Let's talk about Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and how unbelievably fucked up this all is

I haven't been tracking this closely, but just the details alone don't indicate a first degree murder charge. Dude was reckless as fuck and a manslaughter conviction should have been a slam dunk.

Yeah it definitely felt like the prosecutor overreached in trying for a first degree murder charge

Which obviously still speaks to how fucked up our criminal justice system is

first degree is premeditated, isn't it? it wouldn't make sense in this case. at least he got nailed on the other counts

Deliberation and Premeditation

Whether a killer acted with the deliberation and premeditation required for first degree murder can only be determined on a case by case basis. The need for deliberation and premeditation does not mean that the perpetrator must contemplate at length or plan far ahead of the murder. Time enough to form the conscious intent to kill and then act on it after enough time for a reasonable person to second guess the decision typically suffices. While this can happen very quickly, deliberation and premeditation must occur before, and not at the same time as, the act of killing.

- See more at: http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/first-degree-murder-overview.html#sthash.cuFpiaNY.dpuf

that's what I figured - it'd be tough to prove that he planned ahead to kill someone, even if he probably was fantasizing about going Death Wish like so many other nuts, going by his statements after the fact

For example, Dan and Connie rob Victor's liquor store, but as they are fleeing, Victor shoots and kills Dan. Under the felony murder rule, Connie can be charged with first-degree murder for Dan's death even though neither of the robbers actually did the killing.

x-post-
this can happen very quickly,

Which is why first degree can make sense here where a guy fired a gun as many times as he did

Florida prosecutors SUCK. SUCK. SUCK. But, hey, let 'em off the hook and keep bashing juries if you want. That fact that this was a mistrial and not an acquittal means that at least one juror stood the fuck up to a white racist scum bag juror. The first degree murder charge is not dead (although I am not exactly super hopeful about it).

Acording to NYT, the jury automatically had to consider second and third degree murder as well as manslaughter, and still couldn't come to an agreement.

On the other hand, as a scandinavian anti-prison soft-on-crime liberal, I still think 60 years in jail would be more than sufficient for this murderous racist scumbag. It's obviously not the problem in this mistrial, but still.

The trial has drawn international attention because of racial overtones and Dunn's claims of self-defense.

Man, I am sick to death of this "racial overtones" and "racially charged" language that media and commentators use in cases like these. Ain't no overtones here, it's all there in the root note.

a strong, full-bodied trial, with a tart woody finish, hints of walnut in the aftertaste, and the slightest overtone of white supremacy.

a+

Wasn't it argued that it was premeditated because he had to stop, take out and load his gun first before he fired willy-nilly into the car? It's hard to keep all these shootings straight.

I will not respect the lie. I would rather be thought insane.

Anthony Reed on the trial and its coverage:

The ruling classes’ fantasy of the other’s pathological culture makes the deaths of those attached to it the sad but predictable outcome of the Other’s failure, the sign of a subculture unfit for modern society, rather than the indirect result of policy and the myths a corrupt social order needs to uphold itself. But it also keeps the conversation abstract. “Loud music trial” conjures away a dead black child and transforms the trial into a conversation between–and consolidation of–the ruling classes over literal black bodies.

http://thesacredwords.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/thug-culture/

great pieces from both Coates and Reed

That fact that this was a mistrial and not an acquittal means that at least one juror stood the fuck up to a white racist scum bag juror. The first degree murder charge is not dead (although I am not exactly super hopeful about it).

― Three Word Username, Sunday, February 16, 2014 7:35 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

couldn't it have been the other way around? one white scumbag juror standing up to 11 people who saw a conviction?

i mean we'll find out soon enough

yeah, good point

the jury was 4 white men, 4 white women, two black women, a latino man and an asian-american woman btw

Did they walk into a bar?

Walked into a bar exam

lol@ below the Coates article 'Be the first to comment'

george zimmerman says he's homeless, jobless, and suffers from ptsd

george zimmerman says he's homeless, jobless, and suffers from ptsd

Good.

If he suffered from remorse, I would be more open to sympathy.

"couldn't it have been the other way around? one white scumbag juror standing up to 11 people who saw a conviction?"

We're in Florida, with a Florida prosecutor. Also on a jury of twelve, it is entirely possible that only two jurors actually give a shit. In a mistrial, there is a failure to back down on either side; in white supremacy, one side doesn't even understand the concept of backing down.

It’s important to note that jurors also had the option of convicting Dunn of second-degree murder or manslaughter, which they did not do after deliberating for more than 30 hours. Corey said she hoped jurors would come forward and speak to prosecutors to shed light on what prosecutors could do better.

“Until we know why they were a hung jury, we wouldn’t know what to adjust,” Corey said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/02/18/whats-next-in-the-florida-loud-music-killing-case/?hpid=z2

george zimmerman says he's homeless, jobless, and suffers from ptsd

I killed a teenager and all I got was this lousy ptsd

If he suffered from remorse, I would be more open to sympathy.

There's still the civil trial though so "I wish I hadn't killed him" probably isn't a great thing for him to say right now

Valerie said the jury's first vote was 10-2 in favor of a murder conviction. Over nearly 30 hours of deliberations, the vote became 9-3.

So duly noted - in FL now, I can kill anybody I want as long as I shout "A GUN! I SAW A GUN!" first.

don't wound anyone, though

i guess it's... slightly optimistic... that there were only two hardcore racists on that jury

Either that or two folks who have a really warped understanding of what 'reasonable doubt' is.

Most bitter comment I've read about the case is that Michael Dunn got sixty years for missing the other four

ouch!

Nightline: Do you think Michael Dunn had options?

Juror No. 4: Oh, yes sir.

Nightline: What were his options?

Juror No. 4: Roll your window up. Ignore the taunting. Put your car in reverse. Back up to the front of the store. Move one parking spot over. That's my feeling.

Give this woman a medal.

but "he's the victim", remember....

You don't even have to say you saw a gun! You just have to feel "threatened," which is a bullshit threshold, because if I came up to a car full of kids blasting music and I told them to turn it down and they told me they were going to kick my ass, that's definitely a threat, by most standards, just not the standard of justified homicide.

The frustrating thing as a Floridian is that all of these concerns were voiced back in 2005 when Jeb passed legislation, famously calling it "common sense" legislation. The opposition (ie NRA members) Jedi-handwaved it away as mere doomsday predictions.

Now they try to sidestep it by saying the law is being used in ways it wasn't intended. If the law is so purposefully vague that even the officials that enforce it don't have a firm grasp on the reach of it, and civilians willfully abuse it with this knowledge...the law is at fault.

There is a lot of civilian opposition to SYG in FL but I don't see it getting repealed for a while. Too many gun nuts, and plus we have Rick Scott, so....

Michael Dunn got sixty years for missing the other four

That's essentially what Jon Stewart said

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201410/george-zimmerman-family-values

chael Dunn, a middle-aged white man, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 90 years, by a Florida judge on Friday for killing an unarmed black teenager in an argument over loud rap music.

Dunn, 47, a software engineer, testified at his murder trial last month he thought he was defending himself from an armed threat when he fired 10 rounds at an SUV carrying four teens at a Jacksonville gas station parking lot, killing Jordan Davis, 17, in November 2012.

Under Florida law, first-degree murder is punishable by life in prison without parole. Dunn received an additional 90 years in prison for earlier convictions on three counts of attempted murder of the other teens, none of whom were injured. Prosecutors waived the death penalty before trial.

this guy was obviously incredibly dangerous glad at the verdict

Supporters of Jordan Davis and his family filled rows of the courtroom, and many broke into tears, sometimes sobs, as his parents and other family members told Healey how devastating his death had been.

Davis' mother, Lucia McBath said she always taught her son to love and to forgive.

"Therefore, I too must be willing to forgive and so I choose to forgive you Mr. Dunn for taking my son's life," McBath said in court.

this kind of shit gives me hope for humanity

damn, that is powerful

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/george-zimmerman-arrested-aggravated-assault-weapon-n283586

what a shocking development

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/us/justice-dept-wont-charge-george-zimmerman-in-trayvon-martin-killing.html