Zimmerman Trial: Potential Juror Excused After Revealing Donation To Zimmerman's Legal Defense Fund

[Cali_Democrat]

A prospective juror in the George Zimmerman case was excused Monday after he admitted donating $20 to Zimmerman's online legal defense fund.

The prospective juror, a middle-aged white man whose daughter is a Nevada police officer, said on the witness stand that he felt bad for Zimmerman.

"It just seemed like he was an underdog ... I kind of felt sorry for him," the man, identified in court as H-27, said.

H-27 said he has followed the trial in the media and is 70 percent certain Zimmerman is innocent.

"I think Mr. Zimmerman was trying to do the right thing and things spiraled out of control," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/18/george-zimmerman-trial_n_3458859.html?utm_hp_ref=crime&ir=Crime



The potential juror felt sorry for Zimmerman, but not Trayvon who was an unarmed teenager carrying skittles and iced tea?

Who really is the underdog, the unarmed teenager or the guy with the gun?

[JustAnotherGen]

1. He can't relate to Trayvon Martin

In this case - he can't relate to the victim of the crime. If you can't relate - you can't empathize.

He DOES relate to Zimmerman. That's something to chew on. And to be thankful that he was dismissed before he could do any damage.

[monmouth3]

3. Amen..n/t

[Cali_Democrat]

7. Bingo. n/t

[WinkyDink]

2. "trying to do the right thing" = "trying to get rid of the Black kid."

[GreenStormCloud]

4. And he ws dismissed for jury duty. What's the problem?

It is a big country and there are some people who think that Z shot Martin in self-defense.

[MattBaggins]

10. Those people should be ridiculed.

[Rex]

5. Underdog? How can you be the underdog when you have the gun

the car, the cellphone and the weight to throw around? I cannot WAIT for this guy to rot in prison. If anyone ever deserved prison, it is Zimmerman.

I have a horrible feeling he will get off scott free.

[Cal Carpenter]

13. My thoughts exactly!

How the fuck is someone the underdog when they are the aggressor, the instigator, armed with a gun, who killed an unarmed young man who was doing nothing suspicious or 'wrong'?

How the fuck is that the underdog?

[Rex]

15. I believe the constant Zimmerman Family propaganda machine

is finally starting to pay off for them...or would have if the potential juror would have kept his mouth closed.

What we see here is how two families deal with a crisis. The victim's family is simply asking for justice for their dead kid. The predators family is making up facts out of whole cloth in a desperate attempt to keep their son out of prison. One wants justice and the other wants to be above the law.

Then we have Foxnews that flops all over itself to make sure we all know/remember that they are a bunch of racist morans.

[npk]

24. I don't believe he will get off scott free, but I don't see him being convicted of murder

At least not 1st degree murder, which I believe the state would have to prove intent. I think Zimmerman will be convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter, and will likely spend somewhere in the neighborhood of 3-7 years behind bars.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

26. They aren't even seeking 1st Degree Murder charges.

They are seeking 2nd Degree Murder charges, which does not require proof of intent but only that he acted with depraved indifference towards human life.

I think the fact that Zimmerman made the remark "These assholes, they always get away" and "fucking punks" while on the phone with dispatch and that he got out of the car armed with a weapon and that he suspiciously changed his mind during the dispatch call as to where he planned to meet police (first he said his car, but then he said for police to call him) support a 2nd Degree murder conviction. I think he sought out to act like Johnny Law of his little community, with or without police help, and that he wanted to confront Trayvon and at the least try to "detain" him. And things just spiraled out of control from there.

Now will they actually get a 2nd Degree conviction? I'd like to see it, but I'm a little doubtful. Probably a 25% chance. It's 50-50 whether they can get a manslaughter conviction--depends how strong the prosecution presents its case or how flimsy the defense comes off.

[npk]

30. Yes sorry you are correct

2nd degree murder is what he was charged with. I think there is a good chance the jury will probably reduce that lower, but of course they may like you said think that Zimmerman's mindset and the phrases he uses to the 911 operator are enough to convict him of second degree murder. The whole case in my opinion hinges on the credibility of Zimmerman, and he has lost a lot of that credibility over the past year or so with some of the things he has done and lies he has been caught up in. Also I don't think his brother has helped him by going on all these interviews.

[tridim]

6. This juror's view is a good reason why Stand your ground shouldn't be law

Like Zimmerman, he seems to think it's normal to gun down anyone who is a different color than you.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. This - yes

He doesn't say it outright - but when you put 1 and 1 together - it equals 2 in this case.

But - I don't blame this juror. He's most likely a product of his environment, upbringing, and 'time'. He seriously does not know any better.

[premium]

11. Zimmerman isn't using the SYG defense,

his defense team is using the self defense law.

That said, I don't really see how Zman can claim self defense when he's the one who initiated the contact.
But, after all, TIF.

[Hoyt]

17. Zimmerman is using self-defense -- unarmed, stalkee, attacked poor Zimmerman -- about same as SYG.

SYG is simply a ruse enacted with the help of NRA and bigoted gun lovers who are afraid they might shoot some unarmed kid someday and need a friggin excuse -- "the unarmed Black kid scared me" BS.

[premium]

18. Give it a rest Hoyt.

I did say, after all, T.I.F.

[Hoyt]

20. When you stop defending bigoted, gun toting, intimidator Zimmerman.

[premium]

22. Either link to a post of mine where I defended

Zman or delete this outrageous lie.

[premium]

27. Hey Hoyt,

found that link yet? You know, the one where I supposedly defended Zimmerman?
No link? Then do the honorable thing and delete this lie.

[MattBaggins]

9. Do the right thing?

Fucking stalking a teenager just because he happens to be black is "doing the right thing"?

I am white and getting sick of other white people.

[JustAnotherGen]

14. Ma? Maaaa? Is that you?

Swear on my father's grave - my mom said this last night! You are in good company though!

[Cirque du So-What]

12. I know that Zimmerman's lawyers have hired a jury consultant

I hope that the State of Florida has done the same thing.

[JI7]

16. this is wh i'm afraid he will get off, there are people who automatically view Trayvon as Guilty

because he is black. and even if we had video showing Trayvon did nothing wrong these people would still side with Zimmerman because they could "understand" the disgusting piece of shit.

[gvstn]

19. This judge is being ridiculous.

They knew after 5 minutes that he had donated to Zimmerman's defense fund and she let them question him for another hour about whether he could be fair. WTF! He donated to the defense fund of the guy he is supposed to be determining the guilt of. Thank him for his appearance and move on.

[grok]

25. perhaps merely donating is not enough

Keep in mind, The Prosecution generally has the overwhelming power of the state and almost unlimited resources to pursue a case. It's no wonder that the prosecution wins 80-90 percent of the cases brought to trial and most defendants just plead guilty. Except for the rich ones of course. Public defenders never have the resources to level the playing field. Would not be surprised if the ratio was 20 to one. I see nothing wrong with trying to level it regardless of whomever it is. I'd be willing to pay extra taxes to do so.

On the other hand, you donate money AND seem you won't be fair, you should go.

[gvstn]

28. I still think he can't judge a guy who's defense he helped fund and be impartial.

That said, I realize our justice system is only fair if you are rich.

I've never understood how some defendants get the State to pay their defense and others don't. Perhaps it has to do with capital crimes? Both Casey Anthony and Jodi Arias got money from the state towards their defense. I believe in situations in which this occurs the defendant has to be given sufficient resources to hire expert witnesses and investigators. Now, when this happens the prosecution just doubles their own budget to again outspend the defense. But I never understood what criteria had to be met to get those defense funds.

Being able to hire investigators and experts can make the difference between winning and losing. It is very difficult for your average Joe to be able to come up with both lawyer fees and investigative fees to defend himself. The system isn't fair and I too would pay more taxes to make it fair. Too many poor young people end up in jail when they could learn their lesson just by being charged and properly defended so that any punishment fit the crime and focused on keeping them out of further trouble.

[JaneyVee]

21. Well thats one way to get out of jury duty.

[KamaAina]

23. Let me guess. The H is his shoe size

and the 27 is his IQ.

[etherealtruth]

29. Oh for the love of Pete!

"It just seemed like he was an underdog ... I kind of felt sorry for him," the man, identified in court as H-27, said.

WTF?

What if the actors involved played opposite roles? would he have felt kind of sorry for the murderer then?