Matthew Apperson has been convicted of attempted murder of George Zimmerman, firing a gun into a vehicle, and aggravated assault. The trial occurred in the same courtroom where Zimmerman was found not guilty by reason of self defense in the killing of Trayvon Martin. The sentence was handed down yesterday, on October 17th. It is for a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Apperson claimed self defense. He said that as he was driving, Zimmerman accelerated. As he approached Zimmerman’s vehicle from behind and to the right, he accessed his firearm, because he feared Zimmerman. Then, as he came close to even with Zimmerman, he saw Zimmerman had a gun. He fired at Zimmerman to protect himself.
The shot missed Zimmerman by inches, after penetrating the passenger side window of Zimmerman’s truck. Glass shards cut Zimmerman, who started bleeding immediately.
Zimmerman said that Apperson followed him, and shot at him without warning. The prosecution found Zimmerman’s testimony to be credible. Zimmerman said that Apperson yelled at him, saying that he (Apperson) did not press charges earlier, because he wanted to kill Zimmerman himself. From staradvertiser.com:
Assistant State Attorney Stewart Stone told jurors that Apperson instigated the confrontation and chased Zimmerman in a car, which was caught on video surveillance from a nearby post office . . .
Stone said Apperson “retaliated” against Zimmerman during their encounter in May because of this earlier dispute. To discredit Apperson’s testimony that he felt in fear of his life when he saw Zimmerman flash a gun first, Stone relied on two pieces of evidence: Zimmerman’s window was rolled up when the shot was fired and his windows were too darkly tinted for anyone to see inside. Police officers and crime scene analysts verified that information during the trial.
A jury made up of four women and two men began deliberations at about 2:30 p.m. after hearing a week of testimony, and the deliberations lasted nearly four hours.
Matthew Apperson was also found guilty on charges of shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Wftv.com has links to video of both George Zimmerman’s and Matthew Apperson’s testimony. Be prepared to watch at least an hour of exceedingly careful testimony and questioning. The videos are a good example of real courtroom procedure.
From orlandosentinel.com:
SANFORD — The Seminole County man convicted of shooting at George Zimmerman was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison.
A Seminole County jury found Matthew Apperson, 37, guilty last month of attempted second-degree murder, armed aggravated assault and shooting into a vehicle.
The media coverage of the trial focused on Apperson’s defense, and claims that he made about earlier encounters. I didn’t hear Zimmerman’s account of previous encounters on the first video, but there were bits of it during the cross examination. The original testimony might have been cut off to make the video a more reasonable length.
Jurors have to weigh credibility of witnesses in such cases. The credibility is greatly enhanced by physical evidence. The physical evidence corroborated Zimmerman’s testimony, and contradicted Apperson’s. George Zimmerman has been vilified by the media as very few have been, but the evidence was clear.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included. Link to Gun Watch
If you’re crazy enough to be programmed by the dishonest media to attempt to murder someone who has absolutely nothing to do with you, then prison is a good place for you. Maybe this guy should have focused more on living his life and less on what a dumbass like Zimmerman does.
Zimmerman is not a dumbass.
Stupid enough to be programmed by the sheepdog fantasy crowd I see 🙂
Following someone on public streets isn’t a crime. Zim went back to his car when the 911 dispatcher told him to. Martin was then alone, he could have kept walking, but he chose to go back and confront Zim. He bashed Zim’s head into the pavement, a completely unwarranted response to being followed, and got shot for it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Sure, Zim could have saved himself the headaches and ignored Martin altogether. His decision to pursue may be misguided, but he’s not the bad guy.
Missing the relevant legal facts, as usual. The key issue here is whether Zimmerman or Martin initiated the violent encounter, and this is something nobody witnessed. In order to convict Zimmerman of murder, the prosecution had to prove Zimmerman made the first move, their failure to do so does not prove Martin made the first move.
As for having his head bashed in, maybe Zimmerman should have hit the gym before playing vigilante.
“He is not the bad guy”
Typical sheepdog fantasist behavior: regressing back to the childish “good guy/bad guy” false dichotomy to try to wipe away the fact that both Zimmerman and Martin acted like idiots that night.
There is not one shred of evidence that Zimmerman made any move, at all. On the other hand, the prosecution helpfully presented evidence to suggest that Martin was, in fact, the aggressor.
Ah, the resident Zimmerman revisionist is here.
Can you actually cite the evidence of Martin being the aggressor (something nobody witnessed and cannot be proven by physical evidence), as opposed you regurgitating the imaginary scenario ingrained into your mind because you are so emotionally invested into the sheepdog lifestyle?
Remember, Zimmerman losing a fist-fight is not evidence of Martin being the aggressor: that just means he sucks at fighting.
Mister Fleas covered most of it.
There is also the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, who testified that Martin had reached the vicinity of Green’s condo prior to the altercation, and Zimmerman’s recorded statement to the NEN operator that he had no clue where Martin was.
The only plausible explanation for any altercation to have taken place at all is that Martin, rather than going inside, circled back some 400 feet to accost Zimmerman at the sidewalk T.
And as Mister Fleas detailed, the only physical evidence of any physical force used is the evidence of force used by Martin against Zimmerman.
“Can you actually cite the evidence of Martin being the aggressor…”
Yes, Zimmerman had a fractured nose and lacerations on the back of his head. At the trial Dr. Shiping Bao, the medical examiner who did the autopsy on Trayvon, testified that he did not believe that Trayvon was able to move after being shot. Therefore, after Trayvon was shot, he did not inflict anymore injuries on Zimmerman. The injuries were made to Zimmerman before he fired.
If Zimmerman assaulted Trayvon, then where were Trayvon’s injuries? Dr. Bao said, besides the fatal bullet wound, Trayvon only had a small abrasion on his fourth and fifth finger of the left hand.
Dr. Vincent Di Maio, a forensic pathologist and gunshot wound expert, testified that Martin’s gunshot wound was consistent with Zimmerman’s story that Martin was on top of him and leaning over him when he was shot. The gunshot evidence indicated that Martin’s clothing was from two to four inches from his body when he was shot, Di Maio said, “If you lean over someone, you notice the clothing tends to fall away from the chest, if instead you’re lying on your back and someone shoots you, the clothing is going to be against your chest.” Di Maio said he had examined photographs and the autopsy and toxicology reports and concluded that the evidence was consistent with Zimmerman’s statements to police. Di Maio testified the path of the bullet ran from Martin’s left side through part of his heart and into a portion of the right lung. Di Maio stated, “The medical evidence…is consistent with his [Zimmerman’s] statement.” Di Maio also testified that Zimmerman had at least six injuries from the struggle: two head lacerations, two wounds to his temples and wounds on his nose and forehead. Di Maio said those injuries were consistent with Zimmerman having his head banged into a sidewalk, and that such injuries can be dangerous. Di Maio stated it’s possible to receive trauma without visible wounds, testifying that, “You can get severe trauma to the head without external injuries, actually.” Di Maio said Zimmerman’s nose may have been fractured, which was consistent with Zimmerman being punched in the nose.
Just because someone is innocent of a crime doesn’t make them innocent of being dumb. If Zimmerman’s behavior that night wasn’t sufficient evidence for that his subsequent actions have convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is, in fact, dumb.
“Yes, Zimmerman had a fractured nose and lacerations on the back of his head. At the trial Dr. Shiping Bao, the medical examiner who did the autopsy on Trayvon, testified that he did not believe that Trayvon was able to move after being shot.”
That does not prove anything regarding the initiation of force. Pro-tip: losing a fist-fight does not necessarily make it legal for the losing side to shoot the winning side.
“The only plausible explanation for any altercation to have taken place at all is that Martin, rather than going inside, circled back some 400 feet to accost Zimmerman at the sidewalk T.”
That would be called a conjecture. See what I meant about your ingrained fantasy scenario? 🙂
“programmed”, “ingrained”…..hey pot. Meet kettle.
Thank you for your input. 🙂
Janteal testified Martin told her of a “creepy ass cracker” who he thought was trying to proposition him for gay sex (not uncommon in FL.) 911 call proves Zimmerman was watching him as a suspect. She even described Martin confronting Zimmerman, though she didn’t realize it. Btw, he likely made it all the way home, evidenced by the missing cigars he had just bought from the convenience store.
At least you got one thing right: Zimmerman was stalking Martin (“watching him as a suspect” being a euphemism).
Too bad Martin was not on the phone when the physical confrontation occurred so your other statement is pure bunk. Back to the norm for you. 🙂
For someone who accuses others of having a poor grasp of law, you should probably evince better grasp of it yourself.
(Protip: “watching him as a suspect” is not stalking. Not even close.)
From dictionary.com: “Stalking: of or relating to the act of pursuing”
Zimmerman admitted to this in his conversation with the 911 dispatcher, so save your breath.
I know your response, you’re going to whine about “felony stalking”, even though no one referenced the legal charge. You tried this argument once before, so now you look foolish for a second time. Bravo. 🙂
You’re contradicting yourself. I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure it out.
Feel free to actually explain yourself instead of acting the fool a third time.
MDS sure seems butt-hurt that Zim was found not-guilty in the tray-thug case, and that Zim’s attempted assassin was sentncd to 20 years.
A cynic might infer that MDS was Traythug’s gay lover, and is bitter about Traythug finding justice.
Epic ad hominem, broski.
Got any more erudite insights?
Ok, maybe more of an all purpose moron, then.
Hey Chip, again you start with the endless macho legalese bull$hit that plays well with the cat ladies at the Treehouse, where any dissenting voices are simply edited out and removed. Fortunately, TTAG isn’t afraid of dissenting voices.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you cite all the legal evidence properly. So what? I’ll sum it up for those of us of shorter attention spans: Zimmerman was innocent of the charges. Zimmerman is a dumb-ass. “Being Zimmerman” is not a single verdict, it is a lifestyle.
I chase plenty of troublemakers off my property and surrounding area. I have one rule: never get out of the truck. That’s what the dudes with badges are for. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it’s legal to get out of my truck, but it keeps me out of “Being Zimmerman”.
At this point, by “legalese”, I can only assume you mean “words and grammatical structure that a typical 12 year old can understand, but that I can’t.”
FLAME DELETED
Don’t flatter him with “legalese”, Chip has demonstrated total ignorance of the law (and facts and logical reasoning) plenty of times.
Ha haw! Now if only we could get a sentence for Spike Lee?
Well, sounds like he was seeking his 15 minutes of fame, no? Hope he enjoys.
Lots of time to evaluate personal decisions.
Take a look at what Apperson’s arrest report last year says:
“In Apperson’s arrest report, which Local 6 obtained from the Seminole County Clerk of Courts, a Lake Mary police officer wrote, “During the investigation, I learned that Apperson has exhibited unusual behavior in which he had recently been admitted to a mental institution. It appears that Apperson has a fixation on Zimmerman and has displayed some signs of paranoia, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.”
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/arrest-report-details-mental-health-of-man-who-shot-at-george-zimmerman-
Good thing this left wing nut job is in prison where he belongs. Along with that attempted Trump assassin. I’ll say it again, the loony left is by far, more dangerous, more violent, and more prone to attract psychos than any us “deplorable right wing extremists.” Fruther good news, this wacko is a leftie from Florida who would’ve voted for Hitlery. Can’t do that from a prison cell.
The USDOJ wants all felons to be allowed to vote. Contrary to the Constitution.
Cite the section
4th amendment. Any right can be stripped by due process.
14 says explicitly that felon disenfranchisement is a go. The due process was given during the court appearances, and the jury (judge) convicting the felon.
“As he approached Zimmerman’s vehicle from behind and to the right, he accessed his firearm, because he feared Zimmerman. Then, as he came close to even with Zimmerman, he saw Zimmerman had a gun. He fired at Zimmerman to protect himself.”
DAFUQ?!?
That was my thought, too. Let’s take him at his word for a moment. Regardless of the history between these two and the events leading up to that sentence, if you’re behind and to the right of someone who is preparing or brandishing a firearm, you just need to stop.
Just stop the car, or turn right, and let the other guy drive away unencumbered. You don’t then pull up beside him and fire at him first. What a menace to society. Glad he’s going away.
Well, he had to say something to try to beat the rap, even if it was a cock and bull story.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Of course now we’ll have to deal with biased idiots that are going to eventually show up to sh*t-post about how much of a scum bag Zimmerman supposedly is. As if that is somehow a legal defense.
He got what he deserved.
Dean’s post on this last year has a *lot* of background on this, it’s well worth the read:
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/05/dean-weingarten/zimmerman-shooting-assassination-attempt/
Apperson has serious mental issues. He bonded out last year, and while out on bail urinated on a next door neighbor’s front door.
There’s a few videos there that are disturbing, to say the least…
Further evidence of the persecution and vindication of Zimmerman. Ok, sure, he has a bit of a lead foot. Does he have a preference for crazy women? Perhaps.
Aside from those, he’s been on the right side of all of these various situations. If he could just avoid trouble altogether, instead of just coming out on top in troublesome situations, then he might finally be able to get on with his life and do something productive.
Spot on. The more I learn of George Zimmerman, the more I respect him. He got served up a sh*t sandwich, and he has overcome much, survived much, and stands tall. He was pretty impressive in the courtroom on the stand. But then, he has had some practice by now.
Respect & Zimmerman are words that do not match. Without question, the guy has overtime been shown to be no hero & a bit of a jerk. Does he deserve to get shot? No…
Epic non sequitur, brah
“Because some idiot took a shot at Zimmerman, he must be totally in the right in the case that made him (in)famous!”
“Learn” is truly a relative word in this case 🙂
I have followed the case closely since before it went national. If you want to understand how much Zimmerman has been railroaded and vilified, I suggest you read Massad Ayoobs commentary and analysis. Warning: it is in 20 parts, exceptionally detailed and rational.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/perspectives-on-the-george-zimmermantrayvon-martin-shooting/
Classic example of the Kruger-Dunning effect. Sheepdog fantasists have been living vicariously through Zimmerman for years, and to do this they must wipe the slate and ignore the numerous stupid decisions he made (then again, acting as a self-styled vigilante and stalking presumed criminals is well within the domain of the sheepdog fantasist).
The prosecution in the Zimmerman case succumbed to political pressure and went with a murder charge instead of an easy manslaughter conviction, but the sheepdogs actually believe that innocent of murder = innocent of everything = Martin was guilty of assault. Legal experts, all. 🙂
Then there is Ayoob, a man whose entire career depends on satiating the sheepdog fantasists. I certainly hope he doesn’t actually tell people to strap up and play vigilante, which is what got Zimmerman in trouble to begin with.
I got a kick out of how the New York Daily News reporter, and likely the editor as well, are spitting tacks over this.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-shot-george-zimmerman-sentenced-20-years-article-1.2833615
No bias here though. If a reporter put “perpetual liar” about Ovary Clinton in a story, that reporter and editor would be blackballed and dogged for the rest of time. But since the media hates Zimmerman for not falling on the racial social justice sword they put out for him, it’s OK to put highly unprofessional things like perpetual menace into “objective” coverage.
Main stream media members are such evil worthless human beings.
In all fairness, NYDN is basically a watered down tabloid. Much like the police force of the same name, they miss more than they hit.
Gosh, I just don’t know what to think. Maybe I’ll watch the news for guidance. God forbid I actually think for myself.
NOT
Ah yes, I love me some Zimmerman stories.
Just like I love me some Cali-Zim and Illini-Zim stories.
Getting shot at in traffic, illegally carrying and brandishing revolvers, prison guarding, Queen prowling, skin-head glaring…all good stuff.
Zim is a lifestyle, not a single verdict.
You’re as crazy as Apperson….
At this point I don’t think there is a shadow of a doubt that our boy gray man is certifiable. He’s fixated on me and fww to the point that he’s stalking us like a registered sex offender after a couple of cheerleaders.
My best guess is it’s some kind of weird daddy fetish. He never had a daddy in his life and after I spanked his skinhead ass real hard it turned him on in some psycho sexual way. Sad and pathetic at one and the same time.
I knew you’d appear graygay…having a HARD time with being FOS? It seems you hate everyone.
“George Zimmerman has been vilified by the media as very few have been, but the evidence was clear.”
Again.
Some schmuck nobody tries to kill Zimmerman and gets 20 years.
Angela Cory tried to kill Zimmerman and got no time at all.
It only proves that in Florida, only a politician can try to kill someone.
This boy going too get a lot of love from the brothers, and some discontent from the Latinos bet he joins the Ab’s
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