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Zimmerman Charged With 2nd-Degree Murder 995

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin, was charged with second-degree murder. He faces up to life in prison if convicted in the shooting. From the article: "Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges but would not discuss how she arrived at them or disclose other details of her investigation, saying: 'That's why we try cases in court.' Second-degree murder is typically brought in cases when there is a fight or other confrontation that results in death and but does [not] involve a premeditated plan to kill. Corey would not disclose Zimmerman's whereabouts for his safety but said that he will be in court within 24 hours."
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Zimmerman Charged With 2nd-Degree Murder

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  • Bad Slashdot (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:13PM (#39651007)

    Not news for nerds.

    • Re:Bad Slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:22PM (#39651137)

      More like, still not news for nerds.

      How many fucking Treyvon/Zimmerman articles do I have to read here?

      • by koan ( 80826 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:30PM (#39651269)

        None, but stand your ground on this issue.

      • Re:Bad Slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)

        by cold fjord ( 826450 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:52PM (#39652251)

        How many fucking Treyvon/Zimmerman articles do I have to read here?

        None, if you stop clicking on the links. Odd that you are in this story when there are 14 other current stories, and links to 5 most talked about, and 5 "on this day" stories on the front page. You must want to be here.

        Besides, what is this, the second one? On a story of national interest?

        Or should we be checking your post for a secret clue to where you are being held captive and forced to read Slashdot against your will?

    • Re:Bad Slashdot (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Elrond, Duke of URL ( 2657 ) <JetpackJohn@gmail.com> on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:00PM (#39651685) Homepage

      Oh, for crying out loud... this sort of whining has been going on since Slashdot was first started.

      Why is it so hard for people to understand that Slashdot is "News for Nerds" AND "Stuff that Matters". Really, it's always been there, and it's hardly a long motto. RTFA has never been a favorite activity of Slashdotters, but it seems we've decended to the point where people can't even be troubled to read the entire name of the site. There was an enormous discussion on Slashdot on the day of the 9/11 attacks and that was hardly "News for Nerds", but it sure as hell fell into the "Matters" category.

      If you want to complain, then at least complain about the relative merits of this case being something that "Matters" outside of Florida or not. At least you'll be a little more on track with that.

    • Re:Bad Slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)

      by interkin3tic ( 1469267 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:02PM (#39651707)
      Slashdot's firehose is sorta like the national primaries. No one takes part in them to get rid of the crap, then everyone complains about the results.
  • by VinylRecords ( 1292374 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:26PM (#39651203)

    Someone put six bullet holes, last night they shot up, a parked police car that was left near the scene of the shooting. The message being that violence against the police is coming if they don't arrest Zimmerman and charge him with murder. They shot up a cop car. As if that neighborhood didn't need a reason for a neighborhood watch now they have guys firing live rounds into police cars? That's a safe neighborhood?

    The amount of media coverage. International press. 24/7 news cycle. The constant lies. "Zimmerman is white". Showing images of Trayvon Martin when he was only 12 and not 17 (and 6'3"). Editing the 911 call from Zimmerman to make him seem racist. The media wants a circus. A race riot. They want another OJ trial, or Rodney King riot, or Casey Anthony or Amanda Knox level ratings. Who cares if the guy is innocent or guilty or whatever. What's most important is getting ratings and possibly causing a race riot.

    And now we have the political pressure. Elections. Press. Appealing to the base. Even Obama had to give his opinion. "If I had a son he'd look like Trayon". Please Mr. President throw more gasoline on the fire. This is before Obama knew of the facts of the case. Just like when Obama blurted out an opinion about the cop who arrested the Harvard professor and then ended up having to have beer at the White House with the both of them. Will Obama have a beer with George Zimmerman?

    This event is exposing the worst of this country. A perfect storm of all that is wrong with where we are today. The media being anything but objective. The politics doing nothing but making everything racial and partisan. And the overwhelming majority of citizens ignoring the facts and rushing to judgement.

    • by PeanutButterBreath ( 1224570 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:38PM (#39651395)

      Someone put six bullet holes, last night they shot up, a parked police car that was left near the scene of the shooting. The message being that violence against the police is coming if they don't arrest Zimmerman and charge him with murder. They shot up a cop car. As if that neighborhood didn't need a reason for a neighborhood watch now they have guys firing live rounds into police cars? That's a safe neighborhood?

      It stopped being a safe neighborhood when armed vigilantes started stalking the streets, harassing people based on their suspicious blackness, and killing them when they legitimately stand their own ground against threatening behavior.

      The police didn't want to nip that in the bud, so now they have an even bigger problem. I hope they get off their asses and establish sanity with a minimum of further violence.

    • by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <tukaro AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:45PM (#39651493) Homepage Journal

      I still have a twinge (only a twinge) of hope that by putting this in the court's lap we'll get to have actual facts during discovery and a real investigation by detectives, not the media.

      But at this point it's been worked into such a frenzy that so many sides have put their hand in the pot that there's almost no soup left. Each group will be approaching both defense and prosecutors with all sorts of conflicting information, promises, leads, and threats. Then you have the political pressure you brought up, where I'm sure there's a DA or ADA who wants to look good for elections and will sweep tidbits under the rug to "prove" Zimmerman guilty. Or whatever lawyer announces to do it pro-bono to get his own high horse and sweep a different set of tidbits under the rug to "prove" him innocent, all until the rug resembles a mattress. Then the hard part will be to find 12 people who can't/won't get out of jury duty and at the same time either have not heard of the case or haven't let the media frenzy tell them what to think.

      Still, a twinge.

    • The amount of media coverage. International press. 24/7 news cycle. The constant lies. "Zimmerman is white". Showing images of Trayvon Martin when he was only 12 and not 17 (and 6'3"). Editing the 911 call from Zimmerman to make him seem racist. The media wants a circus. A race riot. They want another OJ trial, or Rodney King riot, or Casey Anthony or Amanda Knox level ratings. Who cares if the guy is innocent or guilty or whatever. What's most important is getting ratings and possibly causing a race riot.

      I used to watch MSNBC until this blitz. I wouldn't believe anything they say now.

      I would get the most amusement if he's found innocent, sues all the news companies for defamation of character, wins all their profits made while covering him, and uses the money to start an institution to monitor the media for this kind of deceptive practice.

  • by nbauman ( 624611 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @06:50PM (#39651561) Homepage Journal

    He's an asshole because he ignored the 911 operator's instructions to wait for the cops, and got out of his car with a gun to confront somebody.

    (Didn't he think it out? What did he intend to do after he confronted Martin? It had to turn out bad.)

    It seems harsh to send somebody to jail for a big part of his life because he's an asshole. I feel sorry for him.

    But somebody is dead because he's an asshole. I feel even more sorry for Martin, and Martin's friends and family.

    In America we do give people long prison sentences for killing somebody in a street fight.

    A lot of black people in Florida go to jail for less.

    What else can you do with Zimmerman?

    Yes, you do go to jail for being stupid.

    • by khipu ( 2511498 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:29PM (#39652015)

      He's an asshole because he ignored the 911 operator's instructions to wait for the cops, and got out of his car with a gun to confront somebody.

      The 911 operator told him that he didn't "need to" follow Martin and Zimmerman said "OK" and was going to wait by his car for police. Zimmerman testified that he was returning to his car and it was Martin who confronted him and then punched him. Witnesses saw Zimmerman on the ground, with Martin on top, and Zimmerman's injuries and dirty clothing support that.

      I don't know of any actual evidence that support the idea that Zimmerman ignored the 911 operator's suggestion and followed and attacked Martin. Maybe you can share what evidence you think there is?

      (Didn't he think it out? What did he intend to do after he confronted Martin? It had to turn out bad.)

      There is no evidence that Zimmerman confronted Martin.

      A lot of black people in Florida go to jail for less.

      I don't know whether that's true or not, but if racism causes the justice system to be unreasonably harsh towards black people, then we need to fix that, instead of destroying our justice system for everybody.

      • by nbauman ( 624611 )

        I don't know of any actual evidence that support the idea that Zimmerman ignored the 911 operator's suggestion and followed and attacked Martin. Maybe you can share what evidence you think there is?

        There is no evidence that Zimmerman confronted Martin.

        http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/11/opinion/hostin-trayvon-martin-jury/index.html [cnn.com]

        Zimmerman sees Martin, deems him "suspicious" and calls the police. Zimmerman tells the dispatcher he is following Martin. The dispatcher tells Zimmerman "we don't need you to do that." Martin notices Zimmerman is following him and tells his girlfriend, Dee Dee, with whom he is on the phone. She tells him to run, and he agrees to walk quickly.

      • by sandytaru ( 1158959 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:58PM (#39652305) Journal
        Why did he even leave his car in the first place, if he thought that Martin was dangerous? Your car is the safest place to be - you have a 2,000 pound vehicle with the strength of a hundred horses, and the guy on the sidewalk doesn't. Stand Your Ground ceased to apply the moment he left his vehicle.
  • by tverbeek ( 457094 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:02PM (#39651717) Homepage

    Cue the folks who don't want the outside world intruding into their mothers' basements shrieking "This isn't news for nerds!"

  • by msobkow ( 48369 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:16PM (#39651845) Homepage Journal

    In Canada, the first thing the courts would do would call for a media black out until the judgement is rendered, and then likely another black out until sentencing. The idea is to prevent bias in the potential jury pool.

    Unfortunately, due to incompetence and delays in deciding to file charges and make an arrest, they're going to have one hell of a time finding a "jury of peers" that isn't tainted by public opinion and forced to recuse themselves from participating.

  • by khipu ( 2511498 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:18PM (#39651881)

    At this point, the only way to settle this is for it to go to trial. The facts need to be laid out in court, experts need to testify, and a jury needs to decide.

    I think there's a good chance that a jury will find Zimmerman "not guilty". The DA's original assessment was that there wasn't even enough evidence to win a conviction, and that's consistent with the evidence that has come out since.

  • Z fscked up (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Freddybear ( 1805256 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:46PM (#39652185)

    He went into hiding, probably depressed. Didn't stay in touch with his lawyers.
    Then, worst mistake, he called the DA and talked to them without a lawyer present.
    He's screwed.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @07:49PM (#39652221)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Stand Your Ground (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cruciform ( 42896 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @08:11PM (#39652419) Homepage

    So some people have made reference to Trayvon assaulting Zimmerman, then Zimmerman "stood his ground" justifying the act under Florida law.
    Yet I've seen no one say that Trayvon was standing HIS ground under that same law when Zimmerman shot him.
    After all, Zimmerman stalked Trayvon. Whether Trayvon took a swing at him first is not relevant if he felt threatened, at least by the above reasoning.

  • by thisisauniqueid ( 825395 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @08:13PM (#39652449)
    My brain read "Zimmerman" as "Zuckerberg". How alarming.
  • by GodfatherofSoul ( 174979 ) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 @09:43PM (#39653245)

    What made this case national news is NOT because a light-skinned guy killed a black guy, or that he was 17 years old, or that he was only holding candy. What made this story news is that the local police dropped the investigation like a hot potato (possibly because of Zimmerman's parents job titles), held onto the body without informing the parents when they had ID and his phone (which family and friends called BTW), then announced that there wouldn't be charges based on spurious coverage under their stand-your-ground law.

    All of the false equivalence citations to coverage of other cases where a black guy killed a white guy, how black kids dress, or how Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are "uppity troublemakers" is totally IRRELEVANT!

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