Warbler said:
btw, Zimmerman said he will not testify. Darn, I wanted the listen to prosecution grill him on why he suspected Trayvon of anything.
Well since the burden is on the prosecution and the prosecution hasn't provided a case convincing beyond a reasonable doubt, there's no good reason to have Zimmerman testify. He could sit there and deny any improper motive, express how much he cares about the community, how Trayvon attacked him that night, but I don't know if you'd find that helpful. It's been a terrible and politicized show from the start. We want to see Zimmerman squirm! Meh.
Even the US DOJ (!) spent thousands of dollars related to rallies related to the case against Zimmerman. I have no principled objection to Zimmerman being tried for something...but trying him for such baldly political reasons with murder on such sparse evidence is disgusting. Renowned attorney/professor Alan Dershowitz suggested the high charge was pushed in order to get a "compromise" guilty verdict for manslaughter. Doesn't feel very justicey to me. Dershowitz concludes:
"If you think it's 60 percent likely or 70 percent or even 80 percent likely that Zimmerman is guilty and doesn’t deserve self-defense, you have to acquit," Dershowitz said.
Based on not knowing how the fight started but questionable behavior on both sides, I don't see how any juror can be at all sure that Zimmerman acted with a depraved mind. There's also much evidence for self-defense I don't see how a juror can discount it for a basis of reasonable doubt. Even manslaughter is a tough sell.
"I might not want to be friendly with George Zimmerman at the end of the case … I certainly would not declare him innocent. There's a big difference between declaring him innocent and declaring him not guilty," he said.
I think there is reason to worry about what an actual vigilante might do.