense prohibited them from bringing charges. Florida gives people wide
latitude to use deadly force if they fear death or bodily harm.
Martin's parents, along with civil rights leaders such as the Revs. Jesse
Jackson and Al Sharpton, argued that Zimmerman — whose father is white and
whose mother is Hispanic — had racially profiled their son. And they
accused investigators of dragging their feet because Martin was a black
teenager.
Before a special prosecutor assigned to the case ordered Zimmerman's arrest,
thousands of protesters gathered in Sanford, Miami, New York and elsewhere,
many wearing hoodies like the one Martin had on the night he died. They
also carried Skittles and a can of iced tea, items Martin had in his pocket.
President Barack Obama weighed in, saying that if he had a son, "he'd look
like Trayvon."
Despite the racially charged nature of the case, race was barely mentioned
at the trial. Even after the verdict, prosecutors said the case was not
about race.
"This case has never been about race or the right to bear arms," Corey said.
"We believe this case all along was about boundaries, and George Zimmerman
exceeded those boundaries."
One of the few mentions of race came from witness Rachel Jeantel, the Miami
teen who was talking to Martin by phone moments before he was shot. She
testified that he described being followed by a "creepy-ass cracker" as he
walked through the neighborhood.
Jeantel gave some of the trial's most riveting testimony. She said she
overheard Martin demand, "What are you following me for?" and then yell, "
Get off! Get off!" before his cellphone went dead.
The jurors had to sort out clashing testimony from 56 witnesses in all,
including police, neighbors, friends and family members.
For example, witnesses who got fleeting glimpses of the fight in the
darkness gave differing accounts of who was on top. And Martin's parents and
Zimmerman's parents both claimed that the person heard screaming for help
in the background of a neighbor's 911 call was their son. Numerous other
relatives and friends weighed in, too, as the recording was played over and
over in court. Zimmerman had cuts and scrapes on his face and the back of
his head, but prosecutors suggested the injuries were not serious.
To secure a second-degree murder conviction, prosecutors had to convince the
jury that Zimmerman acted with a "depraved" state of mind — that is, with
ill will, hatred or spite. Prosecutors said he demonstrated that when he
muttered, "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away" during a
call to police as he watched Martin walk through his neighborhood.
To win a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors had to convince the jury only
that Zimmerman killed without lawful justification. |
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