Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

A verdict has been returned in Florida v. Zimmerman:

NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

The State prosecutors, including the until recently rarely-seen Angela Corey, are currently providing interviews to the press, essentially re-arguing their catastrophically failed courtroom arguments. From this commentator's perspective, they are simply in complete denial and/or in full-blown CYA mode, no matter how often they say they respect the decision of the jury. It is also remarkable how frequently both Angela Corey and Bernie de la Rionda are explicitly re-affirming their support of the Second Amendment and self-defense--perhaps they sense the "seething rage, ill-will, spite, and hatred" they may well have engendered among the community of law-abiding gun-owners and CWL owners in Florida. Reactions from around the web can be found at this post: includes press conference videos of key people connected to the trial, photos of demonstrators outside the Florida courthouse, tweets/photos/videos related to current and scheduled "Justice for Trayvon" marches, verdict reactions from Twitter and embedded feeds for key Twitter hashtags. It will continue to be updated. The Prof. will have his post in the morning as he's stuck at O'Hare Airport now, but quickly adds:

The just verdict was reached. As I have said repeatedly, this was a case that never should have been brought. It's not too early to demand an inquiry into the prosecution of this case. Angela Corey should resign.

Watch live with Legal Insurrection on one of the two video streams below, as well as in the scrolling Twitter feed from selected contributors below. (My own tweets can be identified as coming from @LawSelfDefense.) https://twitter.com/JeffWeinerOS/status/356244577121873921 https://twitter.com/SonniAbatta/status/356242394406076416 https://twitter.com/TennisLaw/status/356236312082264065

The Zimmerman trial jury paused their deliberations at around 6:00PM EST to present Judge Nelson with a question: "May we please have clarification on instructions regarding manslaughter?" Nelson announced the question to the parties in open court, and has now recessed court 30 minutes to address the...

Well, here we are: Verdict Watch. The jury has been charged in Florida v. Zimmerman, and have begun their deliberations. The verdict form is here. Final Jury Instructions here. Last night they asked for an inventory list of the evidence--which makes sense given the dozens of witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. Now, we here at Legal Insurrection (and Law of Self Defense) are on stand-by ready to jump into action as soon as news emerges, whether that is the verdict itself or some lesser item. The video feeds located below the fold will be active when the broadcasters that control them feel there is something worth streaming.) In a breaking development, the Special Prosecutor's Office of Angela Corey has fired the IT specialist who blew the whistle on the prosecution's concealment of evidence:

State Attorney Angela Corey fired her office’s information technology director Friday after he testified last month about being concerned prosecutors did not turn over information to George Zimmerman’s defense team in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. On the same day attorneys finished their closing arguments in that nationally watched trial, a state attorney investigator went to Ben Kruidbos’ home about 7:30 a.m. to hand-deliver a letter stating Kruidbos “can never again be trusted to step foot in this office.”

The letter is here. (WAJ adds) This has been a dirty prosecution in so many ways, so no one should be surprised that as soon as the jury went into deliberations the retaliation began.

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense, or @lawselfdefense2 if I'm in Twitmo--follow both!.) Tweets from @LegInsurrection/zimmerman-trial

(Note: the first couple of paragraphs reflect today's earlier, short post.  To start at the newest updates, skip to the first heading, "Mark O’Mara Delivers Compelling Narrative of Innocence Based on Evidence &  Law."  The remainder of the post also contains embedded and linked video...

All the closing arguments are now completed, and in a few moments the jury will be instructed, and then sent into deliberations. We will be covering the jury charge live here on streaming video, along with our usual twitter feed. Once the jury goes into deliberations, we will be prepared to cover any breaking news, and of course both the Professor and I will be active covering the trial conclusion on Twitter.

Live Stream Video

WITH COMMENTARY FROM CHANNEL 9 IN SANFORD [For live-stream video without commentary, see NBC live feed at bottom of this post.]

Twitter Feed:

(My tweets can be identified as coming from @lawselfdefense, or @lawselfdefense2 if I'm in Twitmo--follow both!.) Tweets from @LegInsurrection/zimmerman-trial

This morning saw the defense give its closing statement in Florida v. Zimmerman, the last opportunity for them to deliver their compelling narrative of innocence to the jury. And boy, did Mark O'Mara deliver. In a closing rich with evidence, facts, and the law, O'Mara focused...