In the case of Florida v. George Zimmerman a jury found that Zimmerman was not guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. In the case of Washington v. Antonio Cellestine, the defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter and felony hit-and-run for the death of my father, Gordon Patterson. No jury was necessary.
But in my opinion, a crime of murder was just as obvious. Patterson was killed on Sept. 15, 2009, by Cellestine, a convicted offender who was out on parole.
Had the state of Florida pressed for manslaughter, Zimmerman might be in jail for a long time, but as Clark County prosecutors explained to my family, murder is a very difficult charge to prove to a jury beyond a shadow of a doubt. Murder is the highest crime and carries the harshest penalty, and when considering someone’s life or possible execution, everyone should be certain beyond a shadow of a doubt.
So the killers in both cases were allowed to go free because that is the system we have.
