George Zimmerman awaits his fate yesterday.

As criminal defense lawyers, we here at the Law Blogger can certainly understand the exhilaration of a big defense win.  As parents, we also understand the slap in the face that this is to the parents and family of Trayvon Martin.

The all-female Seminole County jury elected to work into the weekend, deliberating on Friday night and into Saturday, before finding the accused neighborhood watchman not guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter.

You know the case; the self-appointed night watchman has a confrontation with Trayvon Martin, a teenager whose father lived in the community Zimmerman was patrolling.  The case featured Florida's so-called "stand-your-ground" self-defense statute and acquired a civil rights dimension due to the alleged racial profiling component of Zimmerman's actions.

Even President Obama publicly commented on the proceedings, remarking that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.  Here in the 313, the Coalition Against Police Brutality has planned a public protest of the verdict.  Demonstrations erupted, briefly, in streets of Los Angeles, CA, when news of the verdict broke.

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