LafayetteLady
Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007
From: Northern New Jersey
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr
There is little doubt that police officers get called to a location, arrive at the location, do some brief investigation and determine whether or not they have grounds for an arrest or if the situation merits more investigation.
There is little doubt that in this instance, detectives and forensic investigators were called to the scene and that Zimmerman wasn't allowed to go anywhere (unless he had needed to go to the hospital) until some kind of on-the-scene determination had been made as to whether an arrest was in order or not.
The probability is that Zimmerman told his story, the police/detectives interviewed witnesses¹, the forensics team took some measurements and made a preliminary report to the detectives and the determination was made that Zimmerman's story and the witness accounts seemed to match the physical evidence. This tells me that while Zimmerman isn't blameless, he probably isn't going to be found guilty of murder or manslaughter. I guess it could happen but, I doubt it.
What I think is going to happen here is the Grand Jury is going to refuse to bring back a true bill and this young man and his family will be forced to move for fear of their lives because of the threats by people who have already tried and convicted Zimmerman.
Even if the Grand Jury indicts (even a bad prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted), there is little chance of a conviction based upon what seems to be in evidence, at this point.
Now, once he's acquitted, the fed will come along with their bullshit "hate laws" and determine that they know what was in this young man's mind and heart that evening (laughable, on its face) and send him to jail for civil rights violations.
Peace and comfort,
Michael
¹There's been a lot made of this witness that told police: "I saw the whole thing" and the appearance that there are gaps in his statement. This is far from unusual.
At just about any incident scene where there are people around, someone will utter those words and it will be found out to be hyperbole. It's kind of human nature.
That doesn't negate the fact that his statement may very well be important and complete enough to help the case in one direction or another.
I have to disagree with you here. I think they will come back with a True Bill, almost certainly. It has been openly stated that police failed to follow proper procedure at the scene. Whether they "thought" Zimmerman was truthful or not does not explain the failure to follow procedure.
It also seems that now so many questions have arisen, Zimmerman's recounting of the events that evening are changing.
What is indisputable is that Zimmerman admitted getting out of his car and following Martin, which makes him the initial aggressor. That tends to supercede his "self defense" proclamation. I mean, if you go pick a fight with someone, start getting your ass kicked, are you then able to kill them and claim "self defense?" That's rhetorical of course, because we both know the answer is a resounding "no."
But back to procedure. In all cases of a homicide (someone getting killed), procedure dictates that the person left standing who admits they committed the act be given a sobriety test, or taken to the hospital to have one administered.
Zimmerman suffered injuries that he alleges were the result of Martin "attacking" him. It is not unreasonable for police, who are aware of Zimmerman's history (not his previous arrests, but what was it? Like 63 calls to police in the last couple of months?) to take Zimmerman to the hospital for a physical examination. I have seen nothing that even indicates that the police took photographs of Zimmerman's "injuries." However, I do know that while police and even paramedics might be able to "guess" that Zimmerman's nose wasn't broken, they certainly are not qualified to make the diagnosis. Likewise with the injury to the back of his head. If someone says the back of their head is bleeding because someone was slamming their head against the pavement could very well have a concussion, yet, there was no trip to the hospital?
Those things DO indicate that the police in this situation really messed things up, potentially for either side. A physical exam and photographs would have potentially been able to conclusively determine that Zimmerman's "injuries" were the result of someone hitting him or him falling down.
Did they test the blood that was on him? We really don't know whether or not the blood on Zimmerman was his blood or Martin's, and it seems that no one ever will.
All of this seems to stem from the concepts behind the "Stand Your Ground" law. Hopefully, this incident will have the impact of Florida re-examining that law and overturning it. There are so many gray areas that appear to allow anyone to kill someone and then say they were "standing their ground" that it really is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Prosecuting this as a hate crime is the most volitile thing that could happen. I don't believe that Zimmerman was justified in his actions at all, and I do believe he should suffer some dire consequences for his actions, which as long as this case remains at the state level, are likely to occur. If this is "enhanced" to a hate crime, the burden of proof is going to be so far reaching as to potentially result in Zimmerman being found not guilty and facing no punishment for his actions.
It is appalling that there are some who are now trying to portray the Martin boy as a violent druggie. A kid getting suspended for fighting at the high school level in Florida is really not all that uncommon. Finding marijuana residue in his backpack doesn't qualify him as a serious drug user. The media and defense habit of doing everything possible to discredit a victim is so disrespectful. There is no evidence that Martin sought out Zimmerman, only that Zimmerman first approached Martin. Trying to allude otherwise is ridiculous.
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RE: Read this, then STFU. - 
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