Response to Verdict

     It has been roughly twelve hours since the verdict in the State of Florida vs. Zimmerman was returned.  The response has been amazing!  People across the country are weighing in without any concern for the truth as it has now become known.

     There was "never, ever," to quote Mark O'Mara, a case of second degree murder against GZ!  Simple, cold and hard truth that the facts weren't there for the State's run at GZ.  Thank God for the Mark O'Maras and Don Wests of the world, along with all the behind the scene lawyers, clerks and paralegals that were doing the yeoman's work that kept them afloat for all these weeks.

     A jury of competent citizens, GZ's peers if you will, found the evidence presented by the State to be inadequate in the end.  There was no proof that GZ did anything illegal or that would have legally prevented his claim of self-defense.  Both he and Trayvon Martin were legally allowed to be where they were.  GZ did what a responsible person would do, he called law enforcement.  What was not permissible was the use of any violence, one toward the other, that escalated to the point of necessity for self-defense.  The commentators ignore the facts that there were other possibilities for TM - 9-1-1, knock on a neighbors door, shouting for help before a confrontation occurred - that he chose not to avail himself of.  It was a fatal mistake that will impact the community, the families and our nation as a whole.

     GZ will never spend another day without this weighing upon his conscience.  Prosecutor McDreamy was right, the blood of TM will always be on GZ's hands.  I don't believe anyone who has taken another person's life ever forgets!  Look at the soldiers, law enforcement officers and others who are put in a position of taking a life.  They all carry that burden for ever!   GZ will be no different and I hope it doesn't result in a downward personal spiral that others will use to justify their attacks on him.

     All of these public figures making claims of disgust, shock and stupefication at the result are false prophets of false claims perpetrated by lawyers on a mission to capture the brass ring of millions in fees.  Benjamin Crump could not wait for the system to perform its duties!  No, he had to try and drive the bus.  Crump used PR spin an attack on the reputation of others to attempt to crawl up the ladder of financial returns for his own benefit.  Where is the ill will of Singleton, Serino or Lee in all of this?  What about the 18th Circuit SAO?  Did they stand to derive a benefit from allowing this death to go unprosecuted?  The answer to those questions is a resounding NO!  Crump on the other hand is looking for a payday that justified, in his mind, skewing the process and stirring the pot of racial hatred and tension to increase the likelihood of return.

     This is not the simple story of a young man going to the store for skittles and a soda.  It is the story of a young man who was new to a neighborhood and not recognized by a member of that community.  Is that profiling?  I don't know but for the sake of argument lets just assume it is.  From there what happened?  The million dollar question that a jury resolved last night, after what was obviously a well considered and long discussed decision, is that it was a reasonable belief that self-defense was necessary!  The evidence of injuries to GZ and his version of the events, somewhat bolstered by the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, tell a story much different than that being related by the people who have been misled by the Crumps in this tragic story.

     All of the attempts to skew the process were for naught.  Yes, they cost GZ, his family and Seminole County a year and a half of problems, worry and concern.  But the end result was the long established common law claim of self-defense was again upheld under facts peculiar to this case.  Claims of racial prejudice herein are baseless unless we are going to say every interaction between people of different ethnic backgrounds, no matter the result, are racially based!  I say that is balderdash pure and simple , nothing more and nothing less.

     There will always be people who utilize whatever technique is available to further their causes.  That does not make it right!  Whether they are haters or profiteers they are wrong and when they cause strife in society for their own ends they are even worse.  There is no room in a free, mature society for these people to walk around without responsibility and blame for their actions.  They need to be held accountable, just as GZ was.  He weathered the tests he was subjected to, I hardly think Crump et al could do the same.

     Keep TM's family, along with GZ's, in your prayers!  They each need closure and an opportunity to move on.   Stand up and be counted in making this case be the start of an improvement in our society and let the race baiters, haters and profiteers drown in their own bile.  The beauty of America is we can be better and we should each try daily to make that happen.