Overview of The Case of Trayvon Martin's Death

The case, State of Florida v. George Zimmerman, dates back to February 26, 2012, when George Zimmerman wrongfully fired a gun and killed a young African American teen named Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman followed Martin, racially profiling him which lead to Martin’s death. This case ignited a national debate on racial profiling and civil rights. For example Reverend Al Sharpton started rallies in 100 different cities to protest. The case showed many factors on why Zimmerman didn’t deserve to get away free without any charges. The all women jury of 6 showed that there was rarely any diversity in the courtroom.

First, Zimmerman should be charged alone for not listening to the police dispatch while he was following Martin. The charge Zimmerman should be charged with obstruction of justice. Obstruction of justice occurs when someone fails to follow the orders of an investigator, such as a police officer, court system, or any other law officials. The most common form of obstruction of justice is the crime of obstructing or opposing a peace officer who is making an arrest. Obstruction of justice punishment in some states are a mid level felony with penalties up to three years in prison. Other states charge the crime as a gross misdemeanor with a potential sentence of less than a year in jail and a fine. In the state of Florida the obstruction of justice law can be a third degree felony. A third degree felony is the least serious type of felony in the state of Florida with a punishment of up to 5 years in prison and a fine up to $5,000. George Zimmerman should have at the very least been charged with 5 years of prison and a fine up to $5,000. The evidence that shows this is the phone call that Zimmerman made to the police while following Martin. On the call the officer asked “are you following him?” Zimmerman replied “yeah.” The police dispatcher clearly stated “ ok, we don’t need you to do that.” Zimmerman took it into his own hands anyway continuing to following Martin which lead to an altercation and unfortunately the death of Martin. With all this evidence somehow Zimmerman should have been given some type of punishment.

Second, Zimmerman racially profiled Martin. Zimmerman stated that Martin had his hands in his waistband and he is a black male. A few moments later on the call Martin stated that “ these assholes always get away.” Also Zimmerman was believed to also have called Martin the African American explicit name on the phone such as “Nigger” but some how on that is blocked out the call. On the phone call while Zimmerman was chasing Martin it caught him saying “f*cking...EXPLICIT” which has believed to be the “N” word. Zimmerman had to be anxious to be violent because the phone call between him and the police dispatch was only 4 minutes in total. Instead of Zimmerman staying at the crime scene until the police arrived he continued to walk around in his hoodie until an officer approached him. Martin’s parents even believed it to be racial profiling not only by Zimmerman but the police force. According to Trayvon’s father “it was shocking to know that someone can shoot and kill a 17 year old unarmed child and the child goes to the morgue in a body bag and the adult goes home to his bed less than 24 hours after.” Men’s rea would show that this crime is knowing . Men’s rea refers to criminal intent. Men’s rea is the state of mind that statutorily required in order to convict a particular defendant of a particular mind.

Third, the court date should have been postponed until there was a diverse jury. The jury wasn’t diverse at all which could have played a big part of Zimmerman getting off. The jury during the case were 6 women. A jury is a body of people sworn to give a verdict in a legal case on the basis of evidence submitted to them in court. No men served on the jury at all. It is important to have a diverse jury so that there won’t be debates based on ethical issues or female vs male. The advantage that a jury has is that the judge cannot override a jury, a judge may only throw out guilty verdicts. A judge can throw out a verdict for any mistakes or malfeasance that might prompt a higher court to overturn it. In this case it would have been better if you had a diversity in race but not only race diversity in gender just to get different opinions based on different races and genders.

The death of Martin did collect African Americans with a form of togetherness during the time before the case and during the case. The black panther even wanted to deal with the situation because the police wasn’t dealing with the situation like they wanted them to. The black panther is an african American revolutionary party, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California , by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale. The party’s purpose is to patrol African American residents from acts of police brutality. Once the black panther heard about the killing of Trayvon Martin they were willing to hire a bounty $10,000 to kill George Zimmerman. Also Trayvon Martin’s death also inspired BET to develop a group called “Black Lives Matter”, which lead to famous hip hop artists and several black leaders to speak up about this tragic cause and many more inequality situations that happened recently. The goal of “Black Lives Matter” is to campaign against violence and systematic racism towards black people.

Fourth, there was no evidence in Trayvon Martin’s fingernails that he had any DNA of touching Zimmerman. If Martin so called fought Zimmerman wouldn’t there be evidence in his fingernails. Zimmerman pictures that were posted looked as if someone had scratched him. Zimmerman could have caused damage to himself making it seem as if him and Martin got into a fight. The question still remains on why didn’t Zimmerman want to be taken to the hospital if someone so called made him bleed from the head and have a severe bloody nose that was broken? If there is no evidence that Martin attacked Zimmerman but Zimmerman clearly followed Martin after told not to and shoots him in the chest, Zimmerman intentionally killed Martin. Normally people who shoot not to kill shoots someone in the arm or leg where they can potentionally have a better chance at healing, not in the chest where the bullet can bounce around and hit the heart.

Finally, Martin was laid face down in the grass when found. Zimmerman shouldn’t have left Martin laying face down in the grass after he shot him. The actions Zimmerman showed during the whole process showed he was guilty. There is clearly enough evidence to charge Zimmermanwith the murder of Martin. First, by obstructioning police orders. Second, Zimmerman racially profiled Martin. Third, the court date should have been postponed until there was some diversity in the court room. There is still questions that arise today why George Zimmerman isn’t in jail based upon all the evidence that was given to the police.