Mr. Zimmerman said he shot Mr. Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in self-defense after the teenager knocked him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head repeatedly against the sidewalk. In finding him not guilty of murder or manslaughter, the jury agreed that Mr. Zimmerman could have been justified in shooting Mr. Martin because he feared great bodily harm or death.The jury, which had been sequestered since June 24, deliberated 16 hours and 20 minutes over two days. The six female jurors entered the quiet, tense courtroom, several looking exhausted, their faces drawn and grim. After the verdict was read, each assented, one by one, and quietly, their agreement with the verdict.
The case began in the small city of Sanford as a routine homicide but soon evolved into a civil rights cause examining racial profiling and its consequences — an issue barred from the courtroom — and setting off a broad discussion of race relations in America. Mr. Martin, with his gray hooded sweatshirt and his Skittles — the candy he was carrying — became its catalyst.
Even President Obama weighed in a month after the shooting, expressing sympathy for Mr. Martin’s family and urging a thorough investigation. “If I had a son,” Mr. Obama said, “he’d look like Trayvon.”
Saturday night when the verdict was read, Mr. Zimmerman, 29, smiled slightly. His wife, Shellie, and several of his friends wept, and his parents kissed and embraced.
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, who lost their son a few weeks after his 17th birthday, were not in the courtroom.
After the verdict, Judge Debra S. Nelson of Seminole County Court, told Mr. Zimmerman, who has been in hiding and wears a bulletproof vest outside, that his bond was revoked and his GPS monitor would be cut off. “You have no further business with the court,” she said.
Outside the courthouse, perhaps a hundred protesters who had been gathering through the night, their numbers building as the hours passed, began pumping their fists in the air, waving placards and chanting “No justice, no peace!” Sheriff’s deputies lined up inside the courthouse, watching the crowd, who were chanting peacefully, but intently.
By 11:20, more than an hour after the verdict had been read, the crowd outside the courtroom had begun to dwindle; fists were no longer aloft, placards had come down.
Among the last of the protesters to leave the courthouse lawn was Mattie Aikens, 33, of Sanford. She had been standing outside since noon, holding a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona watermelon drink, which Mr. Martin was carrying the night he was shot. More than an hour after the verdict, she was still shocked. “He should have went to prison,” she said. “He should have just got guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.”
Mark O’Mara, one of Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyers, said, “George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except firing the gun in self-defense.”
In a news conference following the verdict, Angela B. Corey, the state attorney who brought the charges, rebuffed the suggestion that her office overcharged Mr. Zimmerman.
“We charged what we had based on the facts of the case,” she said. “We truly believe the mind-set of George Zimmerman and the reason he was doing what he did fit the bill for second-degree murder.”
Calling it a “very trying time,” Benjamin Crump, a Martin family lawyer, said he had urged Mr. Martin’s parents to stay out of the courtroom for the verdict. They were home and planning to attend church on Sunday. The parents, he said, were grateful for all the support.
Mr. Crump asked the family’s supporters keep the peace and read a Twitter post by Dr. Bernice King, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter.
“Whatever the Zimmerman verdict is,” Mr. Crump read, “in the words of my father, we must conduct ourselves on the higher plane of dignity and discipline.”
Sanford’s new police chief, Cecil E. Smith, was in the courtroom for the verdict, and said afterward that while many calls were coming in from worried residents, the downtown was open and neighborhoods were calm.
Still, there was anger over the verdict. “We are outraged and heartbroken over today’s verdict,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the N.A.A.C.P. “We stand with Trayvon’s family and we are called to act. We will pursue civil rights charges with the Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the removal of Stand Your Ground laws in every state, and we will not rest until racial profiling in all its forms is outlawed.”
Mr. O’Mara disputed the notion that Mr. Zimmerman engaged in racial profiling. “His history was not as a racist,” he said.
He added that if Mr. Zimmerman was black, he likely would never have been charged. “This became a focus for a civil rights event, which is wonderful event to have,” he said, “but they decided George Zimmerman was to blame and to use as a civil rights violation.”
And while defense lawyers were elated with the verdict, they also expressed anger that Mr. Zimmerman spent 16 months filled with fear and trauma when all he was doing was defending himself.
“The prosecution of George Zimmerman was a disgrace,” said Don West, one of Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyers. “I am thrilled that this jury kept this tragedy from become a travesty.”
The shooting brought attention to Florida’s expansive self-defense laws. The laws allow someone with a reasonable fear of great bodily harm or death to use lethal force, even if retreating from danger is an option. In court, the gunman is given the benefit of the doubt.
The outcry began after the police initially decided not to arrest Mr. Zimmerman, who is half-Peruvian, as they investigated the shooting. Mr. Martin, 17, had no criminal record and was on a snack run, returning to the house where he was staying as a guest.
Six weeks later, Mr. Zimmerman was arrested, but only after civil rights leaders championed the case and demonstrators, many wearing hoodies, marched in Sanford, Miami and elsewhere to demand action.
“Justice for Trayvon!” they shouted.
The pressure prompted Gov. Rick Scott of Florida to remove local prosecutors from the case and appoint Ms. Corey, from Jacksonville. She ultimately charged Mr. Zimmerman with second-degree murder. The tumult also led to the firing of the Sanford police chief.
Through it all, Mr. Martin’s parents said they sought one thing: That Mr. Zimmerman have his day in court.
That day arrived on Saturday.
From the start, prosecutors faced a difficult task in proving second-degree murder. That charge required Mr. Zimmerman to have evinced a “depraved mind,” brimming with ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent, when he shot Mr. Martin.
Manslaughter, which under Florida law is typically added as a lesser charge if either side requests it, was a lower bar. Jurors needed to decide only that Mr. Zimmerman put himself in a situation that culminated in Mr. Martin’s death.
But because of Florida’s laws, prosecutors had to persuade jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Zimmerman did not act in self-defense. A shortage of evidence in the case made that a high hurdle, legal experts said.
Even after three weeks of testimony, the fight between Mr. Martin and Mr. Zimmerman on that rainy night was a muddle, fodder for reasonable doubt. It remained unclear who had started it, who screamed for help, who threw the first punch and at what point Mr. Zimmerman drew his gun. There were no witnesses to the shooting.
The state presented a case that was strong on guesswork and emotion but weak on evidence and proof, Mr. O’Mara said.
“Don’t connect those dots unless they are connected for you, beyond a reasonable doubt, by the state,” he urged the jury.
In the end, prosecutors were left with Mr. Zimmerman’s version of events.
The defense also had one piece of irrefutable evidence, photographs of Mr. Zimmerman’s injuries — a bloody nose along with lumps and two cuts on his head. It indicated that there had been a fight and that Mr. Zimmerman had been harmed, and the defense showed them to the jury at every opportunity.
Prosecutors built their case around Mr. Zimmerman’s persona — a “wannabe cop” — his wrong assumptions and his words.
Mr. Zimmerman, they said, was so concerned about burglaries in his townhouse complex that when he spotted Mr. Martin, an unfamiliar face in the rain, he immediately “profiled” him as a criminal. He picked up his phone and reported him to the police.
Then he made the first in a string of bad choices, they said. He got out of the car with a gun on his waist; he disregarded a police dispatcher’s advice not to follow Mr. Martin and he chased the teenager, engaged in a fight and shot him in the heart.
To stave off an arrest, he lied to the police, prosecutors said, embellishing his story to try to flesh out his self-defense claim.
“Punks,” Mr. Zimmerman said to the police dispatcher after he spotted Mr. Martin, adding a profanity. “They always get away,” he said at another point in the conversation, a reference to would-be burglars.
On these words, prosecutors hung their case of ill will, hatred and spite toward Mr. Martin.
“This defendant was sick and tired of it,” Bernie de la Rionda, the chief prosecutor, said in his closing statement. “He was going to be what he wanted to be — a police officer.”
But no one saw the shooting; witnesses saw and heard only parts of the struggle, and provided conflicting accounts.
And there was not a “shred of evidence” that Mr. Zimmerman was not returning to his car when Mr. Martin “pounced,” defense lawyers said.
The prosecution’s witnesses did not always help their case. Rachel Jeantel, the 19-year-old who was talking with Mr. Martin on his cellphone shortly before he was shot, proved problematic. Her testimony was critical for the prosecution because she said that Mr. Martin was being followed by Mr. Zimmerman — a “creepy-ass cracker,” he called him — and that he was scared.
But Ms. Jeantel might have damaged her credibility by acknowledging she had lied about her age and why she did not attend Mr. Martin’s wake. She also testified that she softened her initial account of her chat with Mr. Martin for fear of upsetting Ms. Fulton, who sat next to her, weeping, during Ms. Jeantel’s first interview with prosecutors.
Prosecutors also were not helped by the police and crime scene technicians, who made some mistakes in the case. Mr. Martin’s sweatshirt, for example, was improperly bagged, which might have degraded DNA evidence.
Typically, police testimony boosts the state’s case. Here, the chief police investigator, Chris Serino, told jurors that he believed Mr. Zimmerman, despite contradictions in his statements.
Still, prosecutors had emotion on their side — the heart-wrenching narrative of a teenager “minding his own business” who was gunned down as he walked home with a pocketful of Skittles and a fruit drink.
“That child had every right to do what he was doing, walking home,” said John Guy, a prosecutor in the case. “That child had every right to be afraid of a strange man following him, first in his car and then on foot. And did that child not have the right to defend himself from that strange man?”
Through it all, though, the defense chipped away at the prosecution’s case. The resident with the best vantage point of the fight described a “ground and pound” fight, with a person in red or a light color on the bottom. Mr. Zimmerman wore a reddish jacket.
And a prominent forensic pathologist who is an expert in gunshot wounds testified that the trajectory of the bullet was consistent with Mr. Martin leaning over Mr. Zimmerman when the gun was fired.
“Let him go back,” Mr. O’Mara said to the jury, referring to Mr. Zimmerman, “and get back to his life.”
On Saturday, the jury did just that.
I pray he NEVER has any PEACE!
What Chu Say Boo: Tamar Appears On The Cover Of Hype Hair
Look at your girl on the cover of Hype Hair magazine. Now, I love Tamar and wish her the best; but knowing how much Tamar herself appreciates honesty and the keep it realness of it all- I must say that this is not one of her best hair choices. It just looks…fake.
Now, we all know Tamar’s hair is artificial, she’ll be the first one to tell you that; but it’s not supposed to look that especially on the cover of a hair magazine. But that’s just my assessment.
What do you think about the cover of the magazine? Or better yet what do you think Tamar might have to say about this cover once she’s seen it?
Kenya Moore Apologizes To Nene Leakes For Missing Her Wedding
Kenya Moore has something she wants to say. In an interview with The Grio, the reality star apologized to NeNe Leakes for missing her star studded wedding. Kenya was invited to the wedding but was in Africa at the time. Although the two recently spotted together on a flight, Kenya wants to apologize. She stated:
NeNe I love you. You know I couldn’t make your wedding. I will send you the most incredible gift. I will buy several things on your gift registry and have them special delivered. But more importantly you know I love you, and I really appreciate you and I really am sorry that I wasn’t able to make your special day.
Drake Puts Toronto Condo on the Market for $4.2M
Drake is unloading his bachelor pad in Toronto for $4.2 million, according to Trulia.com.
The rapper, who hails from Ontario, has relocated to the U.S. with the purchase last year of a $7.7million mansion in Hidden Hills, CA.
The 3,000 square-foot penthouse apartment in the prestigious Yorkville area of Toronto has three-bedrooms, three-bathrooms and sits on the 22nd floor of a high-rise building. It also comes with a swimming pool, two heated terraces, gym, sauna and valet parking. The home reportedly has maintenance fees of $3,361.51 per month.
Drake’s California home, marketed as ”the ultimate Hidden Hills compound estate” and a ”world class private resort,” property features seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and is spread across 7,444 square feet. In case you forgot what it looks like. Look Below.
HOT!!!
Kelly Rowland Out & About In L.A.; Shoots New Jaguar Commercial
A fresh-faced Kelly Rowland was seen making her way through LAX in Los Angeles on Tuesday. She kept it laid back and comfortable in ripped denim jeans, a purple oversized top, and had her hair pulled up into a topknot. The “Kisses Down Low” singer was also spotted leaving Pressed Juicery in Beverly Hills, carrying two bottles of freshly-squeezed juice.
Kelly smiled as she got back into her car after leaving Pressed Juicery.
Kelly rock’d a commercial for the New 2014 F-Type Jaguar, in Miami. She looked fab, rockin’ a purple dress as she posed in and around the hot ride.
Both Jaguar and Kelly shared pics from the shoot, as well as a clip of the songstress telling us why she loves the new F-Type. Check out the vid on Instagram.
Photos: AKM/GSI/SplashNews/Instagram
Evelyn Lozada Serious About Shedding ‘Basketball Wives’ Image
She's also created a domestic violence foundation called 'Pain Is Not Love' Share this:Google +1FacebookTwitterPinterestPrintMoreEmailDiggLinkedInRedditTumblrStumbleUpon
*In next month’s issue of Latina Magazine, “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Lozada opens up about wanting to change her bad girl ways and her life after being the victim of domestic violence.
During the interview with the magazine, which is on newsstands now, Evelyn was asked about the night when her husband, former NFL star Chad Johnson, was arrested for attacking her. Lozada said she knew that this drastic change was about to happen.
“At that point, I knew my life would never be the same. I knew the world was going to laugh at me and be mean and nasty and blame me for everything. But I had no choice. I had to go to the hospital,” she shared.
Following the attack, Evelyn made an appearance on “Iyanla: Fix My Life” to discuss her issues. She admitted to Iyanla Vanzant that it wasn’t the first time Chad was violent towards her.
In addition to her “Fix My Life” appearance, she worked with another life coach Tony Gaskins, Jr. and decided to get baptized again.
“Tony was talking to me about soul ties, and I felt like I needed to cut that cord [with Johnson]. I wanted to do things differently, to start over. I’m still going to be Evelyn, but I have a different vision of my life,” she disclosed.
Now Evelyn is planning to start a foundation called “Pain Is Not Love” that’s dedicated to helping other domestic violence victims .
“I get e-mails every single day from women who are still with their abusive partner and they’re like, ‘I need help,’” she confessed.
Domestic violence is an issue that hits close to home with Evelyn, who was only married to Johnson for less than two months when he head-butted her during an argument.
“I never lifted a finger at him,” she said in response to those who questioned whether or not Chad’s actions were provoked.
Evelyn says she was not looking to become the face of domestic violence, but after her own dealings with the issue decided to help those who are where she’s been.
“I don’t want to wear this hat of being a domestic violence survivor, but this happened to my life. It is what it is. I need to flip it and help people,” she told CelebTV Latina.
Rihanna Says Phuck Yo Album Chris!!!!
I loves me some Rihanna! Don't you guys? She is one to speak her mind and doesn't give a rass about what anybody else thinks about it!
So when Chris Brown announced yesterday who was going to be on his album and named his ex-girlfriend, Rihanna, as one of the featured artists, it was no surprise that Rihanna reacted the way that she did. But first, let's get into Chris' announcement below:
Shortly after Chris Brown's tweet was posted, Rihanna posted up a photo of Joseline Hernandez with a quote and many are saying the post was directed towards Chris Brown.....when you click look below:
Now we can't say for sure the message was geared towards Chris Brown. Some even say the message was for Ciara, but who really knows? I sure don't! Now what say you?
J. Drew Sheard Strikes Out On His Own
J. Drew Sheard is making a new name for himself with a sultry new EP titled My Room. He began producing at an early age and has since moved on to making music as an artist and producing his own fan base.
“When I really got serious [about producing] I had to be about nine or 10, somewhere around then,” he told S2S. “I remember because that’s when my mom and dad bought me my first drum machine for Christmas. That’s where it all started.”
Despite the strong gospel influence from his family, who are heavyweights in the industry, J. Drew has a personal preference for a genre with a little bit more of an edge. He describes his sound as “very musical and soulful chords meets, like, straight ratchet and ghetto trap beats.”
“Surprisingly, most of the music I listen to is ratchet, trap music. That’s pretty much one of my favorite types of music as of right not,” he said. In fact, J. Drew has an ear for artist such as Gucci Mane, Young Scooter, 2 Chainz and Juice J. “I was always doing R&B and hip-hop on the side, I just never got a chance to bring it to the forefront.”
Judge tells Terry Richardson to turn over thousands of Lady Gaga pics in wages lawsuit
Lady Gaga is facing a suit for $393K in back wages by a former assistant.That’s a lotta Gaga.
A Manhattan Federal Court judge has ordered celebrity shutterbug Terry Richardson to hand over a whopping 142,000 pictures he took of Lady Gaga during her 2011 “Monster Ball” tour, Confidenti@l has exclusively learned.
Gaga’s former assistant Jennifer O’Neill contends the pictures are important evidence in her pending lawsuit against Gaga for overtime money she claims she’s owed, because they show how closely she worked with the superstar — and the crazy hours she put in.
Lady Gaga (right) sighted at Palais Royal on Dec. 21, 2010 in Paris with personal assistant Jennifer O'Neill by her side.
O’Neill, 42, worked for the “Born This Way” singer from 2009 to 2011. She claimed in a 2011 court filing that she is owed $393,000 for 7,168 hours of overtime plus damages.
Gaga, aka Stefani Germanotta, 27, has been fighting the suit and blasted her former PA in a sworn deposition as a “f—ing hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn’t earn.”
O’Neill’s lawyers sought a subpoena to compel Richardson to produce candid photos he took of Gaga and their client during the “Monster Ball” tour to support O'Neill’s claim she was working around the clock and was at Gaga’s “beck and call” the entire time.
Richardson had moved to quash the order, claiming the subpoena sought documents that were “irrelevant” to O’Neill’s case and calling the request “harassment.”
Gaga has insisted that none of her employees get paid overtime and the “whole case is bulls—.”
In her deposition Gaga — who now has two personal assistants — admitted her decision not to pay overtime wasn’t based on labor laws. “I’m quite wonderful to everybody that works for me, and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you [O’Neill] have become to sue me like this.”
The ruling was made in court last week, where Judge Paul G. Gardephe ordered Richardson to turn over the pictures, citing their relevance to O’Neill’s claim.
The judge noted “that Mr. Richardson … hasn’t demonstrated to [the court] that there is any significant burden in producing the photographs.”
Terry Richardson, must turn over thousands of pictures as evidence in the Lady Gaga back-pay case, a judge has ordered.
Richardson was given until Sunday to produce the pics.
In 2011, he released a best-selling photo book, “Lady Gaga X Terry Richardson,” featuring more than 350 candid pictures of the star taken over a 10-month period. Richardson has shot ad campaigns for top fashion houses from Tom Ford to Yves Saint Laurent and made a whopping $58 million between June 2012 and June 2013.
And she CONFIRMS IT ALL! Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina reveals engagement to 'brother' Nick Gordon
The late Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown has announced she is engaged.
And the lucky man in question, as many suspected, is is Nick Gordon, the man Whitney raised through as her own son, who has been described as a 'brother' to the 20-year-old.
Which means that rather than celebrating her news, Bobbi has come out of the traps to defend herself.
They're getting married! Bobbi Kristina announced her engagement to 'brother' Nick Gordon on Facebook
Their relationship has been the subject of scrutiny and a fair amount of eyebrow raising since their mother passed away in February last year.
And so Bobbi tackles the scandal in the post on her Facebook page.
She writes: 'YES, we me nick (sic) are engaged. I’m tired of hearing people say “eww your engaged to your brother or if Whitney was still alive would we be together or would she approve of this.”'
'Let me clear up something, we aren’t even real brother and sister nor is he my adoptive brother. My mom never adopted him. In fact, mommy was the one who even said that she knew that we were going to start dating. My mom knows me better than any of you.'
She continued: 'A lot of ‘yall are saying that y’all are only saying this all out of love. Which is bull because if that was so, all you would want is for me to be happy.
'People need to seriously stop judging my relationship. Pretty sure it’s my own decision who I want to be with.
'Yes, my relationship may not be perfect. We will have rough patches, just like every other relationship.
'And we have had our rough patches. You may or may not agree with my relationship. You may or may not respect it. Judge me, go ahead.
'Your opinions are yours and mine are mine. It is my life and not yours. The decisions I make have nothing to do with you. Goodnight.'
WOW!
Monica & Shannon Brown Celebrate Second Wedding Anniversary!
It’s been two years since Monica and her NBA hubby Shannon Brown walked down the aisle as mans and wife. Mo couldn’t help bu to share a few photos and messages with her Twitter and Instagram followers sharing the news.
The singer shared the above photo and wrote, “July 9th 2011…. One of the best days of my lifeas the years pass by our love grows stronger each day!!! God is love & his love guided us to one another #MBSB”
The couple are now welcoming their first child together.
Here are some more photos the singer shared below.
“7/9 this day was more than I dreamed of Thank U SB for all u did to make my dreams reality. On this day & everyday since MBSB”
And here’s another…
“7-9MBSB #GodIsLove”
Congrats Monica and Shannon!
Miley Cyrus vs Azealia Banks
Rapper Azealia Banks and Miley Cyrus get into a subTweet war on Twitter.
What’s a day without a little subtweeting and such on Twitter?
Miley Cyrus received the shout out of ALL shouts when Jay-Z threw her name in the song, Somewhere in America, from his latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail.
But not everyone’s here for hoopla!
Sticking to what she’s known for, Azealia Banks tweeted her feelings about the recent surge in white girls acting ratchet.
Now Girls!
Derrick Rose Visits Europe For adidas' D Rose
NBA basketball is no doubt an internationally loved sport. adidas Basketball recently sent some elite point guards to tour China for it Quick & Fast tour while Derrick Rose is currently on the D Rose Tour hitting up various countries in Europe.
The players made new fans thanks to exclusive events, meet and greets, in store events and more.
John Wall (Washington Wizards), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jrue Holiday (New Orleans Hornets), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers) and Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies) visited Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangzhou and Dongguan to show Chinese fans the game changing Crazyquick and adizero Crazy Light 3 basketball shoes. During the tour, adidas recruited the quickest and fastest players in China through contests and social media to participate against the NBA standouts in speed challenges and games.
Check out photos of the players spreading the gospel of basketball overseas in the gallery.
Meanwhile, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls visited the adidas World Headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany on July 5 to kick-off the European leg of the D Rose Tour. The NBA superstar toured the headquarters, met with executives, and played employees in basketball and ping-pong competitions. Derrick traveled to Milan, Italy on July 6 and 7 where he surprised players at a local court and met fans a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Foot Locker store and NBA 3X event.
The tour continues through July 15 with stops in Belgrade, Serbia; Zagreb, Croatia; London, England; Paris, France and Madrid, Spain. The Asia tour is September 4-16 and includes visits to Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines and Beijing, Wuhan, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, China. The tour will culminate with a late September event in Chicago, where Derrick will connect with fans in his hometown before beginning the NBA season.
AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
‘MIX & MATCH’
I like how both of you seem to be vying for the chance to become Animal from The Muppets girlfiend. So who do you guys think has the better chance of win over his soft plushy heart?
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD EVERYBODY!!!
EFREM
