Zimmerman acquitted in teenager’s killing

George Zimmerman (right) is congratulated by two members of his defense team, Don West and Lorna Truett, after hearing the verdict Saturday night in Sanford, Fla.
George Zimmerman (right) is congratulated by two members of his defense team, Don West and Lorna Truett, after hearing the verdict Saturday night in Sanford, Fla.

SANFORD, Fla. - Neighborhood-watch captain George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. 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 innocent after deliberating well into the night Saturday. The jurors considered nearly three weeks of sometimes conflicting testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-yearold was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

Martin’s mother and father were not inside the courtroom when the verdict was read, but supporters of Martin’s family who had gathered outside the courthouse yelled out “No! No!”

The teen’s father, Tracy, reacted on Twitter: “Even though I am broken hearted my faith is unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY.”

His mother also said on Twitter that she appreciated the prayers from supporters.

“Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have,” she wrote.

After hearing the verdict, Judge Debra Nelson told Zimmerman he was free to go.

Defense attorneys said the case was classic self-defense, claiming Martin knocked Zimmerman down and was slamming the older man’s head against the concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun.

“We’re ecstatic with the results,”said defense attorney Mark O’Mara after the verdict. “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense.”

Another member of his defense team, Don West, said he was pleased the jury “kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty.”

Prosecutors called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was 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 mindset “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 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 filing 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 Revs. Jesse Jackson and 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 Barack 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.”

Rosie Barron, 50, and Andrew Perkins, 55, both black residents of Sanford, stood in the parking lot of the courthouse and wept.

“I at least thought he was going to get something, something,” Barron said.

Added her brother: “How the hell did they find him not guilty?”

Several Zimmerman supporters also were outside the courthouse, including a brother and sister who thought the jury made the right decision.

In another development, a state attorney’s office employee has been fired after testifying about concerns that prosecutors didn’t turn over photos and text messages from Martin’s cellphone to the defense.

Ben Kruidbos received a termination letter Thursday accusing him of misconduct and “violating numerous state attorney’s office policies and procedures.”

It accused him of disclosure of confidential information, sabotage of property or equipment, and misuse of state attorney equipment.

Attorney Wesley White said Kruidbos wasn’t surprised by the firing.

Kruidbos collected photos and text messages from Martin’s cellphone, and testified during a hearing June 6. Zimmerman’s attorneys were seeking sanctions against the state for not properly turning over the evidence from Martin’s phone.

Nelson said she would revisit the matter at the trial’s end.

Information for this article was contributed by Tony Winton and Colleen Long of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/14/2013

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