Hi Folks. The Zimmerman jury has spoken and now all the Monday morning quarterbacks are questioning their conclusion. Having sat on a jury, I’ll always remember that moment when the judge explained the rules we were to follow as we came to our decision. We had to forget what we thought. Common sense had no place in our decision. The only evidence we could consider was the evidence that followed a certain path as defined by the law. I remember the judge’s fateful words-“If and only if each element of guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt, then you are obligated to return a verdict of ‘Not Guilty’. “ I remember it as a very non-satisfying experience. It has been with great relief that my name was not drawn to serve on any cases since that time. My case was nowhere near the seriousness of the Zimmerman trial so I can only imagine the weight they felt as they deliberated. I, for one, thank them for their service and would like all those who are calling for their heads to remember two things. 1) You weren’t there on the night of the shooting. 2) You did not spend every minute of the trial listening to evidence, being instructed by the judge and being taught the law as it must be applied. In other words, if it’s not too much to ask, SHUT UP! I wanted to get that off my chest before I shared an experience. I was walking across the parking lot at a P’town 7-11 to get my daily fix of caffeine in the form of Diet Dr. Pepper. A young man got to the door ahead of me and held it as he invited me to step ahead. I reached for the door and offered to wait for him but he insisted. We both laughed as we went through that Chip ‘n Dale dance (if you don’t know what I’m talking about you’re too young to understand this story) that I see too rarely. I commented to him “that’s what happens when manners collide.” He shared with me that he “was taught to respect his elders” and I feigned “gray rage” at his reference to my age. We laughed again, shook hands and shared names. All in all, a nice moment that will change neither of our lives. What’s the connection to this moment and the Zimmerman trial? Fair question. Each moment in life is part of a string of falling dominoes. The moment that the Zimmerman jury had to focus on was the one that had George Zimmerman pinned underneath an angry Trayvon Martin as his head was being pounded on the pavement. What happened at that point is well documented. I just can’t help but wonder how the evening might have turned out if the first domino in that string had started with a simple-”Hi, I’m George.” I’m guessing that the night would have ended differently. I’m guessing that two lives would still be in progress with the best yet to come. How sad we’ll never know. By far, that’s the greatest tragedy in this story.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 15:51:03 +0000
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