Walking Papers? The Incredibly Thin, Speculative Zimmerman Affidavit
Last week, Florida prosecutor Angela Corey stunned many within the legal establishment when she announced her office was filing a second-degree murder charge against George Zimmerman. The four-page affidavit of probable cause filed by Corey’s office shocked legal experts, ranging from liberal Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and liberal law blogger Jeralyn Merritt to conservative former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy and talk show host Mark Levin, among others.
The affidavit starts out typically, listing the names and qualifications of the two investigators used by the special prosecutor. It then begins to build a case against George Zimmerman:
On Sunday 2/26/12, Trayvon Martin was temporarily living at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, Seminole County, Florida. That evening Martin walked to a nearby 7-11 Store where he purchased a can of iced tea and some Skittles. Martin then walked back to and entered the gated community and was on his way back to the townhouse where he was living when he was profiled by George Zimmerman. Martin was unarmed and was not committing a crime.
Not one paragraph into the “meat” of the affidavit, Corey’s team already made two unsubstantiated claims.
First: there is no publicly known evidence that supports the contention that Zimmerman “profiled” Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman’s 911 call made no reference to skin color or apparel until the police dispatcher started pressing for a better description. If Corey’s team had evidence that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin, they should have included it here. They did not, which not only undermines the profiling charge in this case, but in any federal civil rights case the U.S. Department of Justice may have been considering.
The second unsubstantiated claim: They say Martin was not committing or preparing to commit a crime. Zimmerman became suspicious because he saw a figure who struck him as a person casing houses for burglary potential. Unbeknownst to Zimmerman at the time was the fact that Martin had been suspended from school for the possession of a “burglary tool.” We don’t know what Martin was thinking, but his actions were erratic enough to prompt George Zimmerman to want police to investigate.
That represents a lot of unsubstantiated speculation by a prosecutor trying to build an affidavit to support a second-degree murder charge, and that’s just from the first substantive paragraph.
The next troublesome claim is the lead sentence of the following paragraph:
Zimmerman, who also lived in the gated community and was driving his vehicle, observed Martin and assumed he was a criminal.
Perhaps it is hair-splitting, but there is no evidence to support Corey’s claim that Zimmerman assumed Martin was a criminal. In his first comments on the 911 call, Zimmerman claims he saw “a real suspicious guy” acting erratically: “Like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around looking about.”
Zimmerman was merely reporting suspicious behavior, just as our own Department of Homeland Security advocates with its “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, which has been created and promoted by cabinet officials appointed by the Obama administration. Zimmerman saw someone acting suspiciously, and did precisely what DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano wants citizens to do in that situation.
The prosecutor then made another claim not supported by the recorded evidence:
The police dispatcher then informed Zimmerman that an officer was on the way and to wait for the officer.
The second half of that claim is a complete and apparently willful misrepresentation of the conversation between George Zimmerman and the police dispatcher. The closest the dispatcher ever gets to telling Zimmerman to “wait for the officer” was when Zimmerman was attempting to follow Martin, and the dispatcher told him, precisely: “Okay, we don’t need you to do that.”
In response to the dispatcher’s comment — which isn’t a command, but an ambiguous statement — Zimmerman’s response is “Okay,” and an immediate termination of his attempt to follow Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman spends the next 93 seconds — more than enough time for Trayvon Martin to reach where he is staying, even at a walking pace — in one location talking to the police dispatcher, informing the dispatcher that he is on the way back to his truck, and that he will meet the responding officer by the mailboxes.
Angela Corey’s team is misrepresenting the actual events as they occurred in order to fabricate a claim that George Zimmerman disobeyed police orders. Proving her behavior is one matter, but to be found deliberately misrepresenting the evidence is certainly grounds for considering disbarment.
The affidavit contained further problematic statements. The next one:
During the recorded call Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated “these a**holes, they always get away” and also said “these f***ing punks.”
John Work, a multi-decade law enforcement veteran, caught something in this prejudicial paragraph that I’d missed on my first reading:
Either Zimmerman and the investigators who wrote the affidavit knew there had been burglaries in the neighborhood, or they did not know about any burglaries. It’s not possible to credibly say that anyone, including the defendant, felt that crimes had been committed. If, in fact, there was or was not a series of unsolved burglaries in that neighborhood, the cops should have included that fact in the affidavit. It’s a lie of omission, either way.
Corey’s affidavit then made even more unsubstantiated claims:
Zimmerman got out of his vehicle and followed Martin. When the police dispatcher realized Zimmerman was pursuing Martin, he instructed Zimmerman not to do that and that the responding officer would meet him. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher and continued to follow Martin who was trying to return to his home.
The affidavit’s claim is in direct opposition to the facts as recorded on the 911 call.
Zimmerman was not “instructed” of anything. The use of that particular word creates the impression that Zimmerman was affirmatively told — commanded — not to do something. That isn’t what occurred. The dispatcher spoke ambiguously: “We don’t need you to do that.”
Then, the affidavit makes the completely unsupported claim that Zimmerman continued to follow Martin, even as the 911 call indicates that he stopped following Martin and was stationary for more than a minute and a half before attempting to return to his truck to meet with the responding officer. This, again, appears to be a misrepresentation by the prosecutor, unsupported (and possibly refuted) by the known evidence.
Her concern over the parents’ whereabouts before making an announcement is an admission that she’s only in it for the theatrics and publicity. Why would the victims parents physical presence have any bearing on something that should be a serious legal charge?
I hope she gets the Nifong treatment for overt pandering.
we knew all we needed to know when she was talking about Trayvon’s parents. The woman, Angela..is she black?…
I must admit that I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO PLEASED to live where we do..faaaaaaar away from the east coast and florida.. I think those people are countin the days until they can pretend to be upset over Trayvon and get some new tv’s and shoes!!!
George ..I really do feel sorry for this man. Trayvon is dead, and George is being railroaded, Sharpton is salavating over the media attention..
I feel sorry for the Martin family. However, I also feel they are allowing their grief to let them be used as pawns.
The blacks that we see at riots, rallys, marches..surely the black community has better to offer than these??? surely
…or how about the ones in NYC thinking they’re getting a $1000 credit card and giving all their personal information to a guy in the back of a dollar store?..stupid ..and they say the money is from Obama..even more stupid. These people shouldn’t even be allowed to vote due to a lack of brains and morals.
Thank you very much, Anonymous. You may go now.
Dr. Frank, Anonymous suppositions make at least as much sense as the trash talk we hear from Sharpton, et al. While I agree that his comment reeks of racism his examples also illustrate the gullibility of the individuals to whom he refers and therefore deserves the same sort of attention paid to those who call for vigilante “justice” in the Martin case.
Insanity — intellectual incapacity and emotional or moral insanity are indeed old school, solid and good reasons to disallow the franchise to vote, the franchise to contract, or the franchise to serve on a jury to any citizen.
Just because the dead cannot talk , Trayvon Martin, does not make everything the living say, George Zimmerman, true
That affidavit was written by such a shockingly incompetent fool, it reminds me of the laughingly obvious forgery that Obama tried to pass off as his long form birth certificate, a while back.
Incompetent, pathologically lying amateurs, all of them. You don’t know whether to laugh out loud or become depressed.
Actually, it reminds me of Fakegate. Same everything-out-of-place bizarro world flavor to it.
“Sybrina Fulton’s contention that the voice she heard crying for help on the 911 calls was her son certainly adds emotional pain to the case; her claim is not one I would personally wish to challenge at a trial if she is called as a witness”
And what if Zimmerman’s mother testifies it is Zimmerman’s voice?
Even more powerfully, if Zimmerman takes the stand, which he should, HE can scream out, in court, exactly as he did that night. He can do it right after his lawyer walks him through what led him to be screaming “Help me! Help me!”. Then play the tape of the call. Then ask him if that’s his voice. Then ask him to scream it out just like he did on the tape.
Then call to the stand the witness who saw Trayvon on top pummelling Zimmerman while he was screaming “Help me!”.
and as it turns out, Trayvon’s brother, who at first said he thought it was his brother’s voice yelling for help, then changed his mind and said he couldn’t be sure.
don’t you get the feeling that Zimmerman would need to go to Canada to get a completely fair trial, with the job they’ve been doing on him?
Canada would not be a better place for the trial… very few people know about the ABC and NBC scandals; and therefore everyone is more or less convinced of the narrative as described by the mass media (IE – the George Zimmerman is a racist asshole murderer narrative).
Is there any reason to believe that Canadians acknowledge the occasional necessity of armed self-defense? I’m not convinced of that.
Considering a Canadian man was sent to prison for shooting at assailants that were attempting to firebomb his house?
Considering Canadian gun policy?
No, I wouldn’t trust Canadians on this issue.
No, what will happen is the defense will call the neighbor known as “John” to the stand, and he will testify that he witnessed directly from a mere few feet away Martin pinning Zimmerman and Zimmerman crying out to him (John) for help.
This woman is a vile, despicable person, which I suppose is why she decided to become a trial lawyer (which came first, the chicken or the egg?). She has decided to overcharge in order to plea bargain down to manslaughter. She omitted key evidence (police reports, eyewitness testimony, etc) that speaks directly to the alleged crime in question, evidence that conflicts with much of the fabricated nonsense she injected into the affidavit.
The only way they’ll convict Zimmerman of anything is if the jury is paid off, the judge is paid off, and the counsel for the defense is complicit in an unfair trial. If Zimmerman is given a fair trial, he will be acquitted. I’ve seen the evidence. Its cut-and-dried self-defense.
Heck, she doesn’t want to be a lawyer, just a politician anyway.
What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 70? Your Honor
What do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 80? Senator
I thought I read that the police report made no mention of skittles or ice tea on Martin’s person. This kind of thing could seriously call into question the credibility of the whole indictment. Where’s she getting this stuff? NBC?
Perhaps it came from the surveillance footage at the 7/11.
“The Miami Herald claims that in October, he was caught with a ‘burglary tool’ – a flathead screwdriver…”
How many of you are not guilty of possessing a standard screwdriver. What would your family say if possession of such an instrument was to justify your killing?
It wasn’t just a screwdriver. It was a screwdriver in conjunction with a bunch of women’s jewelry which didn’t belong to him.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/03/27/police_investigated_trayvon_martin_over_jewelry/
What would your family say if possession of such an instrument was to justify your killing?
He was not killed for possessing a screwdriver.
This sort of thing is why I’m developing a powerful dislike for the Trayvon defenders.
“This sort of thing is why I’m developing a powerful dislike for the Trayvon defenders.”
Amen. How many more times are we going to hear about Skittles? This has gotten beyond stupid.
I’ve been wondering if the Skittles and Iced Tea were left at his house before he went back out to confront Zimmerman, that would account for them being missing from the police reports.
Or it could just be that the skittles and iced tea never existed. The “skittles and iced tea” story originated with Martin’s father recalling Trayvon’s reason for leaving the house.
It appears this affidavit was compiled from NBC news reports…because nearly all of the “key facts” described within are merely bull**** rumors perpetuated by the media.
Oh, and this business with Martin’s girlfriend? Zimmerman never mentioned Martin being on a cell phone in his call to police dispatch. He did, however, mention that Martin reached into the waistband of his pants, as if to reach for a weapon or something. Given the scrutiny with which Zimmerman was observing Martin, I’d say he would have noticed and reported a cell phone. Also, a quick look at the phone records and a comparison to the dispatch call timestamps will quickly blow this farce out of the water. After all, Martin’s girlfriend miraculously “remembered” this phonecall a staggering two weeks after the incident…just when media coverage was picking up steam. Hmmmm…
If Mr Martin Sr, had a bit of decency, he would have driven the kid to the store. It was late and raining. Why didn’t they just take the car? Does he make them wait for the school bus in the rain. Did the kid want out of the house, some alone time, because the dad was abusive/neglectful? Was he impaired?
I would wonder why he was carrying it around. He didn’t have a job that required a screwdriver. Certainly it’s not illegal to own, or even carry one, but screwdrivers are known to be used as burglary tools, and sometimes as weapons, and that’s the first thing police are going to think if you’ve got one on your person and no real reason to have it.
How many people carry a flathead screwdriver around with them?
Seriously, this type of case really helps identify the whackos. I can understand that a lot of people leaped to a conclusion when they heard the first incredibly biased arguments (and saw the first photos). But if you’re still holding on to your initial assumptions at this stage of the game, you’re a moron.
It’s no crime to admit you’re wrong. Bonus: it makes you look like less of an ass.
Yep. +1 to what you said.
Absolutely. Carry around a screwdriver? In a *book-bag*. That’s normal? I might misplace a screwdriver after I use it, but I would never put it in some sort of book-bag or briefcase and carry it to school or work. (I’m a teacher, so much work is school).
No.
I once had a flathead screw driver confiscated by TSA from my briefcase. It was a small one and I had it for connections on my computer. (I’m an engineer.)
So yes, normal people can carry screwdrivers. But if I had any female jewelry on me, it would have been as wrapped presents.
So some punk kid with a large screwdriver and an unaccountable pile of female jewelry sure sounds like funny business
Here here, the only size screwdriver Dear Lovable Trawvon had need to carry was one that would tighten the small screws on his thug gold grill.
Any bigger was a pry bar to gain access to “areas that Dear Lovable Travon” did not have legal access to. I.E. a burglar… I.E. what Dear lovable Travon was suspended for.. and what Dear lovable Travon roused a decent man..Mr Zimmermans suspicion for.
Whup…der it is.
Oh absolutely , you never know when you will encounter a flat head screw that needs to ne tightened
THis reminds me of the case in NYC years ago where B Goetz killed some black teenagers. The Black teenagers all had sharpened screw drivers, weapons to be sure.
B. Goetz did not kill anyone. He shot 4 non died. One was put in a wheelchair for life. The other three young man when on to commit other crime and spent time in jail. In NY a person can use deadly force to stop a robery. The court rule that B. Goetz use deadly force to stop a robery and was found not guilty
Yikes! Are you quite serious?
Do you ever explain your self? In a discussion a counter point is generally expected. If you are confused and are unable to articulate why, you might want to keep that to yourself.
Your screen name says it all
As the father of a teenager, if only they would ever see the need to carry a screwdriver or any other tool that would involve work!
As I understand it he was suspended for having the screwdriver ON his person IN SCHOOL! I would consider it more a weapon, than a burglary tool.
He was suspended for writing graffiti on the walls at school. At the time he was caught, on school grounds, he had in his possesion a screwdriver and several items of womens jewelry. Now why would he have a screwdriver on school grounds? I doubt he was tightening up the screws on his desk.
I believe I read that Martin was on his third suspension from school for possession of a baggie that had controlled substance either in it or was in it. At this same time, women’s jewelry(i.e. wedding bands etc) and burglary tools were also found in his book bag.
He was suspended for weed. He was found to also have the jewelry and burglary tools at this time. (did not specify in the article I read)
Just wanted to keep facts straight. Bad enough people can look at the evidence we have been shown and STILL believe Martin was some innocent “child” just walking home with candy when a big bad man jumped him and murdered him….
I’m curious if Zimmerman can hold Corey accountable for this false affidavit? Would he have any recourse.
A flat head screwdriver in high school? With the stolen women’s jewelry? Get real.
But the screwdriver was found in his back pack at school with stolen women’s jewerly
Notice the relation to the Duke case. Who was involved there as well? Sharpton and Jackson. What a surprise.
Even worse, “profiled” doesn’t have a real legal meaning. It’s not a fact at all, but a combination of conclusions: Zimmerman saw Martin, determined his skin color, and made a decision that Martin was worthy of suspicion because of his skin color and his location within the gated community. A more factual allegation might be that Zimmerman spotted Martin and for some reason became suspicious of him and called 911.
“profiled” – the team that wrote the affidavit probably brainstormed this and decided they liked the elastic meaning. If it goes to trial they’ll decide exactly what they want to and can show.
It should be noted that 2d degree murder is the only criminal charge in the affidavit. I doubt “profiling” is a charge in any jurisdiction, but especially for a civilian in a local court.
“And what if Zimmerman’s mother testifies it is Zimmerman’s voice?”
Zimmerman is alive.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, NBC, and now Angela Corey (using her title as “Prosecutor’ as cover), et al have polluted and compromised the case and perceptions so badly, it would make no difference.
As a matter of fact, it may backfire as it may be perceived as a lame attempt to balance out the “recognition by a grieving mother of her now dead son’s last words as he struggled for his life against a white Hispanic racist”.
See what I mean?
Am I the only one having difficulty with the fact that that document was written by a law school graduate? It reads like some junior high paper. In addition to being thin, it’s downright poor exposition.
Agree. It reads like what noted legal scholar and con law professor, Barack Hussein Obama, would compose.
Actually, affidavits are typically written by the investigators who swear to them. In agencies where the investigators are not well trained and/or the issues are complex the prosecutor may actually draft the affidavit with investigator input.
That just brings up another question; aren’t these experienced hot-dog “investigators” supposed to be able to write a page and a half about a homicide investigation without chasing off into the weeds here and there about skittles and Zimmerman’s intentions and Martin’s intentions, and profiling, and all the rest of this happy political talk that’s either irrelevant, unknowable, or both?
There is absolutely zip in there that’s new information. It’s just talking points with a few facts germane to the case, and even fewer facts that have anything to do with the charge.
Snork, all my information is from the internet and comments such as I find here. So far I have seen nothing to indicate that race was an issue in any sence of the word. I have seen no indication that
Zimmerman would have attacked Trayvon. This report and comments have filled a gap or two.
When I read that the UN had involved itself in the matter it was almost certain that an indictment was to follow.
I believe the UN getting into the fray shows an international political spirit is behind the whole race issue with the intent to stir up strife and violence so lets look and the power that is behind all this twisting of fact and mangling of the truth. I do not see the UN getting involved through any sense of justce. Lets give this spirit a frair trial and then hang him.
1Jo 4:1 ¶ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
“Thin?…it’s damn near invisible”
~Admiral Chester Nimitz~
“Midway”
I agree..very sloppy.
I guess they don’t bother to check up on the facts before they whip one of those affidavits!
We all feel badly a young man died. We all feel badly a man is sitting in jail with no hope of a fair trial.
If only some young black and young white men would drop the gangster tough guy attitude…they would be alive.
I have a question too..if I read correctly on another website, Trayvon’s parents didn’t look for him when he didn’t come home that night? Why? If my 16/17 year old son who was suspended from school, I damned well would make sure he didn’t go anywhere!
All I can add is good luck to Mr Zimmerman, I honestly do not think he purposely set out to kill Trayon.
This is why I suspect that Corey consulted with some Florida political leaders behind closed doors, made a deal to protect her career, and deliberately wrote an affidavit that she knew could not get a conviction. Why? To ease the political pressure by making an arrest, to provide some safety to Zimmerman by giving the parents the arrest they wanted and easing the danger to his life, and giving a judge the tools he needs to lessen or drop the charges.
That thought crossed my mind too, but this isn’t going to end well for her. When Zimmerman is acquitted, the usual suspects are going to go even more bonkers, and both sides are going to be pissed at her, and she’s going be end up looking like a complete idiot.
It would have been a lot smarter to impanel a grand jury, and head for the hills.
Yes — remember, the Rodney King rioting started AFTER the acquittals.
which will happen in this case.
liars and fame seekers are at work in Florida, I would not be living anywhere near florida at this point in history.
Ready for some martial law?..after the looting that is…:)
I disagree. Think Marcia Clark. She’s still writing books and doing talk shows.
Not the same.
Clark’s mistake was in her voir dire. The OJ jury was the stupidest jury in history. Clarence Darrow would have lost that one.
The voir dire was part of it. An even bigger part was her interminable droning about the DNA evidence, which not only put the jury into a coma, but led to Furman, which led to the “racism” angle. Incompetent.
Don’t worry about Corey–she has a sweet job guaranteed at the DOJ.
I’m not so sure the comparison with Nifon is accurate. That was then, this is now.
What difference does time make in this instance? How is the comparison between Corey and Nifong (please note the spelling) not relevant?
You made the suggestion, so it’s your burden to offer up some rationale to support your claim other than the passage of time (which in legal tradition often strengthens the precedent/argument).
Nifong’s time -> No Eric Holder
Corey’s time -> Eric Holder
‘Nuff said.
So what is going to happen when Zim is found innocent?.. Riots in the streets?… Plus how can ya profile Martin based upon race in a predominately black community?..
I also thought at first that this affidavit lacked any substance, and felt it was to make it appear that the prosecutors office was doing “something”
But as I read it again I see no legal justification at all so I must assume that it is a political statement meant to garner support for a better job than “State Prosecutor”
As a Former nurse I wrote many many observations about a particular patient. ANY deviation from facts would have been seen as “lying under oath” a Professional Ethics case should it ever be brought up in a court.
If you check the White House Visitors logs on line you will see that one Angela Corey visited there in the end of March. Same person??
Yes – gets the story off the front pages and reduces Obama’s ability to use it to gin up support from his base by changing the narrative. Smart move. The trial will take place after November.
I’ve donated to Zimmerman’s defense fund. Every law-abiding person should do the same. It’s going to cost hundreds (yes plural) of thousands of dollars for Zimmerman to make it through this thing unscathed.
Then when he’s acquitted he needs to sue all the media outlets for smearing him. Perhaps he’ll end up owning NBC and change the name to ‘ZBC’.
He’s not going to be acquitted of everything. The Justice Department is going to find something they can get a jury to convict him on or keep him bleeding money in court fighting charges until he pleads to something just to end the misery.
I have to agree with you completely, they will throw charge after charge against him until he goes broke or pleads guilty to something just to satisfy the racist hounds.
I don’t know who is on Romney’s short list for AG, but I doubt there is anyone who would be inclined to hound George Zimmerman into an early grave.
I thought Janet eno was bad — and she was — but Holder is something else.
…or kills himself.
Honestly, I have to say, I’m worried for the guy’s safety, and not just from outside threats. His father said he hasn’t been eating. The guy lost his job and had gone into hiding prior to being arrested.
He’ll end up dead. My heart aches for him and his family. If he’d taken his mother’s last name instead of his white dad’s, he’d be safe as houses.
As one who has been falsely accused and prosecuted by prosecutors who had no evidence and knew all along that I was guilty of no crimes, and even though I was ultimately cleared, I was financially decimated and left with some pretty strong feelings about prosecutors.
C.S. Lewis said: “A moderately bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is just fine.” My experience in life has convinced me that Lewis knew what he was talking about, but I would : “A shamelessly bad individual is drawn to the position of prosecutor.”
When a prosecutor assumes office he/she takes an oath to uphold the constitution, but unfortunately it seems that the overwhelming majority of prosecutors see the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as impediments to them making a name for themselves as crime fighters.
Most, if not all, states claim that they place greater importance on exonerating the innocent than they do on convicting the guilty but in actual practice most prosecutors have no concern whatsoever about an accused’s guilt or innocence but only whether or not they can get a conviction.
Cases like this one and prosecutors like Angela Corey lend credence to my belief that with the exception of serious crimes like murder, rape, serious assaults, etc., prosecutors visit more destruction on the lives of innocent individuals than do those they prosecute. Angela Corey clearly couldn’t care less about Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman, for whom she is also sworn to seek justice, but only how this will play out for herself.
Most criminals know they aren’t very good, thoroughly bad people think they are just fine and prosecutors like Angela Corey not only think they are just fine, they think they are superior to the rest of us; so much so, in fact, that destroying some one’s life for the purpose of self aggrandizement means nothing to them.
My heart goes out to George Zimmerman. I would contribute to his defense if I could.
You’ve pointed out one of the things that bugs me about the justice system. Police and prosecutors are paid to put people in jail. Not to find out the “truth,” but to secure convictions. It’s not about what actually happened, it’s about what they can prove in court. “Success,” in their careers, means busting people and putting them behind bars. Of course, on the other side of the scale, defense lawyers are paid to keep people OUT of jail. In theory, if prosecutor and defender both go at it with all their might, a valid verdict will result. To me, that sounds a bit superstitious – like trial by combat only without the swords. And the fact that someone will be rewarded for getting me convicted – that’s just creepy, like bounty hunters or something.
I don’t know what the alternative is. Impartial, scientific investigators who don’t get pay raises or promotions based on the number of arrests and convictions they accomplish? Is that even possible?
How about when a Nifong or other overzealous prosecutor gets caught, they drag them through the streets and set them on fire? Meanwhile, the young hoodies, who really have nothing to lose, because jail is their vacation home, they handle with kid gloves (don’t want no Eric Holder ’round here!)
Cops are mostly the mafia in blue. I’ve intimately known 50 cops, 3 of whom were fine. The rest were ignorant turds just looking to hassle someone. They committed crimes large and small, each and every day. And because their buddies in the court system treat their word as Gospel, as though a cop is somehow immune from lying and self interest, noone ever challenges them.
It’s more of that “hard working civil servant” crap. You’re never supposed to point out that maybe the guys in the early 1800s were right: cops are just a ready mob for political use. Now they’re primarily about political fundraising. One red light at a time. No matter how miserable it makes everyone. No matter how unconstitutional it is.
We live in the age of lies,and this is one of the greatest.
Assuming you are truthful about your own prosecution, I regret your experience. But I also regret your cynicism. I have known hundreds of prosecutors, and was one for over thirty years. Dishonest prosecutors are few and far between in my experience. We had one dishonest prosecutor in our office; I caused him to be fired and then prosecuted successfully for several felonies. I also arranged for the exoneration and release from prison of two men who had been wrongly convicted by our office in separate cases. They had not been convicted dishonestly but only mistakenly. The culture in our office was to get the right result, whether that be a conviction or dismissal or otherwise. When the leadership in an office insists upon integrity, that is what you get. On the other hand, when you have a Nifong in charge, you get a miscarriage of justice.
It’s nice to know there are still those who hold morals and ethics high.
I was once the person who always took the side of the cops when I heard of a case of police abuse; I accepted their excuses until I found myself on the other side of the issue. The same for prosecutors.
I have dealt with probably a dozen prosecutors and found almost no discernible integrity in the entire collection.
Since you “assumed” that I was truthful, I will also “assume” that you are truthful about your tenure as a prosecutor, however, trying to cast doubt on my honesty by “assuming” that I am telling the truth only serves to illustrate the point that I made in my posting. I think that when ones first thought is to question the integrity of some one else by “assuming” that person is being truthful it is because they, themselves cannot be assumed to be truthful in all cases. I think all who are prosecutors live in a bubble with a very different view of the intrinsic value of the average citizen than does the average citizen.
There are those of us out there who simply say what we mean and aren’t perpetually engaging in a game to see what we can get over on some one else. We tell the truth and expect the same from others; especially those with the authority to destroy peoples lives.
If you did work to exonerate innocent people you are to be commended but I still think you are the exception rather than the rule. I have NEVER heard of a prosecutor quitting his job rather than prosecute an innocent defendant.
I have heard of a recent case in Colorado where an innocent man spent ten years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. When his conviction was finally overturned it came to light that police officers and prosecutors had conspired to convict him. What happened to the officer and prosecutors? The prosecutors became judges and when their misconduct was discovered they were still recommended for retention by the judicial commission. Fortunately the people voted them out by an overwhelming majority. Nothing happened to the police officer because the statute of limitations had expired. Where was the outcry of condemnation from all those honest prosecutors?
Since my experience I have had occasion to know on a casual basis an attorney who is a former prosecutor. I discussed my experience with him a few times and what he told me was illuminating. “They were just doing their job, just like you do yours.” The difference, however, is if my job is improperly done it doesn’t destroy some ones life.
The number of innocent people who have been intimidated into accepting a plea bargain to a serious crime they didn’t commit by the threat of an even more serious crime and prison time is no doubt very large.
I take you at your word that you ran an office with a culture of integrity but I stand by my assessment that many and probably most District Attorneys run their offices with a culture of “anything to get a conviction.”
I did not always have the cynicism i now have.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2012/04/we-are-all-george-zimmerman.html
This article nails it!
Watching some cop drama on the boob tube last night, they had a TV playing on a desk in the squad room with “ZNN” logo prominently showing!
Wonder if both Martin and Zimmerman had smart phones and whether the GPS tracking info for that night can be accessed either from the phone itself or from their carriers servers. Might confirm when/where Zimmerman stopped; where Martin was and when he and Zimmerman arrived at the same point.
I can answer that. I’m an engineer in the cellular phone business, and I do expert witness work in this area.
1. GPS data is not precise enough to help much in this case. It’s only precise to within about 10 meters or so.
2. It’s not stored, so cannot be retrieved after the fact. It can be accessed real-time by law enforcement, with the cooperation of the cellular company, but that requires prior knowledge and monitoring.
3. The call records (which ARE stored) will only show the cell site that is used. While a general location can be inferred from this info, this is nowhere near precise enough for this case. We already know where they were much more precisely than call records can determine.
So the claim that Martin was on the phone with his girl friend can at least be verified or proven false?
Zimmerman seems to not have noticed Martin on a cell phone, but that leaves Martin being on a bluetooth. (Had Z noticed M on a cell phone, I suspect Z would have backed off. “Oh, crud. Just another idiot who cannot hold still while on the phone.”)
Correct, the phone records can be examined to determine whether Martin’s girlfriend’s extremely delayed recollection (two weeks) is, in fact, accurate.
I trust the phone records will prove no such phonecall occurred between Martin and his girlfriend within the 15 minutes surrounding the incident.
While Trayvon supposedly was talking to his girlfriend on a cell phone, I haven’t read anywhere that a cell phone was found on or near his body. Did I miss something?
I just left a comment elsewhere about the phrase, “I am not a racialist.” Her press conference stinks of it. I am not a lawyer but I think prosecutors are allowed to act like prosecutors. In other words, they don’t adopt a neutral stance once the game in on. That is for the defense to play the other side of. I would like to think this woman’s writings and statements would be an automatic basis for an appeal.
I think we need to work diligently to keep the term “racialist” from meaning “racist, but in a GOOD way.” “Racialist” means racist, straight up, nothing less and nothing more.
I was referring to Hitler and the idea the one doth protest too much.
Great analysis. I’d also point out that the Defense needs to research the timeline between the alleged Skittles/Iced Tea purchase at the 7-11 (is there a receipt and if so what time is it on the receipt?)to compare the timeline of the alleged purchase with the first 911 call as well as the girlfriend’s cellphone records showing her conversation(s) with Martin. If nothing else, those records will reflect on Zimmerman’s state of mind and reasonable suspicion in observing Martin and not racially profiling him but thinking he was up to no good by not going anywhere and looking around strangely–especially on a cold and rainy night in Sanford. If Zimmerman saw a guy appearing to loiter around homes instead of briskly walking home from a snack purchase on a really cold and rainy night (and Martin, who was from Miami, was used to far warmer weather than what’s in Sanford which is further north near Orlando, then it’s all the more reasonable that he called 911 and reported a need for them to come and check it out.
Hey it was Skittles and “Twisted Tea” and that is why he was walking around looking kinda suspicious, he was drunk!
Only problem I have with this is given Zimmerman supposedly spoke to the prosecutor, he may well have filled in some blanks unintentionally.
Except none of that is provided.
Granted, the prosecution does not need to show all their evidence in the indictment. But given the political nature of this case, wouldn’t new evidence have been included? Shouldn’t you show the mob your evidence of the accused’s depravity? There were no new facts in the indictment — and it included many statements contradicted by the known facts.
He called the prosecutor, but she was smart enough not to take his call without counsel. No information was exchanged.
The “discovery” process will force the prosecution to lay all of their evidence on the table. This is not an indictment, it is a affidavit from two investigators which is the basis of the charges filed by the prosecutor. It is quite likely a grand jury would not have issued an indictment.
Sign This Letter: Patriot Call to Action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWb90l3AG4I&feature=youtu.be
This is SO bad, that it looks like someone is taking a dive.
A third year law student with one class in trial techniques and one class in criminal evidence would shatter this to pieces.
Frankly, it smacks of prosecutorial misconduct and malicious prosecution. Idle speculation and patently false narratives are not trifling matters. This SHOULD get a very healthy rebuke from the bench.
It may not.
If Zimmerman’s attorney makes an issue out of it, it could get ugly.
The prosecution has put the judge on the horns of a dilemma. He would have to throw out a bogus indictment and it will be played as if he is “in on” the “system’s racial bias.”
Or, he can do what this administration and leftist’s in general do, and that is ignore the law completely and let the media’s propaganda machine provide cover.
Even if Zimmerman isn’t given a kangaroo court sentence, the DOJ will likely follow up with a “hate crime” assault on him, to pummel him one last time…when the state government fails to railroad him.
Then, there is the mother’s civil suit for wrongful death.
Zimmerman has entered the eighth ring of hell. He can only hope that Holder’s DOJ is gone by the time this phony indictment gets overturned.
We don’t know what happened out there that day, but this paperwork is not telling us the truth. It is telling us a pre-fabricated leftist narrative.
That’s a dangerous thing for people who love our Constitution…which would automatically eliminate this administration and the propaganda machine lackeys who cover for it.
The whole thing is about politics. The trial will likely start a month or so before the election, and it’s going to get the black voters up in arms, eager to go out and vote for Obama.
We will see. I suspect you’re right. If the murder trial doesn’t happen then, the federal civil rights trial will.
The Hispanics could counter-demonstrate. Fortunately, if enough Hispanics wake up and smell the coffee that is being brewed for Zimmerman, black no sugar, they could smack the Dem politicians up side the head. Hopefully, Florida and the Hispanic vote is lost to Obama. Zimmerman is not White Jew his name sounds like, and he has good defenses and neighbors and witnesses who support him. Who on the scene supported Trayvon. I have not heard of one and I suspect this is why no immediate arrest was made and Zimmerman who sounded like he had a long history with the local cops as a Neighborhood watch deputy for them, had the police mostly on his side. I’m Spanish heritage, and I would love the Hispanic vote remembering who arrested and deported Elian Gonzalez. It was not the Republicans. As a swing block of votes, we Hispanics could make a big diffeerence.
Bingo. Obama may come to regret that he ever opened this caja de gusanos.
I just hope that Hispanics can take it a step further and see that it’s not all about which party shovels the most money to which race; it’s which party seeks to shut down the whole damn race game and treat people as individuals, not as members of this or that ethnicity-based grievance group.
I grew up in El Paso and had many Hispanic friends. In my opinion, they usually have conservative loving family values. They are conservative and don’t know it if they don’t keep current on the issues and give in to the lure of free money to buy their votes.
Hispanics like you need to get the word out.
They’re already eager
A third year law student is trying to get her last A on a graded assignment from her professor, who expects everything and the kitchen sink. Once your out of law school, “no more teachers dirty looks” and so forth. Tactically, an affadavit merely has to meet the minimum requirements of the relevant statute to be signed off by the Judge. Welcome to the real world, bookworms!
Exactly.
There is usually a disclaimer at the bottom of an arrest warrant affidavit indicating that the affiant did not set forth all evidence collected thus far in the investigation but only such evidence required to establish probable cause.
However, they have no reason to conceal their best evidence, and this document doesn’t even come close to establishing probable cause for 2nd degree murder. Most of it was irrelevant bilge.
It’s theoretically possible that they’re sitting on their trump card, but if this gets tossed for lack of probable cause its all moot.
If Florida’s Castle Doctrine is anything like Tennessee’s Castle Doctrine law there can be no civil lawsuit for wrongful death see Tennessee’s law here:
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/guncontrol/a/Tennessee-Gun-Laws.htm
“This is SO bad, that it looks like someone is taking a dive.”
Of COURSE that’s what’s going on.
Special Prosecutor Corey files an indictment that won’t make it past Zimmerman’s SYG judicial review, Sybrina Fulton gets the arrest that is “all she wanted, nothing less and nothing more…Thank you, Jesus!”, and race riots are averted.
The twin aims of wreaking a “chilling effect” on armed citizens in SYG law states AND weakening Marco Rubio’s potential aspirations to higher office are blighted.
George Zimmerman and his life are sacrificed to the Leftist agenda.
Here’s the real problem, they’re certainly sacrificing Zimmerman for politics. But it will be wasted, the riots come after the trial not when he’s charged. This may not make it to trial even. Riots will ensue, fueled by the race-baiters.
I’m not promoting it, but I’m okay with that.
You DO understand that a general condition of widespread lawlessness is not a condition that can be taken advantage of by just one group or ethnicity, right?
Did you ever wonder why the Rodney King riots never managed to get out of LA?
All kinds of people give free rein to their sociopathic tendencies…some of those people are pretty well-off white people, and they have LOTS of guns.
I have friends down Sanford way, and friends who live a reasonably short drive from there.
None of them want it, but if it happens, they are all ready for it…and gators don’t much care what meat they eat. Good luck to CSI in forensically analyzing lumps of gator-dung from the bottom of a Florida canal.
To cop a line from Heinlein:
“A Greek phalanx looked pretty impressive, except to a man with a flame-thrower.”
I’m not promoting it, but I’m okay with that.
You DO understand that a general condition of widespread lawlessness is not a condition that can be taken advantage of by just one group or ethnicity, right?
Did you ever wonder why the Rodney King riots never managed to get out of LA?
All kinds of people give free rein to their sociopathic tendencies…some of those people are pretty well-off white people, and they have LOTS of guns.
I have friends down Sanford way, and friends who live a reasonably short drive from there.
None of them want it, but if it happens, they are all ready for it…and gators don’t much care what meat they eat. Good luck to CSI in forensically analyzing lumps of gator-dung from the bottom of a Florida canal.
To cop a line from Heinlein:
“A Greek phalanx looked pretty impressive, except to a man with a flame-thrower.”
A guy living in Lancaster at the time mentioned that locals got together in a group near the road in, and they saw several cars make U-turns instead of coming any closer. So, yes, there was good reason the violence did not spread.
It has been said that the descent into the flames of Hell often begins with a call to 911.
“Zimmerman has entered the eighth ring of hell.”
And he did so by his own stupidity. This is Textbook bad tactics.
Getting OUT of his car under those circumstances was act of sheer stupidity that any reasonable, responsible, Armed Citizen would have realized, and not done.
Putting yourself into grave danger, for no GOOD purpose, with no possible GOOD outcome, is always a bad bet.
By getting out on foot to “follow” a “suspicious” person, Zimmerman rolled a three-side dice.
They are:
Side 1- You scare the daylights out of an innocent person…who then complains to the responding police. You then have to “expain” yourself, and risk your CCW permit for being an irresponsible busy-body following people around WITH A GUN. Even worse, you might cause them to take a defensive posture out fear: You ARE dressed down in regular street clothes right? No Blue Blazer with prominant “security” embroidered on the breast right? What WOULD an innocent person think of you following them, and how MIGHT they react?
A Responsible Armed Citizen, who already has the police on the line, would consider such obvious negative consequences (and a complete lack of anythig positive to counterbalance them), and not get out of their car.
Side 2- The “Suspicious Person” you saw really IS a punk, and getting out of your car and walking on foot NOW GIVES HIM THE OPPORTUNITY to act like one. He confronts YOU, on foot, and now you cant just drive away. Instead of a soda can thrown at your car, now you are risking a punch thrown at your face…and a potential struggle over your concealed weapon.
A Responsible Armed Citizen, who already has the police on the line, would consider such obvious negative consequences (and a complete lack of anythig positive to counterbalance them), and not get out of their car.
Side 3 – You get out of the car, and nothing happens…Nothing at all…then you go home.
Getting out of the car is: Lose, Lose, or nothing.
There is no possible “win” in getting out of the car under those circumstances. Period.
Its like a child darting out into the street from between parked cars without looking. No possible GOOD can come from that act. The best you can hope for is the ABSENCE of a catastrophy. And you simply dont risk one, if the mere avoidence of one, is the only “prise” that can be won.
Which is why the dispatcher said, in a polite “I’m being recorded” sense of self censure: “you dont have to do that”
When the honest response would have been ” Jackass! Are you stooopid!”
And one more thing. Every Armed Citizen must realize, the State does not WANT you to be armed. They allow it grudgingly, under protest, and will do whatever they can to make an Armed Citizens life difficult. The State and the Police are NOT your allies. They are enemies, or they are neutral. They are never, ever, your friend.
They ARE WAITING TO ENTRAP YOU, in the slightest snafu or honest mistake.
So dont MAKE them when you can AVOID them.
Zimmermand conduct outside the vehicle was textbook, 101 “what NOT to do, when Armed”
And he is now screwed for life. They will twist whatever law they can to make him pay for being foolishly irresponsible in his “tactics”.
How any reasonably intelligent man couldnt see this comming, I’ll never understand.
Although it has no bearing on the legal aspects of the case, I tend to agree with your assessment of Zimmerman’s behavior. He may be commended for being civic-minded, caring enough to keep an eye on his neighborhood and all, but his actions that night were questionable. A civilian armed with a handgun should go out of his way to avoid trouble – to avoid even the APPEARANCE of trouble. Because, Second Amendment notwithstanding, law enforcement and society are not on his side. The cops don’t know who you are and if you’re carrying a gun it means potential trouble for them. Other civilians don’t know who you are and if you’re carrying a gun you frighten them. The fact is, people don’t trust people who carry guns.
Zimmerman should have stayed near his car and remained on the phone with the police dispatcher. Instead, as I’ve said before, he went looking for trouble and he found it. Not wise.
“A civilian armed with a handgun should go out of his way to avoid trouble – to avoid even the APPEARANCE of trouble.”
Really?
No, really?
Tell that to her:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/KittyGenovese.JPG
Everyone did EXACTLY what you recommend…and here almost 50 years later we remember her for how she died.
Apples and oranges my friend….
Kitty Genovese was screaming and calling for help, because she was being violently attacked. The people who heard Kitty crying for help ignored her, and didnt even CALL the police
No such event of any sort was occuring in Zimmermans case…No one was being harmed by the “suspicious” person, and Zimmerman was already on the phone with the police. There was NO, NONE, ZERO compelling reason to leave the safety of his vehicle.
Period.
These two cases are at extreme opposite ends of the spectrum.
They have nothing in common whatsoever.
“No such event of any sort was occuring in Zimmermans case…No one was being harmed by the “suspicious” person, and Zimmerman was already on the phone with the police. There was NO, NONE, ZERO compelling reason to leave the safety of his vehicle.
Period.”
My point was that blanket pronouncements that:
“…armed citizens should go out of their way to avoid trouble.”
is exactly the cowardly mentality that leads to Kitty Genovese..surely you understand this.
In re: Zimmerman.
Zimmermn had every right to walk about HIS gated and private community, from what evidence we have available, his conduct was entirely LAWFUL…and THAT is where the “Period” comes in.
Martin also had every privilege to walk about the private and gated community where he was a GUEST…up until HIS behavior ceased to be lawful by assaulting and battering Mr. Zimmerman…Zimmerman provided the “one-shot period” to THAT dispute.
I’ve always liked you, Root, not merely because I was also in the Corps during Beirut, and lost more than a few cronies when the Foreign Policy agenda came crashing down on them, but in this and the other thread you are being too harsh in your after-action critique of Zimmerman, and the results of that lead to Kitty Genovese being raped and murdered while everyone within earshot minds their own business.
Let us at least also criticize Martin’s conduct leading up to the event.
Why did he not go straight to his father’s girlfriend’s house when he had ample time to do so?
Why did he not say “S’up?” to Zimmerman, and,(Heaven forbid!), just talk to the guy like a normal person, instead of bushwhacking him with a “thug attitude” and a punch in the face?(as Zimmerman alleged with evidence to back up his story).
If you’re in a strange place, out of your comfort zone, you’re on your P’s and Q’s and you mind your manners towards the locals…that’s just common sense.
I live in a gated community, and any guest in MY barrio, when asked in a friendly way what he’s doing out and about at some late hour had better NOT pull a “Trayvon”.
Bilge,
Copied from below:
I’m sorry Zimmerman is in a shit sandwich. Its not about his “right” to walk down the street, its about his tactical judgement…He walked into an ambush your average Gun Carrying “good guy” should have recognized.
“Its great that Zimmerman was concerned enough to call the police when he saw something suspicious. Thats what good neighbors do. Pat on the back for being a good guy.
The question is, what to do NEXT:
Stay in the area while you wait for the Police?
Sure, if its safe.
I.D. the guy when the cops get him? (“yup, thats the guy I saw officer”)
Confirm/explain you reasons for calling them? (because you do not, cannot, be privy to what specific information was actually relayed to these particular officers by the dispatcher, isnt that correct?)
Sure. So far we all love eachother.
But get out of your car, in dressed down street clothes, as a private citizen with a gun, and go “looking” for that “suspicious guy” who went off “somewhere” out of your line of sight?
NO.
Never.
Not in a million years.
Not unless I heard a blood curdling scream, and thought a life was at stake.
For the very simple, very resonable, very elementary reasons I listed in my other posts…plus one more, just for fun:
So I wont get tasered, shot, roughed up and/or arrested by the responding officers, WHO GET THE WHOLE THING WRONG, never even see the “perp”, then decide its better to make-up charges against ME, rather than look like the idiots they are.
Its not Monday Morning Quarterbacking that I’m doing….
Its my Saturday afternoon, before the game, “dude, you would AGREE with PUNTING on first DOWN!?” comming to the surface.
Also called “DUH!” in most places I’ve ever been.
Root,
Multiple burglaries in the neighborhood (one of which Zimmerman helped foil) and you want to say he was wrong in his actions? Really? I would love to have somebody give enough of a crap to do that in my neighborhood. Have you, or a loved one, EVER been robbed? Assaulted? Anything? Do you know why you carry in the first place? To protectyourself and your loved ones; that is exactly what Zimmerman was doing, protecting himself. Please stop with the self-important diatribes on a subject that you know nothing more about than any of us and that is what you read in the papers, etc.
Fish head,
The answer to all your questions, is yes. Thats WHY I have the persspective I do. Thats WHY I’ve been doing this all my adult life. I’ve also testified in several court cases regarding Deadly Force incidents that “students” of mine were involved in. I know what I’m saying, because I’ve seen it played out before, probably more times than you’ve stubbed your toe, or tripped on a shoelace.
Its great that Zimmerman was concerned enough to call the police when he saw something suspicious. Thats what good neighbors do. Pat on the back for being a good guy.
The question is, what to do NEXT:
Stay in the area while you wait for the Police?
Sure, if its safe.
I.D. the guy when the cops get him? (“yup, thats the guy I saw officer”) Confirm/explain you reasons for calling them? (because you do not, cannot, be privy to what specific information was actually relayed to these particular officers by the dispatcher, isnt that correct?)
Sure. So far we all love eachother.
But get out of your car, in dressed down street clothes, as a private citizen with a gun, and go “looking” for that “suspicious guy” who went off “somewhere” out of your line of sight?
NO.
Never.
Not in a million years.
Not unless I heard a blood curdling scream, and thought a life was at stake.
For the very simple, very resonable, very elementary reasons I listed in my other posts…plus one more, just for fun:
So I wont get tasered, shot, roughed up and/or arrested by the responding officers, WHO GET THE WHOLE THING WRONG, never even see the “perp”, then decide its better to make-up charges against ME, rather than look like the idiots they are.
Its not Monday Morning Quarterbacking that I’m doing….
Its my Saturday afternoon, before the game, “dude, you would AGREE with PUNTING on first DOWN!?” comming to the surface.
Also called “DUH!” in most places I’ve ever been.
We had a similar incident, here in Los Angeles, over the weekend where a 19 year old boy was shot by the police. He was from Afghanistan and there has been little outrage from the public, except from his parents and their new attorney. I know someone at my work who knew the boy and knows the family. The funeral was today and they are planning a “mini-protest” (my co-worker’s comment) to show their anger at the police. The attorney is planning on sueing for $120 million but actions of the victim will be hard to defend. My co-worker made a circular motion around his head and told me the boy was mentally disturbed. My point is that if he had been black this boy would have had the whole “black community”, Jesse and Al, and the mainstream media and political regimes screaming “racism” just like Trayvan’s people. And they would probably get their way.
i watched and listened to her hand down this affidavit and it was clear from the get go she was relishing it.. i hope she’s disbarred.. people can elect waaaay better than this type of politician.. yes politician.. libs on courts are not judges… they are politicians.. to hell with truth.. it’s all about power and money for the libs.. man they’re warped..
You realize of course, that people aren’t judged guilty or innocent by lawyers who comment in the blogosphere.
You really think Zimmerman is going to walk free? He’s not going to get a fair trial – how would it even be possible? The jury will be under tremendous pressure to convict him, and they will.
It’s a political show trial. We know the outcome. Stop thinking this is a free country, it’s not and it hasn’t been for a long time.
“Stop thinking this is a free country, it’s not and it hasn’t been for a long time.”
As long as you do not have any poltical ambitions or have little wealth or earnings to confiscate, you will most probably be left alone for the time being.
And the numbers just keep rising.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/us-usa-citizen-renounce-idUSBRE83F0UF20120416
Greetings:
You know, sometimes the process is the punishment. Mr. Zimmerman is now in jail and to get out before trial would probably have to post a very high bail. And, even if he is acquitted, Eric Holder’s Department of Justice will be waiting to take their bite of Mr. Zimmerman’s apples.
And after that, the Black Panthers. They know they have nothing to fear from Holder’s Department of [Social] Justice…
Or as they say, “You can beat the rap…but you can’t beat the ride”
Exactly. Al Sharpton’s idiots think you arrest first, then you investigate. Based on Corey’s illegal actions, they’re right. Anyone who thinks life continues as normal if you’re out on bond–especially if racists have put a price on your head–hasn’t explored our judicial system.
I wonder if governor Rick Scott realizes the damage he may have done to himself by appointing this prosecutor? I think we have reached a point in America where it is not necessary to waist time studying law in order to become a lawyer, a judge, or any officer of the court. Far too many rulings are handed down by lawyers without any basis in law.
Astute comment, sir.
In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the smartest move on Corey’s part, letting Al Sharpton dictate the affidavit to her. He doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to legal matters.
Or grammatically correct English. Not the Sharpest knife in the drawer.
You noticed that too? It wasn’t just the grammar, that was one of the most horribly disorganized documents I’ve ever seen. That would have gotten a big fat F in eighth grade English.
I have a hard time believing that real detectives write like that. That was amateur hour.
Snork
“That would have gotten a big fat F in eighth grade English”
Maybe 50 years ago, but not today. That chicks news conference was her coming-out party…breathless and gushing she was, center stage, national news event.
The indictment was her Resume, her Job Interview, her waving the Company Flag to announce her loyalty to “The Machine” of Politics over Reason, in her lust for Station, and Status, over Justice.
Whenever you are armed, BE AWARE….what of your actions could be misrepresented later, with malfeasance, to paint you in the worst possible light?….and with this knowledge that THEY WILL DO THAT TO YOU, act accordingly to MINIMIZE the effect, without putting yourself in greater risk.
I don’t. Not at all. I’ve seen some horrific butchery of the English language coming from detectives.
Come to think of it, in my experience, that’s the norm.
I have a feeling that, if you sat in the front row somewhere Sharpton was speaking, you’d be saturated in spittle.
It all depends.
Legal analysts seem to agree, that based on publicly disclosed information, the prosecutor has laid down a huge bet. She decided to indict without a grand jury, and she went for the second degree charge. She must prove “depraved”. Prosecutors have an equal duty to free the not guilty as well as to convict the guilty. And in any position of authority, when you judge others, you define yourself. Her reputation, perhaps career, is on the line.
There is a real possibility of an acquittal. Unless.
She may be holding two aces in secret. She may have definitive information no one else has. She has had resources and time.
Let the wheels of justice grind on. Some body will lose big in a second degree murder case on which the President of the USA opined. As of now, the prosecutor, the State of Florida, the USDoJ, and the President of the USA, have their reputations on the line, along with Mr. Zimmerman’s freedom.
This is the legal Super Bowl. It just started.
Yeah, well she’s gonna have a whole lotta liftin’ to get past a broken nose and a hole in the back of Z’s head.
Regardless of who was or was not yelling for help, the blood is pretty clear evidence of something. You could say Z accidentally fell when he “hunted down” [Trayvon] “like a rabid dog”, but unless he can fall on his nose at the same time he is falling on the back of his head, the prosecutor won’t clear the preponderance of the evidence at the hearing for 2nd degree murder.
Sitting on information makes no tactical sense. There’s no advantage to the prosecution by doing that, especially if the charge get tossed on its face for lack of probable cause.
Don’t go holding your breath waiting for some dramatic other shoe to drop. That’s not how these things work.
If the skittles weren’t bit, you must acquit.
I live just north of Sanford and let me tell you what the media isn’t. Just in the last three weeks there has been an assault with a hammer on a Caucasian man and two shootings of black on black crime. People are beginning to reroute around the hood in Sanford for personal safety issues.
“If the skittles weren’t bit, you must acquit.”
Ha ha ha! I well remember the simplistic rhyme that manipulated the dumb masses during the OJ trial.
Great line. I live down the street as well (literally) and have changed my normal work route to avoid this mess. Have not darkened the door of my favorite German restaurant in downtown Sanford in weeks…
Why Martin never attempted to go home is the key to this mystery. He had plenty of opportunity.
Reconstructing the locations of Zimmerman and Martin at the point where the police dispatcher says for Zimmerman to “…..not do that”, and the location where the struggle took place and terminated, should illustrate that Martin decided to confront Zimmerman by pursuing him.
Mr. Owens;
Man; You must be a workaholic! Such a comprehensive article here, and working on the “Gun” article.
But, you DO know that this type of incisive journalism is taboo with the BIG MEDIA? “Rogue journalism” is rewarding, yet it doesn’t win you many drinking buddies.
Cybergeezer – Listen to the tape. The dispatcher never said, ‘… not to do that.’ He said, ‘you don’t have to do that’ which is a completely different statment.
You are right, Jack. The way this story has been distorted, I probably heard a doctored version of the police dispatchers dialog.
But, still, Zimmerman had to get an address to give the dispatcher. That address and the location of the shooting are two different places, and this would show the direction each took from that point until the confrontation and shooting.
My contention is, that Martin decided to confront Zimmerman, and did so stealthily.
Third unsubstantiated claim in the first paragraph — that Martin was “temporarily living” there. Everything I read indicated that he was simply visiting his father while he was suspended from school.
Visiting his father’s girlfriend while suspended from school–even further from “temporarily living there.”
As others have noted above, I’m sick and freaking tired of the Skittles and tea. I don’t ever remember being pounded with the non-weapon contents of someone’s pockets. Wonder what else WAS in the pockets?
Skittles and tea.
Was that a common candy and beverage made from the leaves of a particular plant?
Or is that street slang for some illegal recreational substance?
I don’t know, but I read an article recently that said those ARE street names for drugs. Crack and marijuana, IIRC.
He was suspended from school this time for beating a school bus driver then posting his manly act of doing so online, so this was not an innocent young 14 year old, no it was a 17 year old 170 pound 6’2 punk that wanted to prove he was a tough guy, that was pounding George Zimmerman’s head into a sidewalk and saying that he was gonna kill him.
What did George do he got his gun under the threat of death and killed his attacker with one shot and no more, he simply neutralized the threat of his own death by fatally wounding a punk that was pounding his head into a sidewalk or pavement of some sort after hitting him and knocking him to the ground and stating that he (Trayvon) was gonna kill him, what would you do in such a situation?
White Hispanics need “social justice” all Hispanics should start a march and place a bounty on all member of the Black Panther Party and publicize their address and places of occupation and protest in front of where they work “social justice is a two edged sword and it is time for the Chicanos, Latinos, and Hispanics to make a stand against Al Sharpton, Jessee Jackson, and all others that keep this crap up.
Hey Al, Jessee and others there are more Hispanics than you in this country and they might be tired of people looking at them like they don’t even belong, blacks only have to worry about being in the wrong neighborhood, but Hispanics have to worry about being anywhere in the country…talk about racism ask one of them about their daily life!
Bob, did you notice that, toward the end of her prepared remarks, Corey asked her audience to continue to pray for the Martin family, but did not mention prayer for Zimmerman? I am (not) surprised that nobody asked her about the theological foundation for that request. Would Zimmerman not be equally in need of God’s mercy and, yes, justice? There was a time, I am told, that prayers for the defendant were routine, and typically the last words a condemned man heard.
Times change, I guess.
I’m glad someone else was wondering the same thing. Such brazen pandering is unbecoming an officer of the court, and fits the bill of race-baiting leftists perfectly.
I hope this lady’s career is over in January.
It would nice to see disbarment proceedings in motion during the trial (if it ever gets to trial).
Typical Liberal liable. Tell enough lies and false inuendoes. Smoke and Mirrors. Keeps the Race Card in play even when the truth shows other wise. And it will make it hard for Zimmerman to get fair unbiased jury any where. And keeps the Raciest element stired.
I don’t mean to be the English professor here, but the term is “libel,” not “liable.” These are two very different legal terms with little or nothing in common in their definitions.
Can you tell me why it is that when prefaces a statement with, “I don’t want to . . . ” they do exactly what comes next? Bad spelling, bad grammar? That’s most of us get a life! And, while you’re at it get a life!
You should look up “deconstructionism”.
Dumbing down the language is part of the Karl Marx template for overthrowing free societies.
You are aiding and abetting the enemy.
Bob – Thank you for laying this all out. When I read the affidavit last night for the first time I was appalled by the willful misrepresentations in it. KC Johnson of Duke/LaCrosse fame maintained there is no resemblance between this case and the Duke/LaCrosse case. I wonder if he wants to walk back those words after reading the affidavit? Mr. Johnson – how does one spell prosecutorial misconduct? It used to be spelled N-I-F-O-N-G, now it can also be spelled C-O-R-E-Y.
I am also slightly appalled by the governor who has maintained that there was no pressure to bring charges against Zimmerman. All I can say to the governor is, “denial” is not a river in Egypt.
It used to be whites in the South would be biased against blacks and would lynch them at the slightest provocation. Today, the shoe is on the other foot: blacks are so biased against whites, they lynch on the slightest provocation.
According to the Tuskegee Institute, roughly 45 black men were lynched each year from 1882 to 1968, 90% of them in the deep South. Outside the deep South, it’s almost reversed, 3 1/2 whites lynched for every black person. Given the disparity in America’s population over that period, you can multiply deep South figure by however you want to bring it into today – you won’t reach the 454 whites killed by blacks in 2009 in America – all of America. I did this from memory so check it if you want and I believe the Tuskegee’s figures are somewhat loose. It’s posted as an interactive map at, of all places usually devoid of context, PBS.org.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/themap/index.html
Even if these figures are off by quite a bit, there is no reason for the nonsense over the Martin case that has emanated from the black community either in historic or contemporary terms. In short, they are making stuff up. The black press indulges daily in magnifying crimes of whites now and then, and especially mitigating black crime and social failure now – it’s an industry built on urban myths, ignorance, willful ignorance and hate. It is taken for granted America was build on racism and on the backs of slaves and that without such an institution America have been, what – a shanty town?
Minnesotans, for one, would be surprised to learn their state was built on slavery and two Minnesota regiments torn to pieces during the Civil War are really no one, from no where, for nothing in the eyes of the black community. Black American’s should be building statues to these men. Instead they call them racists and from their graves, attach a line to me saying I’m one too.
Fail Burton – Well said.
“roughly 45 black men were lynched each year from 1882 to 1968″
WTF!!??????????????? Are you out of your freakin’ mind, writing something like that? I graduated from high school in 1968 and surely would have heard of FORTY-FIVE LYNCHINGS A YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There was a lynching in Marion, Indiana in 1930 and this was believed to be the last lynching of a black in the northern US. Three blacks were arrested and accused of murdering a young white man and raping his girlfriend. One of the three blacks was released by the mob after someone proclaimed that he had not participated in the crime (he was later convicted and imprisoned for abetting the crime). He was “pardoned” by the state of Indiana in 1993 (the young man who was murdered remained just as dead and there was little doubt as to the identity of the two who actually committed the murder and rape).
I just googled those Tuskeegee “statistics”. They show 13 lynching in the US from 1950 to 1968, four white and nine black. You could just as correctly have stated that “By 1952 the number of lynchings in the US, white or black, had dropped to zero” Why don’t we drop the term lynchings and just talk about murder? Because “lynching” implies a large mob acting in public and with total disregard for the mechanisms of justice, and with the apparent consent of authorities, such as occurred in Marion. But three white guys “lynching” a black guy out in some swamp are really just committing murder, no different than if they shot the guy in the back of the head. These crapola statistics are misleading and dangerous.
I think they count the church burning clinton use to take part in. hang, burn, drag with pickup, it just deaths, just numbers, to quote a uniter not a divider.
That or the same that person is the one that gives obama his great economic news, i.e. can’t count to one with both shoes and his pants off.
Unless lynching is “code word” for had a drink at a whites only fountain. Then the numbers might work out.
But with todays admission by ABC that Zimmerman did have head wounds, not a couple of scratches, it looks more and more like another lacross case. You get ABC to admit the facts, and you know they had no choice. So why doesn’t the prosecutor have access to these photos?
There is another possibility: That Caucasians in the South, during the days when police effectiveness was poor (1865-1935, before station-to-cruiser radios, before fingerprinting,before many forensic technologies), were trying to suppress black-on-white crime. Consider that the per capita rate of black-on-white crime today is more than 30 times greater than the inverse, and then ask what you would do if there were not modern police forces and prisons to protect you and yours from predatory individuals.
Well, that’s another point of contention: the black community blithely assumes every single lynching was a black guy looking cross-eyed at a woman.
One can only wonder what the almost one thousand white guys hung by other white guys were looking at. It reminds me of the Tom Hanks argument when he was promoting The Pacific – that we fought Japan for racial reasons. So why did we fight the Germans?
I’m not trying to suggest there wasn’t a difference from that type of scenario and that most blacks were not in fact lynched without a good reason, especially in the deep South, but every single one a non-criminal scenario? And look at that PBS map: 5 lynched in one state that entire period, 4 here 9 there. Spreading out lynching the way it has been to include the entirety of the U.S amounts to one, big lie.
I really hate the way lynching has been magnified far beyond what really occurred. If 454 whites were killed by blacks in 2009, that means blacks kill more whites every 10 years than were blacks lynched by whites 1882-1968. This is context, this is proportion. Something the black community and the liberal Left have absolutely no interest in.
Fat chance. My grandfather beat and sometimes killed blacks for fun (“coon hunting”) on Saturday night. His hunting partner was a Deputy Sheriff.
They got away with it because the legal system at the time heavily penalized any black who “got uppity”, much less injured a white by trying to protect himself.
Wow. That’s really interesting. Can you document any of that? I’d love to start putting together proof of this kind of thing actually happening.
Sadistic individuals exist at all times and places. The question at issue is why white society let them operate as extra-legal enforcers of order. My contention is that black-on-white crime was controlled by white vigilantism prior to the advent of effective policing.
I call bullshit. BTW Phillep is spelled Philip.
Your grandfather is not America nor its history – that was my point. Extrapolate such crime out to include the entire lower 48 if you must. My view is a farmer in central Minnesota in 1920, and a guy building airplanes in California in 1930 would say ‘Not Guilty.’
I grew up in Arkansas in the 1940s and 1950s. For the generation before mine, coon hunting was popular in the area. I was never present for a coon hunt, but my impression is one was something like a fox hunt.
My dad traded one of our Chihuahuas for a raccoon. The coon eventually got loose and was killed by coon dogs.
So much for Harding’s “coon hunting” tale.
@Owens:
Good for you for making the Nifong reference. I’ve read many articles about this indictment and the obvious political parallel is Nifong. Corey clearly is the second coming of Nifong. Unfortunately for Zimmerman, Corey is backed up by the Feds, Eric “My People” Holder, the racist Sharpton, and the ultra-racist NBPP instead of only some race-hustling harpies from Duke.
Anyone at this point forward who aids Zimmerman in any way will be smeared as a racist, intimidated by the MSM publically, by the Sharpton/NBPP forces behind the scenes, and every commie college or “community” rag will publish the names and addresses of the jurors.
If this is played right by Sharpton, Holder, and the rest of the race hustlers — especially those in the MSM, we’ll have a good number of riots all over the place if Zimmerman isn’t locked up for a hundred years.
While I agree, I have to ask, how much longer can America, more specifically, white Americans continue to live under the threat and actual violence of black Americans without reprisal? I for one am getting sick and tired of my America being destroyed by white progs and their black muscle.
If they want a race war, I say, bring it on.
I am hoping this is just an emotional response on your part. Nobody’s going to win in a race war. Large numbers of people get hurt and large segments of cities will become ghost towns (remember Watt’s, Detroit, Newark, Plainfield, etc?). I don’t think those places have ever recovered and its been 45 years.
I understand the emotion, but “bring it on” is like calling for mass suicide. A pyrrhic victory at best.
Well, walt b, what would you suggest as an alternative to fighting back? These people are nothing but bullies. The only way to handle bullies is to stand up to them & not put up with their crap. This concept has been proven in practice since the dawn of man.
I think Ronald Reagan said it best:
“Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means”.
Start a race war if you want, but don’t whine if some member of your family becomes collateral damage. Expect it.
Blustering behind a keyboard is fine; standing up to bullies is better. Advocating for a race war with inane comments like “bring it on” is just plain dumb.
““Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means”.”
You leave out the part where Reagan believed in “peace through strength.” If a bully is made to believe that he cannot win, he won’t come after you. I gather you need to be reminded that Reagan advocated heavy armament, including anti-missle defense systems operated from space.
“Start a race war if you want, but don’t whine if some member of your family becomes collateral damage. Expect it.”
Point me to where I suggested “start[ing] a race war” in my post above.
“Blustering behind a keyboard is fine; standing up to bullies is better. Advocating for a race war with inane comments like “bring it on” is just plain dumb.”
What the hell did you think I meant when I said that the way to handle a bully is to stand up to him? No where in my post above did I suggest “bring it on” either.
What is “just plain dumb”? People with attitudes like yours who look at things like this in such a fashion that appears to support the notion that there isn’t a damned thing we can do about it. With so many of you around, it’s no small wonder the race hustlers have been so successful so far. I welcome the day (if it ever comes) that they can no longer get away with what they are doing.
Walt b, I also ask” what are we to do?” If I and my family are continually threatened, harrassed, or even have violence attempted against us, I sure as hell am going to respond!! Your typical Repugnican response is why oblammo won the election- mccain and the repugs wouldn’t play hardball- look what it got us. You can sit when the rioting mobs come to your neighborhood, but I will be waiting in mine with a strong response.
Hear, here as will I and I used to live in Grenville but am back in Tennessee, pretty well ready and carry daily and practice at least twice weekly with what I have!
Rick/bobbcat – since everyone is in the business of picking apart comments, you should note my original comment was directed to blotto, who suggested “bring it on”.
By all means defend yourself. So will I. But I won’t be calling for race riots and asking to “bring it on”. Been in the tail end of a race riot – not interested in encouraging one. I’ve seen the results up close and I don’t recall seeing any winners having victory parades. I think i can demonstrate my “peace through strength” and/or ability to stand up to bullies by shouting down the race hustlers, as opposed to waving a gun in their face. If you see that as weakness, so be it. We agree to disagree. I stand by my previous comments that race war is at best a pyrrhic victory.
Pyrrhic victory \PIR-ik\, noun:
A victory achieved at great or excessive cost; a ruinous victory.
A Pyrrhic victory is so called after the Greek king Pyrrhus, who, after suffering heavy losses in defeating the Romans in 279 B.C., said to those sent to congratulate him, “Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone.”
Never can understand why anyone threatened by the border cartels, just doesn’t drop them with a 50 cal from a nice safe spot on this side.
The race riots of the 50-60′s doesn’t apply, we had money to fix things, not any more. You burn down your city, you will be living in the ashes this time. You try burning mine, see first line, you won’t even get close.
Before the election it will be twice as bad, every shot takes away a vote for obama, that will be a very hard incentive to ignore. The Koreans in LA proved that you shoot rioters and the ones left stay out.
Will the hispanics (esp. larrazza) allow a railroading to happen? Riot if you do, riot if you don’t type of thing.
But then again, 9 years later I bought a great house in Plainfield that if in Westfield, couldn’t come close to purchasing !
Who cares about being smeared as a racist? It’s been so overused that it’s become meaningless. As Rush used to say in the early 90s, a racist is anybody winning an argument with a Liberal. And even if it weren’t meaningless, just having the wrong amount of melanin in your skin makes you a racist, no matter your personal opinions, no matter your background, no matter your connection to any actual racism.
Race as a scientific theory is dead. But racism still does exist, and the problem with accusing everybody of being racist is that it makes the actual racists harder to find. It makes many sympathetic to actual racists who wouldn’t normally give them the time of day. The continual injustice of the race hustlers makes their every accusation seem unjust, even when (on those rare occasions) they have a point.
Calling me a racist has no effect on me. I know I’m not. I was never taught racism as a child. It never occurred to me that anybody would be stupid enough to judge character by skin color until I was a teenager. Racist rants sound like an alien language to me. And I’m not alone, vast numbers of people are in the same boat, and some of them are being turned into racists because of constant unjust accusations by people who ought to know better than to promote prejudice and bigotry, having been so long victims of same.
There is no ace in hole evidence held by the prosecutor. If there were she would have gone for a Grand Jury indictment. Elected prosecutors want the cover that a Grand Jury provides in a profile case. If Corey loses the case then she can pass it off as the GJ’s decision to indict. By opting out of the Grand Jury process she will be held accountable when the case goes south.
I have a lot sympathy for Zimmerman because in 2008 I saw an extremely suspicious man roaming around the country with the clear intent of committing unprecedented crimes.
I told everyone I knew, but not enough people listened.
Not trying to be racial, but did anyone notice how Hispanic Zimmerman looked at arraignment. Standing next to a white lawyer and a brown court officer. Had that been Zimmermans first impression on the public. This may not have been a racial issue.
Would it be too much to hope that Whites and Hispanics , the two elements that the Racists tell us Zimmerman is, will riot in the streets if he is railroaded as seems likely just to appease the Black racist Race Hustlers.
But of course we all know they won’t the only ethnic group that takes to the streets like ‘Rage Boys’ on ‘perceived’ not real grievances are Blacks well them and religious groups like Muslims.
We just indeed might. It wasn’t a coincidence that the GOP captured the House of Representatives for the first time in 50 years in the first midterms after the Rodney King LA Riots, and kept control of the House for the next half-a-generation.
We will riot, but it will take a very quiet and polite form.
Bilgeman,
You are right, we need a voting revolution in November. When you rights and the law are no protection against honest lapses of judgement with no criminal intent, we are ALL in trouble.
Sorry for the head butting…youre a Patriot. I just dont want other people to fall into the same trap Zimmerman walked into.
THINK TACTICALLY and THINK POLITICALLY when you are armed…
Dont GIVE the bastards the chance to ambush you.
Semper fi
Everyone assumes the prosecutor published a ludicrous accusation to feather her own political nest.
But there is another possiblility.
She might be just as stupid as the people she gleefully represents. Like 90% of the democrats in congress (and a lot of the republicans as well), she might be too stupid to recognize stupidity.
if obama can get away with his brazenly fake birth certificate (which, incidentally, our legal-eagle hero of the moment, alan dershowitz, has never made a peep about because he dearly loves our half-white racist snot-nose of a president) then we may rest assured this cockamamie affidavit will pass muster, and likely even win a conviction, too, sad to say.
Hey Nifong thought he had a sure fire winner. Another leftwing bubble dweller in for a rude shock in a few months.
A citizen “racially profiling” a prowler is a red herring for determining probable cause. The only people who cannot “racially profile” in that situation are agents of the state in the performance of their duties, namely the police. Even the off duty police person can “racially profile,” although most departments strongly recommend against getting “involved” in off duty escapades. Everyone racially profiles just like everyone gender profiles. Profiling, it’s what’s happening, and it comes with the human territory.
Zimmerman was a “White-Hispanic” and that should be enough to convict him of whatever the state desires. We all profile, folks. Otherwise there would be more cases of “White-Hispanics” getting their heads pounded into the ground by Blacks in Harlem…but most of us “White-Hispanics” know to stay out of those areas. Why? Because we’ve racially profiled the area.
5 gets you 10 that Angela Corey is appointed a Judge (by the greatful Governor) before the trial starts. Her only job was to calm the riotious Black Community. That’s done.
The prosecutor needed to charge Zimmerman with something because mob rule took over from the Rule of Law. That the charges are not completely grounded in fact will cause an ultimate not guilty finding if the jury is impartial, which in itself will be difficult. Then the Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson jackasses can to to work riling up the mob about in time for Obama’s election day.
Oddly enough, throughout this entire article, I kept thinking back to Nifong and the Duke lacrosse case. Criminal charges should never be pursued for political reasons and, if Corey is found to have done so, she should be put out to pasture with Nifong and never allowed to practice law again. The legal system is designed to protect every American, including George Zimmerman. Any prosecutor found to have embellished the facts in an attempt to seek the “justice” that they see fit is a danger to our free society.
What happens to prosecutors that fabricate fantasies contrary to the available evidence and include them in sworn affidavits?
The depraved requirement will be that the burglaries were real and common and unpunished! He will be painted as a vigilante with his “they always get away” comment (may be true, who knows). Not racist, that won’t fly, but vigilante, tired of his neighborhood being victimized.
Notes to Racists:
1 – Do not call the police and have a conversation of nearly 5 minutes, then tell them where to find you, before going out and shooting someone.
2 – You are a very inept racist if you get into a rolling-on-the-ground brawl with the person you are about to shoot.
K.C. Johnson is right. Comparisons to Nifong are facile.
Perhaps the wound on George Zimmerman’s head was made by a screwdriver similar too the one treynern carried, if so then Zimmerman was attacked with a deadly weapon first. George did say treverns first blow decked him right to the ground. Screwdrivers are deadly weapons with many issued in place of combat knives to the Marines defending Midway due to a shortage of actual combat knives, 19 inches long they were to be used as clubs and to stab through the ribs of the Japanese.
Affidavits are supposed to sworn to by someone with personal and direct knowledge of the facts alleged (at least that’s what I have always believed, having only 32 years of practicing law behind me). This affidavit, and I have read the entire thing, is nothing more than rank hearsay – allegations by individuals with no more knowledge of the facts than I have. This prosecutor has overcharged as a reaction to public pressure – and if the defendant goes to trial it will be for the same reason. And these race baiters (Jackson, Sharpton, Van Jones, etc.) will be sure to keep the pressure up to make sure Zimmerman is convicted. I pray they do not succeed.
It appears that this affidavit is primarily populated with something far worse than mere hearsay. Most of the key “facts” presented are, in fact, unfounded speculation with evidence to the contrary…evidence that was conveniently omitted from this affidavit.
If she’s not disbarred after this, I will have lost all faith in our justice system.
I am no legal expert, but something I read a week ago has stayed in the back of my mind.. Could the charges be set so high that all involved realize they cannot be met in this case and therefore Zimmerman will be acquitted? Hopefully this will appease the “lynch mob” and also free Zimmerman.. any thought?
Nope. If Zimmerman is not convicted of /something/, we will see riots, especially after the prosecutor gave the racists such high hopes that he would have the book thrown at him.
The riots are already set.
It’s the verdict that’s in doubt.
There might be riots in parts of Miami, maybe. There might be riots in Tampa. There will not be riots of any size or shape anywhere else in Florida. This aint Watts or Chi-town or De troit either. You think Koreans are quick to defend their stuff? Try messin with the trailer park…
Mr. Owens,
The whole point of the Florida legal process for George Zimmerman is for the legal and elected offical players is to push it until after the Nov 2012 election. This way the judge and special prosecutor get to avoid facing well funded opponents in their next primary election.
If they can intimidate Zimmerman into coping a plea, all to the better.
What we are seeing here is there are two legal systems. Those for the politically connected and that for everyone else.
This is a cause belli for starting the next American Civil War, if this “Croney Justice” gets visibly worse.
Has it occurred to anyone that this crime was charged (actually, overcharged) as a way to cool passions? It’s a tough break for Zimmerman to have to defend himself (and you could contribute to his legal defense fund, as I have), but I can see why a cynical, “realist” view of the situation might decide that it makes more sense to charge him, because it’s cheaper than having race riots with millions of dollars in damages and probably 10-15 people dead.
The alternative would have been an honest and accurate reporting from the lamestream media, but that’s not an option available to us.
That might work, if the professional race baiters were not trying to stir things up, and if this wasn’t an election year.
“Has it occurred to anyone that this crime was charged (actually, overcharged) as a way to cool passions?”
I took it as a means to get Z off the street & buy him more time. Corey’s approach (ladling on so thick it wasn’t funny) served as more evidence that this whole thing is more about appeasing riled up masses than seeking justice. I do think though that the whole thing could backfire due to the nature of the charges. Seems as if manslaughter might have been a more plausible charge but I don’t know if they could have incarcerated Z on that.
The whole thing is such a horrid mess. Lesson? If you’re white or have a name that sounds white, don’t go shooting up anyone from the black community or expect a boatload of trouble. What a hell of a thing it is to ponder the fact that if Z’s name had been Gomez, Sanchez or something of that sort, we would not be witness to all of this.
I’m no law student, but this indictment strikes me as being fit only for lining bird cages. Still, I will be surprised if Mr. Zimmerman is allowed to go free.
The AP is reporting the following:
“The judge presiding over the Trayvon Martin shooting case has removed herself after George Zimmerman’s attorney said she had a possible conflict of interest.”
She is only the first of many who will do their best to duck out of this case and delay it past the nov 2012 election.
Under Florida’s speedy trial law Zimmerman’s trial must start 175 days after he is charged. Only the defense may delay it beyond that time.
175 days is a shade under six months.
That puts us to a nominal “no later than 3 Oct 2012″ trial date, given an 11 April 2012 charging of Mr. Zimmerman.
Life in Florida is going to get interesting.
The second Florida judge has bailed on the trial over “Conflict of Interest”.
Apparently it conflicts with his reelection interests to take the trial.
A black woman in Spring, Texas shot a white woman 7 times and stole her baby. Where’s the outrage! You think she was ‘profiling’?
I didn’t really understand the “murder in the 2nd degree” myself. But of course, you never know what the media feeds you as you hear one thing from one side and another from the other side. However, I think Zimmerman was railroaded and don’t think he can get a fair trial, what with people fearing for their lives if they were to set him free. But I am beginning to wonder since NBC, ABC and CNN all altered some of the facts. As far as Michele Obama saying his death was a terrible tragedy. How about all the people killed within the last month in a housing development in Chicago, MANY KIDS INCLUDED, but oh I forgot, it is only a crime when a white kills a black. Where was all her indignation when Brian Terry, a man just doing his job, was killed, when her husband was well aware of what was going on.
WOULD IT BE RUDE OF ME TO POINT OUT THE INCONVENIENT FACT THIS AUTHOR SEEMS TOTALLY IGNORANT OF, NAMELY THAT A PROSECUTOR’S AFFIDAVIT DOES NOT HAVE TO PROVE OR PROVIDE EVIDENCE OF THE ALLEGATIONS CONTAINED THEREIN. END OF THIS PREPOSTEROUS DISCUSSION.
It’s rude of you not to turn off your Caps Lock.
You miss the point that the affidavit contains lies (also known as perjury) on Angela Corey’s letterhead. The arrest announcement came a couple of days after Ms. Corey had the 911 recordings and other evidence removed from the the City of Sanford web site. If you are going to railroad a Hispanic into jail, it is always good to hide the evidence in his favor, especially if it provides evidence of your malfeasance.
I’ll go further than the author. The affidavit is not just weak, it is criminal!
OK, you’re playing short-handed here. An affidavit by definition is a statement of facts to which one could testify at trial. This “affidavit” is laden with conclusions (“profiled”), speculation (“felt”), and loaded terms (“pursued”). It also misrepresents facts, such as the conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher. It is a disingenuous and dishonest document.
Angela Cory should have taken it to a grand jury. Based on the evidence, they would have refused to indict.
If the grand jury turned political and indicted to prevent riots or fear for their own safety, then that would be on their heads not hers. Now she has to prosecute a case that she claims is not political. Well, maybe it is just based on emotion and is not technically political.
Angela Cory will never win a statewide election for anything.
Congrats Bob Owens! You made the Rush Limbaugh show…way to make a good showing for PJ Media on national radio! Hopefully this will bring more readers.
All the best,
AM
One issue that the prosecution is going to have trouble is to explain what in their theory Zimmerman was doing to Martin for at least a minute that would cause him to cry out in pain for help and yet not leave an injuries on his body? It has been confirmed by the funeral home director that Martin lacked injuries except for the gunshot wound. Zimmerman has injuries basically consistent with his version. This is why lacking any other evidence I think Zimmerman is telling the truth.
John,
If you think I can’t break your nose with the heal of my palm and bash your head into the cement without bruising my hands (which would be harder to see if my hands were black) then I suggest you go to Sanford and ask someone to demonstrate it. If you can’t find a volunteer there, come on up to Houston.
Why for the life of me would a mild mannered person like Zimmerman , just shoot someone if there were no struggle.It simply makes no sense and is illogical in the extreme to suppose that Zimmerman just shot Martin out of spite , he must have feared for his life,in what was to him in a life and death struggle and simply did what any other person in his position would do, shoot his assailant to save his own life
He did not know that Martin was only seventeen, he just saw largege person of some six foot two approaching him in threateningng way and maybe during the struggle panicked and shot Martin in fear of his life
There are two sides to this tragic event and to condemn Zimmerman outright like much of the media have been doing is also a crime
This is true. Also, we know for sure that some sort of struggle went on for about a minute before the shot. This is because one of the 911 call has the yelling and call for help going on for 45 recorded seconds plus the time it took for the caller hear the struggle, decide to call 911, and then get the operator on line. An additional 15 seconds seems a conservative estimate (the police investigation will give a better estimate). So it is clear that whatever happen it wasn’t Zimmerman shooting Martin on sight. It occured after a minute of physical confict.
The prosecution will try to prove that Zimmerman attacked Martin most likely based on the girlfriends testimony. Although the published version of her story doesn’t really prove exactly how it started. “What are you doing here?” doesn’t sound that threatening.
Angela Corey overcharges people to force them to accept bad plea deals. It is unethical.
Look at this recent case of a young boy in Jacksonville:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/19/overcharging-george-zimmerman/?hpt=ac_bn1
Many prosecutors do this. It’s fun, costs them nothing, ups the conviction rate and wins them career points and political capital.
Lets not forget FL is home of the Janet Reno railroading of the daycare workers. Nothing done to her except a promotion to the nations denier and chief.
This whole thing is another railroading. Or like in california with the rodney thug case, they way overcharge so there will be no conviction. Too early to tell, but my money is on the former. Now it will be the funniest situation you can imagine, if the trail lasts till late Jan, and Holder is tossed out before he can prosecute Zimmerman, when found not guilty.
Even better he files the charges, gets canned and the new AG throws it out.
It just sickens me that a young man needs to die, just so I can enjoy watching the race baiters have a melt down when the justice system works. Just like the gulf spill, as bad as it was, just watching the eco terrorist go nuts was a good thing.
While the Martin case is tragic, let the facts come out before passing judgement. Here a a question for all of you. Where is Sharpton, Jackson and all the criticism about the white British tourist in Baltimore that was sucker punched by a black guy knocked to the ground then hit and kicked. Then his clothes stolen by several black men as he was laying on the ground. Even the black people shown the video (made by a black person and given to the Police) says that these hoodlums should be in jail. So where is the media and outrage over this incident. Oops thats right we only have a one sided media. Personaly, I only want to see justice served.
A cut & pasted quote for your readers that covers the affidavit:
The affidavit reads:
“Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued. Witnesses heard people arguing and what sounded like a struggle. During this time period witnesses heard numerous calls for help and some of these were recorded in 911 calls to police. Trayvon Martin’s mother has reviewed the 911 calls and identified the voice crying for help as Trayvon Martin’s voice.”
COMMENTARY
No mention of the eyewitnesses that saw Martin on top of a screaming Zimmerman. No mention that Martin’s father told police investigators that the voice crying was not that of his son-then later changed his story. No mention that George Zimmerman’s father hearing the same 911 tapes identified his son as the one crying out for help. No mention of Zimmerman’s bleeding wounds as noted in the police report. Moreover, there’s no mention in the affidavit that prior to phoning the non-emergency police line about the suspicious looking kid Zimmerman made 45 similar calls since 2004 all WITHOUT INCIDENT-with some pertaining to suspicious young black men. In short, the problem wasn’t Zimmerman. The problem was the troubled teenager who ran away from Zimmerman as if guilty of something, then got killed for overcoming his fears and finding the gall to confront him. As I said before: The bigger and stronger Martin brought his fists to a fight that he started with a smaller and weaker man carrying a gun. And now Martin is dead killed by his rashness and folly.
“Never frighten a little man. He’ll kill you.” — Lazarus Long — Robert Heinlein
As for who attacked and called for help. Perhaps Martin, thinking he was going to be attacked by some unknown person, took it upon himself to initiate the attack on someone he thought was watching him and thereby went after Zimmerman first in an attempt to offensively defend himself. Martin then may have been calling for help thinking he was attacking a would-be attacker and calling for help. Either way a good audio person should be able to isolate voice qualities in order to define who was actually calling for help. This doesn’t rise in any case to a 2nd degree murder. If one were to be contemplating using his weapon a kill someone why would he call 911 and stay on the phone that long if he had “depraved indifference for human life”
I think in the end Zimmerman will be acquitted and riots will break out.
If dem SKITTLES ain’t Bit
Den you Must Acquit !
Come to think of it — No Ice Tea nor Skittles were found at the scene.
Our highly inaccurate and agenda-driven news reporters say that the manager of the convenience store says the video tape shows a young black male purchasing those items in the time frame. No mention if the POLICE have reviewed such video …. or the reporters. Does the store have bar code scanning, which would record the items and the time.
WHO originally said what was purchased?
From the article even this portion is incorrect (in part) and demonstrates how difficult it is to state the facts and law correctly:
“This entire case hinges upon who started the confrontation and then escalated it into a deadly force event…”
Actually it has little or nothing to do with who “started the confrontation” and everything to do with who ESCALATED that confrontation into a criminal assault.
That is pretty much the entire case (in law) and even has very little to do with “Stand Your Ground” under the known accounts.
Not entirely. If Zimmerman started the fight then he would not have a self-defense claim. The Affidavit tries to say Zimmerman started it (“Zimmerman confronted Martin”) when there is no evidence of that.
I agree that the Affidavit is a travesty, but I don’t think Ms Corey is a fool or incompetent. I think she is doing things with a purpose.
Generally, the “wanton disregard” law applies to situations where someone creates a known, substantial and unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm and death results. It’s the guy who sets off a bomb in a shopping mall, or leaves his car with the brakes off at the top of a hill and lets the car roll. It is sometimes referred to as “I don’t care” murder. By charging Zimmerman with this, I believe, the prosecution is trying to eliminate self-defense from the case. Remember, the theory is “you created an unreasonable risk of death or great bodily harm, and someone died”. How that person died is almost irrelevant. So if the theory is that Martin died because of this generalized risk that Zimmerman is supposed to have created, the prosecution may try to prevent the claim of self-defense from even being raised.
Ordinarily, the prosecution would be based on the fact that Zimmerman used a deadly weapon and Martin died, so it is intent to kill and voluntary manslaughter if the death occurred upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. Self-defense would then be in play. Politics aside, there has to be a reason the prosecution is going for “wanton disregard”; even when politically motivated prosecutors do not like to lose high-profile cases. I think the difference in the way the two theories play out underlies Corey’s choice.
Why is it George Zimmerman has to be a Criminal for not only DARING to survive an African-American’s Vicious attack, and take him out in a life-or-death strugle, but Billy the Clinton the first black President according to Toni Morrsion, Presidental medal of freedom winner, CANNOT be charged with the rape of Juanita broderick?! EVERY WOMAN MATTERS!!!!