Zimmerman to auction gun used to kill Martin

[GMDino]

(05-15-2016, 01:17 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Nearly everyone carries a gun down here . That's not that unique to anyone who lives in Florida...  


And a jury of peers found him innocent and as bfine has said before .... They had more access to details of the case than anyone on this message board.    

No.  He was found not guilty.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/14/us/zimmerman-why-this-verdict/

Quote:Five key issues factored into George Zimmerman's acquittal Saturday in last year's shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin:


1. The charges filed
Did the prosecution make a mistake in filing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman?

"I think the problem was they overcharged it in the very beginning," said Holly Hughes, a criminal defense lawyer who was not on Zimmerman's legal team. Had prosecutors started with the manslaughter charge, the outcome might have been different, she told CNN.

But Florida State Attorney Angela Corey said the allegations "fit the bill" for the second-degree murder charge.


2. The evidence presented



Zimmerman's account of what happened the night of the shooting was a central part of the trial. He was the only living person who witnessed the entire incident, and there wasn't much physical evidence for either team to fall back on.

Various adverse conditions played into the initial investigation that night: A dark, rainy scene isn't ideal for a homicide investigation, says HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks.



3. The teen who spoke to Martin


She was on the phone with Martin moments before he was shot and was considered a key prosecution witness. But Rachel Jeantel initially resisted coming forward.


"She did not want to get involved in this in no way possible," Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump told reporters Saturday.



During two days of testimony that was at times tense and combative, Jeantel described her conversation with Martin.


When defense attorney Don West challenged her story, suggesting Martin attacked Zimmerman, she responded: "That's ********."



Jeantel testified that Martin told her he was being chased by a "creepy-a** cracker."

"This was a disaster," criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos told CNN's Anderson Cooper the day Jeantel testified. "This was the star witness, the star witness. The wheels came off and it was a train wreck. And there's no other -- there's no way to soft-pedal it."



4. The voice on the call


The mothers of Zimmerman and Martin each testified that screams for help heard on a 911 call the night of the shooting were those of her son.


Whose voice was heard on the call was considered key for both the prosecution and defense in proving who was responsible for the shooting. If the screams were Martin's, as the prosecution contended, Zimmerman was the aggressor. If the screams were Zimmerman's, as the defense said, Martin was the aggressor.


On July 5, in a packed courtroom, the prosecution played the recording for Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton.

When asked if she recognized the voice, Fulton said it belonged to "Trayvon Benjamin Martin."


Hours later, the defense called Gladys Zimmerman to the stand, where she testified the voice screaming for help belonged to her son.

"I know because he's my son," she said.



5. Testimony


The lead detective in the case, Chris Serino, was called to the stand by the prosecution.


Serino told the court that he believed Zimmerman exaggerated the number of times he was hit that night but didn't feel any
"active deception."


"Either he was telling the truth or he was a complete pathological liar," he testified.