Did George Zimmerman Look To Relaxed When The Verdict Was Read Out Or Was It Just Me

[iloveObama12]

almost like he knew it was gonna be a not guilty verdict
the f was that all about...DU fill me in

[Mariana]

1. Zimmerman appeared to be doped to the gills.

Every time I had a chance to watch part of the trial, he was practically nodding off, right there in the courtroom. I think they had him on some heavy tranquilizers.

[iloveObama12]

3. LOL

[Berlum]

16. "What goes up must come down." - Issac Newton Freud

[grasswire]

2. I felt like he knew.

I tell ya I was way more surprised than he was.

I know he was programmed to keep his face emotionless. But it seemed he knew.

[Bonx]

4. Yep. He looked right at Relaxed and gave him the stink eye. -nt

[Tx4obama]

5. I think it took some time for the verdict to sink in / be understood

Normally when verdicts are read we hear 'not guilty or guilty' for each possibility - in this case 2nd degree murder AND manslaughter.

I know in my house we thought there would be more stated after the first 'not guilty' was read aloud - then we all looked at each other and said "That was it?"

I even heard a lawyer on TV say that the room he was in when they heard the verdict being read they thought that was for the 2nd degree murder and everyone was waiting for something additional to be said regarding manslaughter.

I think the way the verdict was read took everyone aback and it took a bit for it to sink in.

[davidn3600]

9. I think they only read each count if it is a split verdict.

If he was guilty on manslaughter, they would have broke it down.

They just say "not guilty" if he's not guilty on all charges.

Every court may do it differently.

[Mnemosyne]

6. He looked like George W. Bush, war criminal, on November 7, 2000. nt

[iloveObama12]

7. i looked at the tv for at least a minute and shouted "r u kiddin me" i was shocked beyond my mind

and sad for the martin family

[Hoyt]

8. Me too. Could not believe a go home, get your gun back verdict that fast.

Jurors gave up too easily. They should be ashamed.

[DevonRex]

13. I agree. The ones who wanted guilty should have stood firm.

Made them go through the manslaughter instructions and pare them down to the necessities. They let the judge including those SYG instructions persuade them of the defense's argument. Instead of deciding - does this one apply? No. Cross it off. On to the next and do the same thing. Pretty soon they'd have had 2 or 3 easy things to deliberate.

[DevonRex]

10. I knew when they came back with the question on manslaughter.

For some reason I absolutely knew it would be a not guilty verdict. Everyone else thought it was good news. I knew better. I just knew that if they even questioned manslaughter then it would be not guilty. I could see questioning 2nd degree and then going down to manslaughter. But if they couldn't even decide on manslaughter it was bad.

Because the only way to get to manslaughter was to be smart enough to ignore the extraneous instructions. They weren't smart enough to pare them down to the essential question. And the judge would never tell them to ignore her bullshit instructions.

[Hoyt]

19. Your last paragraph is it exactly.

[COLGATE4]

28. "And the judge would never tell them.

to ignore her bullshit instructions". Really?????

[DevonRex]

32. Yes. Really. She excluded the standard "self-defense is NOT a defense if you're the

initial aggressor" part and added ALL the SYG parts, even though the defense had never once claimed SYG and there had not been a SYG hearing pre-trial. Thus, bullshit instructions which actually pointed to a verdict for a jury that was easily led by a determined forewoman.

[Lurks Often]

33. You are wrong

Here is the FL law:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0776/0776.htm

Section 776.041 Paragraph a

Since being on one's back prevents retreat Zimmerman was entitled to self defense under FL law

[COLGATE4]

34. You are factually incorrect. The initial aggressor may still claim

self defense if (s)he at some point tries to break off and retreat. In addition, the "SYG" parts you refer to are the Florida self defense statute, textually. And why do you suppose a judge would ever tell a jury to "ignore her instructions"?

[DevonRex]

36. She did not GIVE the initial aggressor instruction at ALL.

So the jury could not even consider it.

As for ignoring an instruction, the jurors can decide whether a particular instruction applies to the case. The judge will not say "Instruction #2 does not apply."

The judge gives them instructions. Some are hard and fast, on procedure.

Others are what they have to decide. The jurors go through them and decide which ones apply to the case in order to reach a verdict. The judge does not do that for them. It's a pretty simple concept. Just because confusing options are THERE in the instructions, however, does not mean that they all apply to the case. That is up to the jury to figure out. That is their job.

[COLGATE4]

39. You know that jury instructions are decided upon

by the Judge in consultation with both Prosecution and Defense?

[BainsBane]

11. He had no way to know with certainty

but I'm sure his lawyers told him they thought they stood a good chance of acquittal.

[davidpdx]

12. The only thing I can think of is that his lawyers

prepared him either way not to show much emotion and to stay calm. I suppose he could have been given a mild sedative as well.

[darkangel218]

14. It wasnt just you. he looked like he knew hes gonna get aquitted.

[Junkdrawer]

15. Days before the verdict, his dad was calling for calm after the verdict...

They knew....

[DrDan]

17. it was obviously a set-up to begin with . . . . read it right here

<sarcasm thingie>

[hack89]

18. He had every reason to feel confident after the prosecution's ineptitude. nt

[yardwork]

20. Juror B37 implied that she knows Zimmerman

I think that B37's husband knew the jury deliberations and told the defense. Taffe knew too.

Did the jurors have cell phones?

[naaman fletcher]

35. How did she imply that she knew Zimmerman?

[yardwork]

37. She called him Georgie, for one thing.

For another, she repeated all his lies. The implication is that she knew him before or during the trial. Her husband is an attorney. I think it will eventually come out that they all know one another. Just a hunch.

In other words, I think that she perjured herself to get on the jury.

[B2G]

40. no. that was a witness. nt

[yardwork]

41. The juror did it too. Both called him Georgie.

[B2G]

42. Link?

[ksoze]

21. Tin Foil Hat Thread Alert

Do not like the verdict - the witnesses were on the take, the judge was in on it, the jury were paid off, the father rigged it....

[Junkdrawer]

22. Shhh...listen...footsteps...I think I hear footsteps...

[COLGATE4]

29. The tinfoil hats are marching nt

[pipi_k]

31. Poo on that...

I go for the most reasonable tin foil hat theory...

Don West had one of these...

[KG]

23. zim is a man-child, too stupid to understand how stupid he is, or the shitstorm he's unleashed orHIS

his part in it. that was just look of a clueless shitbag.

[Faux pas]

25. +1

nailed it!

[BadDog40]

24. His friend was on FOX hours before the verdict and he knew exactly what was happening with the jury

From the Orlando Weekly....

"Adding to the concern over potential juror misconduct, Zimmerman neighbor and friend Frank Taaffe had appeared on both the FOX News Channel and HLN on Saturday a few hours before the verdict was read, and had claimed to possess inside knowledge that the jury was at that moment polling 5 to 1 in favor of acquitting the defendant, with one juror holding out for manslaughter. At 2:48 PM on HLN, Taaffe at first merely claimed he was “very comfortable” in this assessment and “firmly believe[d]” it was the case; prodded by host Nancy Grace to explain how he had arrived at his belief, he went even further, stating, “I know it’s 5 to 1.” Grace appeared to dismiss that allegation as ludicrous speculation, opining that Taaffe must have “a Ouija board down [his] pants.”

http://blogs.orlandoweekly.com/index.php/2013/07/look-whos-talking-was-there-a-mole-on-the-zimmerman-jury/

[Junkdrawer]

26. That article should be an OP....

Thanks for posting.

[onenote]

27. I thought he looked like most defendants I've seen in that situation

Mostly blank faced. Even when the verdict was read he showed little emotion. That is because, in all likelihood, his lawyers instructed him not to react whichever way the verdict went. That's fairly standard in my experience.

[mstinamotorcity2]

30. His mother and father

never batted and eyelid. They knew. I don't care what anyone says. The little man on HLN was reporting that he knew while the jury was deliberating that the jury was trying to convince one juror of a not guilty verdict. They are investigating Ms. B37. She talk too much. But oh how we love her chatter. There is also a report that Zimmerman's buddy lost his son in a car accident, which is sending Facebook into a spin of Karma.

[meow2u3]

43. Sequestered Zimmerman trial jurors had alone time with family during trial

SANFORD, Fla. —

The six women who acquitted George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin's killing were sequestered during the trial, but Channel 9 learned those jurors were allowed hours of time alone with friends and family.

Channel 9's Kathi Belich confirmed the jurors were left unsupervised with guests at times, which WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said is more than enough time for a member to have said something that could have influenced a juror and possibly impacted the verdict.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office said Judge Debra Nelson allowed jurors generally no more than two hours of alone time with visitors once a week.

Nelson didn't decide until three days into the trial to sequester the jury after potential jurors voiced concerns about their privacy and safety.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/zimmerman-trial-jurors-had-alone-time-family-durin/nYwNG/

Two hours unsupervised time with the guests of sequestered jurors are enough for outside influences to corrupt the jury.

[yardwork]

44. I also wonder about cell phones. Were the jurors allowed to keep them?

If so then it is very likely that jurors kept up a constant text communication with family and friends, including the lawyer husband of the one juror.