Shot for getting skittles

I'm sure you understand the situation much better, never having been there and all.

You proceed from a false assumption.

sandbagger's identifying with the shooter and preparing his own future defense.

I understand that kind of... lingo.

The polarization of white vs black is apparent in this story and on this board.

It's unfortunate that Barack Obama has been so polarizing to our nation that tensions have arisen in both. In one case, a young urban youth has paid for it with his life

Yes, 911 Operators will always tell you to not get involved. The reasons are simple.

1) If you do get involved and get hurt, the agency is civilly liable. It may not be the way it should be, but that's the way it is.

2) Less people for the Police to have to deal with. About to years ago, I'm on a dark mountainous two-lane (one lane each way) state highway with no guardrails. It's storming. I'm behind a drunk that's going to kill themselves or someone else just any moment. I call 911 because I'm way, way outside of my jurisdiction. That County's Sheriff's Office finally gets a Deputy there. I'm glad I knew what I was doing because the Deputy had to pass me to get to the suspected driver...on a two-lane mountainous rural highway with no guardrails in a thunderstorm. That's dangerous for everybody, all the way around, and the Deputy doesn't need me, the Good Samaritan, making it worse.

I admit that it's purely speculation, but I think Zimmerman caused this by escalating the situation into a confrontation. But, it's really a double edged sword. Follow the guy, get into a confrontation, and shoot him and you're a goat. Follow the guy, prevent him from breaking into/attacking something/someone, and shoot him and you're a hero.

I actually like it when people hang way, way, way, way, way back at a very, very, very safe distance and observe suspects. It makes my job easier. I need my Dispatcher to be able to tell me the suspec'ts physical description, what he's wearing, what he's doing, and where he's at right now, not ten minutes ago. But, you should never, ever, ever, ever, ever put yourself in danger to get me that information.

Honest question - can a 911 operator issue a lawful order?

And I think you've got some nerve, as a veteran LEO, providing facts and offering a tempered judgment based on years of experience.

Unequivocally NO! They are not Certified Peace Officers.

I see nothing in the statute that contradicts Zimmerman's claims (at least as they have been reported).

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! I said there is no evidence that Zimmerman did anything wrong and, therefore, there is no case.

You can't charge someone with a crime unless there is evidence of a crime.

Martin's body with a bullet in it could be evidence of a crime, or it might not be.

And the Grand Jury is going to look at the evidence and say: nothing here to prosecute.

Where will the testimony it was NOT self-defense come from?

From a witness? There are none.

From the coroner? The defense attorney will ask if the wound in Martin is consistent with self-defense. The coroner will say yes.

From the police? The police will be asked if Zimmerman said anything that suggested guilt. They will say no.

And I ask again: BASED ON WHAT EVIDENCE?

The Grand Jury isn't going to say "Hmmm. We just don't like this. Even though there's no evidence to suggest a crime, we're going to have Zimmerman prosecuted anyway."

Zimmerman's lawyer will get the case dismissed immediately for lack of evidence.

Oh, for fuck's sake. That's not only wrong, it's completely irrelevant.

Your intuition about what people will or will not do MATTERS NOT ONE BIT in a criminal case. It's what can be proven.

In the extremely unlikely case someone was convicted on intuition and not evidence, the case would be appealed and overturned so fast your head would spin. But no judge would allow the case to go forward without evidence, anyway.

WHAT EVIDENCE DO YOU HAVE OF "INAPPROPRIATENESS" OTHER THAN SOME GUT INTUITION? Where is the evidence that RULES OUT the claim of self-defense.

YOU DON'T KNOW how the altercation went down. One could JUST AS EASILY say Martin should've run away when he realized he was being followed. Zimmerman committed no crime in following Martin even if, in retrospect, it was ill-advised.

And D.A.s know they aren't going to win a case without evidence. If this farce did go to trial, the defense would have ZERO problem establishing reasonable doubt.

Irrelevant.

If I rear end you in traffic, and you subsequently attack me and I defend myself, I may have created the bad situation, but YOU escalated it to the point self-defense was appropriate.

You don't get a free pass to be aggressive just because you fell you've been wronged. Couldn't that be what happened with Martin?

Also irrelevant.

Even self-important jerkoffs are entitled to self-defense.

According to the report, Martin noticed he was being followed and confronted Zimmerman.

So, Martin saw something suspicious and chose to engage.

How is that any different than Zimmerman?

Unless there's evidence that this was not a case of self-defense, Martin's family couldn't even win a civil trial on this basis. Zimmerman would tell his story and there would be NOTHING to contradict it.

I think its time for some of the brothers to go and burn down Zimmerman's house.

And that's why Zimmerman isn't going to be prosecuted. Or, on the off chance that he is, he won't be successfully prosecuted.

I don't know what was in Zimmerman's head. And neither do any of you.

But I can see that--thus far--there's nothing to contradict his claim of self-defense.

That's a great idea, brother #1. When you're done, Brother #2 can take you here: http://www.christianfuneralsinc.com/services.htm

There's no "may" to it as someone suggested up thread. It will go to a Grand Jury. All shootings do. That way, the State Attorney (what they call DA's in Florida) can say that he did his due diligence. If the Grand Jury returns a no bill and public sentiment goes south, the SA can pass the buck, but he'll have a clear conscience because he did his part.

Wow I mean just wow. You have demonstrated some weapons grade stupidity there.

Says the expert on weapons-grade stupidity...

I read enough of it from you darlin'.

Damnant quod non intelligunt. Punctuation is your friend.

If he killed my kid I wouldn't have much to live for. So then I would have to go kill him. Very simple. Jail for me wouldn't matter after that.

Lame come back. Is lame.

Another Casey Anthony trial. Huzzah.

Didn't understand that, either, huh? Maybe it's time for you to post more animated gifs.

Sanford, Florida is 30 percent black. Odds are no matter what neighborhood you're in, you will see a black face on any given day.

That said, if Zimmerman walks, young Martin's father won't have to burn down Zimmerman's house, because an angry mob will burn it down.
If Sanford was Augusta Georgia, Memphis Tenn, Los Angeles CA, etc. the downtown area would be an inferno the day of the "not guilty" verdict.

That's the reality of how things work. My point? This fuckwad Zimmerman might have FUBAR'ed his entire neighborhood/town and ultimately endangered lives and property for years to come. This situation could have been avoided, period. Thanks a lot, Zimmerman. If your neighborhood was safe, it won't be now if you don't get a lengthy sentence.

And a complete "not guilty" of ANY charges (or a wrist-slap) means epic racial tension and further violence. Zimmerman LIVES in The South so he knows the deal. If race isn't an issue yet, it will be soon.

Rule #1 (among the sane):
mind your own fucking business unless it directly affects you and yours.
Rule#2: stay in your lane. Let the police do their thing. If you want to be a policeman, join the fucking force or observe and report and play it safe.

Example: last night my daughter + her friends were at a self-serve carwash on the other side of the tracks late at night. A couple started arguing - the shouting led to shoving, leading to the male punching the female and knocking her down.
My daughter's friend called the police. In the meantime, the man walked around in circles angrily and berated and threatened the female, then assaulted her again, and she struck him as well.

The police came, and after a couple of minutes, told the couple to chill out and go home. The woman might very well get killed or injured once the police leave, but what can you do? No arrests, no charges. This is common on that side of town, unless gunplay is involved in a domestic squabble. But at least the kids tried to do something. They stayed there through the whole thing to act as witnesses if needed.

But wait - now the cops are grilling my daughter on why they are using that carwash (insinuating they should use one in Columbia County).
Then they noticed the car hadn't been washed yet, and got suspicious.
So, they made them wash the car to prove that's why they were there.

Lessons learned: if the cops don't give a shit (who knows, this couple might do this a lot) don't put yourselves in the spotlight.

Friday night (told you all about my wheel incident) when the cop ran my driver's license and said "this name sounds familiar..." my first thought was "oh fuck - bench warrant?"
I reminded him my son has the same last name, and maybe his name is still sticking in his brain from his arrest. Also, the police have made several visits (and filed reports) with our family, so odds are he may have been one of responding officers.

Luckily I came up clean, but again: by doing the right thing and getting a policeman to direct traffic around my car in the name of safety, I could have screwed myself inadvertantly. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly from the incident or something.

I have made a few 911 calls. And only once did I get involved with a situation. I can't watch a girl get beat up by a man.

Uh, "Officer, we haven't washed the car yet because we got here and observed violence, which we called in. We then observed so we could act as witnesses. What business is it of yours what we're doing at a public car wash? Are we being detained?"

If you take that tone, the cops will find a reason to detain you.
My county jail is a church picnic compared to the 401. My son was there too, but just to help fill out a report or somesuch paperwork task. The 401 is the Richmond County Law Enforcement Center, located at 401 Walton Way.

Its possible that the carwash was a drug spot. THAT'S the reason for the scrutiny.

This isn't a traffic stop, this is a "we're at a public car wash."

Also, I'm disappointed. Mewa backed off about getting killed by trying to burn the guy's house down.