RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/11/2012 8:46:48 PM

SoftBonds

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

It certainly strikes me as violating the Fifth, DC, but the lawyers have found their way around it, when it suits the Feds to do so. Apparently, looking at Trayvon funny and having him wind up dead is a whole different offense to the Feds, than looking at Trayvon funny and having him wind up dead in a state case.

I'm curious about a few things. How does Florida define 2nd degree murder, and do Florida juries have a lesser offense option in their deliberations, to start with.

Not that I agree with the interpretation (I am of the opinion that it IS still double jeopardy), but the federal case is generally "you were proven innocent of the crime, but what you did violated the civil rights of the victim." So for instance, if you lynch a black man, and the jury of locals says "Yeah, we all know you done it, but he was black, so not-guilty," the feds can come in and say "you are not guilty of murder, but your murder of him was racially motivated."
The latter is why the feds have that ability btw. It is technically a different crime. The two critical points are, 1. a crime had to be committed that was not charged in the state case (e.g. violating civil rights vs murder), and 2. since those cases often depend on mindset, showing that the crime was committed for the reason the law was designed to cover (e.g. you lynched him cause he was black, not cause he knocked up your daughter).
Still, the silliness of "We know the court says you didn't do it, but we are saying the REASON you did what you didn't do was X and such...," is pretty weird.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 12:11:37 AM

LafayetteLady

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quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

Wouldn't that be double jeopardy? I'm never entirely sure how that works.

The feds aren't going to be stepping in to make a seperate charge, that is simply a bunch of blowhards who have nothing better to say.

The opportunity for a civil suit against him was always an option, but most people wait until after the criminal trial because it helps their civil suit quite a bit. Unlike OJ Simpson, Zimmerman really doesn't have the assets that would garner much in a civil suit, so it would be costly for Martin's family to file one without much hope of a large award.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 12:15:40 AM

LafayetteLady

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

It certainly strikes me as violating the Fifth, DC, but the lawyers have found their way around it, when it suits the Feds to do so. Apparently, looking at Trayvon funny and having him wind up dead is a whole different offense to the Feds, than looking at Trayvon funny and having him wind up dead in a state case.

I'm curious about a few things. How does Florida define 2nd degree murder, and do Florida juries have a lesser offense option in their deliberations, to start with.

Second degree murder involves "Depraved mind" and disregard for human life. I think Zimmerman's actions after the fact speak to the depraved portion, as well as his disregard for human life, which was also evident simply in his "need" to shoot.

All courts allow for "lesser offenses." It is up to the prosecutors to include that option in their charges. Quite honestly, Zimmerman doesn't meet the criteria for "manslaughter," and I seriously doubt the prosecution is going to include it in the trial, nor will it be "on the table" for plea bargains (if a plea is even offered). I think the only plea they will discuss is a lesser sentence.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 12:29:08 AM

DarqueMirror

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Had the investigating officer not been interfered with by a civilian in the first place, we would have been spared this whole foofraw.

Once again, the *prosecutor* isn't merely a "civilian." He's an officer of the court and the one who has to stand before judge and jury trying a case with flimsy evidence. It's not only his duty to decide which cases to proceed with, it's his job. It's been his job since there have been prosecuting attorneys.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 12:45:25 AM

LafayetteLady

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DarqueMirror

quote:

ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam

Had the investigating officer not been interfered with by a civilian in the first place, we would have been spared this whole foofraw.

Once again, the *prosecutor* isn't merely a "civilian." He's an officer of the court and the one who has to stand before judge and jury trying a case with flimsy evidence. It's not only his duty to decide which cases to proceed with, it's his job. It's been his job since there have been prosecuting attorneys.

I think Hill is referring to the phone call from Zimmerman's father who allegedly made a phone call to stop charges from being filed.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 1:05:23 AM

DarqueMirror

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LafayetteLady
I think Hill is referring to the phone call from Zimmerman's father who allegedly made a phone call to stop charges from being filed.

That's not what he's said before. He's stated more than once the belief that the prosecutor shouldn't have done his job and told the cops not to charge him.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 4:37:29 AM

MrBukani

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That's old news by now.

MM started an update already.

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RE: Speaking of Zimmerman, he's to be charged - 4/12/2012 7:19:56 AM

VideoAdminGamma

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There is now an "All Things Zimmerman" compilation topic. Please post replies there and post a link back to this topic to reference what you are replying to.

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