Jeralyn Merritt operates a blog called 'TalkLeft.' As its name indicates, it approaches issues from the left-sided viewpoint and I am certain that the two of us would disagree on most things. Ms Merritt, however, has a terrific analysis of the Zimmerman trial, which I encourage you to read in full. Here's some of it:
'Now that the evidence has been presented, my previously expressed
opinions on this case have only become more solidified. Looking to the
future, and the legacy of this case, here is what I see. Keep in mind
this is only my opinion.
Whether George Zimmerman is acquitted or convicted, and I am not
making any predictions before hearing closing arguments and reading the
jury instructions, the legacy of this case will be that the media never
gets it right, and worse, that a group of lawyers, with the aid of a
public relations team, who had a financial stake in the outcome of
pending and anticipated civil litigation, were allowed to commandeer
control of Florida’s criminal justice system, in pursuit of a divisive,
personal agenda.
Their transformation of a tragic but spontaneous shooting into the
crime of the century, and their relentless demonization of the person
they deemed responsible, not for a tragic killing, but for “cold-blooded
murder,” has called into question the political motives and ethics of
the officials serving in the Executive branch of Florida’s government,
ruined the career of other public officials, turned the lives of the
Zimmerman family, who are as innocent as their grieving clients, into a
nightmare, and along the way, set back any chance of a rational
discussion of the very cause they were promoting, probably for years.
The problems of racial disparity and arbitrary enforcement of our
criminal laws are real, systemic and need to be addressed. Criminal
defense lawyers see it and fight to correct it every day. From charging
decisions to plea offers to sentences, the system is not fair and
everybody knows it.
But this case has never been representative of those problems. And
perhaps most unfortunate of all, as a result of the false narrative
created by the lawyers for grieving parents who tragically lost their
son — a narrative perpetuated by a complicit and ratings-hungry media —
any attempt at meaningful reform is likely to fall on deaf ears for
years to come.
...
The state's theory hasn't changed from day 1. We can all recite it by
heart: Zimmerman improperly profiled Martin as a criminal and pursued
him, making Zimmerman the one who initiated the confrontation. The state
can argue that it amounts to ill-will, hatred and spite, but it doesn't
defeat Zimmerman's self-defense claim. If the jury finds Zimmerman
acted in self-defense, his actions were justified and lawful, and he's
not guilty of either murder 2 or manslaughter.
It's a thin reed the state is hanging on by.'
Related: Focusing On All The Wrong Things In The Zimmerman Trial
http://tinyurl.com/l7r7nbg
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