Zimmerman/Martin trial in FL

[Glocktogo]

I thought the media had already saved us a lot of trouble and decided the case.

You mean like a bunch of the chuckleheads in this thread?

 

[ignerntbend]

Yeah, this chucklehead says let there be a trial. If the prosecutor hadn't dropped the ball a couple months ago, we would never have even heard about this.

 

[snipes]

that kid wasn't following Zimmerman...

 

[Stephen Cue]

...TM started the violence...

Curious, how do you personally know this?

 

[Glocktogo]

Curious, how do you personally know this?

Haven't you figured this out yet? Lot of folks in this thread know EXACTLY what happened. Just ask them and they'll tell you so!

 

[farmerbyron]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trayvon-martin-autospy-report-indicates-struggle/2012/05/17/gIQAxw6HXU_story.html

Trayvon Martin documents reveal new details in shooting


Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin from a very close range, according to documents a Florida prosecutor released Thursday that indicate a hand-to-hand struggle occurred before the teenager was killed.

A lab report, based on an examination of the two sweatshirts Martin was wearing, found holes and gunshot residue consistent with a “contact shot,” meaning the gun was pressed against Martin’s chest. An autopsy report said that the gunshot wound indicated he was shot from an “intermediate range,” which experts say is between one and 18 inches away.

Trayvon Martin's killing by George Zimmerman: A timeline of the case: The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in a gated Florida community by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26 has sparked protests around the country. President Obama even weighed in on the case, in which Zimmerman now faces a charge of second-degree murder. Here are key moments in the case as it evolved from a neighborhood killing to a nationwide debate.

The reports, among nearly 200 pages of newly released information, add to the fragmented portrait of what happened the night of Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., when Zimmerman shot the unarmed black 17-year-old, provoking nationwide debates over racial profiling and self-defense laws.

It is unclear how the new documents might bolster or undermine the state’s case against Zimmerman, who has a Peruvian mother and a white father.

The information includes laboratory reports that show Martin’s blood had traces of THC, a chemical that is found in marijuana. Toxicology reports also found blood under Martin’s fingernails, Zimmerman’s blood on Martin’s sweatshirt and Martin’s blood on Zimmerman’s red jacket.

Martin’s autopsy report shows that he had a small abrasion on his left ring finger, which might support Zimmerman’s account that Martin was punching him or the idea that Martin was fighting for his life. A photo of Zimmerman shows he had a bloody nose on the night of the clash; a paramedic reported that he had a one-inch laceration on his head and a forehead abrasion. The injuries, said the paramedic, produced “minor bleeding.”

A report from the Sanford police’s lead investigator, Christopher Serino, states that he thought there was probable cause to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter.

The new documents include crime-scene photographs, interviews with witnesses and medical reports, and provide the most detailed look yet at the evidence that prosecutors are using to build their case against Zimmerman, who was charged last month with second-degree murder.

He has said that Martin attacked him and that he shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense. Martin was walking home to the house where he was staying inside the gated Retreat at Twin Lakes — where Zimmerman also lived — when the incident occurred. Prosecutors allege that Zimmerman followed him and provoked a confrontation.

The bullet from Zimmerman’s 9mm Kel Tec semiautomatic entered Martin’s body on the left side of his chest, struck his heart and one of his lungs, and remained in his body, according to medical reports.

The documents include information that points to what some have characterized as a sloppy and incomplete police investigation, which initially resulted in no charges being filed. That sparked rallies across the county calling for Zimmerman’s arrest.

“It’s a mess,” said a state investigator in one interview in the documents, explaining that he was working on the case apart from the Sanford Police Department.

Witness accounts indicate that in some cases, officers seemed to have rushed to judgment about one of the most critical questions in the case: who was screaming in the last seconds before the gunshot rang out.

One distraught witness, said she who regretted not helping the person yelling outside her window, said in her handwritten statement that an investigator tried to comfort her by saying that the cries for help “were not the person who died.”

A police report also concluded that the voice screaming in the background of a recorded 911 call placed by a resident was Zimmerman, “who was apparently yelling for help as he was being battered by Trayvon Martin.”

But an FBI audio analysis of that crucial call could not determine whether it was Martin or Zimmerman who was screaming, because of the poor quality of the recording and the “extreme emotional state” of the person screaming, an FBI report said.

Also included in the reports is an account of a meeting between an investigator and Tracy Martin two days after his son was shot. The investigator played the 911 call to Martin and asked him whether the voice calling for help was his son’s.

“Mr. Martin, clearly emotionally impacted by the recording, quietly responded no,” the report said.

But in the days and weeks after the shooting, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the teenager’s mother, said they had no doubt that the screams were those of their son. In an interview with an investigator, Zimmerman’s father said, “That is absolutely, positively George Zimmerman yelling for help.”

The documents include new details about what witnesses said they heard and saw that dark, rainy night outside their townhouse windows. One witness told police that he heard someone saying, “I’ve got a gun. I’ve got a gun.”

Another said she heard “arguing” coming from the walkway behind her residence. Yet another woman said she looked out her sliding glass door and saw “two men chasing each other, a fistfight between the two men” and then heard the gunshot, according to the police report.

The documents were released by special prosecutor Angela B. Corey, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) to investigate the case after a clamor arose over the lack of charges in the weeks after the shooting.

Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, received the documents Monday as part of the discovery phase of the case.

“Please remember and understand that it is inappropriate for us to comment on particular pieces of evidence,” the lawyer said in a statement posted to the Web site he set up for Zimmerman.

Amid the clinical findings and the formal police reports are more personal inventories, artifacts of the two lives that intersected that night: Zimmerman’s size 38Buffalo Jeans and brown boots; Martin’s black cellphone with a heart decal; $40.15 found in Martin’s pocket.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

The presence in the blood at least shows recent use as per this link. http://www.canorml.org/healthfacts/drugtestguide/drugtestdetection.html


The witness testimony is what will determine this case. That is why I highlighted some of the text.

 

[Billybob]

Google Norman Wolfinger, would some rather see racial division and even violence than allow the "more equal" be disturbed?

CNN revealed a telling piece of information Friday that has been missed by many of the media outlets covering the slaying of 17-year old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch captain on Feb. 26.

"The portrayal of George Zimmerman in the media, as well as the series of events that led to the tragic shooting, are false and extremely misleading," his father, a retired magistrate judge, wrote in a letter published in the Orlando Sentinel. "Unfortunately, some individuals and organizations have used this tragedy to further their own causes and agendas."

"George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends," Robert Zimmerman wrote. "He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever." (Emphasis added.)

Might this explain why, when he was first taken to police headquarters on Feb. 26, the lead investigator wanted to bring charges against Zimmerman, saying he was unconvinced of the 28-year old's description of events.

ABC News reports:

The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News.

But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney's office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction, the sources told ABC News.

According to Think Progress, Wolfinger has since removed himself from the case.

Was Wolfinger doing a favor for a retired judge? The blog Hinterland Gazette believes that may be the case.

It should be noted that George Zimmerman may have received favorable treatment from the police because of his family. ‎According to court records, his father is retired Supreme Court Magistrate Judge Robert Zimmerman and his mother Gladys Zimmerman was a court clerk. Connections in the legal community run deep and go far.

Might this also explain the younger Zimmerman's record that includes three "closed arrests"?

Another blog, RollingOut.com, puts it like this:

According to a records search on George, he was previously arrested for domestic violence, resisting an officer without violence and most shockingly, resisting an officer with violence - a felony charge that surely could have landed him in prison.

All three of those arrests, however, were mysteriously closed with no semblance of charges for the Florida resident. So how was someone with a violent past including that of battery against an officer able to carry a 9 mm handgun? Maybe that’s a question Robert Zimmerman should answer.

RollingOut goes on to list the arrests and cases in question.

One case seems to be a "he-said-she-said" case of domestic violence where both parties were charged.

ZUAZO, VERONICA vs. ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M

08/09/2005
Div 44
44, TBA

Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS

2005-DR-013069-O

ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M vs. ZUAZO, VERONICA A

08/10/2005
Div 46
White, Keith F

Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS

There was a resisting an officer without violence charge:

07/18/2005
Orlando
Miller, W Michael

Misdemeanor
Closed

CR-RESISTING OFFICER WITHOUT VIOLENCE
2005-DR-012980-O

And, most disturbingly, a case where he was charged with resisting an officer with violence.

2005-CF-009525-A-O
ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE MICHAEL
10/05/1983

07/18/2005
Div 10
OKane, Julie H

Criminal Felony
Closed

CR-RESISTING OFFICER WITH VIOLENCE
BATTERY ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

Three cases, three charges, all closed.

How did this guy get a gun, let alone a carry permit?

By the selective leaking of information, whose ass is the Sanford Police Department trying to cover? It's own? The former state attorney? Retired Virginia Supreme Court Magistrate Judge Robert Zimmerman's? Or George Zimmerman's?

One thing seems crystal clear. Despite the conservative rush to smear Trayvon, it's looking less like a case of justifiable homicide and self-defense and more like someone trying to protect the privileged son of a retired Virginia Supreme Court Magistrate Judge.

http://www.examiner.com/article/kil...of-retired-virginia-state-supreme-court-judge

 

[ignerntbend]

Google Norman Wolfinger, would some rather see racial division and even violence than allow the "more equal" be disturbed?

CNN revealed a telling piece of information Friday that has been missed by many of the media outlets covering the slaying of 17-year old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch captain on Feb. 26.

"The portrayal of George Zimmerman in the media, as well as the series of events that led to the tragic shooting, are false and extremely misleading," his father, a retired magistrate judge, wrote in a letter published in the Orlando Sentinel. "Unfortunately, some individuals and organizations have used this tragedy to further their own causes and agendas."

"George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends," Robert Zimmerman wrote. "He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever." (Emphasis added.)

Might this explain why, when he was first taken to police headquarters on Feb. 26, the lead investigator wanted to bring charges against Zimmerman, saying he was unconvinced of the 28-year old's description of events.

ABC News reports:

The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News.

But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney's office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction, the sources told ABC News.

According to Think Progress, Wolfinger has since removed himself from the case.

Was Wolfinger doing a favor for a retired judge? The blog Hinterland Gazette believes that may be the case.

It should be noted that George Zimmerman may have received favorable treatment from the police because of his family. ‎According to court records, his father is retired Supreme Court Magistrate Judge Robert Zimmerman and his mother Gladys Zimmerman was a court clerk. Connections in the legal community run deep and go far.

Might this also explain the younger Zimmerman's record that includes three "closed arrests"?

Another blog, RollingOut.com, puts it like this:

According to a records search on George, he was previously arrested for domestic violence, resisting an officer without violence and most shockingly, resisting an officer with violence - a felony charge that surely could have landed him in prison.

All three of those arrests, however, were mysteriously closed with no semblance of charges for the Florida resident. So how was someone with a violent past including that of battery against an officer able to carry a 9 mm handgun? Maybe that’s a question Robert Zimmerman should answer.

RollingOut goes on to list the arrests and cases in question.

One case seems to be a "he-said-she-said" case of domestic violence where both parties were charged.

ZUAZO, VERONICA vs. ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M

08/09/2005
Div 44
44, TBA

Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS

2005-DR-013069-O

ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M vs. ZUAZO, VERONICA A

08/10/2005
Div 46
White, Keith F

Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS

There was a resisting an officer without violence charge:

07/18/2005
Orlando
Miller, W Michael

Misdemeanor
Closed

CR-RESISTING OFFICER WITHOUT VIOLENCE
2005-DR-012980-O

And, most disturbingly, a case where he was charged with resisting an officer with violence.

2005-CF-009525-A-O
ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE MICHAEL
10/05/1983

07/18/2005
Div 10
OKane, Julie H

Criminal Felony
Closed

CR-RESISTING OFFICER WITH VIOLENCE
BATTERY ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

Three cases, three charges, all closed.

How did this guy get a gun, let alone a carry permit?

By the selective leaking of information, whose ass is the Sanford Police Department trying to cover? It's own? The former state attorney? Retired Virginia Supreme Court Magistrate Judge Robert Zimmerman's? Or George Zimmerman's?

One thing seems crystal clear. Despite the conservative rush to smear Trayvon, it's looking less like a case of justifiable homicide and self-defense and more like someone trying to protect the privileged son of a retired Virginia Supreme Court Magistrate Judge.

http://www.examiner.com/article/kil...of-retired-virginia-state-supreme-court-judge

Thanks Billybob.
Let's say that again.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

My old work buddy in Florida is a black activist from way back. I've chided him all along since this thing started. He has been ate up with guilty NOW... posted tons of inflamitory comments and one sided stories.

I noted last night, since the links to the discovery documents came out, he's been very silent. If they can get Eric thinking...there may be something to this.

 

[ignerntbend]

My old work buddy in Florida is a black activist from way back. I've chided him all along since this thing started. He has been ate up with guilty NOW... posted tons of inflamitory comments and one sided stories.

I noted last night, since the links to the discovery documents came out, he's been very silent. If they can get Eric thinking...there may be something to this.

Eric must have concluded that Trabon was guilty of walking down the street.Just let there be a trial.