Of course I am. I can admit it. That said. I am capable of processing information. I am capable of reading the situation. Are you biased? Rocket River
Every day black juries convict blacks.... and every day black juries aquit whites..... Having said that, I would not be surprised if the case is moved, although I expect it will be moved to a forum that has similar demographics to the one where the crime took place.
Look... Zimmerman potentially has a strong statutory defense. The stand your ground statute and judicial interpretation are very clear and will be included in the jury instructions. Further, if the judge has the guts to over look public opinion it is quite possible the judge looks at the statute, and decides that under Florida law there is nothing for a jury to decide...... but that would take a VERY insulated judge that does not care one way or another about public opinion. I am surprised to hear Alan Dershowitz weigh in the way he has. I have to think that this goes to trial and unless never evidence surfaces, is guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter.
I think most everyone has their inherent bias for every matter. Regarding this case, I think I can pretty honestly say that my level of bias is very low. Race is not a big issue for me, I don't live in the States, most of my information regarding the case is from this thread. I think that my posts on this matter (aside from siding with bigtexxx against what I perceive as a bit of a witch hunt by other posters) do reflect that relatively unbiased view. I said from the beginning that based on what I know, I thought he should have been arrested and put on trial, but on the other hand, I disagreed with those who already concluded that it must be murder. I think that with that position, I am somewhat in the middle between those who made thinly veiled posts saying they would like to see Zimmerman dead or at least in fear for his life and others who seemed to very strongly defend Zimmerman although the facts (imho) are not in his favor.
I, too, was surprised by Derschowitz's forthrightness on this. Further, I was surprised by his suggestion of the political motivations of the Special Prosecutor which have been poo-pooed here by some. Also a strong suggestion of the unethical practice of filing the m2 charge in an effort to cop a Manslaughter plea.
I guess some people aren't that familiar with the conservative Derschowitz. This sounds exactly like the sorts of things he'd say, and do so publicly. It is no surprise at all, and falls in line with the kinds of things Al D. has been saying for a long time.
As I said I was surprised by the murder 2 charge but based on what I know, which is limited, it seems like it isn't unusual to threaten a higher charge to compel someone to agree to plea to a lower penalty. I have the feeling that may be the case here. My own personal opinion is Zimmerman pleading guilty to manslaughter will likely be the best outcome to this situation and avoid potential fallout from this.
I don't know that it is unethical to file murder 2 charges...... however of course politics plays a part in this, it does in most cases that are high profile.
I don't know that I would call Derschowitz a conservative per se..... he is VERY pro-Israel... but he is liberal on many issues and is not friendly to the Second Amendment.....
The Special Prosecutor has nothing to lose asking for murder two...... she or Zimmerman can always ask the Judge to allow the jury to consider a lesser murder charge.... I also expect Zimmerman to face some sort of federal charges, Eric Holder and his subordinates have him in their cross hairs.
If I recall correctly Dershowitz supported the invasion of Iraq and also several of the Bush 43 Admin. policies in the war on terror.
<object width="512" height="288"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/aol/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fwatch%2F350212%2Fthe-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-zimdecision-2012-the-trial-of-the-millennium/embed/ul-FFYwizcCeuH0RzpUoFA"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/aol/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fwatch%2F350212%2Fthe-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-zimdecision-2012-the-trial-of-the-millennium/embed/ul-FFYwizcCeuH0RzpUoFA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="512" height="288" allowFullScreen="true"></embed></object> Just a reminder.... Obama approving the The National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing the military to detain even US citizens without trial, along with the execution / assassinations of US citizens without charges or due process is 10000000000000 x more important than the Trayvon Martin case.
This is purely guessing but I think if he is found guilty, or pleas guilty, to a state charge the DOJ will let it go. While Holder et al have been involved it really seemed like the DOJ stepped in when it seemed like there weren't state charges forthcoming and they wanted to head off a Rodney King situation before protest might have gotten out of hand. If Zimmerman is found guilty I don't think it would politically be in their interest to keep on prosecuting him going into the general election. The only exception I can see is if he isn't found guilty on state charges then they might feel the need to continue with Federal charges.
You already made a thread about that very subject. You could've just revived that thread that trying to derail this one. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=217586&highlight=awlaki
I don't think he's an ultra conservative, or hard line right winger. I consider him conservative based on a number of his stances. But I agree that not every position he takes on every issue is conservative. However, none of the comments he made seem out of character or anything other than what I'd expect from him.
I have thought there was enough for manslaughter almost from the time I heard the 911 call but not enough for murder. I don't don't know all of the facts but I don't think they would charge him for murder unless they had some evidence that points towards murder. I have no problem with the charge. The prosecuter still has to prove in a court of law that it was murder. I just don't think they would go this far without some compelling evidence.
