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Title: Jurors hear F-bomb, knock-knock joke as George Zimmerman murder trial begins
Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/24/prosecutors-defense-set
URL Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/2 ... |dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D334751
Published: Jun 24, 2013
Author: FoxNews.com
Post Date: 2013-06-24 12:24:51 by freepatriot32
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Keywords: Jurors, George Zimmerman, murder trial, jackbooted thugs
Views: 147
Comments: 9
The prosecutor cursed and the defense attorney told a joke as both sides laid out opening arguments in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the man who killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin in what his lawyers say was self-defense and authorities say was a case of fatal profiling. The all-female jury of six took in both unconventional statements, alternately stunned, taking notes and at times appearing to nod in agreement. Jaws in the jury box dropped when prosecutor John Guy electrified the courtroom with a short, but profanity-laced and impassioned argument that sought to paint the defendant as an angry and out-of-control vigilante who was stalking Martin when he shot the teen in the gated community in Sanford, where he lived. “F---ing punks,” prosecutor John Guy said in open court, quoting Zimmerman's own words to a non-emergency police dispatcher. “These a--holes, they always get away.” The language -- rare for open court -- appeared to stun the six female jurors who must decide whether Zimmerman shot and killed the 17-year-old African-American teen in self defense, or if he stalked the youth and provoked the deadly confrontation. “Those were the words in that grown man’s mouth as he followed, in the dark, a 17-year-old boy who he didn’t know,” continued Guy, as jurors in the Florida courtroom listened intently, some taking notes. “And excuse my language, but those were his words, not mine.” When Guy said Zimmerman "made a decision that brought us all here today," the juror identified as E6 nodded her head in apparent agreement Zimmerman appeared to show no emotion inside the courtroom as Guy made his statements. Guy discounted the expected defense version of events, that Zimmerman was on the losing end of a violent confrontation and pulled his registered gun in self-defense, calling it a "tangled web of lies." The prosecutor said Martin had no blood or DNA from Zimmerman on his hands or under his fingernails, and he wrapped up his statements in about a half-hour, telling jurors Zimmerman "did not shoot [Martin] because he had to, but because he wanted to." Don West followed with opening statements on behalf of Zimmerman, offering a knock-knock joke that fell flat before the stone-faced jurors. "Who's there?" West said. "George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Okay, good. You're on the jury." West pivoted from the failed attempt at humor to a somber version of events, one that portrayed his client as a victim who acted to save his own life. “The young man lost his life," West said. "Another is fighting for his. The evidence will show that this is a sad case. There are no monsters here.” West then proceeded to explain to jurors the sequence of events that led to Trayvon Martin's death. He displayed a map of the community where the shooting occurred and played back calls between Zimmerman, a non-emergency dispatcher and neighbors. In the call to the dispatcher, Zimmerman said Martin looked suspicious and "black," and noted that there was a string of recent crime in the neighborhood. As West played the 911 call a neighbor made -- which captured screams from the altercation -- Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, walked out of the courtroom. "Tragically there was nothing that could be done," West said, referring to Martin's condition after he was shot. Martin's family was seen earlier sitting next to their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, inside the courtroom. Zimmerman's mother, father and wife also were present, but were later escorted out after prosecution lawyers invoked sequestration rules, which bar witnesses from courtroom proceedings until the state concludes the case. Zimmerman's defense team responded by asking Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to order the Martin family and Crump to leave, but they were allowed to stay. Mark O'Mara argued with Nelson over the decision, calling it "prejudicial." West said before his opening statement that the Zimmerman family members were not allowed in the courtroom because they are not related to the deceased and may testify, as they are on the witness list. Prior to the opening statements, Martin's mother asked for members of the public to pray for her family. Fulton said Monday that she didn't want any other mothers to have to go through what she is experiencing. Prosecutors say Zimmerman racially profiled Martin as he walked through the community where Zimmerman lived and often patrolled. Martin was returning from a convenience store on a rainy night in February 2012, wearing a dark, hooded shirt. The two eventually got into a fight and Zimmerman shot Martin. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty, claiming he shot Martin in self-defense. Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled last week prosecutors would be able to use the word "profiled" in their opening statements, as long as their description isn't limited to racial profiling. "We don't intend to say he was profiled solely because of race," Guy said last week. The defense is expected to argue race played no part in the case, which became a national story after the initial decision by local authorities not to charge Zimmerman. Civil rights leaders and others accused the police in the central Florida city of Sanford of failing to thoroughly investigate the shooting because Martin was a black teen from Miami. Martin was visiting his father in Sanford when he was shot. "We're trying so hard in this case not to make it what everybody outside the courthouse wants it to be," O'Mara said. On Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman spotted Martin, whom he did not recognize, walking in the townhome community where Zimmerman and the fiancee of Martin's father lived. There had been a rash of recent break-ins and Zimmerman was wary of strangers walking through the complex. The two eventually got into a struggle and Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest with his 9-mm. handgun. He was charged 44 days after the shooting, only after a special prosecutor was appointed to review the case and after protests. "I ask that you pray for me and my family because I don't want any other mothers to have to experience what I'm going through now," said Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, shortly before the start of opening statements. Two police dispatch phone calls will be important evidence for both sides' cases. The first call was the one made to the non-emergency police dispatcher as Zimmerman followed Martin walking through his gated community. At one point, the dispatcher tells Zimmerman he doesn't need to be following Martin. The second 911 call captures screams from the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin's parents said the screams are from their son while Zimmerman's father contends they belong to his son. Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won't be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods the experts used were unreliable. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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#1. To: All, *libertarians*, *Jack-Booted Thugs* (#0)
ping
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The prosecution will call George Zimmerman a Nazi at some point in the trial and invoke the Holocaust, with Trayvon Martin representing all jews, nay, all of HUMANITY. NEVER AGAIN!! Arrgh!!
#2. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
(Edited)
-Alex Kurtagic
#3. To: freepatriot32, X-15, 4 (#0)
What's the racial mix, if any, of the jurors?
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#4. To: Lod, James Deffenbach (#3)
I haven't kept up enough with the trial to know anything other than that they're all women.
-Alex Kurtagic
#5. To: Lod (#3)
All women as X said and I don't think there are any blacks. So of course if the jury doesn't find Zimmerman guilty south Florida will get to be LA in Rodney King days for a while. They will have riots and tv's being stolen and as they are carrying the nice flat screen tv off they will be saying, "Dis for Trayvon!" Just like out in LA it was all for "Rotney."
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#6. To: X-15 (#4)
I was surprised to hear it was sic jurors instead of the twelve I would expect for a murder trial.
#7. To: All (#6)
Yeah, I thought a death-penalty trial was twelve seated jurors and a bunch of alternates. FL is different though...
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#8. To: Lod (#7)
I think they charged him with second degree murder so that wouldn't be a dp case. I don't know if they have 12 in Florida even if it is. But I can find out.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
#9. To: Lod (#7)
In Florida, Death Penalty Takes a Majority By Suzie Schottelkotte The Ledger BARTOW -- Since 1995, eight condemned murderers in Polk County have gone to death row after jurors recommended the death penalty. This week, a jury of seven women and five men will debate whether convicted murderer Nelson Serrano, 68, should join them. But even as the Serrano jury deliberates a recommendation of life imprisonment without parole or death by lethal injection, a debate rages across the state about the way jurors handle death penalty cases. As it stands now, 12 jurors must reach a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of first-degree murder. But in a separate proceeding, called the penalty phase of the trial, jurors need only a simple majority, or seven votes, to recommend the death penalty. A recent report by the American Bar Association criticized Florida's death penalty process, particularly the majority vote issue. The panel said jury death penalty recommendations should be unanimous. The Florida Supreme Court has voiced support for a unanimous vote as well and urged legislators to change the law during the 2005 session, but lawmakers rejected the idea. "The bottom line is that Florida is now the only state in the country that allows the death penalty to be imposed . . . by a mere majority vote . . ." Justice Raoul Cantero wrote. But not everyone agrees that a change is necessary. Tenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jerry Hill said the existing system has enough safeguards to ensure that convicted murderers receive a fair sentence. Hill said the state is limited to 15 reasons for imposing a death sentence, including premeditation, excessive cruelty and murder of a police officer or child. Defense lawyers can present testimony on a broad scope. "The only thing that limits the defense is their imagination," he said. "The system is already weighted in their favor with the unanimous verdict. What more advantage do they need? I think it's a level playing field already. This system works. "I think there's no reason to tamper with this unless we're willing to concede that we no longer want the death penalty." Public Defender J. Marion Moorman, whose office handles many death penalty cases in Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, said he doesn't see it that way. "I think it should be unanimous, absolutely," he said. In Florida, he said, prospective jurors on a death penalty case must agree during jury selection that they're willing to impose the death penalty if circumstances warrant. If they don't, they can't qualify to serve as a juror, Moorman said. "Because of that, they are more prone to find guilt," he said. "So, since we start out with people who are more amenable to the state's position, I think the verdict should be unanimous." Retired defense lawyer Michael Minerva, who served on the eight-member Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team for the ABA, said the death penalty is supposed to be reserved for the worst of the worst cases, and he questions whether that's being done under the present system. "A unanimous vote would serve as a safeguard against imposing the death penalty in cases where not everyone who heard the case is convinced," he said Monday. "It should be a difficult standard. When the death penalty has resulted from a simple majority vote, you have to have questions about the appropriateness of that." State Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, said the issue came before House committees, but nothing came of it. State records show that the House Justice Council has addressed the issue, but it never became a proposed bill. Ross, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, said he's anticipating more discussion on the death penalty when the Legislature reconvenes in the spring. "I'd have to review the issue more closely before offering an opinion on it," he said. Since 1996, Polk juries have recommended the death penalty against eight convicted murderers who ultimately went to death row. In three cases -- Eddie W. Davis, Mark A. Poole and Harold A. Blake -- jurors came back with a unanimous recommendation for death. For the other five, the votes ranged from 7-5 to 10-2. In a ninth case, defendant Tavares Wright waived a jury recommendation, taking his case straight to Circuit Judge Dick Prince, who handed down a death sentence. Judges do not have to follow the jury's recommendation, but are supposed to give it great weight. Prince was among eight judges to hand down a death sentences since 1995. Circuit Judge J. Dale Durrance is the only judge to sentence two convicted murderers to death, both in 2005. Serrano was found guilty Wednesday night. The penalty phase begins today. If the jury recommends that Serrano should die for killing four people at the Erie Manufacturing offices in Bartow nine years ago, and Polk Circuit Judge Susan Roberts follows that recommendation, it will mark her second death penalty in as many years. In July 2005, she sentenced Thomas Woodel, 36, to death for the 1996 stabbing deaths of an elderly couple in northeast Polk County. It marked the second time Woodel received the death penalty for the same crime. Circuit Judge Robert Pyle first sentenced him to death in 1998, after a jury recommendation of 7-5, and the Florida Supreme Court overturned the sentence. The high court said Pyle's sentencing order failed to adequately evaluate each circumstance that favored life imprisonment. The case was sent back to Polk for resentencing, and a new jury recommended death by a 7-5 vote. Roberts followed that recommendation and imposed a death sentence. Published Tuesday, October 17, 2006 "Because of that, they are more prone to find guilt," he said. "So, since we start out with people who are more amenable to the state's position, I think the verdict should be unanimous." That guy should go tell the folks in Arizona that they can't lie and get on a dp case and then refuse to impose the death penalty after they said they could if the evidence warranted it. Four of them obviously lied to get on that jury since they could not agree with the death penalty (it was 8-4 for death for Jodi Arias). Now they will have to have a "do over" on the sentencing phase with a new set of jurors. And then if the second bunch can't agree it goes to the judge who can sentence her to life without the possibility of parole or life with the possibility of parole in 25 years (and that skank should NEVER be let out until she is carried out on a slab). Lod, for whatever it's worth I found this (but it's from 2006 so it may or may not be relevant now).
In Florida, he said, prospective jurors on a death penalty case must agree during jury selection that they're willing to impose the death penalty if circumstances warrant. If they don't, they can't qualify to serve as a juror, Moorman said.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts
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