Dre

But if they stood silent someone could just as easily call them apathetic vermin. Look, we get it...politicians are for the most part sociopaths the higher up you go...but to act like they aren't allowed to speak on it without being labeled exploitative is just making a mockery of the thing even more.

And if you think the guy is guilty why are they not allowed to agree, which is essentially what they're doing

Diable

The laws in Florida about the use of deadly force are insane. If this guy had done this in most states he'd be facing a charge of some sort, but in Florida he can probably get away with this because there doesn't seem to be any evidence contradicting his story.

Impossible to say what really happened, but it looks like this guy is out acting out some action hero fantasy. Maybe what he says is true, but if it is then this kid got pissed at being followed around and nothing happens if you act like you don't want anything to happen. He called the cops and the dispatcher told him not to do what he did, because what he was doing is dumb.

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Dornado

That's pretty much my thought... none of this would have happened if this guy wouldn't have anointed himself sheriff of his little gated community. He pursued him, even after the kid tried running away, he trailed him in a car... even if there was a scuffle, the kid was essentially being stalked for no reason.

If you listen to the audio tapes of the 911 call... in addition to being told not to pursue the kid, I'd say there's about a 50/50 chance that Zimmerman said "****ing coons!" under his breath as he started his pursuit... the problem is it is barely audible so you can't really be sure.

I just don't get the desire to take the law into your own hands. We have cops for a reason.

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ATLien

That crazy guy had made over 100 911 calls over the past year. He clearly had his own issues even before this case happened

E.H. Munro

If the police did the sort of grotesquely sloppy work that they did here you could get away with murder.

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If everyone loves you you're doing it wrong.

"Opium is the religion of the masses." Fred Reed

The Power of 99 Press

"He thinks it's going to be fun being governor. It's only fun being governor of New York if you have money to spend, and I spent it all." Nelson Rockefeller on his successor, Hugh Carey.

Diable

Most likely this would get pleaded down to manslaughter given the lack of evidence and the ambiguity. A prosecutor would hate this case, so would the taxpayers. You'd burn through a metric ton of cash trying to make a murder case and unless this guy decides to defend himself he's going to have plenty of reasonable doubt. I doubt that this fits the legal definition of murder at any rate, because I believe you'd have to prove intent. Manslaughter would probably be a slam dunk in most states, but in Florida that idiotic stand your ground law gives this guy a lot of cover.

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E.H. Munro

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm getting at. The police handling of the crime scene and the witnesses have rendered it useless. If you had shot a teenager, and the police refused to interview key witnesses, changed the statements of other witnesses, refused to test you for drugs & alcohol, changed the official police report after the fact, etc. you'd walk scot free. There'd be nothing anyone could do about it. And it's not like this sort of police mishandling of a crime scene is unique.

__________________
If everyone loves you you're doing it wrong.

"Opium is the religion of the masses." Fred Reed

The Power of 99 Press

"He thinks it's going to be fun being governor. It's only fun being governor of New York if you have money to spend, and I spent it all." Nelson Rockefeller on his successor, Hugh Carey.