Tell me something, Shodan, and be honest if you can. If your kid was being followed by a strange man, what would you want him to be thinking about that man? Warm and fuzzy thoughts?
Remember that he never identified himself, even when prompted. Think about it. Your kid. Being followed, simply for walking around your neighborhood, talking to a friend on the phone.
If you have a hard time imagining that, putting your own child in Trayvon’s place, then maybe you should examine your own thinking and characterizations of others.
I’m not saying that the State does not have more to present. BUT if it’s like what they have presented so far… then out of all the cases I’ve seen, this one deserves the lack of evidence call the most. And I watch a lot of trials. I record and watch almost every trial on ‘In Session’.
I’ve seen nearly all of the trial (Streaming so I don’t have to put up with television commercials). I’ve probably missed a total of 3-4 hours so far but feel I’ve caught up on those through reading forums, blogs and watching news channels at night.
So he called 911 just to shoot the breeze about some hypothetical punks and assholes? And how could they “always get away” if they’re not being followed in the first place?
I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I wasn’t in on the juror selection, but I don’t doubt for a second that the defense got women who are 100% down with the whole Florida self-defense boogie. It’s a paranoid mindset that makes lots of really amazing things acceptable. Brace yourself for an acquittal, my dear, it’s coming.
I’d just like to strongly urge everyone on every side to really try hard to separate your conclusions from the evidence and facts established by evidence. Really. It would save so much time and argument.
Don’t mistake my posts for blind faith in the jury. I’ve been preparing myself for an acquital since he was arrested. But the truth is the truth.
Funny that John Good says he might have seen some MMA-style maneuvers used by one of the fighters that night. And lo and behold, one of the fighters–the one who survived the fight–studied MMA 3 times a week. The crime scene was dark and it difficult for the witnesses to tell who was doing what back there. Nevertheless, we must overlook common sense and speculate that it was the kid who was pulling all the MMA moves on hapless Zimmerman. The trained fighter with the gun, an agenda, and the 50-lb advantage.
The circumstances alone create a unreasonable picture for self-defense and I will not stop pointing out that out. Regardless of what the verdict ends up being.
No, we assume that it was the darker skinned person in the darker clothing, who the witness actually saw doing that, and we assume that the person recieving it was the person who had the injuries consistent with that, not the one with none.
The follow-on questions that come to mind about Zimmerman’s MMA instruction include:[ol]
[li]How long had he been taking those lessons?[/li][li]What level of proficiency did George Zimmerman have with MMA fighting techniques? [/li][li]What evidence is there of that proficiency? [/li][li]Is there a testing process where he demonstrated proficiency?[/ol][/li]The answers to those questions would help me considerably in weighing the importance of those classes. Of course jurors are often left to make decisions without all of the answers to all the questions that might come to mind like that.
I took piano lessons 3 times per week for three years in my youth. I suck at piano and cannot hack out Twinkle, Twinkle Littler Star or Jingle Bells without considerable difficulty. Lessons does not a master make.
Some of the more absurd testimony had to be that useless security footage. All they captured was a shadow of someone walking by and the glare of a fashlight. Then O’Mara uses his time to go after the witness about the time being off 18 minutes. Was it 19 minutes, OMara asks. As if anyone gives a crap.
Can’t imagine why that witness was brought into court.
John is outnumbered by witnesses who saw Zimmerman on top (the teacher and Mrs. Manolo, to name two).
John claims he saw someone on top administering MMA moves.
Zimmerman is well-practiced in MMA moves.
Conclusion: It’s likely that John is mistaken in his assessment of who was on top.
Given the poor lighting conditions, taking any one witness statement in isolation and treating it as Truth would be stupid. You have to look at the total picture. This is what the jury is expected to do. (John Good claimed he didn’t even hear all the wailing that was caught on the 911 tape even though it took place right in front of his house. So to those who think he was a strong witness…why, exactly? Because the defense handled him with kid gloves? This is a sincere question.)
In the opening statements the defense mentioned that Zimmerman was in an MMA gym for exercise but he was in no way practiced in MMA itself and the gym owner(?) or personal trainer(?) would testify to that later in the trial. The words the trainer used was “George was soft”. We’ll see if that come in.
He put him in an arm-bar did he? Triangle choke? No?
Then why don’t we just call it what it is – punching the dude while sitting on him. Judging by my experience of third grade, this does not require special training.
Of note is that he went to see her for injuries incurred during his MMA fights at least twice prior.
I don’t know. Perhaps the State will answer these questions for you by putting one of his MMA instructors on the stand. It seems like the direction that they are headed.
Most adults don’t stick with something that they completely suck at. That shit costs money, and f you suck at MMA, that you means you’re getting hurt over and over again. You took piano lessons more than likely because someone forced you to. Ostensibly, no one was forcing Zimmerman to practice MMA, so not comparable.
We take him to be reliable because what he says fits the observed facts. Zimmerman had been on his back at some point, as he had grass on the back of his clothes. Zimmerman had been hit in the face, Martin hadn’t. John Good said he thought it was Zimmerman screaming, not Martin, but he wasn’t sure. Is that why you think he didn’t hear it, because he didn’t say it was Martin? Zimmerman did not, as far as we can tell from the evidence, have any MMA ability. It’s folly to assume that, just because he’s been to a gym a few times, that a fat guy with bad knees will be a better fighter than a school athlete. You’ll need a witness who’d seen him train to assert that.
So, I’ll assume that the witness who’s testimony fits the other evidence is the one who’s correct.