When the special prosecutor in the Trayvon case declined to put evidence before a grand jury, I knew that Zimmerman would be charged. It was clear to me that the prosecutor did not want to take the chance of a grand jury choosing not to charge, the fallout would be too great politically. So I knew she was determined to charge Zimmerman.
However, when the news broke that she would charge him with Murder 2nd degree, I was shocked. While I freely admit that I don’t know all that transpired that night, there was absolutely nothing in any of the accounts available that seemed close to establishing Murder2. I mean the first prosecutor that looked at this didn’t even think that he could prove manslaughter, but this prosecutor skipped right over manslaughter and murder in the 3rd. I couldn’t understand it. So naturally I assumed, they know something I don’t know, something new.
Then the affidavit used to establish the charge of murder in the 2nd became public and I was shocked again. There is nothing new. Not only nothing new, but the probable cause affidavit left out key parts of the narrative the would mitigate against a murder2 charge. I know I am a layman, but all I could think was “What the heck?”
Then yesterday I saw a video of Alan Dershowitz saying the same thing. That the affidavit doesn’t even come close to probable cause for murder 2 and that any decent judge would have to throw out the charge.
And then it all became clear. The prosecutor WANTS the judge to throw out the charge.
It seems to me that the prosecutor knows that even manslaughter will be hard to prove but the charge is perhaps justified. But she also knew that anything less than the maximum charge would unleash the full fury of the race-baiters and hucksters currently roaming Florida neighborhoods. So she brings the charge of murder2 even though she knows it will likely be tossed. Then she can come back with a manslaughter charge and she is off the hook. You don’t like it? Blame the judge.
Bait & Switch.
Cold. Political. Calculation.
Life is a Tom Wolfe novel. We just live here.
April 13, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Wow,
That's a conspiracy theory, for sure. But it follows logically. If it were true, I would not be surprised at all. That's where we live today. "The system" is for making points and statements, not about establishing truth or justice.
April 13, 2012 at 3:51 pm
Those were my thoughts, exactly, when I read the affidavit.
April 13, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Yup, this is CYA justice. Really sad.
April 13, 2012 at 4:48 pm
I too had the same feeling when I heard the charge. I truly hope justice is served and Zimmerman does not end up being convicted of a higher charge if the evidence points to a lesser charge or acquittal.
April 13, 2012 at 5:11 pm
Quelling the anger our manchild president refuses to.
April 13, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Boy, when I find myself agreeing with Alan Dershowitz you know these are strange days.
And just to add to the conspiracy, I wonder if we will hear veiled suggestions from the O that he can keep the peace but if you don't vote for him well…if every major city burns, you were warned. But what do I know? I'm just another NO_LIMIT_MALE_OF_PINKISH_HUE.
April 13, 2012 at 5:38 pm
To bad this will never be tested in real life. If the shooter was black, he would have been arrested. The shooter was white and the son of a Judge…. Free and keeps the gun.
Southern strategy at it's best.
April 13, 2012 at 6:05 pm
The shooter was white. Hmm. Oh yeah, half white like Obama. I think I understand you now.
April 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm
The shooter was white.
Man, I guess if you squint real, real hard – as in you actually squint so hard that you just close your eyes and shut out reality – then yes, the shooter was white.
April 13, 2012 at 7:40 pm
At least all this legal wrangling will hopefully result in some sort of guideline number of times we should let a thug slam our heads into the ground before we can legally defend ourselves. To the point of cracking our skulls open? Some mild brain damage? Just let us know, black America! We stand ready to endure our beatings.
April 13, 2012 at 8:41 pm
Guest on NPR Tom Ashbrook's On Point said about the same thing in passing (they didn't linger long on the possibility) – not as a way of confirming your theory but only to show that even the lefties are thinking this one out…
JOB
April 13, 2012 at 8:44 pm
" not as a way of confirming your theory"
To be clear – in the sense that NPR cannot really confirm anything but it's tendency to steal chickens from its own henhouse.
JOB
April 13, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Sounds plausible. For some reason I keep thinking of Michael Nifong and the Duke University lacrosse team. The only thing that saved those lads were wealthy parents with deep pockets who stood by their sons until the truth came to light. Zimmerman has no such resource.
April 13, 2012 at 9:50 pm
Zimmerman: America's sacrifical lamb to appease the anger of the Black mob.
April 13, 2012 at 10:28 pm
FYI:
White and Hispanic are not mutually exclusive categories
April 13, 2012 at 11:58 pm
White and Hispanic are not mutually exclusive categories
I don't know if you're the same person who commented that Zimmerman was white – I can't tell because you can't be bothered to leave your name – but even allowing that Hispanics can be light skinned, I would suggest getting a new prescription for your eyeglasses if you would categorize Zimmerman as white.
April 14, 2012 at 1:16 am
Zimmerman is a Peruvian Mestizo, and his white heritage is Ashkenazi (German Jewish).
Black America's mindset in all of this has been—to a non-Anglo white person like myself—highly amusing. Since, after all, the only words that describe it are "redneck lynch mob". Just because your trailer-park is vertical and called a housing project doesn't make it not a trailer-park.
April 14, 2012 at 1:47 am
I have no idea what really happened that night. I do, however, know the history of Sanford, FL, a few minutes from my home. Sanford has a deep, deep history of racial prejudice – so much so, that one of the schools that was slated to be closed this summer (as was mine) could not actually be considered because it is still laboring under some sort of jurisdiction from just a few years ago about the lack of integration. Whether you are a fan of public schools, integration, or none of the above, the fact remains that Sanford, FL, is not this wonderfully innocent place, where all peoples care for one another in great accord. It is a mess and has been for years. So, whether George Zimmerman grew up there, came there three months ago, is white, black, or gray, and had a small knot on the back of his head, there is a young black man who is dead and only two people know the story. One of them can't talk anymore.
April 14, 2012 at 7:59 am
@Sue: did you have a point? You appear to be attempting to judge a man guilty based on it being "the kind of thing that they do in that town".
Which is precisely the kind of thinking responsible for racism, thinktank.
April 14, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Sophia's Favorite,
It was basically a response to several posts above about George Zimmerman's race and the apparent assumption that he must be innocent. That's what i hear, coming through loudly and clearly through most conservative blogs. Gun control is abhorrent, therefore, it must be OK for a man to wield a gun and thereby be declared innocent because the one who got away has a mark on the back of his head.
As for your need to be insulting, that is not wisdom.