Trayvon Martin Rally in NYC

[GandD 5,966]

If someone is following you it doesn't give anyone the right to start pounding on them.

This is true. I just wish we knew who threw the first punch.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

This is true. I just wish we knew who threw the first punch.

Yeah. There's no way to prove it when only one person walks away from the fight.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

This trial is only a sham to the people who wanted it to go the other way.

Guaranteed if he'd been found guilty, nobody would complain about the jurors except for the people who wanted him found not guilty.

Come on, guys.

Amen.... Good post If he had been found guilty I would accept it as fair.

Know what.. I think he was way way over charged because of the pressure. I would have been very Ok with a way lesser charge and I think they would have gotten it.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Amen.... Good post If he had been found guilty I would accept it as fair.

Know what.. I think he was way way over charged because of the pressure. I would have been very Ok with a way lesser charge and I think they would have gotten it.

What lesser charge do you think he would/should have gotten?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

My wife and I were discussing this case and she called me out on my hypocrisy. She pointed out to me that I also view unfamiliar young black men in my neighborhood with suspicion. Many years ago, we had an issue with a group of young black men who decided they wanted to use the parking lot of our complex to hang out. They were all friends of one resident so technically not trespassing. They were a nuisance but not criminal in any serious way. They were loud, one of them enjoyed taking his shirt off at cars passing by and yell profanities at them. They once started a fight closer to the building I live in, one of my neighbors stepped outside to ask and they told him to back inside. The fight ended quickly, all that was left were shattered shirt pieces which were washed away by the rain a few hours later. I ended up calling the cops on them the third consecutive weekend they used our parking lot to hang out in. I told them I smelled marijuana and I saw empty beer bottles and I'm certain they're all underage. That brought the cops in fast. Like fast, fast. I was surprised at how fast. They showed up with a megaphone, asked the kids to disperse, they all got back into their cars and left. It was over in minutes. They never came back.

Yes not criminal in any way

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Andrew Sullivan said it well:

...when there are no witnesses but the two individuals involved in a fight, and the victim is dead, and you live in a state that provides “stand your ground” immunity for self-defense, then proving a murder beyond a reasonable doubt is hard.

That is it in a nutshell. It was difficult to get past the law. The law needs to be changed. Contrary to common law, Florida awards a presumption to the defendant, for an affirmative defense where the presumption would normally be given to the state. To me, this would be like rape case, where the jury has to presume the victim was a ####### and asking for it.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

What lesser charge do you think he would/should have gotten?

I have no frikkin idea and I am not going to try to google myself up a law degree LOL

Just saying that I think if he had been charged with something way way less the jurors might have found him guilty. I honestly don't think they along with any of us did not think, ok he could have done a few things different

But I think the evidence showed he did not attack him for being black

and he did not deserve to be rung for many years.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Yes not criminal in any way

Note my use of the word "serious".

I also never claimed they actually did any of that. I simply said that's what I told the cops.

Read between the lines.

ETA: Taking your shirt off and yelling at passerbys isn't criminal, just stupid and ugly.

Edited July 15, 2013 by amriki bhai

[decocker 7,198]

That is it in a nutshell. It was difficult to get past the law. The law needs to be changed. Contrary to common law, Florida awards a presumption to the defendant, for an affirmative defense where the presumption would normally be given to the state. To me, this would be like rape case, where the jury has to presume the victim was a ####### and asking for it.

true stuff right here..

[Teddy B 17,252]

I have no frikkin idea and I am not going to try to google myself up a law degree LOL

Just saying that I think if he had been charged with something way way less the jurors might have found him guilty. I honestly don't think they along with any of us did not think, ok he could have done a few things different

But I think the evidence showed he did not attack him for being black

and he did not deserve to be rung for many years.

I tend to agree with this. I think the murder 2 charge was such an overshoot based on the evidence that the jurors may have even felt insulted by having to consider it. The murder 2 charge was so ridiculous, it showed this case for the political spectacle it was. A lesser charge from the start would have been much more reasonable and may have actually had a possibility of a conviction.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Note my use of the word "serious".

I also never claimed they actually did any of that. I simply said that's what I told the cops.

Read between the lines.

ETA: Taking your shirt off and yelling at passerbys isn't criminal, just stupid and ugly.

Anything can be construed as disturbing the peace, if in fact it is.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Note my use of the word "serious".

I also never claimed they actually did any of that. I simply said that's what I told the cops.

Read between the lines.

ETA: Taking your shirt off and yelling at passerbys isn't criminal, just stupid and ugly.

So you lied to the cops and made up stuff ???? ####### --

Taking your shirt off and yelling profanities at passing cars is against the law sorry

[mota bhai 2,675]

So you lied to the cops and made up stuff ???? ####### --

I didn't say I did. I didn't say I didn't.

[decocker 7,198]

ETA: Taking your shirt off and yelling at passerbys isn't criminal, just stupid and ugly.

yeah. we've got a 'town drunk' who likes to stand on the corner of rt340 and main street and masturbate (outside his clothes) for all the cars passing by. generally this only happens when he earns his lawnmowing money quickly in the day and gets way drunk before dark.

your guy sounds more tolerable..

and while i'm pretty sure ol wade could get arrested for his behavior - small towns don't operate the same as the big cities.

[mota bhai 2,675]

your guy sounds more tolerable..

Those guys haven't been around in years. Where's shirtless guy who likes to yell at cars today? In college, probably. I think he was in HS back then. The thing about black kids from the nice suburbs is that they know how to put on a thug act to impress their friends but... they also know how to turn it off when it's time to fill out that college application.