Thoughts on Zimmerman
This is not about guilt or innocence, or the daily entertainment news shows with their never-ending prattle about the court case, but the broken process that our government calls justice. Although acquitted, Mr. Zimmerman will have to pay huge sums of money for his defense and will be broke. Free, but broke. Just like Louis Taylor.
The civil lawsuit that will be filed against Zimmerman by Martin’s parents will make sure that he’s completely broke, and will file bankruptcy after the civil (and possible federal civil rights) case. Martin’s parent’s will probably win, as the proof requirements are far less than in a criminal trial. The parents won’t get a dime, nor their lawyers who will work on contingency. The plaintiff’s lawyers will get positive publicity which is what they really want and will use the case to get more business. It’s all about business.
In any instance, Zimmerman’s criminal defense lawyers careers are now made, so while they will only get a fraction of their billed rate, they’ll make much more by being the prevailing lawyers. The prosecution team including the D.A. has just ended their careers. The case was about careers, and not particularly about justice.
As you know, initially the police and prosecutors didn’t think that Zimmerman should be charged, but public pressure caused them to change their minds.
Sadly for the county’s District Attorney he was foolish enough not to use the modern technique to ensure a guilty verdict… throw every imaginable charge possible against the defendant. Why? Because juries are sympathetic to the prosecutors and will generally find the defendant guilty of something “to be fair.”
Editor note: Last night, July 16, in a CNN interview of one of the jurors. Juror B37 said some jurors “wanted to find Zimmerman guilty of something, but there was just no place to go based on the law.” Watch from 30 seconds in this clip.
The juries are not allowed to know the consequences of being guilty of “spitting on the sidewalk” metaphor of a minor charge. After the jury is dismissed, the judge can and will impose a very heavy sentence anyway. This technique is a perversion of what passes for justice, especially in this case where the judge threw out a bone (manslaughter) for the dumb prosecutors that made the case an all or none for the jury. They chose none anyway.
For Mr. Zimmerman the murder charge carried a sentence of 25 years in prison. The “lesser” manslaughter charge, 30 years! It’s called Manslaughter with a Weapon or Firearm in Florida. So much for the lesser charge.
The D.A.’s office in Cleveland, Ohio slapped Ariel Castro with over 600 criminal counts, the entire book, for kidnapping and raping three girls over a ten year span. Can you imagine the time it will take to prove that many counts in a courtroom?
The D.A. knows that some will stick, no matter what, and will want to agree to a plea bargain deal like 95% of all felony charged defendants. That’s nineteen out of twenty who just give up and plead guilty.
Editor’s note: This is a news report of the expected plea deal as reported by CNN on July 26th.
This graphic explains how the prison industry is fed –
Why file so many charges? It puts overwhelming pressure on a defendant to avoid a trial with its enormous expense, the time and preparation involved, the negative publicity for Cleveland and so on.
In Florida, the D.A. and the prosecutors have just trashed their careers for stupidity. The single charge was so puny that, as I wrote, the judge even allowed a second charge to be added just before the jury deliberated. She was throwing the weak minded prosecution a bone to help them out.
In any instance, as President Obama has expressed an interest in the case, the Justice Department may file federal civil charges against Zimmerman. They will have a tough job proving him guilty, but they can punish him the old fashioned way by bankrupting him to make sure that his life is ruined anyway.
Is this justice? Let me know what you think.
Editors note, August 27, 2013
Zimmerman’s lawyers are asking the State of Florida to pay between $200,000 to $300,000 to reimburse him for all non-defense legal bills, per Florida law! His trial cost the state (Florida taxpayers), $902,000. I cannot imagine how much is his bill for legal fees. In any instance, the Justice system has ruined him. Bankruptcy is his next step.
