Archive for the ‘George Zimmerman’ Category

DOJ: No Charges Against George Zimmerman – Video


DOJ: No Charges Against George Zimmerman
While the public waits for a Justice Department announcement over two separate investigations spurred by the summer shooting of an unarmed teenager in Fergus...

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DOJ: No Charges Against George Zimmerman - Video

Holder: No civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin shooting

In this Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, file photo, George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. Prosecutors announced Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, that they will not file domestic violence charges against Zimmerman.

JOE BURBANK ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that no federal civil rights charges would be brought against George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting in February 2012 of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

In an anti-climactic but widely expected move, Holder said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the 31-year-old Zimmerman for the shooting that shattered a family and ignited a national debate.

A comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, Holder said in a statement.

At the same time, following a meeting Tuesday in Miami between Justice Department officials and members of Martins family, Holder said Martins premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface.

In a statement released through the office of attorney Benjamin L. Crump, Martin family members said they were disappointed in the findings but also thankful for the Justice Departments extensive and thorough investigation.

We remain poised to do everything in our power to help eradicate senseless violence in our communities, because we don't want any other parents to experience the unexplainable loss we have endured, the family said.

Holders long-awaited announcement came as hes clearing the decks for his designated successor, Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, whos awaiting Senate confirmation.

Before he leaves office, Holder is also likely to announce a decision on whether former Ferguson, Mo., police Officer Darren Wilson will face federal charges for the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. As with Martins shooting, few legal experts expect that federal charges will be brought.

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Holder: No civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin shooting

Without hate crime, US limited in prosecuting Zimmerman

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer

MIAMI (AP) - The Justice Department's decision to not prosecute a civilian neighborhood watch volunteer for a hate crime in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager is not necessarily a harbinger of how it will rule in two other high-profile deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police officers, legal experts say.

That is because the standards used to gauge the existence of a hate crime committed by civilians are different from those used to measure the behavior of police officers, who can be charged with depriving someone of their civil rights by using excessive force in the course of duty.

Because George Zimmerman was not a police officer, the U.S. Justice Department could only prosecute him for fatally shooting teenager Trayvon Martin nearly three years ago if it had sufficient evidence the killing was motivated by racial bias or hatred, the experts say.

Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, without any legal authority associated with law enforcement officers. Zimmerman claimed he shot the 17-year-old Martin in self-defense, and he was acquitted by a jury in July 2013 of second-degree murder.

If he had been a sworn officer, federal prosecutors would have the option of pursuing "color of law" charges against Zimmerman. It is this kind of federal case that could be brought against officers in recent contentious killings by white police officers of black suspects Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.

Those cases are also hard to prove; police officers are given latitude to use deadly force if they feel their lives are endangered.

"In the case of a police officer, what you're looking at is, did the police officer use excessive force that resulted in a death or injury or something else? It's not what a reasonable person would do. It's what a reasonable police officer would do under the circumstances," said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who handled civil right cases.

"For a private citizen, it is a hate crime, which has to be motivated by race," he added. "Zimmerman may have wanted to be a police officer at some point in time, but he wasn't then and he isn't now."

St. Louis community activist John Gaskins, a member of the NAACP's national board of directors, said he wasn't surprised by the decision to not charge Zimmerman federally in Martin's death. But he said "this doesn't give me much hope" that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson will be indicted.

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Without hate crime, US limited in prosecuting Zimmerman

George Zimmerman will NOT face civil federal rights charges for killing Trayvon Martin – Video


George Zimmerman will NOT face civil federal rights charges for killing Trayvon Martin
Federal prosecutors have concluded that there is not sufficient evidence to prove that George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin #39;s civil rights when he shot h...

By: BrainJerry42

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George Zimmerman will NOT face civil federal rights charges for killing Trayvon Martin - Video

DOJ: No civil rights charges against George Zimmerman – Video


DOJ: No civil rights charges against George Zimmerman
Evan Perez and Tom Fuentes discuss the Justice Department #39;s decision not to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Tray...

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DOJ: No civil rights charges against George Zimmerman - Video