Zimmerman Screwed

The defense in the George Zimmerman case isn't quite as hapless as I thought it was going to be. I say this because it did two things in the closing arguments that I had been urging the defense lawyers to do. They produced cardboard cutouts of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman showing that Trayvon was actually taller than Zimmerman, not the 135 pound junior high school student the media liked to portray him as.

And they found themselves a piece of concrete sidewalk somewhere and held it up for the jury to see to show them that Trayvon was not as weaponless as the prosecution maintained.

Despite this, the prosecution (and the judge) will be everywhere celebrating after the jury returns its verdict. I read one story about the closing arguments saying that the prosecution was thundering that Zimmerman hadn't "proven he was innocent" of killing this poor child who only wanted to buy a bag of Skittles and return home. A female juror (all the six jurors are female) was seen wiping a tear as the prosecutor spoke. I hope the defense pointed out to the jury that it was not Zimmerman's responsibility to prove he was innocent. It was the prosecution's burden to prove he was not.

It rankles me how corrupt and vicious the prosecutors are in this case. They invariable talk of "this child," as if someone who called him self  a "No_Limit_Nigga" on  his website, was selling guns with his cellphone and had been caught with a bag of stolen property and "burglary tools" (in this case a screwdriver) was somehow a mere child. A child is someone who no adult would worry about if he encountered him on the street. Trayvon was over 6 feet and intimidating in manner. He boasted of the fights he'd won. Is there any grown man who would regard someone who is taller than him as a "child?"

In my opinion the prosecution isn't making a good faith argument for Zimmerman's guilt at all. They are deeply invested in this case. They hate Zimmerman so much they can't speak his name without their lips twisting into an involuntary sneer. Angela Cory, the special prosecutor, who was assigned to investigate this case held a press conference (with the Martin family) at the beginning of the process to announce that her goal was to obtain "justice for Trayvon Martin." Well shoot. Didn't she go to law school? Doesn't she know her goal is to find justice for both Martin and Zimmerman. Justice doesn't only apply to one side.

I don't have a good feeling about this case. The defense was never allowed to present evidence showing Martin was actually a young thug.  The prosecution handled this case with deep malice towards Zimmerman. If the prosecution already has the jury shedding tears it is entirely possible they will find Zimmerman guilty at the last minute of manslaughter, which in the hands of this judge will result in Zimmerman serving just as long a sentence as he would have received had he been convicted of second-degree murder.

I think the judge in this case and the prosecution were both under enormous pressure from the Atty. Gen., Eric holder, and Barack Obama himself, to find Zimmerman guilty. This is one of the reasons the judge harangued Zimmerman over whether or not he would testify. She kept asking him if it was his own decision. Since when is a defendant supposed to make a major decision like this by himself? That's why he has an attorney. To help him make such decisions.

Even if the jury acquits Zimmerman of both second-degree murder and manslaughter his life is still over. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will immediately file a civil rights lawsuit against him. This will have lower standards of proof. The second time around the witnesses for the prosecution won't be so laughable.

But even if he escapes conviction his ordeal still won't be over. The family will sue him for $100 million on the theory that any case that galvanized a nation like this one did deserves nothing less.

For the time being all this is in the future. What he really needs to worry about is what seems like a very likely manslaughter conviction. And we know what will happen when Zimmerman goes to jail. He won't last two weeks. All the people who promised to kill him if he was acquitted will now send their incarcerated relatives and friends to kill him in prison.