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
@Sling: Ahh, sorry, I think they are trying to insult you. Sling Blade was a movie about a mentally retarded man, Karl, that killed his mother and her lover (she was cheating) with a tool he called a Kaiser blade but says, “Some people call it a sling blade.”
The movie opens with Karl already incarcerated for 20 years or so in a mental hospital, but released due to budget cuts. He befriends a young boy, Frank, as an intellectual equal. But the boyfriend of Frank’s mother, Doyle, is causing trouble and threatening Frank, he might have hit him, I can’t recall. To save Frank, Karl methodically sharpens a lawnmower blade, and calmly confronts the drunken Doyle and kills him. The lines are something like (from decade old memory):
Drunk Doyle: “What are you doing here, Karl?”
Karl: “I come over to kill you. How do I call the police on the telephone?”
Drunk Doyle: “Dial 911. If you’re going to kill me, you better ask them for a hearst. [sic]” (Doyle laughs, almost asleep).
Karl: “Okay then.”
Karl moves to stand in front of Doyle; and Doyle looks up, bleary:
Doyle: “Karl?”
Karl hits him in the head twice with the blade, whack whack. He watches Doyle for a second, then steps to the phone and dials 911.
Karl (on the phone): “Hello. I kilt Doyle. He said I should ask you for a hearst.”
It is a cult classic. A unique voice to imitate, good memorable lines. It did quite well at the box office.
Malisha: “because he couldn’t bargain on an armed and dangerous loose cannon with a cop complex” -(who may have been high out of his mind on prescription Meth-amphetamine)- ” driving up in an SUV ……..”
Fixed it for you, haha.
I just listened to that tape of the ME man who worked with George. Wow, he was an bullying asshole, no doubt about that.
Maybe his doctors were trying to fix this character defect with drug cocktails?
I do not think there is a drug in production or in nature that could fix what was wrong with George.
Leander, I’m about 99.9999999% sure Trayvon Martin wasn’t trying to get hurt that night; he was trying to chat with his girlfriend, consume some sugar, and get home. IF he had any other intentions, he would have spoken with Dee Dee differently and he might have chosen much different ways to go about it, because he couldn’t bargain on an armed and dangerous loose cannon with a cop complex driving up in an SUV to serve his purpose.
Sling T, I think “slingblade” is meant to suggest that you are actually a resident of a ghetto somewhere. Or something.
I’m reading a little more of this stuff from Jennifer Eberhardt’s research; fascinating fascinating stuff! We really don’t know ourselves well enough!
I’m just wondering if “SlingBlade” is some sort of honorific.
Like I’m a masked black-clad swordswoman with a deadly rapier.
Kewl 🙂
And if i weren’t, who I am, I wouldn’t need to develop strategies, cook up collective names to dumb the darker sides of my soul on. It always must be out there, so I can shine forth, while happily deceiving myself.
Tony C, your conduct seems to fit with your values as a perfect match, and this shows your excellence. Excellence is “fitting.”
Well that shows just how closed minded you really are then Tony..good luck to you anyway.
@Bosco: I think you are all of those things; and we are still not getting along. But then getting along isn’t the point, the point is to air one’s opinion.
Just to reiterate:
And if i were a person here that made assumptions, convoluted issues, misinterpret facts, was narrow minded, RUSHED to judgement,was a follower,disrespected American civil rights AND the Constitution,spent time to exalt my words by defining myself as a caring and literalistic white guy, and last but not least a RACIST,,we would
ALL GET ALONG QUITE WELL and be in total AGREEMENT in this playground .
@leander: As a European I have enormous problems to reconcile the American religious self-presentation with the death penalty.
I am an atheist, I do not believe in anything supernatural in any way. I do not find “life,” per se, precious. What I do find precious is innocent human happiness and emotion. Pride in accomplishment, curiosity and the revelation of understanding, the lustful love for a mate, the platonic love for a sibling or friend, the paternal and maternal love for a child, humor and laughter, self-sacrifice and charity. Even the thrill of victory, when the competition was fair and voluntary. What I find precious is the desire to be happy, to make others happy, and to make the world a better place, a more fair place, a safer place with less tragedy and desperation, even for strangers.
Because these things are so much a part of what we would call a “good” life, I think people conflate simply being alive with these positive attributes.
But that is a false correlation. Some people do more harm than good, create more misery than happiness (even in themselves) and that is proven most conclusively when they murder somebody else out of anger, or for personal gain, or just for the fun of it. THAT life is not precious to me, and I have no more problem with society ending it than I have in killing the bacteria in an infection. Because in my view, that analogy is apt, and the justice system is society’s immune system.
Apropos nothing… the WikiPedia account of the OJ “car chase” is wonderful.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson_murder_case
If it had been a movie, people would say “Yeah! Like something like that could ever happen in reality!”
Do I need to mention that T. Smith is the first on the scene on 02/26/2012?
I shouldn’t do this, but I am gone again after this note:
Officer Timothy Smith, was the first officer responding to Z’s 911 call on 02/02/2012, and the first to arrive on the scene 14 seconds before Z called again to correct the address to Frank Taaffe’s. Thus it is fair to assume that the twain met 24 days before the fateful night.
Officer Timothy Smith, was charged by a colleague, I suppose, or captain David del Rosso among others of having failed to conform with law enforcement rules:
And then there is this:
Law Enforcement TodayThe Police Report about Trayvon Martin, Jean Reynolds:
I wanted to find OJ guilty – on the basis that he was a transvestite.
But the majority on the jury shouted me down. 🙁
.
Wonderful responses ,,you should all be proud.
Ill make my response now…..
And if i were a person here that made assumptions, convoluted issues, misinterpret facts, was narrow minded, RUSHED to judgement,was a follower,disrespected American civil rights AND the Constitution,spent time to exalt my words by defining myself as a caring and literalistic white guy,and last but not least a RACIST,,we would ALL get along quite well and be in AGREEMENT in this playground that you all have developed here.
(One day you should ALL share your experiences of the time you were on the OJ Simpson Jury panel,)
bigfatmike,
Perhaps you could write the telephone numbers on your ass?
1) It will expand so as to be able to accommodate new numbers
2) The stretching necessary to write and read the numbers will help keep your body supple.
It’s a win-win!
@SlingTrebuchet
Thank you for your thoughtful and timely win-win suggestion. After trying the stretching a few times I believe I will stick with the more traditional small notebook. You may not appreciate the magnitude of the stretch in my case.
Also, I am sure I will remember you forever. So far as we know you are the only person to ever use the word supple and make a reference to my body in the same sentence. Perhaps not exactly what you intended but still a memorable moment for me.
@Tony C. I think I would have to rate your conversation with Bosco at about a draw. But if I am to believe Bosco, you have been holding even using your ass. That is actually pretty impressive. Just imagine if you had used your brain.
I assume you were busy using your brain solving differential equations to sting together black holes or what ever you scientist do at your day job.
But I wonder could you offer any advice to those of us who might want to develop cognitive ass capability ourselves?
I have noticed that over the years it takes me a bit longer to memorize telephone numbers. But my ass is definitely getting bigger. Is it possible that this is come sort of evolutionary compensation in the aging process? There must be some way to harness and put to use this important resource.
Hope to hear from you soon, Tony. I am taking one on of those new internet programming courses and I have a final coming up in a couple of weeks. Your timely advice might be vital to my education.
Tony, I was surprised about your private history, concerning your siblings. But for whatever reason it doesn’t surprise me at all that “destiny”, if you allow me to personalize it , doesn’t distribute equally. My mother’s belongs into this strange family category. No murders, but strange double accidents, the last in the same night in absolutely different locations. Actually that was the story that stopped the series.
As a European I have enormous problems to reconcile the American religious self-presentation with the death penalty. Admittedly I would not want, ever, anyone of my parents, siblings, relatives or friends to sit in front of a glass window and watch how my murderer dies.
One of the scenarios in my head was wittingly or unwittingly, we all judge from our own experience, if Trayvon was suicidal, and somehow lured his own killer on the scene. Killers are always slightly dumb,maybe they follow superior orders? When I had all these school suspension and not even my own father did believe me-I’ll never forget his “this is impossible”, ok, he apologized later.–I went through a time, in which I seriously considered killing myself. My only problem was, I really didn’t want to hurt my mother, my sisters and brother and my favorite cousin or friends. Thus I decided to hand it up to superior powers. The problem, while I decided to never ever do it myself, at least as long as my mother lives, it hasn’t helped me much with finding taste in the multitude of sick ways people deal with each other.
There is one Vonnegut novel, I do not remember which, where I encountered the imagery that we are all ultimately transformed into stars. Maybe I surrender to the games people play for the time in this string universe, so I will allowed to enter a better one once upon a time?
sorry: to resort to non-psychosocial terms.
Sling, LOTFLMAO.
Questions that could be misconstrued indeed. I have been watching the American scene and web for a decade now. The most obvious image that forced itself on me, were mirrors; if you allow me to resort to psychosocial terms.
I hate, doing taxes. 😉