Prosecutors in the George Zimmerman trial are facing a collapsing case and renewed question over whether Angela Corey succumbed to the political pressure and overcharged the case. The prosecution’s case has thus far been a disaster and many are now questioning whether charges should have been brought at all, let alone charged as second degree murder. For some inexplicable reason, the prosecutors led with Rachel Jeantel, who was one of the least compelling witnesses that they could have called from earlier perjury to ever-changing testimony. Now Angela Corey (right) and her office appear to be turning toward alternative areas of prosecution involving the daughter of one of the defense counsel.
Don West, who took apart Jeantel’s conflicted testimony on the stand, took his daughter out for ice cream and she posted on Instagram a picture with the caption: “We beat stupidity celebration cones #zimmerman #defense #dadkilledit.”
Prosecutors have asked for an inquiry on the basis that witnesses should be treated with respect. However, such rules apply to counsel not their progeny. West insists that he was not aware of the message.
The photo was actually taken the day before the cross examination.
I fail to see why the prosecutors would not accept the word of opposing counsel, particularly given the fact that this is his daughter.
Given the earlier allegations of withholding evidence in the case, the prosecutors should show a bit more judgment in my view. Of course, they have been busy presenting what appears a case for acquittal.
I have long been critical of Corey’s charging of the case as second degree murder and concerned that this was a case where public pressure influenced the prosecution. The video of Zimmerman’s account and the supporting testimony of these prosecution witnesses were known to Corey before the charges. Yet, she pursued second degree murder in what would be viewed as a difficult case even for manslaughter. I would leave counsel’s daughter alone and focus on the disaster unfolding in court.
Source: ABA Journal
Racism is about power, the power of a dominant group to pass laws or create institutions that discriminate against another group on the basis of race. In some ways we have moved away from laws that allow discrimination on the basis of race, but otoh, with the latest SCOTUS ruling that gets rid of the Voting Rights Act, we’ve got another whole set of racial discriminatory laws being put in place. Whether it’s poll taxes that only the white can afford or the literacy tests that are given only to Blacks, or photo ids that disenfranchise Blacks or changing the availability of voting days or availability of voting booths resulting in short or no lines in white neighborhoods and extremely long lines in Black neighborhoods, Institutions that discriminate on the basis of race include nearly all city police departments and courts. Banks routinely red-lined Black neighborhoods. I don’t believe that practice is gone, just moved underground.
The oppressed group simply doesn’t have the power to discriminate against the dominant group except by refusing to comply as we saw in the civil rights movement.
There has always been discrimination on the basis of differences, whether skin color or lack of ability or disfigurement or language or whatever I forgot. It’s part of being human. Some are able to look past the differences and see the humanness of the “other” rather quickly. Some see only the difference and don’t have the social or personal skills necessary to look beyond the difference. Instead they tend to rely on stereotypes and their own paranoia to blame the “other” for whatever ails themselves.
Then you’d still be wrong. OS knows where I live and that what I say about it is true. He should. He was born here.
And if you’re so big on science, you’d know that science (genetics) tells us that racism is a cultural construct with no real basis in physiological and biochemical reality. Racism is a learned behavior. As such, it can be unlearned. Unless the person holding such beliefs insists on retaining them despite the scientific evidence that skin color is a minor difference in phenotype, not a genetic divergence indicating speciation. You know.
Willful ignorance in the face of scientific fact.
Gene,
Its the internet so you can tell me you live in a tent on the sidewalk in Detroit. But I’m gonna believe what my common sense tells me: “Black skewing” means 2 black-occupied houses more than there were 10 years ago but theres less than 10% black. All the studies are out there about where “white flight” begins and whats left of property values if you don’t leave soon enough. Thats not me; thats social science.
“Gene, if you are white, you probably live in a very white neighborhood/town.”
You’d be wrong about that. I live in a nice neighborhood in a black skewing town, but five of my immediate neighbors are black families including a *gasp* interracial couple. Just like you’d be wrong about racism and survival. And about racism in general. And just plain wrong.
Stupid doesn’t have a skin color.
Nor does smart, good, evil, hard working, lazy, good parenting, bad parenting, good character or bad character.
Are you not getting enough “action” over at Stormfront? I grew up around dumb racist crackers. And I can say “cracker” because I’m whitey the blue eyed devil. I wasn’t impressed then. I’m not impressed now.
By the way – as an “only” white/ small and easy to pick in a school that had every reason to make me pay for all the things white man hath done;
I did not see 1/1000th of the racial and/or otherwise bias that I witnessed Caucasians vetting upon non-caucasians every where I lived and traveled.
davidm;
You should start off each one of your comments with “I’m for the acquittal of George Zimmerman because –”
Then we can begin to have a more honorable debate….
As for me – I’m a Caucasian male who lived through desegregation and was the only white male in an all black/ Puerto Rican school. I lived in Maryland, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, New Jersey, Delaware, California, Washington, Virgina, New York (both upstate & NYC) and Texas.
It is always the whites looking down that is the greatest preponderance of evil in this nation. I thank G-d that we have a non-white funny named person as POTUS (even though I’m upset that he hasn’t done more good with that).
Any argument that a black man shooting a white teen resulting in no arrest is disingenuous at best; and more likely totally full of IT!
Polygraph’s are inadmissible in court and therefore have no dispositive value. Needless to say, you are not producing who did the test under what set of questions.
If the test asked where were you borne and did you kill Trayvon – GZ’s answering in the affirmative is of no value as to the reasons why….
My life is dedicated to fighting bullies and injustice;
the removal of the Sanford Chief of Police was a great start.
In Fullerton California the rallies and unity were able to force recalls of City Council members and one of them was even replaced by a blogger who was “Key” in getting to the truth about the Kelly Thomas beating death by local police.
Things are out of control in this country; because the nefarious know they have a chance to get away ‘Scot Free’ – and it would appear you find that state of being okay in America.
Sad!
Gene, if you are white, you probably live in a very white neighborhood/town. Thats the pattern. All the goodie 2 shoes talk but live in a white area. I just got back from vacationing in New England which votes so Democratic. Very, very white. I could probably count on my fingers and toes the number of blacks I saw in Boston and most of them were in a break dancing troop at Faneuil Hall.
Because racism has a lot to do with survival.
I know that racism isn’t a stupidity that any one race practices by themselves. We see that on the blog quite frequently. That racism is stupid that is.
Like right now.
Malisha, did you see where more people – including more blacks – think blacks are racist than think whites are racist? (You can google it.) So, you are fooling no one but the news media and you and yours do not get to live with them. They make damned sure they live in very white environs.
@sophie P: Check out Leatherman at
http://frederickleatherman.com/2013/07/03/prosecution-hammers-defense-with-dna-evidence-in-eighth-day-of-trial-in-zimmerman-case/#comment-172877
Tell them Malisha sent you. 😀
Malisha – must be a Shaniqua-ism take off on “malicious,” right? Perfect .
Leejcarol: “I had thought about the OJ case as soon as I hard the tv “analysts” fairly consistently say the prosecution was blowing it.
Who knows where the truth lies? Only Zimmerman since Mr. Martin can’t speak for himself.”
1. OJ did not admit to killing Nicole Brown. Different kind of trial.
2. “Only Zimmerman” may know where the truth lies (although at this point he has completely lost sight of it because he has convinced himself of another story altogether). But he is not the ONLY person who knows where the truth canNOT lie. We do not know what happened that night. But we DO know that the following story did not occur:
a. Z spotted a suspicious guy but called NEN rather than 911;
b. Z watched and reported as the suspicious guy disappeared, reappeared, circled his vehicle, and then re-disappeared.
c. Z got out of the car with a loaded gun which he forgot he was carrying, in order to find an address where the suspicious guy was NOT.
d. When Z had walked through the area to find the address that nobody asked for, he was suddenly confronted by the suspicious guy, who asked either:
“What’s your f*ckin’ problem Homie?”
or
“Do you have a problem?”
e. Z answered, “no man, I don’t have a problem” and tried to find his cell phone to call 911.
f. The suspicious guy sucker-punched him breaking his nose, knocking him backwards onto his butt on the ground, and then mounted him.
g. The suspicious guy performed “ground and pound” upon Z while he could not do thing-1 to defend himself.
h. The suspicious guy said, “You’re gonna die tonight MF” and tried to grab Z’s gun, but Z, having suddenly remembered his gun AND found that he had the use of his arms and hands, grabbed his gun, aimed, and fired one shot straight into the suspicious guy’s chest at NO ANGLE at point-blank range to the clothing but intermediate range to the chest wall.
i. The suspicious guy sat up, said “You got it or you got me,” and fell, still struggling and cursing.
j. Z got on his back and inspected his hands to see if he was carrying a weapon. Then Z got up and submitted to arrest.
——————————
We do not know what happened.
Uncontrovertible forensic evidence proves that the above a through j did NOT happen.
Malisha, I’m well aware of what constitutes evidence. I was giving my GENERAL take on what happened that evening from what I had seen in the media, prior to the trial. Now, I paid little attention to the media because they are unreliable. I will say again, I appreciate your passion and of course I am not trying to change your mind. I had not made any judgments prior to seeing what THE EVIDENCE was as presented by the prosecutor. I merely had a take on it. But, I worked over 30 years making sure my original take on a case meant virtually nothing compared to the facts I found. But, as Gene said, and as is always the case, what the jury thinks is all that matters. I understand that on a profound level. This prosecution case is weak. And, that’s the best I can say about it. I have no dog in this fight, Malisha. Hopefully you will accept that.
Vincent J: ” Matt Dillon would never have succumbed to such threats.”
Yeah. Gotta love him. Where is he now that we need him?
kvoorhees — “Oh, thats right, black people don’t think civil rights means anything but ‘black.’”
Feeling a little bit like the sibling who didn’t get a fair share, huh? Sorry. I know that must really make you feel bad inside. No cure for it, though. A deep seated resentment like that just clings to you and goes with you to the grave. Even if the US Govt issued orders right now to take everything owned by all Blacks in this country and give them all to you with abject apologies, you still might feel a tinge of regret that you were unfairly treated. Sign. Sometimes there just aren’t enough civil rights to go around. 😥
Dog, I didn’t criticize you for wanting to bite first. go ahead, be as hyena as you wanna be with your bad self. My point is that your hero, George Zimmerman, does not SAY that he had a right to bite first so he bit first. He’s a little scaredy-cat dog who decided he couldn’t own up to his canine rights like you do. HE SAID he was looking for an address like a perfectly innocent, little sissy doggy woggie who wouldn’t DARE bite first like you big ole gangsta dog protectin’ yoah props. No, he said, rather, that he was poopin around the poop station looking for addresses to give some beagle who had never asked him for it, when woah woah woah a big black dangerous drugged out MMA dog sucker punched him, plopping him instantly on his ass so he couldn’t no more wag his widdow tail. Then he said the MMA dog slammed his head repeatedly on the sidewalk so he had to shimmy (very disgraceful for any dog who still has his balls) and then punched his face over and over (“like he had something in his paws”) and smothered him with a two-handed smother move otherwise unknown in the canine world.
THEN he said his little jacket rode up and * * *
BINGO * * *
He remembered he had his gun with him.
Only then, after the wardrobe fail, did he remember his gun —
the gun with the extra bullet in the chamber already in case he needed it quickly —
THAT GUN.
He didn’t say “I bit first because it’s my right to bite first because I’m an alpha dog.”
He said, “squeal squeal shimmy whimper; poop poop whine; oh boo hoo god’s plan help me help me help me send money…”
You want to bite somebody? Sniff first, dog. I don’t HIDE my malice. Anybody who wants to defend their actions in killing an unarmed kid with a hollowpoint bullet (for looking like he might steal something? REALLY?) by saying they “bite first” is AOK in my book. But admit it. Fess up and be proud. And take your 35 years inside that go along WITH IT under Florida law. That same Florida law that says you’re allowed to KEEP your precious possessions away from somebody who might talk on a cell phone in your neighborhood.
laserhaas 1, July 3, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Dredd – investigators are NOT prosecutors.
It is the prosecutor’s office decision on whom to charge what!
===========================================
You don’t say.
I have only one comment on this thread
It does not mention prosecutors or investigators.
Are you trippin?
Trip on this then:
(Which U.S. Presidents Owned Slaves). So twenty seven percent of our presidents owned slaves.
Far fewer citizens than that, percentage wise, have owned slaves.
They call me Punk Dog but my name used to be Buster. The dogpac never lets me on the blog because I cuss too much. I got my name because I take the other dog’s biscuits. They sing a song about me called The Armour Hotdog Song only they changed the lyrics:
Hotdogs! Armour Hotdogs!
What kind of dogs steal Armour Hotdogs?
Fat dogs, skinny dogs, dogs who climb on rocks…
Punk dogs, weeny dogs even dogs with chicken pox,
Steal hotdogs. Armour Hotdogs,
The dogs punks like … to Bite!
Yeah, and some lady blogger was raggin on BarkinDog for biting punks first and asking questions later. She is right. I gotta right to steal a hotdog or two round here. Punks have rights too! Thanks Malisha. We thought you were malicious but not me– right on.
No, Vincent, the State of Florida would be happy to railroad Zimmerman. Look at how the prosecutor, DeLaRionda, picked up Rachel Jeantel/DeeDee/Diamond Eugene and took her to St. Trayvon’s saintly mother’s house for questioning, with the saintly mother sitting right next to her and the saintly father – who couldn’t give up a night of drinkin’ with his new woman to keep watch over his known juvenile delinquent son – in the house during the questioning, too. The most coercive environment he could think of, thats how the state questioned its “star” witness.
By the way, where’s Obama and Michelle on that other guy who looks like the son they never had, the thug caught on nanny cam beating up the young white mother in Millburn? Obama loves to talk about everything :”black.” Where’s Eric “My People” Holder investigating civil rights violations in Millburn, NJ. Oh, thats right, black people don’t think civil rights means anything but “black.”
Sure sounds like St. Trayvon “bit” the crazy ass cracker ni**er first. Thankfully, Zimmerman had a gun or St. Trayvon would have gotten it and probably killed a half dozen black teenage males before he got killed by now.