I bit late in posting this but the LA Times reports on Zimmerman's mother making an ass out of herself and joining George's brother in biasing the potential jury pool against Zimmerman. Well, no one said they were bright.
On Thursday, Zimmerman’s mother celebrated the anniversary by angrily denouncing the justice system and the media for the pushing for the arrest of her son “solely to placate the masses.”
For anyone who pays attention to the title's of court cases like the one Zimmerman is facing the title is usually
The People vs. so and so. So yes, the justice [sic] system is
supposed to represent and provide justice for "the masses." How exactly do you get mad at that?
“April 11 2012 will be forever remembered by the Zimmerman family as the day the justice system failed us as Americans, and as a consequence an innocent man was arrested for a crime he did not commit, solely to placate the masses,”
I suppose that no one has informed Ms. Zimmerman that all persons under the US justice [sic] system is presumed innocent (unless you are a man accused of rape in which case there is a growing movement to remove that presumption of innocence but that's another post for another time). Zimmerman was arrested because there was probable cause (a dead body killed with his weapon) to arrest him. Exactly how the US Constitution requires. So exactly what is the "failure"?
“From the beginning, this case has been heavily publicized and a false narrative was developed surrounding a very real tragedy when there was little evidence available to the public,” the letter stated. “It is astounding that despite the vast amount of information and evidence now available that supports George’s self-defense claim, the majority of the media avoids its publication. It is indeed alarming that even more media outlets do not regret misinforming the public and have not taken steps to retract the fabrications they are responsible for perpetuating.”
As I've said elsewhere in regards to this matter, I do not know all the data available to the prosecution. I
still think it was and is mistake to charge Zimmerman with murder because they will have to prove malice or some sort of depravity and I think that's going to be a hard sell with the information I do know about. That said Zimmerman's mother (and brother) apparently don't understand that Zimmerman is on trial because he followed a person who wasn't doing anything wrong (and no, looking at your surroundings is not evidence of intent to commit a crime). Having your hands in your pocket is not evidence of intent to commit a crime. Running from someone who's been following you in their car is not evidence of intent to commit a crime. Confronting a person who was following you in their car and has decided to follow you on foot is also not a crime (particularly under Florida's stand your ground law).
All these things mean that the police had probable cause to arrest Zimmerman and to try him for whatever they deemed appropriate. I know that it bother's some white people a great deal but black men (and minors) have the same rights as anyone else to walk down the street in peace without being followed by armed people. They have the right to confront a person who is menacing them and the right to defend themselves against someone who poses a risk to them.
Zimmerman could have avoided the entire situation by doing one thing. The thing he was told by the police dispatcher:
Stay in his car.
