Question about why Gov. Scott cancelled grand jury...

[fadedrose]

Would having had a grand jury from the very beginning have changed this trial and how?

I am so stupid when it comes to stuff like this, but can't help thinking that the gun lobby had something to do with this.

[X_Digger]

1. I suspect they thought a GJ might not indict..

.. which would only rachet up the tensions.

It was a safer bet, from a public policy perspective, to go ahead and indict directly.

[madville]

2. They didn't want to take the chance

The hard evidence was weak and what eye witness accounts they had mostly supported Zimmerman's story. They knew a Grand Jury was a cointoss.

[1-Old-Man]

8. You clearly have never served on a Grand Jury,they will indite anything

It's a disgrace.

[oldhippie]

9. You clearly don't live in Texas ....

... where Grand Juries "no bill" self defense shootings all the time.

[fadedrose]

13. It was said that that Grand Jury would indict a ham sandwich...

Saying they didn't have enough evidence was I think a lie. With proper inquires about the defendant, he'd have been accused of something. The charges simply did not fit the crime and we all know that now.

There had to be more. Maybe a cop at the police station who notifies the NRA of a shooting and they get instructions from that point. This is only how I could figure everything worked out.

The outrage over the verdict was something the jury and Florida did not anticipate. A Federal grand jury and trial will straighten it all out, hopefully. I can't believe the prosecution could be so dumb. That's why O'Mara is so upset. He knows it wasn't racial....

[Blue_Tires]

16. that's called a "bullshit cop-out"

[Lurks Often]

17. Probably, but would you want to be the prosecutor that lost the Zimmerman trial, with

all of the potential personal & professional implications on your life?

[fadedrose]

3. I heard GZ has some trouble spots in his life..

Some rough stuff, possible rape accusations, nothing proven...but wouldn't a grand jury have brought this out?

That would bring up the issue of whether GZ would even be permitted to carry a gun in another state..

No grand jury saves a lot of questions that would bring up background checks again..

And the choice of what to charge Zimmerman with...would a grand jury have had any say about that?

[Lurks Often]

4. I believe it was Angela Corey who chose not to take the case before a Grand Jury

To be fair there was no requirement for her to seek a Grand Jury for 2nd degree murder under Florida law (and other states as well according to a cursory search).

I think the reason she didn't is because a Grand Jury would have declined to allow charges, probably in the belief that self defense was apparent under the law.

[fadedrose]

5. I looked it up. Gov. Scott dismissed them

He dismissed the prosecutor in charge and let the jury panel go. He hired this dingbat to oversee the trial. How could she not know that they didn't have the evidence to convict under the charges she selected. She had to know.

I think they chose racism over guns.

What little I could learn about grand juries is that they have subpoena power to get all records, anything they want to know, about a suspect. If there is anything to the innuendo floating around about GZ, he had no right to own a gun in many states. Pretending to be a cop because you want to be one so bad is not okay, and that's why the cops let him go, because he was so knowledgeable about arrests, self-defense, etc.

I know I'm wrong, but this case doesn't make sense if we are to believe it the way it came out. The man is guilty of something and should serve time and lose gun privileges. And those poor parents...

[Lurks Often]

6. My research shows differently

The DA originally assigned the case recused himself from it

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/us/grand-jury-review-skipped-in-trayvon-martin-case.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

[fadedrose]

7. I apologize, sort of...

You were right...but in the prosecutor's "quitting" it did away with the Grand Jury he had waiting in Seminole County to hear the trial.

Here's some wonderful links for people like me to catch up with what's been going on for a long time. It seems the the Gov wanted to avoid federal involvement, and the Semnole Prosecutor had already been in touch with them..

http://www.postonpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/3.22.2012WolfingerLetter-1.pdf

http://www.postonpolitics.com/2012/03/gov-scott-appoints-special-prosecutor-in-trayvon-martin-case/

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/features/trayvon-martin/trayvon-martin-timeline.html


The last link is a timeline, try to give it a look. I still say the spcial prosecutor is a dingbat.

[Lurks Often]

10. I think the prosecutor decided he wanted no part of this case

and I can't blame him.

I think Angela Corey looked at the evidence, realized that a Grand Jury would never allow the case to go to trial and proceeded in the only way she had left. Politically she HAD to take the case to trial.

[fadedrose]

11. Well, I am conspiracy minded...

I see the first line of his resignation letter as saying, without looking it up, he was dropping out for the "safety of his people."

He's prosecutor of Seminole Co. and had a sitting grand jury waiting. I think he was threatened with his people losing licenses, etc., from Florida state that would affect their livelihood.

A grand jury could have subpoenaed all records on GZ and might have shown that he was not mentally stable enough to own a gun in most states. This would have been a big issue with the gun lobby. Wanting to b e a cop does not give one a the liberty to act like one. I think Zimmerman could have gotten off more honestly on a temporary insanity plea.

Kids play house, cops and robbers. Big people know better or should.

I feel that the gun lobby decided more than the prosecution to keep the gun issue away from the public....

[Lurks Often]

12. I usually find conspiracy theorists as people unable to accept they are wrong.

There was nothing in Zimmernman's past that would have precluded him from obtaining a permit. He was never convicted of a felony or violent misdemeanor and never involuntarily committed to a mental facility.

On edit: I think the prosecutor withdrew because he knew the case was un winnable and wanted no part of the fallout when a jury came back with the not guilty verdict he expected.

[fadedrose]

14. Not convicted is not the same as being stable

Fish around and you'll find some stuff. Without a grand jury to look for the stuff, you'll not find anything legal, just stuff like he had a hard time holding a job, he acted like a cop, etc....stuff that just wasn't illegal, but not right. The neighborhood kids had some doubts about him..

There's a difference between being a real killer and thinking that it's your job to clean up the neighborhood. That's what caused the crime..

Got a dr's appointment at 3. I leave you to think about how crazy me and GZ are...

Much love and thanks for your patience...

[Lurks Often]

15. Perhaps, but the law is quite clear as to what

disqualifies a person from owning and carrying a firearm and Zimmerman never met that threshold.