Trayvon Trial Watch

The jury deliberations in the trial of George Martin for the death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida continue.  The jury just sent a note asking for additional clarification on what the lesser included charge of manslaughter.

If you want:

1) Wild ass speculation about what this means, watch/listen to Fox News

2) Reasoned lawyerly discussion of the the issue, see Legal Insurrection: Zimmerman Trial: Jury Asks for Clarification on Manslaughter

The implications of this question can only be addressed speculatively. It does, however, strongly suggest that murder 2 has been discarded from the jury’s consideration. All six jurors may be seriously considering manslaughter, or it may be a situation in which 5 jurors believe manslaughter does not apply (presumably because the State has failed to disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt) but find they are having trouble convincing the 6th jury of the same.

3) Wisecrackerery, and social commentary see The Other McCain: Kook City, USA: Awaiting Verdict, Maybe Riots, as #Zimmerman Jury Deliberates

Let’s be honest: The George Zimmerman trial is “news” because it’s what TV producers have decided is news. However, if you watch too much TV news, your brain has probably atrophied to the stage where you can’t make distinctions about what is more important:

A. This trial in Sanford, Florida, involving people you never met and never heard of until you saw it on the TV news; or
B. Something that might actually matter to you.

TV-induced mental health issues aside, the outcome of the Zimmerman trial might make a difference in your life if the jury votes to acquit and there are riots. Other than that — and you might want to check Zimmerman Jury Watch at Legal Insurrection — this might be a good time to explain why you think this is important.

The shooting of Trayvon Martin was just local news, until a left-wing group decided this case could help them demonize the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida which, however, isn’t really relevant to the case (go figure). Then the Usual Suspects of racial ax-grinding (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et al.) got involved and President Obama’s political advisers decided he should get involved, too. So there was a press conference in which a reporter asked a pre-approved question, to which President Obama gave a scripted answer.