10 Most Controversial Jury Verdicts
George Zimmerman and other cases spurring public outcry.
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George Zimmerman - In the wake of the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin over the weekend, BET.com looks back at other verdicts by jurors in criminal cases that spurred public outcry over the years. —Britt Middleton In a case that sparked a national dialogue about racial profiling and gun violence, former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman was acquitted on second degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. On Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon, who was walking home from a convenience store through a gated community in Sanford, Florida, suspecting the teen was trespassing. (Photo: AP Photo/TV Pool)
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Casey Anthony - In 2011, jurors in Orlando, Florida, found Casey Anthony, a 25-year-old mother, not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old-daughter Caylee. Anthony, who possibly faced the death penalty, was accused of drugging her daughter with chloroform, suffocating her and disposing of the child's body in a wooded area. Anthony was convicted on a lesser charge of lying to police following her daughter's disappearance. (Photo: AP Photo/Joe Burbank, Pool)
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Oscar Grant Murder Trial - In the early morning hours of New Year's Day in 2009, 22-year old Oscar Grant was fatally shot at Oakland's Fruitvale Station by Bay Area Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle (pictured above), as he lay face down on the train platform. Mehserle said he thought he was grabbing his taser from his holster instead of his gun. Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not guilty of both second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter charges, but only served one year of a two-year sentence. (Photo: Douglas County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images
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Amanda Knox - Amanda Knox, an American college student studying abroad in Italy, and her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were convicted by an Italian court in 2009 for the murder of Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, two years earlier. After serving four years in prison, Knox and her boyfriend were both acquitted of charges in 2011. In March, Italy's highest court overturned Knox's acquittal; a retrial date has been set for Sept. 30. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
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Sean Bell Murder Trial - In 2006, Sean Bell and two other men were shot fifty times by New York City Police officers outside of Queens, New York, nightclub. The officers, who were staking out the nightclub, believed a passenger in Bell's car pulled a gun and police opened fire, killing Bell and severely wounding two others. Three of the five officers faced charges including reckless endangerment and manslaughter, but would be found not guilty. (Photo: Samson Styles/BET.com)
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Michael Jackson - In 2005, pop music legend Michael Jackson was acquitted on charges that he sexually abused a 13-year-old boy, gave the boy alcohol to seduce him and held the child and his family captive at Jackson's Neverland Ranch home. He previously faced similar accusations of child molestation in 1993, although an out-of-court settlement was reached. (Photo: REUTERS/Spencer Weiner/Pool)
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O.J. Simpson - Due to its mass media exposure, the murder trial of former NFL star O.J. Simpson went down in history as "the trial of the century." In 1995, Simpson, who had a history of domestic violence, stood trial for the brutal murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Simpson was acquitted of all charges. (Photo: REUTERS/Myung J. Chun/Pool)
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Rodney King Beating Trial - In a 1991 incident that was videotaped by a bystander and reported widely across national media, Rodney King was viciously beaten by Los Angeles Police officers following a highway traffic stop. Four officers were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and excessive force, but were all cleared of wrongdoing. Igniting racial tensions, the not guilty verdicts launched the infamous 1992 riots, in which 53 people were killed and thousands more injured. (Photo: REUTERS/Lou Dematteis)
Photo By REUTERS/Lou Dematteis
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John Hinckley Jr. - In 1981, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan as he left a hotel in Washington, D.C. Hinckley notably had an obsession with actress Jodie Foster, and orchestrated the incident in an effort to impress her. The following year, a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity, spurring Congress to pass the Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984, which tightened federal laws governing defendants with mental diseases or defects. (Photo: UPI /Landov)