Bump and Update: Today is the final day of our TalkLeft Appreciation Week. Thank you to all who contributed so far, I'll be sending out thank you emails over the weekend.

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If you have appreciated TalkLeft's s intensive coverage of the George Zimmerman case and trial over the past 16 months, here or at our forums, I hope you will consider making a donation to TalkLeft.

Debunking the myths, reviewing the discovery and pleadings, watching the hearings and trial, researching Florida law, writing extensive posts on the case and moderating comments to maintain a civil level of discourse and remove false information on the case, has consumed a huge amount of my time. It has been my pleasure to share my analysis and opinions with readers, and provide a place to comment, in an ad-free environment.

Here is the the paypal link. It's very easy (and takes credit cards even if you don't have a paypal account.)[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...]

Angela Corey is holding a press conference. She has adopted a patient, reasonable tone, speaking slowly and with a smile.

Unbelievable: "We believe we brought out the truth about Trayvon Martin." Translation: We respect the jury's verdict but we still think our version, not the jury's version, was correct.

If the jury agreed the state brought out the truth about Trayvon Martin and his actions the night of the shooting, it would have returned a different verdict. [More...]

There's a verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.

Not Guilty!!!!

GPS monitor ordered removed, bond discharged.

Congratulations to Mark O'Mara, Don West, Jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn and all of the defense team. They prevailed over a prosecutor who bowed to public pressure and private interests in overcharging this case as second degree murder.

I've been avoiding stories about the protests, I really don't care about them. But with the TV on just now, they flashed on the protesters and they were really loud. Are they right outside the courthouse? Can the jury hear them?

I would make a motion to stop the deliberations and either move the jury deliberations or have the protestors move to where the jurors can't see and here them. It's rank intimidation.

Also, of course the crowds are more anti-Zimmerman. Guilt-mongerers are not known for their intelligence or emotional stability.

Where is law enforcement? How are they letting this go on while the jury is inside deliberating? I would think an appeals court could throw out a verdict for this alone. [More...]

The media has been moved to the first floor of the courthouse. The jury is finished with dinner. Why would the court have the media wait around if they didn't ask a follow-up question to their first question about manslaughter? Did they resolve it without needing more guidance?

Why would the jury still be working at 9:00 pm with the court, lawyers and media in the courtroom if a verdict weren't about to be announced? The judge previously said she'd only give the media 15 minutes notice of a verdict. So I think a verdict may be imminent. What would that be and what would that mean? [More...]

Update: The jury has ordered in dinner. The parties and judge agreed the judge will respond to the jury's question as follows:

The court cannot engage in general discussion but may be able to address a specific question regarding clarification of the instructions regarding manslaughter. if you have a specific question please submit it.

What this means: The jury had a question on manslaughter and wanted to ask the judge about it. The jury didn't specify what question they had. The parties submitted case law about the extent to which a judge can meet with a jury to answer questions about the law. They agreed upon a response which tells them they to submit a more specific question and the judge will try to answer it.

See original post below: If the jury is following the court's instructions, their consideration of manslaughter means they have rejected Murder 2 but it does not mean they have considered or rejected self-defense. They may or may not have gotten to self-defense yet. [More...]

As I remain glued to the Verdict Watch in the George Zimmerman trial, here's an open thread for all topics except Zimmerman.

Thanks to all who donated during TalkLeft Appreciation Week. I especially enjoyed reading the notes some readers sent with their contributions. I didn't realize Paypal now has little yellow pop-up notes that automatically open when you mouse over the contribution. I'll be sending thank you emails this weekend.

I'd really like to cover Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's case but dozens of pleadings are missing from the docket which means they are filed under seal and never noted on the docket. (In my District and almost every other I can think of, the docket at least shows the fact that something was filed with and its docket number. )Not in this case. Last I checked there were more than 30 pleadings filed secretly (no number, no description.) [More...]

Update: Sat. 5:55 pm ET: Jurors have a question. Court will reconvene to hear it.

Our thread on closing arguments is full, so here is a place to continue the discussion of the trial, the legal aspects of the case and the media coverage while we wait for a verdict.

From earlier posts:

• Here are the final jury instructions (source: court's website)
• Here is the verdict form jurors will fill out (source: court's website)
• Here are some expanded profiles of the six jurors taken from our forums where readers live-blogged the voir dire.
• For jury updates, here is the Twitter Feed of Michelle Kennedy, Public Information Officer for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.

If you are just discovering TalkLeft, please read our commenting rules for this case before chiming in.

The jury in the George Zimmerman trial has recessed for the day. They will deliberate tomorrow beginning at 9:00 a.m.

News10 in Miami has profiles of the six jurors, with links to segments of their voir dire. If you'd rather read than watch video, check our forums where commenters live-blogged the voir dire. (Thanks especially to No Matter Never Mind, and CBoldt). If you just want the highlights, see below: [More...]

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is resigning. She has accepted a new position as President of the University of California system. The current U.C. president earns $591,000 a year.

Here's an open thread for all topics, except the George Zimmerman trial. Please comment on Zimmerman in one of the threads about his case.

I'm pretty drained from the time and energy expended on the Zimmerman case but I'm looking forward to returning to blogging about larger and more important issues, which should be by early next week. Thanks to our readers who don't care about the Zimmerman case, don't get why I have so singularly focused on it, or disagree with my views on the case, who have stuck around anyway.