<p>I think Poetgrl hit the nail on the head here. There has not been an iota of any true regret other than the consequences, as to what happened. For lack of evidence, i give G the benefit of the doubt, I support the legalsysystem and the verdict, I feel it was the right one. But i don’t get any impression of GZ being truly, truly sorry for what happened. Defensive, yes. But not sorry for a life lost. It’s not the words the arguments, that he has to defend himself. The body language, everything points to a very self absorbed person who has convinced himself that TM was to blame for what happened to him. That he, GZ KILLED a CHILD does not scream out from all of his actions, apologies, explanations.</p>
<p>I have and will maintain that what happened was an accident, as there is no evidence otherwise and the court has ruled. Not to mention that my personal opinion is that he was being a vigilante, not looking for an AA male to attack.</p>
<p>I imagine right now he is mostly in fear for his life. Don’t forget he did not know the boy was dead and was shocked to learn that information and discussed his faith with the police after the killing. The female officer testified to that at the trial. I don’t know how he feels and don’t know how anyone else could possibly know that either.</p>
<p>I could have supported a guilty verdict if there was any evidence to warrant such an outcome. The problem for the prosecution was that all the evidence suggested otherwise. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if there has been a court hearing to determine the penalties for the prosecutors who have been accused of withholding exculpatory evidence?</p>
<p>Sure. But walking between buildings in a multi-family subdivision carrying skittles and iced tea is not “lurking around.” The common space between the buildings was not GZ’s “backyard.”</p>
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<p>So which is it, you don’t know how he feels or you know he was “shocked” to learn that the teenager he shot in the chest at point-blank range had died?</p>
<p>There really is no point arguing with you, actingmt. I get that GZ was acquitted. That doesn’t make him innocent. And as others have said, he has expressed no remorse and certainly hasn’t spent his life since the acquittal doing anything especially positive.</p>
<p>I remember him apologizing to the family. The woman officer did testify to telling GZ that TM was dead. None of us know anything except that they had no case. I kept waiting for a case. It didn’t happen and they used every dirty trick in the book to try to get a conviction.</p>
<p>Sigh! I know what was testified to at trial. Of course, I know nothing about his feelings and am not about to try to analyze body language from a couple of news clips. That’s silly.</p>
<p>I will agree he’s not doing anything especially positive. I wouldn’t have expected that, really. Please do not mistake my view of the events with support for GZ. I watched the trial and saw what the jury saw. We’ll see what happens with the girlfriend.</p>
<p>Although I am very supportive of individuals having the right to carry concealed hand-guns, I am at the point where I don’t believe GZ should continue to have that right. This is the second police call for domestic violence involving 2 different women. Also, with the Trayvon Martin case, what concerned me the most was his refusal to listen to the 911 dispatcher who told him NOT to confront Trayvon. He provided a plausible story to exonerate him from the homicide charge, but now I am starting to believe that he is just as much of a sociopath as the portrayal of Trayvon Martin.</p>
<p>My wife and I carry our concealed weapons everywhere we are legally allowed. But like many who carry, we avoid trouble, we obey the law, we avoid confrontation, and we listen to the authorities. It was difficult to obtain the CCW license and like all of the other licensees we know, we do not want to lose our permits. GZ shows no such regards. IMHO, it is only a matter of time before GZ kills someone else or finds himself in jail. He reminds me too much of OJ Simpson. It is not that trouble finds him, he is trouble.</p>
<p>“Also, with the Trayvon Martin case, what concerned me the most was his refusal to listen to the 911 dispatcher who told him NOT to confront Trayvon.”</p>
<p>Listen to the 911 tape again. The 911 dispatcher never said this and there is no proof that Zimmerman refused to listen to the dispatcher.</p>
<p>It was completely stupid and thoughtless for GZ to tour shortly after his trial the gun factory that made the handgun he shot TM with. It is not illegal to be stupid and thoughtless in Florida, but if it was illegal, GZ would be guilty.</p>
<p>If Seminole County deputies and other local police are hard nosed and inclined to want to ‘violate’ GZ while he is out on bail they probably will…they’ll ‘keep an eye’ on him. If GZ gets caught on the streets without his monitoring bracelet, or around guns, or found near or bothering his girlfriend…he’ll surely end up doing a good stretch in jail. GZ needs to really behave himself now while out on bail.</p>
<p>“Are you following him? OK, we don’t need you to do that.” </p>
<p>Correct. And then GZ, says, “Oh, okay.” And then there is a lot of time before they meet up again. Time during which TM told Rachel he was home but then somehow he ended up back at the complex punching GZ in the nose and she felt guilty. Hmmm.</p>
<p>The gun factory visit was dumb. Many things he does are dumb.</p>
<p>Then he declines to meet with the police at a specific spot as the dispatcher suggests. He tells the dispatcher to have the police call him when they get there so he can tell them where he is.</p>
<p>Yeah, he was lost in his neighborhood which I do understand people have trouble believing but if it’s that or chasing down and quickly killing a kid after getting himself beaten up and before the police arrive and call his cellphone it gets easier.</p>
<p>I first purchased my weapons for home after the deadly home invasion in Connecticut that left a physician without his family. That resonated with me. Then taking care of several patients who were victims of random assaults, I realized that it was my responsibility to protect my life and for the police to show up later to report the crime. So, it’s strictly for protection.</p>
<p>What appeared to have happened, from what I read from what seems to be reliable sources like the transcripts is that GZ saw a kid that he knew was not a regular in the neighborhood, and that he profiled as a possible trespasser in a neighborhood that was having problems with break ins and vandalism. He made it a priority and mission to be on neighborhhod watch and felt that he had caught a likely candidate. He did call in the sighting to 911. He then decided to follow his suspect so that when the authorities arrived, the young man would not be gone. What happened after that exactly cannot be verified for sure. We know GZ did not just out and out shoot the kid from a distance. There was clearly a scuffle or fight of sorts. Did GZ jump the kid or vice versa? Can’t tell for sure. But he did not just shoot the kid to stop him or keep him in sight. Something did happen there. Frankly, I can see a neighborhood watch person tracking a stranger in the neighborhood. Stupid and dangerous, yes, but understandable. I don’t think he expected to “catch” the guy physically, but he wanted the stranger caught. </p>
<p>There was a lot of outrage due to the “profiling” I have no doubt that had it been me walking out there, GZ would not have blinked an eye. 60 year old women dressed the way i do, are not suspect for things like this. We are very underrepresented in the criminal population either because we are smart enough as a group to rarely get caught or we don’t do things like that . Young men of a certain age make up the vast majority of these sort of criminals. The tapes show no indication that the initial call was made due to color, by the way. GZ specifically was asked for the race, and he wasn’t so sure in his answer from the transcript, at least initially. </p>
<p>A week after the incident hit the news, we all got flyers in this area that a tall, young AA male in a hoodie was hanging around our train station late at night and had mugged some people. Sterotypical, unfortunately, yes. If you think I would not be jumpy if so approached by someone like TM or if I saw a TM type after the alert, you are wrong. We all were jumpy, and I snapped at my kids to lose those hoodies for a while when taking the train. </p>
<p>GZ’s behaviour thereafter, is not enlightening at all, to put it mildly. You would think he would toe the line and look for some activities to show that he cares about his part in the death of a child. A child. He should let everyone know how sorry he is that a child died due to his behaviour. Nope. Just the standard, obligatory apologies that his lawyer probably wrote out for him. That’s where I feel he is causing his own problems.</p>
<p>frugaldoctor, it is virtually impossible to get a concealed gun permit in my community in Ca, so you would have been out of luck if you wanted to carry a concealed weapon.</p>