{"id":1335,"date":"2013-07-12T16:43:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/07\/race-and-reasonable-doubt.html"},"modified":"2013-07-12T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-12T16:43:00","slug":"race-and-reasonable-doubt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/07\/race-and-reasonable-doubt.html","title":{"rendered":"Race and Reasonable Doubt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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by Giovanni Neal<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
R3 Contributor<\/span><\/div>\n

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I actually wrote about the George Zimmerman trial last week.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>However, just before submitting the piece I realized that I was jumping the gun and needed to hear all of the evidence available before giving my opinion.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I take the law seriously and believe it should be applied equally, justly and fairly. The litmus test for a conviction in a criminal trial is reasonable doubt; if it\u2019s present then the verdict should be not guilty. Better a hundred guilty men go free, than to convict an innocent man.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Right?<\/span><\/div>\n

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That\u2019s what makes this trial so important.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The law is often applied unfairly when it comes to Blacks, which is part of the reason this case was almost open and shut until public outcry.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Trayvon Martin, a black teenaged boy, was pursued shot and killed, yet he was immediately treated like he was criminal that deserved to die by law enforcement.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>George Zimmerman almost avoided his day in court.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I was part of the movement on social media that demanded justice, and a trial. \u00a0Zimmerman was arrested and is being adjudicated as I type.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n

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But how can justice be served here?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>If I were a member of the Zimmerman jury, I\u2019d have reasonable doubt as to the charge of second-degree murder, easily created by this unfortunate chain of events.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I would also doubt Zimmerman\u2019s defense that he was standing his ground as he feared for his life.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Of all of the witnesses, none of them saw exactly what happened during the most important time frame; the beginning of the fight and the end.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As for the physical and forensic evidence, it can only tell part of the story.<\/span><\/div>\n

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The prosecution\u2019s star witness was Rachel Jeantel who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin, just before his death. Jeantel\u2019s testimony did nothing for the prosecution\u2019s case.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Her testimony only proved that she was repeatedly dishonest during the investigation.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>So, I can\u2019t help but to doubt her version of events.<\/span><\/div>\n

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The police initially failed to reach out to Rachel Jeantel for a statement.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Because Trayvon wasn\u2019t treated as a victim, but as a perpetrator, the Sanford police failed to do its due diligence in determining his death.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The Sanford Police Department\u2019s substandard job at investigating also contributes to my reasonable doubt.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Then we have the forensic evidence, which does not back up George Zimmerman\u2019s story that Trayvon Martin was beating him to the point that he feared for his life and had to use deadly force to stay alive.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Trayvon\u2019s DNA wasn\u2019t where it should have been if there was a deadly fight like Zimmerman claimed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Nor was Martin\u2019s DNA on Zimmerman\u2019s gun as he claimed Martin was trying to take his weapon. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>After seeing all the forensic evidence, I also doubt Zimmerman\u2019s version of events.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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After the failure of the Sanford PD to treat victims equally, Trayvon Martin became the face of racial injustice and his trial has become a way for us to seek racial justice.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>But that is wrong.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Calling for a breach in the justice system doesn\u2019t make us any blacker or serve justice.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Though the justice system has failed plenty of times by putting innocent Blacks in prison, another breach in the system only increases my doubt in the administration of justice.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Even if Zimmerman is aquitted on second-degree murder, the trial was the justice we asked for.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I remember when Trayvon\u2019s death went viral, I was errant to believe Zimmerman was guilty, before I heard the under oath testimony in open court and saw the evidence.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>After seeing and hearing it, I cannot say for sure if he\u2019s guilty of second-degree murder or not.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>However, he is guilty of something; perhaps manslaughter.<\/span><\/div>\n

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It\u2019s worth noting that while we were all distracted by the Zimmerman trial, another important Florida trial went unnoticed.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Marissa Alexander<\/a>, a black mother, defended herself against her estranged husband who intruded on her property and threatened her.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A jury convicted her of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and Alexander is doing twenty years.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Ms. Alexander fired a few warning shots to get her batterer out of the house.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>What\u2019s odd about Ms. Alexander\u2019s circumstance is she was \u201cstanding her ground,\u201d in her own home, against an admitted woman batterer.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Yet the prosecution insisted she do twenty-years after she was convicted.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Was there no reasonable doubt for Marissa<\/span><\/div>\n

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The American Justice System is unfair, unjust and unequal.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It seems that all too often black people cannot seem to get fair treatment as victims or as the accused. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>However, instead of demanding that a man is convicted when there\u2019s reasonable doubt, and threatening to riot if he is not convicted, we should demand Marissa Alexander\u2019s release.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We should correct the system, not make it worse.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Follow Giovanni on Twitter @blamegirls<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Giovanni Neal R3 Contributor I actually wrote about the George Zimmerman trial last week.\u00a0\u00a0However, just before submitting the piece I realized that I was jumping the gun and needed to hear all of the evidence available before giving my opinion.\u00a0\u00a0I take the law seriously and believe it should be applied equally, justly and fairly. 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