By Carol Downer
The verdict in the Zimmerman case stunned me. I expected them to bring in at least a verdict of manslaughter. What happened in the minds of those jurors?
How could they view the tragic outcome of George Zimmerman’s benighted quest for “law and order” as excusable?
And, how could I, who is generally pro-defendant, want a guilty verdict if there was a reasonable doubt as to Zimmerman’s guilt?
Answer: Given that Zimmerman, had invested himself with the authority to accost a young man walking in his own neighborhood and then used a gun to extricate himself from the mess he had created, there could be no reasonable doubt that his actions, and his alone, brought about the tragic outcome. Therefore, Zimmerman is guilty.
And, how could I, an attorney who respects the jury system, reject the jury’s decision as illegitimate?
Answer: For those 6 people, presumably ordinary individuals with good will and ordinary intelligence, to place any responsibility whatsoever for his own death on Trayvon Martin, they showed deep-seated disrespect for his rights to be walking down the street free from molestation by strangers, especially armed strangers with no official authority. So, the jury process failed. I don’t accept their verdict.
Maybe they would disrespect anyone’s rights, including their own. Flordians may be so cowed by authority that they side with the more powerful, no matter who they are or what they do.
More likely, they just don’t value the rights of a young black man. They don’t even seem to recognize that they lack of respect for Trayvon’s rights. In other words, they’re racist, so their verdict was unjust.
THIS IS WHY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL MUST STEP IN TO GIVE JUSTICE TO TRAYVON; ALL CITIZENS, INCLUDING YOUNG BLACK MEN, HAVE THE RIGHT TO WALK THE STREETS UNMOLESTED.
To Trayvon’s family and friends: My deepest condolences.
Justice for Trayvon!
