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Trayvon Martin's killer finally charged
Trayvon Martin shooter charged with 2nd-degree murder
The Associated Press Posted: Apr 11, 2012 11:29 AM ET
A special prosecutor assigned to the Trayvon Martin case has charged neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of the 17-year-old.
George Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (Associated Press)
Prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges at a news conference in Jacksonville, Fla.
"The team here with me has worked tirelessly working for answers in Trayvon Martin's death," said Corey, who emphasized that the charges were not made due to mounting public pressure.
"There is a reason cases are tried in a court of law, not in a court of media."
Zimmerman's shooting of the unarmed black teenager Feb. 26 brought demands from black leaders for his arrest and set off a furious nationwide debate over race and self-defence that reached all the way to the White House.
The 28-year-old Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, said the teenager attacked him. Martin's family argued Zimmerman was the aggressor.
Zimmerman's arrest was delayed partly because of Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people wide leeway to use deadly force without having to retreat in the face of danger. Florida is among 21 states with such a law.
Corey said a great deal of information on this case has been circulating that never should have been released.
"There's been an overwhelming amount of publicity in this case," she said, adding that she worries it will be difficult to find an impartial jury.
P.O.V.: Do you think George Zimmerman can get a fair trial? Have your say here.
"It is regrettable that so many facts and details have been released and misconstrued."
Corey said that two of her top prosecutors — Bernie de la Rionda and John Guy — would be leading the investigation, which she defined as a truth-seeking mission.
"It was less than three weeks ago that we told those sweet parents we would get answers to all of their questions no matter where our quest for the truth led us," said Corey, who repeatedly stressed the importance of a fair and impartial trial.
"When we charge a person with a crime, we are equally committed to justice on their behalf as we are on our victim's behalf."
Slain teen's parents urge calm
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The parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton, right, and Tracy Martin hold hands as they watch a news conference in Washington with special prosecutor Angela Corey in Sanford, Fla., announcing charges against George Zimmerman on Wednesday, April 11, 2012. (Evan Vucci, Pool/AP)
Trayvon Martin's parents expressed relief over Corey's decision to charge the man who killed their son.
They watched Corey's announcement on television in a room at the Washington Convention Center.
As soon as Corey uttered the words "second-degree murder," his father, Tracy Martin, and his mother, Sybrina Fulton, grasped hands. Their attorney, Benjamin Crump, placed his hands over theirs. Fulton smiled slightly at the news.
They appealed for their supporters, as well as Zimmerman's supporters, to remain calm in response to the prosecutor's decision.
"We've always said that we want peaceful resolution, no matter what side you're on," Martin said.
"We don't want them to stop the protest and the rallies, we just want to make sure that they remain peaceful," said Fulton.
"We're going through the process the right way, the proper way. We just ask that everybody that supports us do the same thing. Even the ones who don't support us, we want to make sure that they protest in a peaceful manner."
Earlier Wednesday Fulton said if she could speak directly to George Zimmerman, she would allow him a chance to say he is sorry for what happened.
"I would probably give him an opportunity to apologize," Fulton told The Associated Press in an interview.
"I would probably ask him if there were another way that he could have settled the confrontation that he had with Trayvon, other than the way it ended, with Trayvon being shot."
Her voice trailed off, and tears welled in her eyes. She expressed faith that the justice system would work as it should.
Martin offered several questions that he would like to ask Zimmerman about the sequence of events that led up to Trayvon's death, but in the end said he would want to know, "Was it really worth it?"
"The question I would really like to ask him is, if he could look into Trayvon's eyes and see how innocent he was, would he have then pulled the trigger? Or would he have just let him go on home?" Martin said.
Lawyers drop case
On Tuesday, Zimmerman's lawyers announced they were withdrawing from the case because they hadn't heard from him since Sunday and didn't know where he was. They portrayed his mental state as fragile.
Trayvon Martin, who was killed in February, poses in an undated photo. (Martin family/Associated Press)
"He is largely alone. You might even say he is emotionally crippled by virtue of the pressure of this case," said one of the lawyers, Hal Uhrig.
The case has drawn the interest of the highest levels of the Obama administration, with the Justice Department's civil rights division opening its own investigation.
Tensions have risen in recent days in Sanford. Someone shot up an unoccupied police car Tuesday as it sat outside the neighbourhood where Martin was killed. And a demonstration by college students closed the town's police station Monday.
Six weeks ago, Martin was returning to the home of his father's fiancee from a convenience store when Zimmerman started following him.
Zimmerman told police dispatchers he looked suspicious. At some point, the two got into a fight and Zimmerman used his gun.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2...n-parents.html
Finally, justice can be served through the due process of law (as fair as bourgeois justice can possibly be). Was that too much to ask for?
Finally!
"I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heartless robots who protect them and their property." - Assata Shakur
Nice one. Note the prosecution have tried saying the initiative is not down to mounting public pressure. Yeaaaah, right.
Charity is a woefully inadequate means of partial restitution
Oscar Wilde, from his essay 'The Soul of Man Under Socialism'
Fry him
I am an Anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal, but because there is no such thing as a final goal. - Rudolf RockerEconomic Left/Right: -8.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.84
[FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Was Known As ProvenSocialist[/FONT]Revolutionary Anarchist Blog
"It will happen to all of us that at some point, you get tapped on the shoulder and told not just that the party's over, but slightly worse: The party's going on, but you have to leave."
I'm against the death penalty but they should put him in a jail/work camp with a bunch of black people, fun.
For student organizing in california, join this group!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=1036
http://socialistorganizer.org/
"[I]t’s hard to keep potent historical truths bottled up forever. New data repositories are uncovered. New, less ideological, generations of historians grow up. In the late 1980s and before, Ann Druyan and I would routinely smuggle copies of Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution into the USSR—so our colleagues could know a little about their own political beginnings.”
--Carl Sagan
They could have him burnt at the stake, I'd still feel he somehow got out cheap.
From Zimmerman's lawyer:http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/...les_video.html
Awesome. However I wish more outrage was directed towards the Sanford Police Department. Zimmerman was only able to get away with this at first because of the social structure in place at the time of which the Sanford police take part in. In addition to Zimmerman, the now 'retired' police chief deserves punishment.
And as a side note, I find it really funny how people debate about Zimmerman's 'race' as if it were an objective property of a person.
better late than never.
i cant help feeling, though, it is a shame his parents seem to only wish to thank the lord...
when, in truth, such a lord had absolutely nothing to do with it [ the case being brought forward, that is]and if he was worth anything should have stopped the killing in the first place.
!?!?!
I find it outrageous that people defend Zimmerman by saying Hispanic is a 'race' and therefore he is a 'racial minority' and would not be racist.
Socialist Party of Outer Space
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
Let's not.
Second-degree murder is about as much as could be expected. The only charge beyond it is first-degree (premeditated) murder, and that would have been almost impossible to prove. Second-degree murder also means it is not a capital (death penalty) case; the most he'll likely get is 25 years to life, with eligibility for parole at the end of the minimum. If he is found guilty, he will have his basic civil rights stripped from him for the rest of his life, due to being a convicted felon. Moreover, there is a real likelihood that Zimmerman will also face federal civil rights charges and have to pay restitution to Trayvon Martin's family.
i think it's more likely he'll get a plea deal or something. maybe a thing for manslaughter.
I'm on some sickle-hammer shit
Collective Bruce Banner shit
FKA: #FF0000, AKA Mistake Not My Current State Of Joshing Gentle Peevishness For The Awesome And Terrible Majesty Of The Towering Seas Of Ire That Are Themselves The Milquetoast Shallows Fringing My Vast Oceans Of Wrath
I as well think he will get a plea bargin. Most likely manslaughter and a very low payment to the Martin family.
Last edited by Martin Blank; 15th April 2012 at 15:26. Reason: Warning withdrawn
Good news.
Now this:
What exactly are those "stand your ground" laws, and why aren't we demanding their immediate repeal?
Luís Henrique
