I watched in amazement as our jury system, of which we Americans have always been so very proud, utterly failed in the Zimmerman case. Now, before you jump to any conclusions – I am NOT talking about the outcome. I’m merely talking about the process and the implementation of it by all involved. The latest example was tonight on CNN as I watched a juror, cloaked in darkness to protect her identity because she fears for her very life, explain that even now, after having made their choice, the jurors are still confused over what the law actually is and how it applied to this case. How can this be? It is bad enough the prosecution overcharged. It is bad enough the police botched the investigation. It is bad enough race and politics were injected locally and nationally. It is bad enough witnesses were marched in by the dozens who really saw nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing and their testimony, while interesting, added no value to the case - but were allowed to testify anyway. Then add this poor juror who goes on television and openly says the jury did not fully understand the law to which they made their finding is simply sad for our judicial system. And I do not fault the jury either; I see them as victim in this fiasco also. And while I do have an opinion, so does everyone, the case is over so it’s meaningless. I have no axe to grind about the outcome. It’s over. It’s done. What I am depressed about is how poorly the system actually operated. And again, I just want to be very clear, I’m not talking about the outcome. I’m talking about the chaos that led up to the outcome – doesn’t matter if we agree with the verdict or not, I think we can all agree that almost everyone involved blew it. I have however learned some things from watching. And they’re not good things. First is that Florida has created the perfect murder. Not that this case was that at all - but this case shows us what is now possible. Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law simply says that you can take someone’s life as long as you feel your life is in danger and the circumstances do not matter - including who started it. So if you have a beef with someone and want to kill them, here is how you pull that off in Florida. Walk up in their face and start talking about their mother, saying bad things about their wife or perverted things about their children. Sooner or later they will not be able to take any more (I wouldn’t) and they will attack you - or for that matter, just punch them in the gut. Once they fight back as soon as you have some bruises, maybe a broken nose, some bleeding - just shoot them. That’s it. Kill them right there – you can get off. You may have to go to jail. You may have to go to court. But you CAN get away with it. Think in terms of domestic murders. Think in terms of plotting wives and husbands. Think in terms of gang violence. Think in terms of school yard fights! This opens up a whole new game. And it’s the law! To be sure the Zimmerman case was NOT that type of scenario by any far-fetched stretch of the imagination, but what it has highlighted is that this is now possible and is, in fact, the law. Since I was a child I was taught by my Grandmother (yes, my Grandmother) that there are only three rules of fighting and they are really simple. 1. If I start a fight - I’m in the wrong. 2. If someone else starts a fight with me and I don’t defend myself - I’m in the wrong. 3. Once the fight starts – there are no rules. I actually support the Stand Your Ground law. I don’t think you should have to run away when someone attacks you to avoid defending yourself. I have always thought that gives the advantage to the strong over the weak and puts the weak in a position where they are forced to fight at a disadvantage. On the other hand, it DOES matter who starts it – it just does! During the trial, as I do with anything like this, I tried to put myself in the place of both Zimmerman and Martin. I’ve thought about this a lot and here’s what I come up with. Had I been Zimmerman I would never had confronted Martin. Why? It simply was not necessary. We also have a block watch in my neighborhood. The watch group has an occasional breakfast with our local police officers and other meetings from time to time. They always teach us the same thing – call 911, do NOT confront anyone we think suspicious, do NOT follow them, observe and report from a safe distance – call 911. And not because 911 is the only option we ever have but because it’s the only necessary option at this point. Had I been Martin on the other hand I would have never stopped to confront Zimmerman. It simply was not necessary. I would have taken my Skittles and quickly walked home while I called 911 and reported that a man was following me – call 911. And not because 911 is the only option we ever have but because it’s the only necessary option at this point. Now I say those things based on 58 years of life experience. When I was Zimmerman’s age I may have been a bit more aggressive had I thought a youth was up to no good. And certainly had I been 17 and some guy was following me I may have gotten in his face and asked WTF do you want? I may have even ended up in a fight, had I been on EITHER side – that is, had I done what they did which was to put myself in the situation in the first place. The different in Florida is that now people who have these encounters can kill each other and know that it won’t matter who started it. The only thing that matters will be who is dead and who is not. The State of Florida has removed all thought, intellect, judgment and consideration of circumstances and actions from the equation and reduced such encounters to their simplest form – Who is the fastest gun?
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 05:40:51 +0000
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