Like Our Facebook Page

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Did the Prosecution in the Zimmerman Trial Try to Use Reverse Jury Nullification?

Late in the night of July 13, 2013 George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder and manslaughter for shooting Trayvon Martin. (Details of the case can be read here.) The scary part is that one of the prosecutors, John Guy, in his rebuttal to the defense's closing arguments asked the jurors to disregard the lack of evidence and the lack of credibility of two key witnesses to find Zimmerman guilty. Hear his words in the short clip below:



The law requires that the prosecution prove their case and by Guy's own admission they didn't. In so many words he called for the jurors to stand the concept of jury nullification on its head. Jury nullification is when a jury finds that a person broke the law but that justice requires a not guilty verdict. (Unfortunately, judges don't inform jurors that they can judge the law as well as the facts of a case in order to acquit. Visit the Fully Informed Jury Association website for more information on this.) Guy asked the jury to disregard the facts and the law and to convict a man whose guilt wasn't proved. This is the most unnoticed aspect, and one of the scariest, of a trial fraught with terrifying aspects. Kudos to the jury for not implementing this kind of tyranny in the courtroom.

2 comments:

  1. Even Alan Dershowitz knows this case was a dog:

    Dershowitz to Newsmax: 'Prosecutorial Tyrant' Violated Zimmerman's Rights

    Famed defense lawyer and Harvard law professor Alan M. Dershowitz is calling for a federal investigation into civil rights violations stemming from the George Zimmerman case — but he says the probe should focus on prosecutorial misconduct rather than on allegations of racial profiling and bias.

    Speaking Sunday in an exclusive Newsmax interview, Dershowitz said the jury’s finding that Zimmerman was not guilty of either second-degree murder or manslaughter was “the right verdict.”

    He added, “There was reasonable doubt all over the place.”

    Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Dershowitz-Zimmerman-Prosecutorial-Misconduct/2013/07/14/id/514957#ixzz2Z8vbgiMV

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. & there is more:

      Dershowitz: Zimmerman Prosecutors 'Should Be Disbarred'

      In the prosecution's final argument on Friday, lawyer John Guy said Zimmerman deliberately followed Martin and "shot him because he wanted to."

      Dershowitz called Guy's statement "such speculation. How does he get into the mind of Zimmerman? He hasn't cross-examined him, he hasn't met him.

      "To ask the jury to believe that is to ask the jury to convict based on complete and utter speculation and that's not the way the law operates."

      Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/dershowitz-zimmerman-trayvon-martin/2013/07/12/id/514847#ixzz2Z8xT2UW5

      Delete