There must have been some heated discussions going on behind the scenes at the ACLU for it to do a 180 degree u-turn on whether the Department of Justice should investigate George Zimmerman to determine whether a hate crime prosecution was appropriate. I'm not surprised, just relieved the organization came to its senses.

On July 14, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero issued a statement on behalf of the organization that was titled, "Honoring the Memory of the Trayvon Martin (Next Steps for Systemic Reforms.) It called on the DOJ to investigate whether George Zimmerman's committed a federal civil rights violation or a hate crime by shooting Trayvon Martin.

Update: George Zimmerman's lawyers respond to President Obama's remarks on race today.

TalkLeft just crashed from the number of people viewing the last thread at the same time. We've rebooted the server and closed that thread. You may continue the discussion of President Obama's remarks today on the George Zimmerman verdict and race (transcript here).

What I agree with:

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works.

Keep in mind that the trial is over and the evidence is of record. The public's opinion of the evidence is not the topic. Comments that misstate the evidence in the case, or speculate as to their personal theory of guilt that was not disproved to their satisfaction have no place here. [More...]

Here's the transcript of President Obama's remarks on the George Zimmerman verdict today.

Here's what I agree with:

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury has spoken, that's how our system works.

The rest of his remarks, on the topic of race, would be welcome following an incident involving racial profiling by police. In case he hasn't noticed, the practice is rampant in New York City. They do not fit in the context of this case. [More...]

I'm offline at work today. If there are new developments in the George Zimmerman case, or you have more to say about things we have already covered, here's a thread for them.

Keep in mind that this is not a free-for-all to attack the verdict or defense. Our commenting rules are here and fairly strict. Comments that don't comport with the rules will be deleted when I return. Don't quote an objectionable comment in your reply or that has to go too. Refer to it by the name of the person who posted it.

Alternate Juror No. E-54 would have voted to acquit George Zimmerman. He was interviewed by Fox News. Here is the video.

Juror E-54 says the non-emergency call was the best evidence for George Zimmerman. There was no evidence Zimmerman profiled Martin. There was no evidence of ill will.

Zimmerman's injuries were a significant factor in his conclusion GZ should be acquitted. [More...]

Former President Jimmy Carter:

JIMMY CARTER: "I think the jury made the right decision based in the evidence presented because the prosecution inadvertently set the standard so high that the jury had to be convinced that it was a deliberate act by Zimmerman and that he was not defending himself and so forth. It's not a moral question, it's a legal question and the American law requires that the jury listens to the evidence presented." (WXIA-TV)

Rachel Jeantel now says she thinks Trayvon threw the same punch. She also thinks, although there was no evidence presented to support it, that GZ tried to detain Martin.

Rachel now has a reason to extend her 15 minutes. A radio host has given her a full scholarship to college.

How many times is CNN going to replay juror B37's interview? Has anyone not heard it?

Anderson Cooper's interview with Juror B-37 is airing now.

Some thoughts as I'm watching. Juror B-37 said it wouldn't have made any difference if GZ had testified. The result would have been the same. To me that furthers the argument the state miscalculated by introducing his police interviews, re-enactment, and particularly his Hannity interview.

A prosecutor legal analyst on the show just said the defense got the jurors to look into GZ's heart. Actually, it was prosecutor John Guy. In his rebuttal closing, Guy asked the jury to look into George Zimmerman's heart and find hate. He talked about the window into George Zimmerman's soul. He told them to use their "G-d given common sense." They followed his suggestions. Unfortunately for the state, in doing so, they rejected the conclusion he though they would make. Another big failure in their argument. [More...]

The mistakes of the prosecution in the George Zimmerman trial began with overcharging Zimmerman with second degree murder. But they went far beyond that. USA Today has a new article, Experts: Prosecutors Failed to Humanize Trayvon Martin.

While the state played the emotion card hard in closing, there was a disconnect and the jury wasn't swayed by it. Why? Because one thing the jury never got to hear was the story of who is Trayvon Martin? He was never personalized or humanized.

What many may not realize is that this was a strategic decision the state made, not an unintentional omission. The defense had let the prosecution know that once the state introduced evidence of Trayvon Martin's good character, the floodgates would open and it was ready with an avalanche of text messages, photos, videos, school records and more to fight back. While I have no intention of discussing the specifics of what the defense would have introduced to counter the state's character evidence, it's available for all to see at the Zimmerman legal case website. It's referred to in pleadings and court orders. Please do not include details in your comments, or they will be deleted. [More....]

The interview of George Zimmerman juror B-37 on Anderson Cooper last night was extraordinary for the detail the juror provided about the deliberations process.

Shorter version: Zimmerman acted in self-defense. He was credible. Race was not a factor -- the jurors never even discussed race. Martin attacked Zimmerman. 5 of the 6 jurors believed Zimmerman was screaming. The sixth wasn't sure, she thought it might be Martin. Zimmerman did not act from ill-will or hatred. If anything he was over-eager to help others, which is indicative of a good heart.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with this juror, and taking into consideration she is speaking only for herself as to why she voted to acquit, it is clear from her statements that the jury as whole unanimously agreed the state failed in this prosecution. Which makes Angela Corey's interview, aired on HLN last night, every more bizarre. [More...]

Updated to reflect the original article has been edited to make clear B-37 signed with a literary agent who is seeking a deal for her book, but she doesn't actually have a book deal yet.

Zimmerman juror B-37 and her husband have a literary agent who is seeking offers for their book on the George Zimmerman trial. What a surprise (not) - her husband is an attorney.

What B-37 said during the voir dire round on pre-trial publicity (from our forums where it was live-blogged.) [More...]

Lawyers are hitting the airwaves en masse to opine on the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. I gave up TV commenting in 2008 (12 years was enough), but having spent so much of the last 16 months analyzing every detail of the George Zimmerman case here and at our forums, I made an exception yesterday for a quick appearance on CNN. Since I've received requests from a few readers, I'm posting a short clip of the last thing I said.[More...]

O'Mara and West at press conference. O'Mara begins by reading a letter he wrote to the Seminole County Sheriff before the verdict thanking him and the department for their excellent security and ensuring the process was peaceful.

Don West: The state's actions were disgraceful.

West on the opening joke: It was a needed disconnect from the act the state put on in it's opening argument. [More...]