In response to the July 15 editorial "Due process plays out in Zimmerman case": Really?

It is a given that the state of Florida was dragged into the Zimmerman case kicking and screaming because of public pressure from the black community.

Due process? What due process? I was appalled at the lack of zeal with which the prosecution tried this case. It allowed the key witness, a young uneducated black girl, to testify without being properly prepared — a girl for whom English was her third language and who was quite evidently intimidated.

Next, the prosecution brought the lead detective, who was supposedly there to bolster the prosecution's case. He testified that he was certain that George Zimmerman was telling the truth. Why did he say that as a prosecution witness?

There were so many inconsistencies in George Zimmerman's story of the events that night it was absurd to think that he was telling the truth. For instance, Zimmerman said that Trayvon Martin punched him 25 times and slammed his head against the sidewalk an additional 25 times.

If someone has been hit in the face 25 times, that person is going to exhibit a lot of bruising and swelling around the lips and eyes. Zimmerman had none. If his head had been slammed against the sidewalk 25 times, where is the concussion, where is the blood, where is the swelling?

How could Zimmerman have been constantly screaming if his mouth was covered by Trayvon's hand and blood was running down his throat from his broken nose? Where was the blood that should have been on Martin's hands? How exactly did Zimmerman pull out his gun from his interior holster if he was laying on it? (Additionally, it would have been covered by Martin's legs if Zimmerman was truly on the bottom as he claimed.)

Zimmerman stated that Martin was hiding in the bushes and came out behind him. There were no bushes in the area. There were, however, some trees with low-hanging branches that could have easily cut the top of Zimmerman's head. To the best of my knowledge this was never considered. Why not?

There was no due process in that courtroom. The only process exhibited there was the Jim Crow process of the old South. Granted, this wasn't the lynching of a black man after a quicky trial. Rather it was the unlynching of a white man who murdered a black child.

The only thing that got lynched in that courtroom was the reputation of a child two weeks past his 17th birthday. Shame on us for allowing this to happen.

Jay Larson lives in St. Bonifacius.