JackFrost
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2012
- Messages
- 3,471
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- Location
- El Monte, California
- Gender
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- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
Social media have set a precedent in the way the country will engage with high profile cases, the attorneys in the Trayvon Martin shooting case said Saturday at an Associated Press event in Orlando.
Benjamin Crump, the attorney for Trayvon Martin's parents, and George Zimmerman's defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, spoke at the Florida Associated Press Broadcasters Banquet.
O'Mara said social media will impact how a jury will be picked in the case.
"I think that if I could do away with all media, including all social media, that I would not have it involved in a criminal case," O'Mara said. "But that's a fantasy that is 40 years ago."
Crump agreed, adding that social media have given "people who normally would not have a voice in matters like this" to engage in the case.
Social media "caused a firestorm that wasn't a full picture," O'Mara said of how misinformation was tweeted soon after the shooting.
It was the first time the men, seated at opposite ends of the same table, have been together not in a courtroom.
Zimmerman fatally shot Martin in February 2012 during a confrontation in Sanford, about 30 miles north of Orlando.
O'Mara said that if it were not for the intense coverage on the shooting, Zimmerman "may never have been charged." Now since he is, the case "probably would have been addressed as a matter at a self-immunity hearing and it would have gone away that way."
George Zimmerman attorney says social media caused unnecessary 'firestorm' following Trayvon Martin shooting - NY Daily News
Social media is part of our lives now. Be a good lawyer and change or adapt. Use it to your advantage, but don't whine like a baby. This is not 40 years ago, when your boy Zimmerman would have been cleared of murdering Trayvon. O'Mara is just mad his fire captain and Robert Zimmerman Jr's social media exploits backfired in his face.
If you want to invoke a SYG/SD immunity hearing, then do it. Don't blame social media for preventing you from doing so.
Why is O'Mara worried about the jury selection? It is in his favor. At best it's a 50/50 divide, at worst in Zimmerman's favor. Again, pure unadulterated whining on O'Mara's part.
Forgive us for wanting equal justice, master O'Mara.