Did George Zimmerman vote for Obama?

[LastVoter]

If I supported the death penalty (which I'd don't), I'd support it for Zimmerman.

I didn't think BRTD was a HP. Is this the person you would really make the exception for(hint: there are people that have comitted much worse crimes than Zimmerman). I don't think manslaughter gets you over 20 years in any state, even if it's racially motivated. Because Zimmerman has pre-meditated his murder, right? I think it's more of a case shoot first, ask questions later.

[LastVoter]

Walking around at night is a legitimate reason for someone to call 911 on you? J.J. becomes more and more ridiculous with each post he makes.

You obviously led a sheltered life.

Someone at night, walking around a neighborhood, that doesn't seem to be looking for a house or walking through, and who doesn't live there, is suspicious.  It doesn't mean the person is doing anything wrong, but it is suspicious.

Really?

[LastVoter]

If I supported the death penalty (which I'd don't), I'd support it for Zimmerman.

Nice way of campaigning for Zimmerman to get the death penalty while maintaining the pretext of opposing it. If you really oppose the death penalty, don't make these sorts of comments. You would be campaigning for Zimmerman not to get the death penalty. You would be saying he deserves to live. And this doesn't just go for Zimmerman, it goes for every time we have a high profile killer.

In Cleveland we recently had the trial of Anthony Sowell, who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 13 women and buried their bodies in his basement and back yard. He was unsurprisingly given the death penalty since his crimes were so heinous. Yet, a lot of people who normally oppose the death penalty weren't exactly rushing to stop Sowell from getting it. But cases like his show true meaning of opposing capital punishment, opposing it for someone who has done something truly horrible or who society really hates. That's the entire point.

If I supported the death penalty (which I'd don't), I'd support it for Zimmerman.

I didn't think BRTD was a HP. Is this the person you would really make the exception for(hint: there are people that have comitted much worse crimes than Zimmerman). I don't think manslaughter gets you over 20 years in any state, even if it's racially motivated. Because Zimmerman has pre-meditated his murder, right? I think it's more of a case shoot first, ask questions later.

I never said he should be the exception. What I think is hypocritical that TJ touched on and I'm sure would agree is like in Connecticut where they delayed repealing the death penalty so they could sentence it to that home invasion guy, and then repeal it afterwards without it being retroactive. Indeed that is inane though better than not repealing it at all. But if Zimmerman was on death row and I was a Florida legislator (obviously this is an impossible scenario) and there was a vote on repealing the death penalty like Illinois (also emptying out the death row), I would vote for repeal.

But if I did support the death penalty, I probably would for him. Obviously I would for the worse killers too. But as I don't and would vote against any type of instating the death penalty in my state, it's all moot.

Well the way I read it is that you support for him and nobody else. Which is quite terrible. Your explanation is quite long-winded and not something i would have inferred(I really didn't even think of CT situation).

[LastVoter]

Even if I accepted JJ's point (which I don't), I'm failing to make the logical leap from it being reasonable to call the police to it being reasonable to stalk and murder an unarmed teenager.

That isn't evil.  Zimmerman, who was part of the town watch, saw someone who wasn't from the area, at night, in an area where people don't usually walk.  It's reasonable to call the police in that circumstance.  That is actually a good indication he was not trying to be vigilante.

The questions is, what happened after that?  Did Zimmerman heed the warning and stop following Martin?  We know he left his car.   

From the phone call, it sounds like Martin wasn't walking in any sort of a direct way.  If he had, he would have easily traversed the area in the 2 minutes before he was reported as running, plus whatever time there was before before Zimmerman called police.  It was the erratic motion that attracted Zimmerman's attention.  

I suspect that there may be some foot traffic through the neighborhood.  There is only walls on the main street side and there were reports of people going into the adjacent neighborhoods on the interior.  There are separate pedestrian gates at the entrances, and an elementary school across the street.   In the Google street level photo (April 2011) the front vehicle gates (in and out) are wide open and no vehicles in site.  The back gate might stay locked which prevents cars from driving through.   And the front gates might be on a timer.

Zimmerman got out of his car when Martin started running.   The dispatcher asked him which way Martin was running.  Zimmerman told him toward the "other entrance".   The door closed and Zimmerman apparently started following after him, explaining to the dispatcher as he did so what he meant by the "other gate".   Arguably, Zimmerman was responding to the dispatcher's questions.

The dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he were following, Zimmerman said "yeah" and the dispatcher told him that he did not need to do that.   Zimmerman said OK, and the noises, either wind or puffing sounds stopped.   The dispatcher then asked for Zimmerman's name and phone number, and whether he wanted to meet with the police officer when he arrived.

If the warning not to follow is the audible one, it was after Zimmerman had got out of the car and the dispatcher was seeking additional information that could only be gained by moving.

If the claim was that Zimmerman did not instantaneously stop moving as he said OK.  It is a pretty weak case.

If they are going to allege that he was following while talking to the dispatcher for another 1-1/2 minutes during the phone call and another 1-1/2 minutes after the phone call they're going to need some corroborative evidence and explain how the 3 minutes of following resulted in less than 100 feet of motion.

American neighborhoods are often poorly designed for walking so people take shortcuts across the grass/avoid the sidewalk. Do we actually know where 7/11 and where Martin's dad lives and  where Zimmerman saw him?

[LastVoter]

A picture is worth a thousand words. You know you can take screenshots of google maps and draw the approx position of martin's house, and 7/11.

[LastVoter]

A picture is worth a thousand words. You know you can take screenshots of google maps and draw the approx position of martin's house, and 7/11.

Google Maps 1231 Twin Trees Sanford Florida.   Shooting took place behind there, near the north-south sidewalk that comes to a T on the east-west sidewalk.  Zimmerman was on the east-west jog of Twin Trees during start of phone call.

Brandy Green's house is in southernmost unit along north-south sidewalk on east side of walk.

Retreat View Circle makes complete loop of  subdivision, while Twin Trees connects the two entrances, which are both on Oregon, which follows north and east around the subdivision.

Pay particular attention to the distances (scale in lower left corner).

Find directions to Sam's Club, Rinehart Road, Sanford, FL.   Sam's Club is the big building south of Rinehart.  The (apparent) 7/11 is in front in a strip center.  If you use the little man for the street view you can see it on the left of the entrance into Sam's Club.

The way that neighborhood is setup it seems like any place(on the road, or the sidewalk behind a house) would be a reasonable place for a pedestrian, unless you live in 1984 world. I lived in a similar apartment complex in East TN which was composed of two-story 3 bedroom units in groups of 8. Kids always walked behind houses on the grass and on parking lots. There fence also had a break in it in one corner of the neighborhood so people could walk to to the nearby store.

[LastVoter]

The way that neighborhood is setup it seems like any place(on the road, or the sidewalk behind a house) would be a reasonable place for a pedestrian, unless you live in 1984 world. I lived in a similar apartment complex in East TN which was composed of two-story 3 bedroom units in groups of 8. Kids always walked behind houses on the grass and on parking lots. There fence also had a break in it in one corner of the neighborhood so people could walk to to the nearby store.

There is no wall on the west and south sides of the neighborhood.   In the NE corner is a walkway to an apartment complex (to the west).   It is conceivable that Martin came across their rather than through the main entrance.   If Zimmerman saw him there it was before he called.

The one burglary in the area that was solved was when police stopped four persons on bikes (three black males, one white males).   The police asked if they owned the laptops.  They said no.  The serial number matched one that had been stolen in the neighborhood.  The burglaries appear to have been mostly just quick entry, grab and run.

The fantasy that has been planted in everyone's mind was that the White Wannabe Cop who wanted to kill the 17 YO who looked 14 who had simply gone to the store to buy skittles had stalked him or "raced ahead" to cut him off.

Sure he might be 250 pounds on a 5'9 frame but he is half-Peruvian.   They're faster than they look and they can run long distances because of their altitude training in the Andes.

But the reality was that Zimmerman watched Martin for two minutes while he talked to the dispatcher, and an unknown time before he called.  Martin was not simply walking.  There was too much time, and too little distance.

This is getting absurd.

[LastVoter]

Lots of old people drive to mall to go walking, but that's more about the climate control than anything else. I don't think anybody would want to go for a walk here in July or in Minnesota in January.

You kinda have to wait until 10 to walk outside in TN.