ABC News has been given a photograph that might make the difference between life in prison and a walk. For weeks, we have been discussing the case and the application of the Stand Your Ground law. As discussed earlier, I think the case was over-charged and I remain doubtful of a conviction. This picture will likely be the single most important piece of evidence in the case. It shows Zimmerman with significant blood on the back of his head — an image that supports accounts from the scene and will be used to corroborate Zimmerman’s account of a struggle with Trayvon Martin where he feared serious bodily injury. [UPDATE: Zimmerman granted bond].
Unlike the photos of Zimmerman at the police station, this photo was taken a few minutes after the fight. Zimmerman’s shaved head could prove Godsend for Zimmerman. Had he had longer hair, the injury would have not appeared so stark.
The photo shows both cuts and a contusion — injuries that would normally be defined as serious bodily injury by many courts in torts cases where head injuries are treated as inherently potentially serious. The original police report said that he was bleeding from the nose and head and that his clothes looked like he had been in a fight. Zimmerman claims that it was Martin who jumped him, punched him, and pounded his head on to the concrete sidewalk.
The prosecutors can still argue that they do not contest the fight but that Zimmerman started it. However, with this photo, the charge of second-degree murder appears even more excessive and undermines Special Prosecutor Angela Corey’s claim that she was not affected by the political pressure to charge Zimmerman. I can understand a manslaughter charge, even with the photo, but no reasonable prosecutor would consider the second-degree murder charge as based on this evidence. Corey clearly must have seen this photo and the reports before her charging of Zimmerman.
The photo should also assist Zimmerman in his efforts to get bail.
Zimmerman, 28, is still being held on charges of second-degree murder of Martin, 17. In my view, a denial of bail would be an abuse and unwarranted given the fact that Zimmerman cooperated at the scene and voluntarily turned himself in.
Source: ABC
The fact is Gene H, the science isn’t there and has never been there and it was obvious from the get go.
The fact is Gene H that there is something profoundly wrong with lawyers that they would put such obvious bullshit up and then defend it by saying the process is we put total obvious bullshit up and then let the judge and jury decide what the science is.
The fact is Gene a little due diligence on your part or any lawyers part would have revealed the complete and total fraud that is Tom Owen and Block and their little scam circle diploma mill jerks of teaching institutes and forensic boards and you would never have presented them.
The fact is Gene if you were a real civil libertarian lawyer you would immediately research cases that any of these frauds were involved in that resulted in conviction and bring this bullshit up to the court in mistrials or whatever the hell is needed.
And already the discounting begins…just goes to show people will believe what they WANT to believe REGARDLESS of any possible facts
seamus 1, April 20, 2012 at 6:30 pm
“Of course he was treated at the scene and arrested and had injuries.”
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Ye olde pot calleth ye olde kettle black (as Elaine M pointed out).
Your fear of having a public discussion reveals a strong link to authority deference.
Revisit for a moment, the real world of the unreal world then get back to us.
K?
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Thanks for the laugh Dredd, your powers of: criminal investigation, witty word-play, legal instruction, amatuer psychology etc etc are awe inspiring.
I assume from your comments that you believe (as do I ) that Zimmerman was a wannabe cop who acted on dangerously lacking information with deadly results. The sensitive geniuses who have cracked and wrapped-up this case are also dangerously lacking all of the evidence, regardless of their conclusions. So thanks for the pot/kettle nonsense. You’re hilarious. The fake detective, fake law professor, fake psychologist has gazed into all of our souls. You go girl!
In twenty years as a criminal defense attorney I have developed a fairly decent suspicion of law enforcement and authority. But hey, if you say otherwise you must be correct. You’ve solved the case, time for the lynch mob. Who cares what evidence might come out in court, we know what’s right!!! Just like Zimmerman did.You frickin’ idiot.
anon,
You certainly are obsessed with preliminaries and tangents. There was nothing in that article to prove Owen wrong, just criticism of the man and his business. As for the audio testing? The only one that matters in the final analysis is the FBI’s to be presented at trial. That others have indicated how that might play out is immaterial to how it will actually play out. Glimpsing around the corner to see what’s there isn’t like looking around the corner. You may glimpse around the corner and think you see a bear. However, you may look around the corner and see an armoire. Sometimes though, it actually is a bear. Sometimes, there is nothing there at all. But you don’t know until you look. Owens and Primeu’s statements are and always have been the glimpse around the corner. Neither are associated with the investigation proper. That you have issues with their suitability as experts in court is irrelevant. The fact is both men are experts. The look is coming from the FBI’s evidence. If you want to challenge the credibility of their witnesses, that would be the time to do it. This is indeed what I expect to happen. You aren’t familiar with how expert testimony works in courtrooms, are you, anon? Because that’s the same story every time – “My expert can kick your expert’s ass” in one form or another. Ultimately it is up to the jury to decide which one told the most compelling story of the evidence. see – OJ, DNA versus “If it don’t fit, you must acquit.” Sometime experts win, sometimes they don’t. Why don’t we see what the FBI’s experts say and weigh it in light of the totality of the evidence presented. That’s what the jury will be doing.
@Bosco: Count me in!
Whatever Martin did, he was provoked to do in self defense by Zimmerman stalking him. Martin felt threatened. The 911 tape is proof enough that Martin did not start this fight. The very “Stand Your Ground” law that gives a person the right to initiate deadly force when threatened applies to Martin, who had every reason to feel threatened. It does not apply to Zimmerman, any reasonable jury listening to the 911 tape could tell that Zimmerman was playing vigilante, or he would never have left his car.
So count me as one of the people for whom medical facts and forensic evidence won’t mean a damn thing. If Trayvon confronted Zimmerman by choice, that was a dumb teenager thing to do, but in Florida, legally standing his ground. If Trayvon hurt Zimmerman, it was in self-defense. Zimmerman started it by stalking Trayvon, there is no other realistic interpretation of the facts already released, and I personally cannot imagine any “medical evidence” that could refute that; any injuries received by Zimmerman were received in a struggle instigated by him, and mean nothing to me.
When we eventually see the RELEASED MEDICAL FACTS related to the shooting that night i.e Martin’s autopsy / the EMT report concerning the extent of Zimmerman’s injuries complete with photos, and IF the reports shows Zimmerman’s claims of being assaulted to be POSSIBLE , how many of you here will discount those findings too and still PREFER to believe Martin was an innocent and Zimmerman was a racist killer ? Ill contend as i have from the beginning in agreement with Matt that we must WAIT for all the facts to come out before we ,as a CIVILIZED community, RUSH to judgement.
It makes no difference if Zimmerman has injuries inflicted by Martin. Martin, law-abiding and pursued by a large and presumably scary stranger, has a right to stand his ground too. Which is why that law is such a clusterf**k.
Looks like they’re taking a page from the Obama playbook and using some bad PhotoShop. There is red on his head, yet there are no visible sources, like cuts.
I thought you might enjoy that.
🙂
anon.
Touche.’
Oh, that’s not difficult. Parole officers are there to remind me.
anon:
“No seriously guys, that you probably are lawyers boggles the mind.”
******************
I’m impressed you can find you way to the school bus depot.
Checkout Otteray Scribe, who for days credulously fell hook line and sinker for the bullshit Tom Owens spewed about audio scream identification and gave us a bunch of treknobabble, now tell us that because of Photoshop we should assume all exculpatory photos are manipulated and will be thrown out, unless the judge is in on the conspiracy.
No shit sherlock.
Otteray Scribe, I hearby award you a barnstar for biggest bullshit artist of the blog.
But Gene H, and Mespo I also hereby award you co-barnstars for bullshit artists:
http://youtu.be/madiLd-Sogo
AND, heh. Heh. This’ll kill ya. I swear.
AND, GEne H, you may wish to read this fun little takedown not just of Tom Owen, but of the vaunted American College Forensic Examiners Institute.
Both Primeau and Owen report that they are credentialed by the American College Forensic Examiners Institute.
Sadly, it turns out there is an entire suite of these “American Forensic Board” sites, on almost any topic you can think of, which all seem to be ran by the same person, a gentleman named Dr. O’Block who claims to have nearly a dozen degrees himself.
Founder of the following boards:
American Board of Forensic Medicine
American Board of Forensic Examiners
American Board of Psychological Specialties
American Board of Forensic Dentistry
American Board of Forensic Engineering and Technology
American Board of Forensic Nursing
American Board of Law Enforcement Experts
American Board of Forensic Accounting
American Board of Forensic Counselors
American Board of Forensic Social Workers
American Board for Certification in Homeland Security
Once again, most of these sites use the same basic template and only change cursory details, making it difficult to gauge how legitimate the boards are, if at all.
Tom Owen also lists things like this:
Instructor “New York Institute for Forensic Audio” 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,2006, 2007
As prestigious as the “New York Institute for Forensic Audio” sounds, there is no such brick and mortar institute. It is actually a “division” of Owen Investigations, LLC. Tom Owen is basically claiming he was an instructor at his own unaccredited university.
No seriously guys, that you probably are lawyers boggles the mind.
this photo looks more like a razor cut, as someone cutting themselves, than any cut or abrasion from bashing, hitting or scraping skin on concrete. How do we even know it is George?
This case will certainly show the competence of the Sanford PD. I truly hope they did not neglect to take photos of the crime scene in great detail, even if the perp was the son of a magistrate.
I do hope the judge took away Zimmermans conceal carry license. He has proven that his mind is too weak to be able to handle a gun in any situation.
By his own imagination and the power of a gun, he turned a innocent honor student into a criminal thug.
And then killed him in cold blood.
Seconded. Well played, mespo.
Mespo,
In addition to what BFM said just above regarding the photo, I would like to add the problem of who in the heck is in the photo? No face is visible. Are they going to have to consult a phrenologist to identifiy the irregularties of his skull to make a positive ID? How about chain of custody of that photo? At one time, the courts did not allow enlargement photos. Everything had to be a contact print in the early days of film photography. The courts reasoned that in the enlarging process, it was to easy to manipulate exposure using distortion and exposure dodging techniques. In this age of digital photography, with Photoshop, Adobe and Microsoft Digital Image on almost everyone’s computer, there are almost limitless opportunities to manipulate images.
Matt:
“All I have been saying all day is that there is not enough evidence to convict or not convict. ”
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Well that’s not all you’ve been saying (and, by the way, you haven’t seen any evidence yet.) Here’s what else you’ve said:
“To all of you who want to say this is a racial issue and are also relying on what “the girlfriend” said she heard over the phone are ignorant and moronic.”
“I’ll also add that if they are going to take Zimmerman in and charge him with 2nd degree murder then why haven’t they gone after the black panther movement for inciting panic and delivering death threats (of which I might add that they tried to “deliver” those death threats when they recieved a tip as to where Zimmerman was at. They actually showed up to a house of an elderly couple.)”
“Again I state, there was nothing wrong or illegal with Zimmerman following Trayvon, I would have done the same thing if I saw someone who I thought was “suspicious” walking through my neighborhood.”
“I can have a verbal confrontation with anyone I feel all day long. Once they put their hands on me then it’s all over.”
“Was that plastered all over world news? It’s called race baiting hunnie! They don’t want to plaster those because the criminals were black! God forbid it were white criminals, we would have never heard the end of it!”
“I’m not trying to win an arguement by saying you are ignorant, I’m stating fact.
Yes, I do think he was a gangbanger. 3 suspensions from school recently. 1.) What was believed to be stolen jewelry 2.) In possesion of “burglary tools” 3.) Possession of a bag with weed residue”
What you’ve said is that:
Black people walking around gated neighborhood are suspicious and can be followed for no better reason than that.
Black Girlfriends can’t be trusted.
You can stop suspicious black people, engage in a verbal altercation, and if they touch you, we’ll it’s fine to just blow them away.
The media likes black people more than white people.
Black people commit terrible crimes against white people and the media are afraid to report it (despite the fact the crime you cite in Knoxville, Tenn (Christian/Newsom murders) was all over the news. I was there when it went down and you weren’t)
See any pattern there Firefighter Matt? Treat black people any differently than white people in your job as an EMT?
I was wrong about you. Oh, you are a gun packin’, macho punk, Neanderthal, alright. I just left out the utter, irrational fear and resentment of black people and the ‘liberal media’ that coddles them which, in turn, causes you to simmer at the first sight of any black kid in a hoodie. They must be a thug or gang-banger, you know.
Instead of worrying about poor George Zimmerman and his motivations, why not spend a little time examining your own attitudes.