Last night, the police released this video showing George Zimmerman shortly after he killed an unarmed Florida teen. I discussed the legal significance of the video on Countdown last night.
As I mentioned last night, the video would pose both strategic and tactical problems for a defense. First, the absence of obvious injuries would obviously undermine the claim of a reasonable fear of serious bodily injury or death in the use of lethal force. However, it would not be determinative on the question. Zimmerman was treated by paramedics at the scene who could testify that he was indeed bleeding. Moreover, the defense is based on a reasonable fear of such harm. If Zimmerman could convince at least one juror that Martin was the aggressor, he may be able to avoid conviction on this nebulous standard. This might be strengthened by a claim that Martin tried to grab his gun. However, the video shows a Zimmerman who appears unharmed and casual. At a minimum, it seems to contradict accounts that he was a bloody mess at the scene. That would put particular importance on the testimony of the paramedics and officers at the scene.
On a tactical level, my first thought as a criminal defense attorney was that the video could be viewed as admissible in a trial. It seems obviously relevant to the claim of self-defense. Yet, defense counsel (and judges) work hard to avoid jurors seeing a defendant in prison garb or handcuffs. The prejudice from such an image can be immense. This video of Zimmerman in handcuffs after the killing could present such a prejudicial impact, but still be viewed as admissible since the value of the evidence outweighs its prejudicial impact. The video leaves the impression of an immaculate assailment — where an individual fights for his life but shows no obvious injury.
While the 911 call has portions that help and hurt Zimmerman, this video is entirely detrimental to the defense in my opinion. I would not want a jury to see the video as a defense attorney but I would expect a judge to admit it as material to the question of self-defense. That does not mean that I would not try to keep it out. One claim would be that, since paramedics had cleaned him up at the scene, the video is misleading as well as prejudicial. Defense counsel could also point out that there is a reported four-hour delay the fight and this video. Finally, some have noted that one officer appears to check out part of Zimmerman’s head at one point on the tape. between A judge, however, could deny the motion on the ground that the defense can make that point through cross-examination and argument.
In the end, the prosecutor will have to decide on the viability of even a manslaughter claim based on the conflicting accounts of witnesses – and the generous self-defense standard in Florida. Courts have generally given shooters the benefit of doubts on the reasonable fear of grave bodily injury and self-defense. It is possible to use the privilege of self-defense before one is injured. It has also been used successfully in cases of an unarmed alleged assailant.
I still believe that there is sufficient evidence here to sustain a charge. However, as I have previously said, I have great reservations about the effort to pressure the prosecutor through petitions and political pressure — as well as recent irresponsible acts that border on vigilantism. I do not believe in prosecution by plebiscite and thus declined to sign the petition demanding prosecution. This video offers another piece of evidence that I believe supports prosecution. Yet, there remains difficult legal questions about the viability of a charge under the Florida standard and prior case law. The country and justice would be better served by an objective review of such evidence.
We still need to see the forensic evidence that I previously described as well as the statements of some of the witnesses like the paramedics. Many questions remain unanswered like the trajectory of the bullet, any fingerprints on the weapon, the extent of the respective injuries on the men, and the proximity and relative position of the gun when it was fired.
No PJ,
It remains 19:52 in your mind forever. and ever, and ever
Why couth people like Raffy waste time on you I’ll never understand.
Rafflaw.
Raffig or raffy in Swedish mean raffinerad, ie refined as in taste, not as in sugar.
“…The group has allowed a notorious white supremacist organization to raise funds for it; one of its top officials was arrested in a violent racist attack; and its officials have invited racist extremists to speak and in turn addressed hate groups themselves. At least one YWC member has met with and spoken to right-wing extremist groups overseas…”
Nice people. We got their Swedish buddies in our partliament after 20 years failing. They hold the swing vote but nobody will talk to them.
Here they have about the same values as yours, but not the pedigreed connections. Although wearing ties, they are out of their depth.
Distantly related to skinheads, they are also related to white trash red necks, here feeling threatened at being surpassed by immigrants, not blacks.
They, each November, celebrate Karl the twelfths birthday with demonstrations. The skinheads used to beat up immigrants, until one got shot. Now the police protect them.
Karl XII was a nut who defended Sweden against all enemies, and who went to Turkey to fight the Russians who were and are the greatest worry for Swedes through the centuries. He came back with a Turkish food recipe which often appears every week on cafeteria menus.
My most OT post of the day.
Time to beddie bye.
PJ
“Zimmerman didn’t claim that he felt “threatened” while following Martin. When did the onset of Zimmerman’s fear for his life begin? Most likely when Martin was on top of him. Would you expect Zimmerman to then call a “time out” so that he could call 911?”
“The funeral director who prepared Trayvon Martin’s body for burial told a TV anchor that Martin had no injuries to his hands or arms that would indicate a fight had occurred.”
http://www.kctv5.com/story/17286084/trayvon-martins-autopsy-still-under-seal
rafflaw,
Just how dim is your bulb?
“but if Zimmerman was following Martin and felt threatened, why didn’t he call 911?”
Zimmerman didn’t claim that he felt “threatened” while following Martin. When did the onset of Zimmerman’s fear for his life begin? Most likely when Martin was on top of him. Would you expect Zimmerman to then call a “time out” so that he could call 911?
I’ll continue to insult you until you can provide something more that the fact that Martin was black, and Zimmerman was not for the basis of you cries of racism. You’re a racialist.
The “stand your ground” law is a distraction. It has no basis of application here. If you were more than a pencil pusher with a JD you would understand that. This wasn’t about standing one’s ground. It’s about the justification of the use of deadly force in order to defend yourself.
Then you want to go to another distraction; “Who wrote the stand your ground law? It certaintly wasn’t progressives.” Of course progressives didn’t write that law. Progressives only write laws that give stuff away. Disagree? Give me an example of the laws written by progressives.
You, and your fellow turleys, don’t provide facts. You provide emotional conditions.
TDS “OK, except that the timestamps in the full video”
I’m glad to see you joined the list of gullible idiots at the Turley blog.
Why would I call you a gullible idiot? Because the time on the video never changes. It remains 19:52 for the entire 6 minutes.
Off Topic:
Campus Conservative Group Disbanded Over ‘White Pride’ Graffiti
By Alex Seitz-Wald on Mar 29, 2012
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/03/29/454990/youth-for-western-civilization-townson/
The Towson University chapter of the conservative student group Youth for Western Civilization (YWC) has lost its campus privileges after some of its members chalked “White Pride” at several locations on the school’s Baltimore campus two weeks ago. The school rescinded the group’s official recognition this week after its faculty adviser, Richard Vatz, a communications professor and conservative blogger, said he no longer wanted to be affiliated with the group. He wrote in a letter to the group:
“I’m sorry, but that is not how impressive and serious conservatives argue their case. I realize that I have been your adviser only nominally, but I cannot in good conscience advise a group that attacks people or groups personally or tactlessly or does not recognize their dignity and the value of dignified argument in the marketplace of ideas. … I am sorry, but that is not how impressive and serious conservatives argue their case.”
Chapter president Matthew Heimbach defended the graffiti, saying, “White pride is no different than gay pride or black pride.” The school’s Black Student Union and others complained, leading to a public meeting on racism attended by 400 students. The group has been extremely controversial since it started, when dozens of students spoke out against granting YWC official status.
YWC is a self-described “right wing youth movement” aimed at fighting “radical multiculturism,” socialism, and immigration, both illegal and legal. While the group is not outwardly white nationalist, its members “frequently participated in racist circles and promoted racist beliefs,” according to the Southern Poverty Law center, which tracks radical groups:
The group has allowed a notorious white supremacist organization to raise funds for it; one of its top officials was arrested in a violent racist attack; and its officials have invited racist extremists to speak and in turn addressed hate groups themselves. At least one YWC member has met with and spoken to right-wing extremist groups overseas.
Heimbach himself is a member of the neo-confederate League of the South and has said the two groups planned to work together because they share “similar principles to us and similar goals.”
But despite the group’s radicalism, it is often allowed into the mainstream conservative fold. It was a co-sponsor of the 2009 College Republican National Convention, where it “received a great response,” and has also co-sponsored the CPAC, the annual conservative gathering in Washington. The group counts former Congressman Tom Tancredo as its “honorary chairman,” and has received funding from the Leadership Institute, which that bills itself as a “training ground” for conservative leaders.
Elaine,
“They may also be an attempt to deflect attention away from discussion about the “stand your ground” laws sponsored by the NRA and ALEC.”
That too. The shadow is large enough to hide any number of motives … none of which are a true defense of Zimmerman. If we have learned nothing else on this blog over the years, we have learned to look behind the curtain.
Elaine,
Thank you.
“…..But the shooting in Sanford, Florida, has done something else. It has focused new attention on the structural supports for legislating on behalf of special-interest, and on the way in which the American Legislative Exchange Council turns bad ideas into bad law.”
Anybody remember Senator Joseph McCarthy. He taught us some new termns, we innocent Americans in the ’50s.
Like “infiltration”, and many more dangers.
Well infiltration is what ALEC and their paid legislative helpmen have done to our halting democracy. They hide well, the methods have been known for however far back you wish to go.
Their ultmate smoke screen is paid for by Republican and corporate supporters. Their costs too.
To accuse them of civil rights violations is too small a charge.
We should revise treason laws so as to find guilty these “persons”—-as Mitt insists they are—and hang the handymen or corporate boards at the statue of Liberty or the Washington Monument. Or we could honor MLKjr also with some of the executions.
Whereupon, we can offer Congress immunity if they will cooperate or wait for investigations to be included. Let use some of DoJ’s known practices to cooerce the accused.
They are traitors all, quite simply.
18 U.S.C. § 4. Misprision of Felony — Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years or both.
18 U.S.C. § 241 – Conspiracy against rights, states in relevant part, “[i]f two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State . . . in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; . . . They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both . . . .
18 U.S.C. § 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law, states in relevant part that, “[w]hoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State . . . to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, . . ., shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both . . . .
18 U.S.C. § 1001. Statements or entries generally (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully – (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or devise a material fact;
(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or
(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry;
Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both. See: U.S. code 1001 for further information.
“”Before they convict on national TV and the House floor, how about we have the facts before we go there and bring up racial implications we don’t know exist, especially from a guy who we hear is helping to educate for free minority children?” Hannity shot back.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/29/sean-hannity-trayvon-martin-media-lawmakers_n_1387575.html
“Addressing the unfolding story of an unarmed, 17-year-old Florida teen recently killed by a neighborhood watch activist who has not been charged with a crime, Fox News host Jon Scott recently wondered out loud whether the Trayvon Martin case really deserved the national media attention it was receiving. While Fox colleague Jim Pinkerton explained that the coverage stemmed from the fact that the press is “always interested in the cute child that gets murdered” and the “black victim of racism,” Scott’s query captured the larger Fox News feeling about the mushrooming Martin report, which was to view the story with a mixture of uncertainty and bafflement. ”
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203270002
Renewed Civil Rights Coalition Targets ‘Ghostwriters’ of ‘License to Kill’ Laws
John Nichols on March 29, 2012
http://www.thenation.com/blog/167123/renewed-civil-rights-coalition-targets-ghostwriters-license-kill-laws
Excerpt;
The killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has raised old concerns about everything from racial profiling to gun violence. That’s frustrating, as so many Americans had hoped that their country might have bent the arc of history a bit more toward progress.
But the shooting in Sanford, Florida, has done something else. It has focused new attention on the structural supports for legislating on behalf of special-interest, and on the way in which the American Legislative Exchange Council turns bad ideas into bad law.
That has created a new clarity with regard to the need for a pushback against ALEC and its corporate sponsors. And that clarity has renewed a civil rights coalition that will be needed if there is to be any hope for breaking the grip of one-size-fits-all lawmaking and renewing small “d” democracy and sound governance in the states.
The focus of the moment is, of course, on the “Kill at Will” laws—known variously as “Castle Doctrine” and “Stand Your Ground” measures, referred to by former Florida US Attorney Kendall Coffey as “License-to-Kill” laws—that ALEC has been promoting nationally since 2005 in cooperation with the National Rifle Association, the gun manufacturing industry and gun retailers. These laws, which afford immunity to gunmen who shoot unarmed individuals they presume to be threatening, go far beyond the traditional self-defense protections that have been afforded Americans from the founding of the republic. They tie the hands of responsible politice officers and prosecutors. And they create openings for abuses like those that have been highlighted in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting.
This is appropriate. But it is not an end point for new civil rights campaigners. ALEC has been in the forefront of promoting restrictive Voter ID laws and related measures that open government and democracy groups identify as voter suppression schemes. The group, which links corporate representatives and conservative legislators to develop and promote so-called “model legislation,” has as well pushed measures that undermine public-employee and private-sector unions, threaten public education and remove regulatory protections that are most vital to low-income Americans.
Dredd 1, March 29, 2012 at 2:44 pm
former Turley student 1, March 29, 2012 at 9:04 am
…
This is a truly troubling rule. It completely subverts the US idea of trial by your peers.
===================================
Did JT teach you the meaning of “under color of state law” … ??
There has to be a state law that causes a federal constitutional violation before that phrase has meaning.
This is
a troubling rulean example of a state law upon which federal prosecutions of state actors is predicated.A closeup of what appears to be an injury to the back of the head.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46895491/#46895491
(with what appears to be a closeup of the back of Zimmerman’s head)
“Miami criminal defense lawyer Kendall Coffey explains how the lack of injuries visible on George Zimmerman in the video may affect the investigation.”
Blouise,
Thanks for the lesson. Next time underline the parts I might get on the exam (irrelevant joke). But to the point: Can the Sanford accomplices be offered reduced pleas before the grand jury investigation of the T vs Z case?
Will have to look up grand jury on Wiki.
Elaine and Blouise,
Exclude nothing. It’s I think been discussed here that the active pushback from conservatives on Trayvon’s rep is an attempt to lay down smoke to shield the law, the NRA and primarily ALEC and its handymen legislators.
Wasn’t that up here?
Miami criminal defense lawyer Kendall Coffey explains how the lack of injuries visible on George Zimmerman in the video may affect the investigation.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46895491/#46895491
(with what appears to be a closeup of the back of Zimmerman’s head)
Blouise,
“Some of the posts on these multiple threads appear to be in defense of Zimmerman but in actuality are attempts to deflect attention from the actions of law enforcement’s handling of this matter.”
They may also be an attempt to deflect attention away from discussion about the “stand your ground” laws sponsored by the NRA and ALEC.
PJ says “It is reported that this video was taken nearly 4 hours after the incident took place.”
OK, except that the timestamps in the full video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WWDNbQUgm4&feature=youtu.be) indicate that Zimmerman was walked through the precinct at about 19:5x (7:5x) time range, which is within an hour of the incident.
id707,
Aiding and Abetting/Accessory – Joe, the bank robber, runs from the bank with loot in hand. He stops at Ben’s apartment and asks him to hide the money. Although Ben had no part in the actual planning or commission of the bank job, in agreeing to hide the money for Joe, knowing it was from a bank job, he is aiding and abetting and thus an accessory. Depending on the nature of any further actions, Ben could also be charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Demanding a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Martin and the actions of police and state officials subsequent to his death is not prosecution by plebiscite unless, of course, one can spin the function of a Grand Jury as plebiscite in nature.
Juries convict police and State officials on misdemeanor charges of lying to a grand jury all the time. Convictions on the more serious felony perjury charge are not as common but do happen. Knowing that full well, police and state officials will think long and hard about the answers they give to a grand jury.
Put these people in front of a grand jury and let’s get to the truth of the matter … the whole truth about the whole matter.
former Turley student 1, March 29, 2012 at 9:04 am
…
This is a truly troubling rule. It completely subverts the US idea of trial by your peers.
=============================================
In other words it is unconstitutional, and using it is a risk the police took in this case.
Again, the feds need to prosecute the prosecutor and the relevant police officers who used it to violate a U.S. citizens federal rights.