volunteer George Zimmerman was
cleared of all charges Saturday in the
shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black
teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across
the United States over racial profiling, self-defense,
and equal justice.
Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely smiled when the
verdict was announced. He could have been convicted
of second-degree murder or manslaughter. But the
jury of six women, all but one of them white, reached
a verdict of not guilty after deliberating well into the
night Saturday.
Supporters of Martin's family who had gathered
outside the courthouse yelled: "No! No!"
Martin's parents were not in the courtroom Saturday
night as the verdict was read.
The jurors, who declined to speak with reporters,
considered nearly three weeks of often wildly
conflicting testimony over who was the aggressor on
the rainy night the 17-year-old was shot while walking
through the gated townhouse community where he
was staying.
Defense attorneys said the case was classic self-
defense, saying Martin knocked Zimmerman down
and was slamming the older man's head against the
concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun.
Prosecutors called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed
him as a "wannabe cop" vigilante who had grown
frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood
committed primarily by young black men.
Zimmerman assumed Martin was up to no good and
took the law into his own hands, prosecutors said.
State Attorney Angela Corey said after the verdict that
she believed second-degree murder was the
appropriate charge because Zimmerman's mind-set
"fit the bill of second-degree murder."
"We charged what we believed we could prove," Corey
said.
As the verdict drew near, police and city leaders in the
Orlando suburb of Sanford and other parts of Florida
said they were taking precautions against the
possibility of mass protests or unrest in the event of an
acquittal.
"There is no party in this case who wants to see any
violence," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said
immediately after jurors began deliberating. "We have
an expectation upon this announcement that our
community will continue to act peacefully."
The verdict came a year and a half after civil rights
protesters angrily demanded Zimmerman be
prosecuted.
Zimmerman wasn't arrested for 44 days after the Feb.
26, 2012, shooting as police in Sanford insisted that
Florida's Stand Your Ground law on self-defense
prohibited them from bringing charges. Florida gives
people wide latitude to use deadly force if they fear
death or bodily harm.
Martin's parents, along with civil rights leaders such
as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton,
argued that Zimmerman - whose father is white and
whose mother is Hispanic - had racially profiled their
son. And they accused investigators of dragging their
feet because Martin was a black teenager.
Before a special prosecutor assigned to the case
ordered Zimmerman's arrest, thousands of protesters
gathered in Sanford, Miami, New York, and elsewhere,
many wearing hoodies like the one Martin had on the
night he died. They also carried Skittles and a can of
iced tea, items Martin had in his pocket. President
Obama weighed in, saying that if he had a son, "he'd
look like Trayvon."
Despite the racially charged nature of the case, race
was barely mentioned at the trial. Even after the
verdict, prosecutors said the case was not about race.
"This case has never been about race or the right to
bear arms," Corey said. "We believe this case all along
was about boundaries, and George Zimmerman
exceeded those boundaries."
The jurors had to sort out clashing testimony from 56
witnesses in all, including police, neighbors, friends
and family members.
To secure a second-degree murder conviction,
prosecutors had to convince the jury that Zimmerman
acted with a "depraved" state of mind - that is, with ill
will, hatred or spite.
To win a manslaughter conviction, prosecutors had to
convince the jury only that Zimmerman killed without
lawful justification.
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