whysoserious
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2011
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- Charlotte, NC
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The Facts of the Case Against George Zimmerman
I've noticed a rather large number of people who seem to defend George Zimmerman tooth and nail. What I find disturbing about this is that they insist Zimmerman deserves a fair trial, and he does, but then disregard that Trayvon Martin does not get a trial to defend himself. He's ****ing dead. None of you mind throwing him under a bus to make your case, and you're assholes for doing that. So instead of being douches and just making **** up, let's look at the facts of the case:
1) Trayvon Martin was watching the NBA All-Star game at his father's girlfriend's house (that was his first mistake, the NBA All-Star game is a joke). He apparently got thirsty and/or hungry, so he decided to walk to the neighborhood 7-Eleven. The store was over a mile away and he left at 6:40.
2) Around thirty minutes later, at 7:09, Zimmerman calls 911 to report a "suspicious looking male". Before we go any further, let's examine the maps:
Interactive Timeline Map
As you can see, the Main Entrance is right on the way from the 7-Eleven to the house he was staying at.
In his 911 call (which you can listen to at the Miami Herald Interactive Map Link), you hear Zimmerman say Trayvon is by the Clubhouse at 7:10 - which makes sense. He says that his hands are at his waistband - perhaps his nuts were itchy since we all know Trayvon was not armed.
So, to recap, Trayvon walked to the store and began walking back on the normal route you would expect in a reasonable amount of time. As far as I am aware, there is no evidence that Martin was hanging around or loitering, as the entire incident only occurred 30 minutes after leaving his house and his destination required about 2 miles of walking. He would, of course, walk right by Zimmerman's car. Now, back to the story:
3) At 7:09, Zimmerman called 9/11 to report Martin's presence. After about 2 minutes of being on the phone, at 7:11, Zimmerman says, "Oh **** he's running". I am not aware of that being a crime, but it did occur. You can then hear Zimmerman exit his car. Zimmerman admits that he is chasing Trayvon and is told not to follow any longer.
4) According to the T-Mobile phone record and Trayvon's girlfriend, she called him back at 7:12, 1 minute after he ran away from Zimmerman. At this time, Zimmerman is also talking to the police and giving directions. From the second photo, you can see that at the time of the call, he was parked by the mailboxes. At 7:14, the dispatcher asks Zimmerman to meet the police at the mailboxes, but Zimmerman refuses and asks that the cops call when they arrive so he can tell them where he is. The call ends here.
Map of Shooting
In this photo, you can see where Zimmerman's truck was, where the mailboxes Zimmerman was asked to go to are, and where the shooting took place.
5) Clearly Zimmerman decided not to heed the dispatchers warnings and continued to chase. The last contact with police was at 7:14. At 7:16, Trayvon's call with his girlfriend drops. She claims she heard the confrontation begin as Trayvon asked why Zimmerman was following him, and Zimmerman asked Trayvon what he was doing there. This is consistent with the timeline was one minute later, at 7:17, this emergency call came into 911:
[video=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Lr3DOqaSE]911 Call with Gunshot[/video]
You can hear someone screaming for help and you can also hear the gunshot. This call has been analyzed and it was determined that it was not Zimmerman who was screaming, though I am sure that is still up for debate.
6) There was clearly an altercation, as the photos show Zimmerman had cuts on his head and it is also reported that he had a broken nose. Zimmerman claims Trayvon started the fight, and Trayvon says... oh wait he can't say anything because he's dead.
Those are all of the facts with no guesses, no shady witness testimony (that's almost always wrong because witness testimony is almost never reliable), and no opinion.
My Conclusion
George Zimmerman should be tried by a jury of his peers, and I believe he should go to jail. He acted as a vigilante, disregarded orders from police, and ended up shooting an unarmed teenager through the heart - a teenager who was legitamately walking from his house to a 7-Eleven and back. Typically, self-defense cases shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defendent, however, with the Stand Your Ground Act, much of that burden is shifted back to the prosecution. Either way, this is an unfortunate situation that resulted in a death and it could have easily been avoided. I hope some of you assholes quit with your negative attacks on the young man, as he is dead and I'd say that's punishment enough - even if he did attack Zimmerman (which you have no proof of other than Zimmerman's word). So, please, shut the **** up and let this trial go its course.
