The George Zimmerman murder trial has finally concluded. Many people are frustrated by the outcome. The verdict is disappointing to me from a legal and Christian perspective in that even though the criminal justice system is not perfect it does not appear it was properly utilized and fairly applied to its fullest extent to begin with. The whole ordeal smacks of a local community in the South that probably resented the national outrage and pressure to prosecute Zimmerman later after they had already closed the investigation out. So the case was doomed from the beginning.
The authorities from the very start of this case did not appear to have conducted a very thorough investigation into the shooting death of a young unarmed black man. State witnesses were neglected and unprepared to testify at trial, which undermined their credibility. The fact that one of the detectives (a state witness) testified he thought the defendant was believable is unheard of and sums up my point about bias undertones. And so because of an incomplete and sloppy version of the facts presented at trial one of the jurors was later quoted saying that Trayvon Martin “played a huge role” in his own death. It seems pretty clear by all accounts that George Zimmerman went out of his way to escalate the situation and ended up pulling a gun when he was losing.
He’s the only person alive on this planet who truly knows exactly what happened on that day and he isn’t talking, which is his right under the law. At this point what he did on that night is between him and God. I suppose if the whole truth had been made known it’s possible he acted in self-defense but whether he acted justifiably or with criminal intent will never be known for sure.
That’s why I’m reminded of the fact that even though it’s well known in our court system that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, a “not guilty” verdict does not necessarily mean a person is innocent. Just because Zimmerman was found not guilty doesn’t mean he acted innocently during that violent altercation with Martin. There just wasn’t enough evidence to convict him.
This frustrates me in that in our American society we rely on the trial court system to mete out justice (although designating a judge to settle disputes among people has Old Testament origins). Compared to God’s sovereign judgment our trials may be a crude blunt tool but nevertheless the criminal justice system usually satisfies our sense of justice and fair play and is designed to do just that. Ultimately we’re all subject to God’s judgment but until that day we have come to expect people to be held accountable for their human actions while here on earth. But in this case it does not appear the whole truth was ever revealed making it impossible to prove the case, and thus, justice did not play out. That alone should be disturbing to all of us.
At least these types of polarizing cases where justice seems twisted don’t occur often. But this is not the first instance where an infamous case results in a controversial verdict. I guess it’s just another reminder of how imperfect and limited we are as humans when it comes to true justice, certainly when compared to God. sigh.
From Pastor Mark’s Heart
July 21, 2013