The George Zimmerman Trial — Page 2

Feisty at times, Jeantel was asked by a defense lawyer why she didn't call police to tell her story and waited almost a month before speaking to Martin's family.
"I thought they supposed to call you," she said.
"Do you watch First 48?" Jeantel added, referring to a homicide investigation cable TV show. Friends also told her that the man who shot Martin had been caught. "I thought case closed," said Jeantel, who is a high school senior.

Updated On: 6/27/13 at 03:59 PM

Did THAT get a laugh in the courtroom? It should have!

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He looks like a cross between James Carville and Michael Cristofer (Jerry on Smash)

So do we think "cracker" is a racial epithet or not?

I suppose it is, but as others have said, it doesn't have the history or the weight of the "N-word." I can remember when "Georgia cracker" was a term of pride among people of that state.

But as I posted on another thread, the Rev. Al Sharpton is now using "C-word" instead of cracker on his MSNBC show. So apparently HE thinks it's a racist equivalent. (FTR, I've become a big fan of the mature Rev. Sharpton and appreciate his insistence that gay rights ARE the equivalent of African-American civil rights, even to the consternation of some in his community.)

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Personally, I found Ms. Jeantel VERY credible. What do people want from a teenage girl?

And trying to suggest a tri-lingual woman is somehow mentally deficient certainly rubbed me the wrong way!

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That being said and despite all the talking heads jabbering about which lawyers connect with the jury best, I should add that the two juries with which I've deliberated (one in NY, one in CA, one verdict of guilty, one not-guity) BOTH found in favor of the side with the attorney we intensely disliked. Jurors are perfectly capable of obeying their oath.

Oh, and by the way, DREAMGIRLS star, Sheryl Lee Ralph, is a regular commentator on HLN's JANE VELEZ MITCHELL show, weekdays at 4pm. She's quite articulate, BTW.

We saw no blood on the front of Zimmerman when he was brought into the police station, none on his face or the front of his shirt. Noses bleed profusely as I found out recently with a sponanteous nose bleed. Yes, there was a gash on the back of his head. Could the nose have been done after being brought in to the station as a possible defense consideration? Remember his dad is highly situated.

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Goth wrote: The "C-word" has different connotations besides cracker.

Dude, I so wanted to write that but didn't think it would go over well with this audience:)

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The "C-word" has different connotations besides cracker.

Yes, I know and I admit I was confused when I first heard Sharpton use the term.

But it became clear he was talking about the words Ms. Jeantel quoted TM as saying to her over the phone.

And those words were: "some crazy ass cracker (is following me)". So it became clear in context that cracker was the "c-word" Sharpton had in mind.

Cleaning the blood on the face, yes... but with the half dozen or so nosebleeds I have had over the course of my life, not once did the front of my shirt go unscathed!

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I hate high profile cases like these. They just give terrible news networks like
HLN a reason to exists.

I really could have done without seeing the kids dead body...

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I am convinced it was Trayvon Martin calling for help on the tape. I am convinced that if George Zimmerman were the one calling for help on the tape, Zimmerman himself, when asked if that was his voice, would have said it was his voice (not because people nec. recognize their own voices on tape, but because when the person knows one is listening to a tape of an occurrence in which he was yelling for help, one would say that was him). I am unwilling to believe a great deal of what Zimmerman has said that might be taken as proof that Trayvon Martin was the initial aggressor because of the various inconsistencies and incredulities in Zimmerman's statements.

While I have sympathy for the jury and can see them reasonably reaching any of the options for a verdict, I tend to think my vote would be to convict.

Having said that, and I hope the prosecution does much better on rebuttal, I have to admit that Mark O'Mara's summation for the defense was exceptionally good and that so far, the prosecution has been far outclassed in terms of closing arguments by the defense. The prosecution's closing argument was strident, defensive, and seemed to fail to hit their mark in terms of what is most persuasive to me in this case (although I didn't see the initial summation in its entirety). O'Mara, in contrast, was respectful, cogent and rhetorically and presentationally impressive.

I truly hope the prosecution does much better on their rebuttal argument than they did on their initial summation.

Updated On: 7/12/13 at 12:12 PM

I think the most the jury will convict him of is manslaughter. Just like with Casey Anthony, there just doesn't seem to be enough evidence. O'Mara was baiting and calling for evidence that Trayvon was about to get off him before he was shot, but I can't even think of any evidence possible that would support that without eye witnesses or video. Only two people know what happened and how it happened, and only one is still around. That alone makes finding evidence difficult.

I personally think Zimmerman was the aggressor and would not be susceptible to how O'Mara is trying to turn certain things (Trayvon Martin's mom just needed to think that was her son's voice, but Zimmerman's mom is absolutely right? Really?). Still, I would not be surprised at all if it comes back as "not guilty".