The evidence continues to roll in on the Zimmerman case. While the new evidence is not entirely bad for the prosecution, it does contain some evidence that will likely bolster the defense of George Zimmerman in the second degree murder trial over the killing of Trayvon Martin. Regardless of the ultimate impact, the evidence again shows (in my opinion) that prosecutor Angela Corey over-charged the case in Florida.
Some of the new evidence shows that Martin had traces of THC (the active ingredient of marijuana) in his blood stream and urine. Martin was suspended from school due to a marijuana offense (though it involved an empty marijuana baggie). Another benefit to the defense is that Martin father is shown denying that the voice calling out for help was his son — though he later changed that view when he says he was given a better recording. Other witnesses have indicated that it Zimmerman who was calling for help.
Generally, the existence of drugs in the system of a victim or defendant is admissible. The suspension would appear inadmissible under standard evidentiary rules.
There is also evidence that some neighbors described Zimmerman as a bully and a racist. That would help bolster the reported hate crimes prosecution being considered by the Obama Administration, though I still have reservations based on the evidence as it currently stands. Also the police viewed the shooting as “avoidable” — if Zimmerman had left the matter to the police.
I am not sure how much of the neighbor’s view of Zimmerman as a bully or racist could come into evidence. Such accounts, however, can have the benefit of further discouraging Zimmerman from taking the stand as a witness — always a benefit to the prosecution because (while they are told that a defendant has a right not to testify (jurors expect to hear from defendants).
On the whole, however, I would view the evidence as more positive to the defense. First, I have previously said that I was most interested in the distance of the shot and forensics. It now appears that Martin was shot from an intermediate range (no more than 18 inches and as little as an inch away). That would support the claim of Zimmerman that they were in a wrestling fight when the gun was fired. The greater the distance the stronger the case for the prosecution. The defense will likely present expert testimony to try to reduce the range further on the stand. Also, the report does have people at the scene saying that Zimmerman’s nose appeared broken — supporting the later medical report of the family doctor (though such injuries could occur from Martin defending himself).
Moreover, at least two witnesses appear to support Zimmerman in describing the man in the hoodie at straddling the other man and throwing punches. The report state that the man in the “‘hoodie’ [was] on top of a white or Hispanic male and throwing punches ‘MMA (mixed martial arts) style.’ He then heard a pop. He stated that after hearing the pop, he observed the person he had previously observed on top of the other person (the male wearing the hoodie) laid out on the grass.” One report also says that Zimmerman can be heard yelling for help 14 times on a 911 call recorded during the fight.
While the reports blame Zimmerman for getting out of his vehicle (he says that he was trying to get a house number for the police), that is not itself a crime. Of course, none of this means that Zimmerman was not the aggressor. Given the presumption of innocence and the need to prove the elements beyond a reasonable doubt, this evidence presents an added problem for the prosecution in my view. I have expressed skepticism over the way the case has developed and how it has been charged from the outset. As a criminal defense attorney, I would view this as a strong defense case even on the manslaughter charge, particularly given the poor police work at the scene.
What do you think?
Here is the police report.
Source: ABC and NY Daily News
top snot, what information is your wife using to say that I must be Jewish?
Shano – Saying FU to someone isn’t exactly classy…cmon. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you and states points that speak to the character of Martin, that doesnt warrant profanity and stonewalling of the points
geneh
Where is all this hatred coming from? I know nothing offensive about being a jew. I do apologize if I offended anyone. I had no idea it was an insult. It was just an observation that my wife referenced and she certainly didn’t make the statement out of meanness. I will say what I please, how I please, when I please. That’s the american way, is it not? I can assure you sir, I am not an idiot, nor do I live in a fucking village. Your inference that I can not articulate is an unnecessary attack that shows a lack of class on your part and certainly has no merit.
BTW Racism is a learned behavior, and I am not a racist.
and top snot, what about Georges family? They covered up for his bad behavior his whole life. I thought you confederates were all for personal responsibility and rugged individualism.
If the courts had not given George, the son of a magistrate, all sorts of breaks, breaks that I submit it would be almost impossible for someone of color to get in our criminal justice system……he would never have been able to qualify for a concealed carry gun permit.
If he had not had a gun that night no one would have been killed and he would still be on track for his career as a professional bully in the police force. Thank god the public will be spared that- we do not need any more cops who lack all common sense and empathy for their fellow human beings..
top shot, I will say it again FU and add, Get the fuck out of my nation. Your wife is exactly like George Zimmerman, making judgements of a person she knows nothing about, has never met, has never even laid eyes on. yea, both of you are anti semitic racists who think their white confederate flag waving world is pro American.
All you Confederates are traitors to your nation. TRAITORS. You add nothing to our progress. It will be a better world when your generation is gone, dead and buried, while everyone else looking back on people like you wonder how humans could be so narrow minded and vicious.
clh
when proper capitalization is warranted i do use it. so now i’m an idiot. those are the words of a scholar. how impressed i am. and that’s just my swag you’re reading. my perception of this particular page does not warrant the use of anything proper. would you please inform me of which post that you find particularly ignorant on my part? i’m rather curious, and it would be much appreciated. i can assure you, although being an idiot, that true personality traits come through these posts, it’s blatantly obvious.obvious actually. now please, point me to these statements that you find so idiotic.
top shot,
Some of your best friends are Jews aren’t they? That ploy never gets old. Oh, wait, yes it does. Transference, displacement or projection of your failures upon others doesn’t negate people’s perception of you as a hater. On the contrary, such actions only set that notion in people’s minds. This is precisely what Shakespeare meant when he said, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” BTW, rocket scientist, the Confederate battle flag isn’t the symbol of America. I hate to break it to you, but the Confederacy lost the Civil War long before you were born. Stormfront called to say they are missing their village idiot. You should really tell those who care about you if you are going to be taking an extended leave, top snot. It’s the polite thing to do. Also, if you want to be taken seriously instead of being considered a hateful illiterate troll, learn to not write things that are hateful in what can best be described as the pidgin language of Redneckish.
Just some suggestions.
Of course, I’m sure your reply will be some pithy form of “fuck you” so I’ll save you the trouble of trying to put together a cogent sentence and say in advance to your resourceful retort “you should ask your sister if you are sexually frustrated because I don’t copulate outside the human genome”.
Carry on.
top gun,
You wrote:
“i don’t hate, it weights way too much to carry around. and you insist on blaming z. without facts. why don’t you try to, at least, consider his family. his kids, his mother and father.”
*****
Zimmerman is married but he has no children. There you go…spreading misinformation again. I thought you hated lies
shano
i dont mean nothing by it but my wife says emphatically that you are a jew. i said, what the hell does that have to do with anything. she says nothin. just a feeling. i don’t know the difference in a jew, catholic, baptist. it’s like there color. it doesn’t enter my mind when i see someone. and don’t judge me unless you know mw.
Sling,
“Do you have any theories as to why Zimmerman couldn’t answer a simple question?”
Cops ask questions, they don’t answer them, and they arrest those who ask them questions and don’t answer.
Z’s taking criminal justice classes. He’s patrolling the neighborhood. He carries a gun. He calls 911 frequently for all sorts of things. He was fired from one job for calling HR way too many times ratting on fellow employees for trivial stuff. Z is a wannabe cop. He was treating M as if he, Z, were a cop.
shano
i appreciate the offer but i don’t swing that way. and thank you for calling me an american. thru and thru. rebel flag and all. my empathy i save for people that deserve it. i absolutely can not tolerate anyone that hides behind lies, or untruths would be a better word in this case. they act like they are ashamed of there own son and have went to any length to cover up any information/fact about him. making money off of his death took what empathy i had for them. oh yeah, when the little boy pic first came out i felt empathy/sympathy for them. then the facts started coming out and i found there actions repulsive. they knew what a troubled teen this guy was, all the troubles he had. why hide that? i can gaurantee you i would have told the public my son was ‘an average teen that is smart ass, trouble maker, cocky, kid,’ i would not have stood in front of the whole world and declared my son a perfect little honor student. i would have told the truth and that is what you call integrity. integrity with class. the health ins. makes no sense to me. that’s just crazy to think that. a racist, you may see color when you look at people, i don’t, i really don’t care. it is of no consequence to me. hater. i don’t hate, it weights way too much to carry around. and you insist on blaming z. without facts. why don’t you try to, at least, consider his family. his kids, his mother and father. they can’t hep they actions of there son but they have been ran from there home, the kids are suffering. especially them. not once has anyone mentioned the innocent family of z. and how it’s torn there lives apart. too bad for them. i bet you don’t even know if the kids are able to go to school or are in hiding. what about mom and dad, brother, wife. no one has even bothered to think about them. well, i sure as hell have. and by the way, fuck you. it might be a good thing that these blogs are private. i saw a post on one of these pages where someone put there real name, i assume it was the real name. brenda he,,,something. southerbelle. now that takes some brass. and again fuck you.
looks terrible, approximately looks much better.
Let’s assume this person tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Since we are all speculating to our own straight hearts delights anyway, I would like to learn from the pro-Zimmerman faction about the specific possible scenarios, motives and associative reasoning as to why Trayvon could be persecuting Zimmerman.
Zimmerman files page 41.
Empathy requires that we actually feel “with” someone else. This is a pretty advanced activity. My grandwhippet could do it; yet many people I have met in my life (including one I married!) could not do it. (My ex-husband actually took a forensic test that concluded that he couldn’t — that was special.) But whatever it is that gives us this ability, it is the only thing that can still make community out of whatever we have as a society, that can survive a technological problem, an electromagnetic wave, a collapse of the currency, a nuclear melt-down or war. It’s really all we have. Sometimes I wonder if it is not our responsibility to get those specimens without it out of the gene pool altogether — but considering that I don’t know that there is any “intent” in the gene pool, that’s an idle speculation at best.
I think all the attacks on Trayvon Martin’s family have been part of that inevitable action on the part of abusers and the abuser-support-team members (words I coined in the anti-child-abuse field decades ago) wherein the method of blaming the victim includes pointing out that the victims want to be compensated for their loss, or that the victims demand some kind of response from the abusers. But we live in a society built not upon accountability, only on liability. The ONLY way to make someone respond to violence they have perpetrated is to either punish them or to force them to be liable. You can NOT make them accountable without making them liable or punishing them. In our adversary system, this becomes not only the sole route to “justice,” but the sole corrective measure for our entire society.
Today I heard that a man named Ryan Young, who was working in the meat department of a Safeway Store in California, observed a customer beating another customer int he store; the victim was a pregnant woman. Immediately Young intervened and stopped the beating. Rather than thanking Young for preventing the continued criminal behavior, protecting a person from harm, and for saving the Safeway Store from a potential BIG LAWSUIT, they company suspended him without pay and is trying to fire him for “disregard of store policies.”
OK, Safeway’s actions are disgusting and un-American. Can I punish them? Well, of course I can refuse to ever shop there again; they won’t even feel that. Can I make them liable? Probably not. (Ironically, the woman could have sued Safeway if the beating had continued and maybe she can sue them anyway because it might not have been stopped soon enough; but most probably, the actions of Mr. Young protected Safeway from liability for their negligence.) Can I hold them accountable? No again. So Safeway has no incentive to behave any better than it did when it punished Mr. Young for his good deed of stopping a felony in progress in their premises.
What motivated Ryan Young to propel himself into the fight to prevent harm to a stranger that would never have been HIS PROBLEM had he simply ignored it? Empathy. He said his wife was five months pregnant. How would he feel if someone were to be hurting his wife, and nobody prevented that?
Empathy is all we have. When we see someone without it, how scary!
Bashir: A Pass For George W. Bush, But None For Trayvon Martin Among Conservatives
top shot- Please, oh please, at least use proper capitalization when criticizing another. Ima knowin dat ma gramoir and spellin’ no iz perfect, and subject before predicate I sometimes put, but your ability to articulate never ceases to amaze me. Please be aware that your opinion means diddly in a forum originating with a law professor and visited by people who can generally string a coherent sentence or two together when your argument reads like you have a family tree that loops and never branched. While some of your points are at least on topic, they are neither original nor do they contribute to the dialogue. And commenting on the kid’s parents that way? Really? Frankly, you aren’t all that clever or worth reading.Please stop trolling, you’re making my brain hurt.
Shano- The man might be, and probably is, devoid of sufficient intelligence to poor piss out of a boot before inserting a foot into it, but please don’t automatically assume he’s a soulless racist because he’s an idiot. It gives perfectly kind and tolerant idiots out there (like me) a bad name =)
shano,
“you know what top shot. FU. Seriously, you have no class, no empathy for a family that is suffering a horrific wound that will never heal.”
What’s makes it even worse–he’s proud of the fact that he has no class and no empathy for a family who suffered the loss of a child. Yes, some Americans are disgusting in that way.
see. i was going by other reports that he was 6 ft. 4.and Z was 5 ft. 9. just goes to show you how much you read that is false. my apologizes. to be honest, the second i posted it i realized what a petty and nasty thing to say. and think actually. it just popped in my mind and i’m not usually a nasty person. as i said, my apolgizes
perceived danger. whether real or not, isn’t it what a person perceives in his own mind, actual/real or not, that is relevant to the law?
top shot 1, May 19, 2012 at 10:31 am
david larry
If Z. had any intentions of jumping M. he would have had to have a foot stool…..
*****
Really? Is Zimmerman a dwarf? Here’s an excerpt from Trayvon Martin’s autopsy report:
“The body is that of a normally developed, black male appearing the stated age of 17 years with a body length of 71 inches and a body weight of 158 pounds.”
Let’s see 71 inches divided by 12 inches equals what in your mathematical world? Seven feet? Six feet, four inches? Inquiring minds want to know.