Dooley and Zimmerman Cases – Same Law, Different Verdicts – Why?

Trevor Dooley. Found by the jury to be the initial aggressor for leaving his garage with a loaded gun and approaching David James.

On January 23, 2013, I wrote an article on the significance of the Dooley decision.  It is a Florida case where the defendant claimed self-defense.  Trevor Dooley was found guilty of manslaughter.  His case is currently on appeal.

Trayvon Martin. Found by jury to be the initial aggressor for exercising his right to be out of his residence when confronted by George Zimmerman.

When I first heard of the Dooley case, I expected that he would prevail on his claim of Stand Your Ground because of testimony that Dooley was walking back to his house when David James came up behind him, knocking him to the ground.

After the verdict and when I wrote the article, it was my position that the jury applied the facts to Florida law from the beginning, finding that if not but for the fact that Trevor Dooley left his garage with a loaded gun and approached David James for mouthing off at him, the two would not have come into physical contact.

Likewise, I said that if not but for the fact that George Zimmerman got out of his car with a loaded gun to follow Trayvon, the two would not have come into physical contact.  It was my position that the Zimmerman jury would find him guilty of 2nd degree murder, or manslaughter, by applying the law of initial aggressor to the facts.

I was wrong.

Trevor Dooley was candid after his conviction, saying that had the races in his case been reversed, the jury would not have convicted him.  Dooley is Black.  David James was White. I didn’t want to believe that.  This is America where justice is blind and our courts of law are suppose to apply the facts to the law without regard to race, religion, nor gender.  I now know better.  That is a dream.  It’s an American dream, but America’s juries hand out nightmares when they use unsupported facts to get the result they want.

George M. Zimmerman
Jury found he was entitled to follow Trayvon because he suspected all Black males of being criminals.

What is known as Stand Your Ground law in Florida requires that the initial aggressor make efforts to retreat.  That would apply to Trevor Dooley, but the jury did not see it that way.  Zimmerman, as the initial aggressor by the same standard applied in the Dooley case, made no effort to retreat.  According to his story, he turned to face Trayvon Martin, and stood face-to-face with him while searching in his pockets for his cell phone.  As the initial aggressor (again, by the same standard applied in the Dooley case), Zimmerman had no right to claim self-defense.

David James
Jury found he felt threatened by Trevor Dooley giving him the right to attack Dooley.

The message sent by the jury in the Dooley case is that unarmed, 41 year old David James, White, who outweighed the 69 year old Dooley by 80 pounds, had the right to fear Trevor Dooley, who is Black, and be entitled to assault Dooley who had turned his back and was walking back home when assaulted by James. Dooley was denied his claim of self-defense and found guilty of manslaughter.  Thus, unarmed White men are allowed to be afraid of and attack armed Black men who walk away from them.

The message sent by the jury in the Zimmerman case is that 17 year old, unarmed Trayvon Martin, who was Black, had no right to fear 28 year old George Zimmerman (White Hispanic), who outweighed him by 50 pounds.  The decision of the Zimmerman jury is that Zimmerman, who was carrying a gun loaded with hollow point bullets, had the right to follow Trayvon because Trayvon was Black and Zimmerman was entitled to suspect all Black males of criminal activity.  Zimmerman was found not guilty for killing Trayvon Martin who he admitted to having pinned before he aimed, and fired a hollow point bullet into the heart of the 17 year old.

Florida juries have made it clear that Whites fearing Blacks are entitled to violate law, whereas Blacks have no rights under the law whatsoever.   For Trayvon, Florida denied him rights to walk to the store; to walk back home after sundown; to be outside in the rain; to run from Zimmerman; to talk on his cell phone while outside; to ask Zimmerman “What are you following me for?”

For Trevor Dooley, Florida denied him the right to approach a White man for mouthing off to him; to walk back to his house without there being a physical confrontation; and to use his gun in self-defense when the younger and stronger David James came up behind him, knocking him to the ground.

The original post in January included a chart of comparison.  I’ve now updated that chart and provide it below.

Similarities and Comparisons

	Trevor Dooley	George Zimmerman
City, State	Valrico, FL	Sanford, FL
Community	Twin Lakes	Retreat at Twin Lakes
Age of Defendant at time of incident	69	28
Age of Victim at time of incident	41	17
Race of Defendant	Black	White Latino
Race of Victim	White	Black
Physical Height and Weight of Defendants	5’ 7”, 160 lbs.	5’7.5’, 208 lbs.
Physical Height and Weight of Victims	6’ 1”, 240 lbs.	5’ 11”, 158 lbs
Defense	Was assaulted by a younger, stronger man and was in fear for his life.	Was assaulted by a teen and was in fear for his life.
Experience	Dooley: Retired School Bus Driver.  David James: 20 yrs in the military.	Zimmerman: MMA, grampling, boxing.Trayvon Martin: 17 yr old high school junior.
Victim armed/unarmed	Unarmed	Unarmed
Cause of Death	Gunshot to the heart	Gunshot to the heart
Arrested	2 days after killing	About 40 days after killing
Allegations:	Victim attacked first (supported by witnesses)	Victim attacked first (No witnesses)
	Was being choked, could not breathe	Was being smothered, could not breathe
	Victim saw and went for gun	Victim saw and went for gun
	Fear that victim would get gun and shoot.	Fear that victim would get gun and shoot.
Admitted	Left garage and approached victim	Left vehicle and followed victim
	Tried to walk away (supported by witnesses)	Shot victim while having victim’s wrist and arm pinned.
	Shot victim while victim was on top. (Supported by witness testimony)	Witnesses vary as to who was on top, but Zimmerman claims he shot while on his back.
	Victim rushed him.	Victim ran.
Similarities	Left his garage with a loaded gun to approach victim.	Left his vehicle with a loaded gun to follow victim.
Jurors	2 women, 4 men, multiracial	6 women, 5 White, 1 Hispanic
Trial Decision	Guilty of Manslaughter	Not Guilty