Queen Bee
Queen Bee
As of this afternoon, the George Zimmerman trial judge, Judge Debra Nelson, ordered the 23 possible jurors to return next Tuesday, June 18, 2013, for further interview questioning. Judge Nelson will require all jurors to be sequestered, that is, they will have limited contact with the outside world during the two weeks to a month that it will take to hold the trial. The prosecuting and defense attorneys want to build a pool of 40 potential jurors who have been screened for any influence of pretrial publicity before they move to a second round of questioning. More than 75 potential jurors have already been dismissed.
One potential juror even suggested to attorneys that they're going to have a hard time finding jurors who haven't heard about the case and can only hope they find residents who can keep an open mind. "I haven't lived under a rock for the past year," said a potential juror, known as Juror B-51. "It's pretty hard for people not to have gotten some information." Trayvon Martin's family felt comfortable with the jury selection thus far.
Zimmerman admitted to shooting Trayvon Martin in the chest with his 9-mm. handgun after calling police, exiting his pickup truck to follow Martin, and then getting into a fight with the teenager on a rainy night inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla., on February 12, 2012. Zimmerman said Martin came back and attacked him as he, Zimmerman, walked back to his truck. Zimmerman maintains that Martin punched him in the face and slammed the back of his head into the sidewalk. Police photos taken that night show Zimmerman with a broken nose, bruises, and bloody cuts on the back of his head.
Zimmerman could face life in prison if convicted on second-degree murder charges. He claims he shot Martin in self-defense.
A 44-day delay in Zimmerman's arrest led to protests around the United States. Protesters questioned whether the Sanford Police Department was seriously investigating the case of Martin, a black teen from the Miami area. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic. Police initially declined to charge Zimmerman with a crime because Florida's "stand your ground" law permits residents to use force to protect themselves if attacked and does not obligate victims to flee a confrontation. Although Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman says he fired his gun in self-defense during the scuffle.
Intense national debate over the law resulted in few substantive legal changes. Zimmerman declined a "stand your ground" hearing in April, during which the presiding judge could have deemed his actions justified under the statute, thereby dropping the charges, or deemed his actions unjustified under the law, possibly hurting his legal defense. I'm not sure why. But I do know that irate local and national activists, including the illustrious Al Sharpton, grabbed headlines nationwide after alleging that Martin was racially profiled, followed and then murdered. Zimmerman was charged with murder by special prosecutor Angela Corey on April 11, 2012.
The Martin family attorney, Ben Crump, took issue with a comment made by former New York City police detective Harry Houck Tuesday on a FoxNews.com live panel, in which he said that Martin would still be alive if he hadn't had a “street attitude.†Crump retorted, “Trayvon Martin is not on trial here, he is the victim. George Zimmerman, his killer, is the man who is on trial.†Yet, Zimmerman earlier maintained that he, himself, would not be alive if Martin were still alive, and that he shot him in self-defense. So the purported victim could have been the "killer," to use Crump's words.
Was Zimmerman simply, standing his ground and defending himself? The tables could have been turned and he could have been the victim. Once the jury selection is complete we'll see what evidence is actually permissible in court because there seems to be very little evidence except Zimmerman's testimony and his apparent injuries he sustained in the scuffle with Martin. The jury can only convict if they are convinced. It is up to the prosecution to prove their case. We'll see what the jury decides. Stay tuned.
One potential juror even suggested to attorneys that they're going to have a hard time finding jurors who haven't heard about the case and can only hope they find residents who can keep an open mind. "I haven't lived under a rock for the past year," said a potential juror, known as Juror B-51. "It's pretty hard for people not to have gotten some information." Trayvon Martin's family felt comfortable with the jury selection thus far.
Zimmerman admitted to shooting Trayvon Martin in the chest with his 9-mm. handgun after calling police, exiting his pickup truck to follow Martin, and then getting into a fight with the teenager on a rainy night inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla., on February 12, 2012. Zimmerman said Martin came back and attacked him as he, Zimmerman, walked back to his truck. Zimmerman maintains that Martin punched him in the face and slammed the back of his head into the sidewalk. Police photos taken that night show Zimmerman with a broken nose, bruises, and bloody cuts on the back of his head.
Zimmerman could face life in prison if convicted on second-degree murder charges. He claims he shot Martin in self-defense.
A 44-day delay in Zimmerman's arrest led to protests around the United States. Protesters questioned whether the Sanford Police Department was seriously investigating the case of Martin, a black teen from the Miami area. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic. Police initially declined to charge Zimmerman with a crime because Florida's "stand your ground" law permits residents to use force to protect themselves if attacked and does not obligate victims to flee a confrontation. Although Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman says he fired his gun in self-defense during the scuffle.
Intense national debate over the law resulted in few substantive legal changes. Zimmerman declined a "stand your ground" hearing in April, during which the presiding judge could have deemed his actions justified under the statute, thereby dropping the charges, or deemed his actions unjustified under the law, possibly hurting his legal defense. I'm not sure why. But I do know that irate local and national activists, including the illustrious Al Sharpton, grabbed headlines nationwide after alleging that Martin was racially profiled, followed and then murdered. Zimmerman was charged with murder by special prosecutor Angela Corey on April 11, 2012.
The Martin family attorney, Ben Crump, took issue with a comment made by former New York City police detective Harry Houck Tuesday on a FoxNews.com live panel, in which he said that Martin would still be alive if he hadn't had a “street attitude.†Crump retorted, “Trayvon Martin is not on trial here, he is the victim. George Zimmerman, his killer, is the man who is on trial.†Yet, Zimmerman earlier maintained that he, himself, would not be alive if Martin were still alive, and that he shot him in self-defense. So the purported victim could have been the "killer," to use Crump's words.
Was Zimmerman simply, standing his ground and defending himself? The tables could have been turned and he could have been the victim. Once the jury selection is complete we'll see what evidence is actually permissible in court because there seems to be very little evidence except Zimmerman's testimony and his apparent injuries he sustained in the scuffle with Martin. The jury can only convict if they are convinced. It is up to the prosecution to prove their case. We'll see what the jury decides. Stay tuned.