Brenton Trial

On February 26, 2012, an African-American teen, Trayvon Martin, was fatally shot by a neighborhood watchmen, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman assumed that Martin looked suspicious then he called the police after being told not to pursue Martin he continues to and the situation ended in a tragedy. The case gained national attention and stirred up many protests around the U.S. All the facts proved that Zimmerman was guilty of wrongfully killing Martin and Martin was not an actual threat just a black man wearing a hoody. After a year, George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Once again, the justice system failed African American people. This case proved although there was a Black man in the highest position in the U.S., the justice system was still broken. Across the states riots broke out and protest and the president had to address the issue. President Obama gave an unscheduled speech addressing the issue. The president

Just for wearing a hoodie, carrying an Arizona Tea and for being black he was shot and killed. In the book “Deadly Injustice: Travyon Martin, Race, and the Criminal Justice System“ the authors go on to discuss what happened that night and in the trial that preceded. It also helped me deliberate with how certain deaths are portrayed online. This being one of the biggest cases to hit the news and was brought to almost everyone in the United States attention, even the President at the time made a statement about what had happened to this young man. Social media spreaded this article like a wildfire and soon everyone knew what had happened that night in Florida. One of the main reasons why it was difficult to convict Zimmerman of this crime was because of the “Stand your ground” law After this the tension between black males and police officers rose to an even higher extent. African Americans often feel as if they are treated by police unfairly and with situations like this happening it help supported how they felt. Additionally with cases like in Ferguson and what happened in Lousivelle when four innocent teens were accused of robbing a woman with a weapon where they were later found not guilty of the

The case I chose is about a man named Barry Gibbs. He was convicted of a crime he did not commit in New York City. On November 4, 1986, a body of an African American woman was discovered under a blanket. She was found near a Brooklyn highway and was strangled to death. A man named Louis Eppolito was the lead investigator in the case. He interviewed a man that had been jogging near the scene of the crime. The jogger told the investigator that he observed a white man pull out the African American woman out of a car, laid her on the ground, and put a blanket over her.

Even after two years passing, Trayvon Martin’s murder still escalates throughout the world. Trayvon Martin was shot and killed February 26, 2012 by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was the neighborhood-watch and said he thought Trayvon looked suspicious as he returned home from the store. He called the police to report his findings but disobeyed protocol given by the dispatcher. Zimmerman was told to wait for police to arrive and not to pursue Martin. The actions of Zimmerman and Martin remain unknown after ending the call. Police arrived to the scene of Trayvon Martin shot and killed with a bullet wound to the chest. In Zimmerman’s trial he was found not guilty to the murder of this innocent seventeen year old boy, Trayvon Martin. He claimed he reacted in self defense. George Zimmerman did not deserve a ‘not guilty’ sentence because of his assumptions without proof, poor judgment, and stand your ground law.

Everyone has heard of the story about the case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. If there are a few who have not, Trayvon Martin was a young seventeen year old boy. At the time he was not doing well in school. It was his third suspension during the school year and Trayvon’s He was shot by a neighborhood watch man, named George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed to feel threatened by the young teen, so he felt the necessity to shoot Trayvon Martin as a self-defense. After many months of court trials Zimmerman was finally able to walk the streets freely.

Trayvon Martin lost his life on Sunday February 26, 2012 due to a gunshot to his chest shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida while walking back home from buying an Arizona and skittles from 7-11 at 6:34 pm. George Zimmerman spotted Trayvon walking through his neighborhood and found him suspicious and decided to call the Sanford police at 7:09PM. When he called the police he told them he found him suspicious, “I’ve never seen him in the neighborhood. I know all the residents. It was raining out and he was leisurely walking, taking his time, looking at all the houses.” (Linder, 2014). Police were immediately sent to his location but suddenly Zimmerman stated that Tyron had begun to run away and Zimmerman began to go after him. The dispatcher told him not to go after him and instead to meet the officers, “The dispatcher suggested that Zimmerman meet the arriving officers near the mailboxes.” (Linder, 2014) and he agreed to. Zimmerman later stated that when he was walking back to his car Tyron came at him asking what his problem was and he replied back saying he had no problem and Tyron then punched him in the nose after stating he had a problem now. The punch was what knocked him to the grass and Trayvon continued to punch him while Zimmerman kept screaming for help, “I started screaming for help. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t breathe.” (Linder, 2014). Tyron had been talking on the phone with a friend, Rachel Jeantel,

[I]n 2001, three young men robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Milwaukee. 14-year-old Jerrell C.J. was arrested in connection with the offense, taken to the police station, booked, and placed in an interrogation room. In the room, Jerrell was handcuffed to a wall and left alone for approximately two hours. At 9 a.m., Police Detectives Ralph Spano and Kurt Sutter entered the interrogation room. The detectives introduced themselves, removed Jerrell’s handcuffs, and asked him some background questions. Jerrell stated that he was 14 years old and in the eighth grade. He also provided the names, addresses, and phone numbers of his parents and siblings. Jerrell was advised of his Miranda rights, and the detectives then began to question Jerrell about the armed robbery. Jerrell denied any involvement. The detectives challenged this denial and encouraged Jerrell to be "truthful and honest" and "start standing up for what he did." Jerrell again denied his involvement. The detectives again challenged his denial.

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old boy that lived in Florida. He lived with his mother and often visited his father. While he had undergone some troubles, he overall was not a terrible kid. Although he was notably young and minded his own business, others did not. On February 26, 2012, the young boy’s life was taken away from him. The man who killed him was George Michael Zimmerman. He served as a neighborhood watch captain around the area where his old man lived. CNN stated that all he had was skittles and tea in his hand. Now tell me does that seem threatening to you? According to Zimmerman, he was claiming “self-defense” and that Trayvon was “a suspicious person.” Florida law states that one is granted the “stand your ground” law and that is what Zimmerman claimed to do in an act of defense. Zimmerman was arrested, but he was not charged or convicted of Martin’s murder even though people know that Zimmerman killed him for absolutely no actual cause.

leading up to the death of Trayvon Martin and questions if George Zimmerman was indeed guilty of second degree manslaughter. His lawyer, Mark O 'Mara, believes that the reason why this case had gone to court was due to Martin being black and Zimmerman being white. This leads us to question the reason why Martin was shot in the first place. According to O 'Mara, “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except firing the gun in self-defense.” Serving on the local neighborhood watch, Zimmerman felt it was his responsibility to protect his neighborhood from crime. The night of the incident, he called in the suspicion to the local authorities who did not authorize him to persue Martin. The events following his disreguard to this request are of debate, but the cuts found on Zimmerman 's head are proof that there was a struggle between the two; according to testimony Zimmerman claims that he was attacked by Martin who then bashed his head into the sidewalk. The lethal wound received by Martin was also considered in the verdict due to it being at an angle only capable if Martin had been leaning over Zimmerman. Although many speculate that that racial profiling was a key component of this investigation, the jury sided with Mr. Zimmerman and after being on trial for 16 months, he was released from custody following the hearing.

This case gave me an insight on things I never expected to be true I never knew a person could get away with murder/manslaughter. This case was greatly affected by race. George Zimmerman saw a young black man going home and for some reason thought he was a threat he probably sterotyped Trayvon, the moment he saw him. There was no reason to pull a gun Zimmerman was much bigger than Trayvon if there was a scuffle. Also since Zimmerman was never charged he has gone on to hurt other people such. George Zimmerman has anger issues and should have had more extensive screening. This has been proven by the following incidents:

On February 26 2012 Trayvon Martin was shot dead by George Zimmerman, who pleaded not guilty for using self-defense. One important issue to the self-defense plea is that Mr. Zimmerman was familiar with the “stand your ground law” that allows a person to use deadly force in order to prevent heavy injuries, In which Zimmerman states that Trayvon was bashing his head on the concrete. With regards to this the jurors agreed that it was a self-defense situation because they were told that Trayvon was on top and Zimmerman was on the bottom. I personally don’t agree with the verdict because I’m sure that Mr. Zimmerman could’ve handled Trayvon in another form of manner instead of taking his life.

Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. He says that it was self defense, but after the tragic phone call was released to the media everything took a huge turn questioning if it was a hate crime. If Zimmerman would have stayed in his car that night then Trayvon would still be alive. It could not be self-defense if all Travon had in his hand were skittles and some tea. The whole thing blew up right after it was released to the news. Then when it was time for the trial it was live on television. During the trial and after the verdict is when the social media started to go crazy.

Before watching the documentary, I thought that I would strongly dislike it, and believed that it would be like all other documentaries. However, it was very interesting to see ways that investigators used to discover a murderer, whether it was using new technologies that just came out, or using animal’s reactions to dried blood. Knowing the ways that murderers were caught and how some innocent men went free, drew me into the documentary more and more with each passing minute. If I were to ever recommend a documentary to someone, it would definitely have to be this

During the period of the Trayvon Martin case after he was murdered George Zimmerman was found not guilty. In lines 41-46 it states as part of the incident, “Troubled Man stepped on the singing Boy’s heels who yelled in surprise. His yell so scared Troubled Man who sunk his hands around the throat of Singing Boy and squeezed out the song with all his might.” These lines show that the George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin because of his presence and his appearance. Now a rational society would think that George Zimmerman would be found guilty considering it was manslaughter, but unfortunately the judicial system provides two different standards in America: one for Caucasians and the other for blacks.

In the all states within the United States it is illegal to kill or cause the death of another human being. It is unlawful to kill or cause the death of another human being. Do we have laws that exist in some states that allow for senseless killing of another human being? Can a law that is in effect actually determine if a grown armed man can legally shoot and kill an unarmed black teenager? Does implicit racial bias play a role in how these cases are prosecuted and investigated? In Florida it most certainly can. This paper looks at a certain case I our recent history and how certain laws and biases may have played a role in the verdict of “not guilty.