From the NY Times this morning online:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/us/george-zimmerman-bail-hearing.html
Mr. Zimmerman is being given the bail hearing he requested yesterday. There was a slight delay to the presentation of the request and hearing because the orignal judge recused herself given that her husband is an analyst for CNN.
So, there IS no conspiracy to deny Zimmerman bail, or a hearing, or anything else. The man IS a flight risk according to his own attorneys (those who quit representing him over the weekend after, apparently, he presented them with concerns he would be a flight risk).
Those of you on the far right who want to wear tin-foil hats can, once again, take them off and stop looking so foolish. This is how the judicial process works, despite your requests to have people denied due process (in capital cases), the process DOES allow bail for people, even those who appear to be nothing more nor less than vigilanties. That's the difference between the legal system, the system Trayvon Martin didn't get access to, and his killer did/was/is. It's the system to which Zimmerman denied Martin access. Claims of unfair racial bias appear to true, but only in the treatment of Martin.
Trayvon Martin didn't get the benefit of the doubt from George Zimmerman before he stalked him, chased him, then engaged in a brawl with him and subsequently shot him.
ReplyDeleteSome of our readers - notably KR - have complained that Zimmerman is the one not receiving the benfit of the doubt. KR sees some sort of guilt on the part of Trayvon Martin because he had been suspended from school.
While it is true that Martin had been given a short three day suspension from school, NOT as released by the Sanford police in an attempt to cover their failures for marijuana. Trayvon Martin was suspended for having been in the vicinity of a baggie found in a common area - he was not the only person in that area. The school disciplinary person was concerned that the empty baggie might - MIGHT - have held marijuana, but that was not determined, it was a suspicion, a maybe. Because of not identifying either the content, or the actual owner of the baggie, the zero tolerance policy of the school was to suspend students for a few days, essentially for non-cooperation / not snitching. It was not clear that Trayvon Martin ever knew what was in the baggie or to whom it belonged, rather than that he refused to snitch.
A failure by the school to give Trayvon Martin the benefit of the doubt. It is likely that zero tolerance school policies go too far.
But the pros and cons of what Trayvon Martin did in Miami is irrelevant to what happened in Sanford. Trayvon Martin was not shot because of anything that happened in his school. Trayvon Martin did not have any evidence of having EVER used drugs, including marijuana, much less having used either drugs or alcohol on that evening.
George Zimmeman couldn't tell Trayvon Martin's school status after dark, in the rain, on a Sunday night. George Zimmerman did not know, from following him, if he was an A-B student - which he was, or if he had ever had a problem with oversleeping occassionally - both true.
The reality is that there was NOTHING suspicious about Trayvon Martin. The reality is that there was absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION for what George Zimmerman did, in calling 911, in claiming Martin was suspicious, or drunk, or on drugs ----NONE of those things turned were true.
George Zimmerman failed utterly to respect Trayvon Martin's right to come and go freely, minding his own business. George Zimmerman harassed this poor kid who had just turned 17 three weeks earlier, and then engaged him in a physical confrontation, culminating in shooting him.
In giving George Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt, the presumption of being innocent before being proven guilty (if the prosecutor can do so) George Zimmerman gets all of his civil rights.
Trayvon Martin was deprived of his, and that is what is wrong with too lenient carry without a need to do so, and with the stand your ground law mentality. It condones and encourages jackasses like Zimmerman to over-reach their authority. It kills innocent people, and lets the killer get away with it. It is why stand your ground / shoot first laws need to GO.
Bail was granted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet for $150,000 dollars. I haven't seen if that is a signature only bail, or required money. If it required him to put up money, that would mean his family and friends raised $15K.
ReplyDeletePer the New York Times update, the prosecutor had requested a $1 Million bail figure.