No, Fox News – Spooner And Dunn Trials Are Not ‘The Next Zimmerman’ Trials (VIDEO)

Ever since George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin, a number of news networks, including Fox News, have engaged in the irresponsible act of labeling other trials of people accused of murdering black children as being similar to that of Zimmerman. Fox News reported the case of John Spooner, which Mediaite called “the Next Zimmerman,” and PolicyMic called the Michael Dunn’s killing of Jordan Davis a “Trayvon Martin Style Incident.”

The label is inaccurate and downplays the severity of what John Spooner and Michael Dunn respectively are accused of having done.

Spooner is accused of shooting and killing a 13-year-old boy after he thought the boy, who lived next door, had stolen his shotgun. Dunn is accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis after the two got into an argument at a gas station that started out over the volume of music in Davis’ car. Dunn claimed he thought he saw a gun, but there was no gun found in the vehicle or around the area, according to reports.

In all three cases, an older man shot and killed a young African-American. But that’s where the similarities end, and comparing Spooner’s the cases to Zimmerman’s makes it sound like the defendants might have a good defense and not be guilty.

Just to be clear, we don’t know if the defendants Spooner and Dunn are going to be proven guilty in a court of law yet. They will have their day in court to present their defense. But there is a big difference between the Zimmerman case those of Spooner and Dunn.

In the cases of Spooner and Dunn, ?there was not a fight were the shooter might reasonably be said to be in fear of their life. There was no physical confrontation whatsoever. In fact, Spooner isn’t even claiming self-defense. He is claiming mental illness.

From the evidence presented during the Zimmerman trial, we know that Zimmerman and Martin were engaged in a fight. Zimmerman emerged with visible injuries, including what appeared to be a broken nose, according to physicians assistant Lindzee Folgate, who treated him the next day and testified at the trial. Neighbor Jonathan Good, one of the few witnesses to see part of the fight, said it appeared that Martin was on top throwing punches down on Zimmerman.

No one saw how the fight started. (In the Spooner case, video evidence exists, and in the Dunn case, there are reportedly more witnesses.)

Those and other factors raised the possibility that Zimmerman might have shot in self-defense rather than murder, as the prosecution contended. The defendant doesn’t have to prove that he or she is innocent. The prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty, and in this case the evidence didn’t disprove Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense.

The cases of Spooner and Dunn, as they have been reported thus far, seem to be much more solid than the case against Zimmerman, with no fights and no credible claims of self-defense apparent. They are not “the Next Zimmerman.” To say so is to imply that there is — as in the Zimmerman case — serious doubt about the killers’ guilt.

Here’s the video via Mediaite:

Edited by: EAP