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This is a sensitive and complex issue, please do not make comments without first reading the facts, which are cataloged in the OP.
If you make an uninformed post, or one that isn't relevant to the discussion, you will be moderated. If in doubt, don't post. |
not to toot my own horn, but it appears "legal analysts" also see this as a coercion tactic:
Legal analysts speculate that Mrs. Zimmerman's arrest could be used as a tactic by the prosecutors to pressure her husband.
"They can always say, look, we won't prosecute your wife if you decide to plea to some sort of charge," legal analyst Mark Lippman told "Good Morning America" today. He added, "It seems pretty clear to me that this is not something they would do in a normal case."
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On June 13 2012 10:36 Boiler Bandsman wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2012 10:05 Kaitlin wrote:On June 13 2012 09:17 dAPhREAk wrote:
this recent step seems to be more of a bully move by the DA as part of a plea bargain (i.e., go after the wife to force the husband to plead guilty)--at least how i read it. i doubt this would happen in cases that aren't high publicity. Law enforcement and prosecutors do everything they can to "coerce" defendants into whatever they want, whether high profile or not. You just don't see it when it's not high profile, but it's standard operating procedure for them. That doesn't extend to filing spurious or even specious charges. THAT would be prosecutorial misconduct regardless of motive. They can do whatever they want within the law in that interrogation room or whatever, but it is absolutely wrong to include criminal charges on a third party as part of that.
I didn't say they were allowed to do those things. I said they do them. "Within the law" doesn't apply if they know they will get away with it. Unfortunately, there is often nothing that can be done. We don't live in a perfect world.
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Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released
"In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-released
here is the link to the transcripts:
http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew
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On June 19 2012 02:31 dAPhREAk wrote:Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released Show nested quote +"In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-releasedhere is the link to the transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew
I can definitely see how, in the heat of the moment, entire world's against you, and you are, at best, unemployable, and at worst, a target for someone else to murder...That you would lie about money. He shouldn't have, that was a bad call, but lets not pretend like that donation money makes them somehow rich; they'll be living on that for the immediate future, and it's entirely likely, after the trial, few people will want to hire him anyway.
Still shouldn't have lied, that's unfortunate.
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On June 19 2012 02:38 Felnarion wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 02:31 dAPhREAk wrote:Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released "In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-releasedhere is the link to the transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew I can definitely see how, in the heat of the moment, entire world's against you, and you are, at best, unemployable, and at worst, a target for someone else to murder...That you would lie about money. He shouldn't have, that was a bad call, but lets not pretend like that donation money makes them somehow rich; they'll be living on that for the immediate future, and it's entirely likely, after the trial, few people will want to hire him anyway. Still shouldn't have lied, that's unfortunate.
its a minor point with respect to the bail issue, but a major point with respect to the trial: i recall that his wife lied, not him. with respect to bail, he misled the court and its a good ground in my mind to deny bail. however, can it be used against him in the murder trial as impeachment of his honest character? i dont think so since he didn't make any false statements and was under no obligation to speak (fifth amendment and all).
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On June 19 2012 02:38 Felnarion wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 02:31 dAPhREAk wrote:Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released "In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-releasedhere is the link to the transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew I can definitely see how, in the heat of the moment, entire world's against you, and you are, at best, unemployable, and at worst, a target for someone else to murder...That you would lie about money. He shouldn't have, that was a bad call, but lets not pretend like that donation money makes them somehow rich; they'll be living on that for the immediate future, and it's entirely likely, after the trial, few people will want to hire him anyway. Still shouldn't have lied, that's unfortunate.
If Zimmerman beats the charges, he's got a future making appearances and giving talks to conservative gun groups. He's not going to get stupid-rich, but he'll make more than enough to sustain himself if he plays his cards right. There's no reason he couldn't be a minor conservative celebrity (think Joe the Plumber) if he wanted. Even if he is convicted, there's a book deal in it for him. Look at it this way. People straight up gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars because they support him. There's an obvious market to exploit. He just needs to protect his brand.
I'm sure he's afraid, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him.
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On June 19 2012 03:10 Omnipresent wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 02:38 Felnarion wrote:On June 19 2012 02:31 dAPhREAk wrote:Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released "In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-releasedhere is the link to the transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew I can definitely see how, in the heat of the moment, entire world's against you, and you are, at best, unemployable, and at worst, a target for someone else to murder...That you would lie about money. He shouldn't have, that was a bad call, but lets not pretend like that donation money makes them somehow rich; they'll be living on that for the immediate future, and it's entirely likely, after the trial, few people will want to hire him anyway. Still shouldn't have lied, that's unfortunate. If Zimmerman beats the charges, he's got a future making appearances and giving talks to conservative gun groups. He's not going to get stupid-rich, but he'll make more than enough to sustain himself if he plays his cards right. There's no reason he couldn't be a minor conservative celebrity (think Joe the Plumber) if he wanted. Even if he is convicted, there's a book deal in it for him. Look at it this way. People straight up gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars because they support him. There's an obvious market to exploit. He just needs to protect his brand. I'm sure he's afraid, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him.
not sure if Florida has an equivalent of the Son of Sam law, but I doubt he will be able to profit from the experience if he is convicted (e.g., a book deal). moreover, the family can sue him for wrongful death and take all of his assets.
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On June 19 2012 03:23 dAPhREAk wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 03:10 Omnipresent wrote:On June 19 2012 02:38 Felnarion wrote:On June 19 2012 02:31 dAPhREAk wrote:Trayvon Martin Case: Jailhouse Calls From Zimmerman To Wife Released "In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, their confidence in the future and how to move around money," the Orlando Sentinel writes.
Zimmerman also tells his wife to purchase protective vests "for them and for his attorney," as The Associated Press reports.
"We need to get on it ASAP, cause you know the ... the ... personally I want you wearing one," Zimmerman told his wife Shellie on April 16.
"As uncomfortable as it is, I want you wearing one," he adds.
Recordings and transcripts of the calls were released this morning by the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, who is pursuing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman for the Feb. 26 death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded innocent and says that he acted in self defense. Trayvon's family and supporters say the 17-year-old African-American youth was a victim of racial profiling and that Zimmerman should not have followed the unarmed teen through a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
According to the Sentinel, "in a call [on] April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated. ... 'There are people in America that care,' he said."
The newspaper adds that:
"Prosecutors in the past two weeks had released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls. That's because they used them to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail and to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury.
"Corey's office alleges that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to $155,000 that had been donated by supporters responding to his request for help on a website.
"But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke."
According to the AP, "prosecutors say the calls show George and Shellie Zimmerman knew that roughly $135,000 had been raised by the site."
Last week, Shellie Zimmerman was charged with making a false statement concerning their finances.
Reuters deputy social media editor Matthew Keys has posted transcripts of the calls here. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/18/155287395/trayvon-martin-case-jailhouse-calls-from-zimmerman-to-wife-releasedhere is the link to the transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/producermatthew I can definitely see how, in the heat of the moment, entire world's against you, and you are, at best, unemployable, and at worst, a target for someone else to murder...That you would lie about money. He shouldn't have, that was a bad call, but lets not pretend like that donation money makes them somehow rich; they'll be living on that for the immediate future, and it's entirely likely, after the trial, few people will want to hire him anyway. Still shouldn't have lied, that's unfortunate. If Zimmerman beats the charges, he's got a future making appearances and giving talks to conservative gun groups. He's not going to get stupid-rich, but he'll make more than enough to sustain himself if he plays his cards right. There's no reason he couldn't be a minor conservative celebrity (think Joe the Plumber) if he wanted. Even if he is convicted, there's a book deal in it for him. Look at it this way. People straight up gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars because they support him. There's an obvious market to exploit. He just needs to protect his brand. I'm sure he's afraid, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him. not sure if Florida has an equivalent of the Son of Sam law, but I doubt he will be able to profit from the experience if he is convicted (e.g., a book deal). moreover, the family can sue him for wrongful death and take all of his assets.
Most "Son of Sam" laws are pretty narrow. As long as his book or potential appearances/speaking engagements aren't directly related to his crime, he's probably in the clear. I'm having trouble finding a full version of Florida's Son of Sam law, but I found this
Royalties, commissions, proceeds of sale, or any other thing of value payable to or accruing to a convicted felon or a person on her or his behalf, including any person to whom the proceeds may be transferred or assigned by gift or otherwise, from any literary, cinematic, or other account of the crime for which she or he was convicted.
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/data/session/2005/Senate/bills/analysis/pdf/2005s0312.cj.pdf
It seems pretty narrow, as it doesn't even include memorabilia. Zimmerman could sell the gun he used, for example. A general biography, account of the media blitz and legal process, and even a manifesto on gun ownership and armed self reliance should be acceptable.
You're right about the wrongful death suit, though.
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Police chief in Trayvon Martin case fired
Sanford, Fla., has fired Bill Lee, the police chief who initially oversaw the controversial investigation into a white-Hispanic neighborhood watch captain's fatal shooting of a black 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin.
The initial lack of an arrest drove widespread protests and propelled the case into national headlines.
Lee previously took leave as chief and later offered to resign. Now, he is "permanently relieved of duty," according to a written announcement from the city.
"After much thoughtful discussion and deep consideration for the issues facing the city of Sanford, I have determined the police chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community," Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte was quoted saying in the city's statement. "We need to move forward with a police chief that all the citizens of Sanford can support. I have come to this decision in light of the escalating divisiveness that has taken hold of the city."
Sanford police initially cited Florida's "stand your ground" law, which allows killings in self defense, in declining to arrest the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman.
Zimmerman claimed he was defending himself, adding that after a late-night confrontation Martin was getting the better of him in a scuffle prior to the fatal shot.
Amid separate investigations into the shooting and the response to it, Lee said on March 22 that he was "temporarily" stepping aside as Sanford police chief. He later offered his full resignation but the city council narrowly voted to reject it.
In April, a special prosecutor appointed by Gov. Rick Scott charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder.
In announcing Lee's dismissal, Sanford said Interim Chief Rick Myers would continue to run the city's police department as the city conducted a nationwide search for a permanent replacement.
http://news.yahoo.com/trayvon-martin-case-police-chief-bill-lee-permanently-022700840--abc-news-topstories.html
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kind of a dick move to fire him instead of accepting his resignation back when he offered it.
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On June 13 2012 23:14 Zaqwe wrote:I actually just found out that the skittles and arizona watermelon drink (not iced tea, as the media and his family falsely reported ad nauseum) are two ingredients in a drug concoction called "lean", which Trayvon had started abusing a year earlier. The first thing Zimmerman said to the dispatcher was that it looked like Trayvon was on drugs or something. Show nested quote +Update #26 Part 2 – Trayvon Martin Shooting – A year of drug use culminates in predictable violence…We know from Trayvon himself that last summer, between the school years, in or around June 2011, Trayvon was engaged in DXM/Lean and Marijuana use. We also know there are multiple behavioral side effects from DSM/Lean use. Those side effects and impacts on cognitive judgement increase with prolonged exposure. The more you use, the worse the psychological affects are. Trayvon was admittedly, according to his Facebook conversations, a user of DXM and Purple Drank/Lean since at least June 2011. He was also an admitted smoker of Marijuana which was found in both his urine and blood tests. His liver indicates the beginning stages of an unusual degrading known as “mild fatty metamorphasis”, and his brain tissue appeared compromised, both conditions symptomatic of DXM use. In addition he was suspended from school three times in the past seven months prior to the shooting for behavioral issues. He was detached from adult supervision at the time in question, in a relatively unfamiliar place, and according to his father Tracy Martin, grounded. His girlfriend describes their phone call as Trayvon being “paranoid”. Trayvon makes a trip to the store and buys two of the specific three ingredients needed to blend a drug cocktail he was well versed in making (Lean). And appeared slightly exagerrated, tenuous, and wobbly (swaying) when you objectively review his physical movements on the video of the store during the purchase. He was a little more than a half a mile from home (Brandy’s house), yet he left the store at 6:24 and was first noted at the clubhouse at 7:09pm. If he intended to go straight home from the store, and under normal cognitive capacity, he should have made the 1/2 mile trip in well under 30 minutes, well under. The facts, and new understanding, as it now presents itself, would certainly lend weight to the strong possibility that Trayvon Martin was motor impaired, or at least influenced, by some altering condition. At the very least this bears considerable merit for further inquiry, and a serious toxicological analysis for an understanding of exactly what metabolic influences may have been in place at the time of the encounter between George and Trayvon. http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/05/24/update-26-part-2-trayvon-martin-shooting-a-year-of-drug-use-culminates-in-predictable-violence/
Who uses Skittles/Arizona to make lean? The sugar coating on skittles dissolves too quickly and is unsatisfying at the end of the drink, so most people use Jolly ranchers, and you almost always want to use a carbonated drink for mixing (Sprite obvious choice, pepsi/dew 2nd). So I still think it's entirely possible he was just buying those innocuously.
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So now anyone buying candy and a carbonated drink (trayvon got tea/watermelon drink?) is assumed guilty of making this lean stuff?
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George Zimmerman: Trayvon Martin threatened my life
Just hours after fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman told police investigators the shooting followed a life-and-death struggle in which the teen told him, "You're going to die tonight."
The audio of the February 26 interviews, made public late Wednesday, is part of discovery items released by Zimmerman's defense team. The recordings represent the first time Zimmerman is heard giving his account in his own words.
Also released were audio and video showing the techniques used by the police department in the investigation: interviews conducted in the days after the shooting, a video of a voice stress test administered to Zimmerman by police and his videotaped re-enactment of the incident for authorities.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in Martin's February 26 shooting death. Zimmerman has said he shot Martin in self-defense, but Martin's family and civil rights activists across the country said Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, racially profiled Martin and ignored a 911 dispatcher's advice not to follow him.
In an interview just after the shooting, Zimmerman told police that the struggle began when Martin "jumped out from the bushes" and punched him in the face, knocking him down.
"I started screaming for help. I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe," he said.
"He grabbed my head and started hitting it into the sidewalk," he said. "When he started doing that, I slid into the grass to try to get out from under him. ... I'm still yelling for help."
Sanford police chief fired in wake of Trayvon Martin case
Martin, he said, put his hand over Zimmerman's mouth and nose and told him, "You're going to die tonight."
"When I slid, my jacket and my shirt came up. ... I felt his hand go down my side, and I thought he was going for my firearm, so I grabbed it immediately, and as he banged my head again, I just pulled out my firearm and shot him."
When he did, he said, Martin, who had been on top of him, fell away and said, "All right. You got it. You got it." In another interview, he noted Martin might have said, "You got me."
More evidence to be released in Trayvon Martin case, judge rules
Zimmerman said in the audio interviews that he was driving to the grocery store that evening when he saw Martin walking in his neighborhood. He said he pulled over and called a police nonemergency number "to report a suspicious person."
He noted that there had been some burglaries in the area, prompting him to start a neighborhood watch program. He said he had never seen Martin before and thought it odd that although it was raining, "he was just walking casually, not like he was trying to get out of the rain."
In another police interview on February 29, three days after the shooting, Zimmerman told Sanford, Florida, homicide investigator Chris Serino he also felt the youth was suspicious because he stopped in front of a home Zimmerman had previously called about, a home that was broken into after his reporting another suspicious person.
"Had this person been white, would you have felt the same way?" Serino asked. "Yes," Zimmerman replied.
Prosecutors: Jail phone transcripts show Zimmerman, wife talking in code
As he spoke to the dispatcher, he told police Martin circled his vehicle, but he could not hear whether Martin said anything because his windows were up and he was on the phone. Afterward, he said, he "lost visual of (Martin)." At the same time, he said the dispatcher asked him his location. He said he wasn't sure of the name of the street he was on and got out of the vehicle to look for a street sign or an address on a home.
The dispatcher asked him if he was following Martin, he said, and he replied that he was "trying to find out where he went." The dispatcher told him, "We don't need you to do that," noting an officer was en route, he said.
Zimmerman said he was heading back to the vehicle when Martin jumped out, asking him, "What the f***'s your problem?"
He said he told Martin, "I don't have a problem," but the youth replied, "Now you have a problem," and attacked him. He said he fell backward after being punched in the nose, and "he was whaling on my head."
Zimmerman told police he yelled for help repeatedly and heard one man say he was going to call 911.
"I screamed 'Help me' probably 50 times, as loud as I could," he said.
Timeline of events in Trayvon Martin case
In a written statement Zimmerman gave to police, also released late Wednesday, Zimmerman said Martin told him to "shut the f*** up" during the struggle.
"Each time I attempted to sit up, the suspect slammed my head into the sidewalk," he wrote. "My head felt like it was going to explode."
He wrote he felt Martin "reach for my now-exposed firearm" as the teen threatened his life and cursed at him.
During the videotaped voice stress test, he seemed to suggest that he wasn't sure he had hit Martin when he fired his gun, saying that he "thought that he heard the shot and he was giving up" and that he pushed Martin off of him.
"Either way, I ended up on top of him, straddling him," he said, but he claimed he "felt like (Martin) was hitting me with something in his hands" so he grabbed the youth's hands to restrain him. Martin was saying something like "ah, ah," and cursing, Zimmerman said, and he told him, "Stop. Don't move."
Before the voice stress test begins, Zimmerman discusses health insurance with a police officer and mentions he visited the doctor and the psychologist that day. "I think the psychologist is when it hit me the hardest," he said.
However, in a February 29 interview, Serino expresses some doubt about Zimmerman's account, noting that many questions remain about the incident.
"The court of public opinion is going to beat up on you a lot," Serino said. "A lot of people don't think that your injuries are consistent with getting into a life-threatening type thing."
Martin, Serino said, "has no criminal record whatsoever. Good kid. Mild-mannered kid."
In his possession, Serino said, "we found a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles and about $40 in cash. Not a goon."
He tells Zimmerman he has received an anonymous phone call "from somebody who gave a different version of events ... more along the lines that you tried to detain him," and recounting an argument prior to the shooting.
"You got any problems with black people?" Serino asked Zimmerman, who replied, "No, sir."
Serino told Zimmerman authorities can't figure out what would have made Martin "snap." Zimmerman said he didn't know what might have enraged the teen.
And the investigator expresses doubt that Zimmerman, who had lived in the neighborhood for three years and described himself as head of the neighborhood watch, did not know the names of the three streets in the subdivision.
"To be honest with you, I have a bad memory anyway," Zimmerman said, adding that he has attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder and takes medication for it.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/justice/florida-teen-shooting/index.html
Here is the .pdf of the written statement given by Zimmerman
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/06/21/written_statement_0226.pdf
CNN article also has a video of Zimmerman explaining the whole situation at the scene.
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On June 22 2012 02:20 dAPhREAk wrote:George Zimmerman: Trayvon Martin threatened my life Show nested quote +Just hours after fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman told police investigators the shooting followed a life-and-death struggle in which the teen told him, "You're going to die tonight."
The audio of the February 26 interviews, made public late Wednesday, is part of discovery items released by Zimmerman's defense team. The recordings represent the first time Zimmerman is heard giving his account in his own words.
Also released were audio and video showing the techniques used by the police department in the investigation: interviews conducted in the days after the shooting, a video of a voice stress test administered to Zimmerman by police and his videotaped re-enactment of the incident for authorities.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in Martin's February 26 shooting death. Zimmerman has said he shot Martin in self-defense, but Martin's family and civil rights activists across the country said Zimmerman, who is white and Hispanic, racially profiled Martin and ignored a 911 dispatcher's advice not to follow him.
In an interview just after the shooting, Zimmerman told police that the struggle began when Martin "jumped out from the bushes" and punched him in the face, knocking him down.
"I started screaming for help. I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe," he said.
"He grabbed my head and started hitting it into the sidewalk," he said. "When he started doing that, I slid into the grass to try to get out from under him. ... I'm still yelling for help."
Sanford police chief fired in wake of Trayvon Martin case
Martin, he said, put his hand over Zimmerman's mouth and nose and told him, "You're going to die tonight."
"When I slid, my jacket and my shirt came up. ... I felt his hand go down my side, and I thought he was going for my firearm, so I grabbed it immediately, and as he banged my head again, I just pulled out my firearm and shot him."
When he did, he said, Martin, who had been on top of him, fell away and said, "All right. You got it. You got it." In another interview, he noted Martin might have said, "You got me."
More evidence to be released in Trayvon Martin case, judge rules
Zimmerman said in the audio interviews that he was driving to the grocery store that evening when he saw Martin walking in his neighborhood. He said he pulled over and called a police nonemergency number "to report a suspicious person."
He noted that there had been some burglaries in the area, prompting him to start a neighborhood watch program. He said he had never seen Martin before and thought it odd that although it was raining, "he was just walking casually, not like he was trying to get out of the rain."
In another police interview on February 29, three days after the shooting, Zimmerman told Sanford, Florida, homicide investigator Chris Serino he also felt the youth was suspicious because he stopped in front of a home Zimmerman had previously called about, a home that was broken into after his reporting another suspicious person.
"Had this person been white, would you have felt the same way?" Serino asked. "Yes," Zimmerman replied.
Prosecutors: Jail phone transcripts show Zimmerman, wife talking in code
As he spoke to the dispatcher, he told police Martin circled his vehicle, but he could not hear whether Martin said anything because his windows were up and he was on the phone. Afterward, he said, he "lost visual of (Martin)." At the same time, he said the dispatcher asked him his location. He said he wasn't sure of the name of the street he was on and got out of the vehicle to look for a street sign or an address on a home.
The dispatcher asked him if he was following Martin, he said, and he replied that he was "trying to find out where he went." The dispatcher told him, "We don't need you to do that," noting an officer was en route, he said.
Zimmerman said he was heading back to the vehicle when Martin jumped out, asking him, "What the f***'s your problem?"
He said he told Martin, "I don't have a problem," but the youth replied, "Now you have a problem," and attacked him. He said he fell backward after being punched in the nose, and "he was whaling on my head."
Zimmerman told police he yelled for help repeatedly and heard one man say he was going to call 911.
"I screamed 'Help me' probably 50 times, as loud as I could," he said.
Timeline of events in Trayvon Martin case
In a written statement Zimmerman gave to police, also released late Wednesday, Zimmerman said Martin told him to "shut the f*** up" during the struggle.
"Each time I attempted to sit up, the suspect slammed my head into the sidewalk," he wrote. "My head felt like it was going to explode."
He wrote he felt Martin "reach for my now-exposed firearm" as the teen threatened his life and cursed at him.
During the videotaped voice stress test, he seemed to suggest that he wasn't sure he had hit Martin when he fired his gun, saying that he "thought that he heard the shot and he was giving up" and that he pushed Martin off of him.
"Either way, I ended up on top of him, straddling him," he said, but he claimed he "felt like (Martin) was hitting me with something in his hands" so he grabbed the youth's hands to restrain him. Martin was saying something like "ah, ah," and cursing, Zimmerman said, and he told him, "Stop. Don't move."
Before the voice stress test begins, Zimmerman discusses health insurance with a police officer and mentions he visited the doctor and the psychologist that day. "I think the psychologist is when it hit me the hardest," he said.
However, in a February 29 interview, Serino expresses some doubt about Zimmerman's account, noting that many questions remain about the incident.
"The court of public opinion is going to beat up on you a lot," Serino said. "A lot of people don't think that your injuries are consistent with getting into a life-threatening type thing."
Martin, Serino said, "has no criminal record whatsoever. Good kid. Mild-mannered kid."
In his possession, Serino said, "we found a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles and about $40 in cash. Not a goon."
He tells Zimmerman he has received an anonymous phone call "from somebody who gave a different version of events ... more along the lines that you tried to detain him," and recounting an argument prior to the shooting.
"You got any problems with black people?" Serino asked Zimmerman, who replied, "No, sir."
Serino told Zimmerman authorities can't figure out what would have made Martin "snap." Zimmerman said he didn't know what might have enraged the teen.
And the investigator expresses doubt that Zimmerman, who had lived in the neighborhood for three years and described himself as head of the neighborhood watch, did not know the names of the three streets in the subdivision.
"To be honest with you, I have a bad memory anyway," Zimmerman said, adding that he has attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder and takes medication for it. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/justice/florida-teen-shooting/index.htmlHere is the .pdf of the written statement given by Zimmerman http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2012/images/06/21/written_statement_0226.pdfCNN article also has a video of Zimmerman explaining the whole situation at the scene.
I lived in my old neighborhood for over ten years and I couldn't for the life of me tell you the names of anything but the main street and the first turn. Aside from that, there's about 5-6 other streets I don't have a clue what the names are.
Interesting that this, more full account, says Zimmerman was also on top of Trayvon.
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Sanford detective: Trayvon Martin never used deadly force
Prosecutors released another batch of evidence in the George Zimmerman murder trial Tuesday, including a statement from the lead detective that shows the investigator doubted the shooter’s story, even though he passed two lie detector tests.
The State Attorney’s Office released several videos and audio tapes, most of which had already been made public last week by Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara. One video released Tuesday shows new footage of Zimmerman discussing his injuries with detectives.
Prosecutors released a statement by Sanford Police Det. Chris Serino, in which he detailed the events the night of the shooting of Trayvon Martin and explained why he believed a manslaughter charge was appropriate. A shorter statement had been released last month, with large sections blacked out.
Trayvon died Feb. 26 after a fight with Zimmerman. Zimmerman claims the unarmed teenager attacked him and he had no choice but to shoot, because Trayvon had reached for Zimmerman’s weapon.
But the records released Tuesday show Serino said Zimmerman’s injuries were only “marginally consistent with a life threatening violent episode described by him, during which neither a deadly weapon nor deadly force was deployed by Trayvon Martin.”
Serino said the relative sizes of the two fighters, coupled with the fact that neither had specialized training in hand-to-hand combat, meant Zimmerman was not at any “exceptional disadvantage.”
“Zimmerman, by his statements made to the call taker and recorded for review and his statements made to investigators following the shooting death of Martin, make it clear that he had already reached a faulty conclusion as to Martin’s purpose for being in the neighborhood.”
“His actions are inconsistent with those of a person who has stated he was in fear of another subject,” Serino wrote. “Investigative findings show that George Michael Zimmerman had at least two opportunities to speak with Trayvon Benjamin Martin in order to defuse the circumstances surrounding the encounter. On at least two occasions, George Michael Zimmerman failed to identify himself as a concerned resident or a neighborhood watch member to Trayvon Benjamin Martin.”
At one point in the new video shot the day after the killing, Sanford Det. Doris Singleton notes that the swelling of injuries to Zimmerman’s head had already died down after just a day.
Zimmerman said his nose was broken and he probably needed stitches for his head injuries, but that the wounds had already begun to heal so he did not get sutures. His hands showed no scrapes, although his head had bruising.
“He was just focused on my head,” Zimmerman said of Trayvon. Zimmerman said his wife, Shellie, attended to his injuries.
“My wife is an RN student, so she went to work,” Zimmerman said. “Good to keep her busy, I guess.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/26/2869077/sanford-detective-trayvon-martin.html
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George Zimmerman could be released from jail on $1 million bond while he awaits trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida judge ruled today.
Zimmerman has been in jail since June when prosecutors proved that he and his wife had misled the court about how much money they had in their bank accounts. He had previously been freed on $150,000 bond, but was asked to surrender himself after the revelations about his finances came to light.
"This court finds that the defendant tried to manipulate the system when presented with the opportunity to do so," Judge Kenneth Lester wrote in the bond order released today.
Zimmerman, 28, could draw on the more than $200,000 donated by his supporters in order to pay 10 percent or more to a bail bondsman, who would then post the rest of the bond on Zimmerman's behalf.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for the February shooting of 17-year-old Martin, who was unarmed. Zimmerman has said he shot Martin in self-defense after the teenager attacked him.
Source
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His bond keeps raising exponentially and he still manages to afford it each time. A million dollars this time, and it got paid? wtf?
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He only had to pay $100,000. Although he needs $900,000 in collateral.
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So I guess some people sure got egg on there face now. The report paints Zimmerman as pretty a good guy as a whole with maybe a little bit of a hero complex. It doesn't outright say this, but it's hard not to read this as Zimmerman was justified in confronting Martin.
Zimmerman is half-white and half-Hispanic. His family has testified that he was a mentor to two poor black kids in the Orlando, Fla., area, and rallied the community to help a homeless black man who had been sucker-punched by a police officer.
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EPT
