Tag: Trayvon Martin (page 12)

I've generally stayed away from speculative discussions of timelines and possible routes of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin the night Travyon Martin was shot, except in relation to the released discovery materials and other material released by the State or City of Sanford.

But we've covered the law and discovery this weekend, and commenters here want to discuss their theories. So here is a thread to do that.

I have put what I think the relevant times are below, as well my latest map showing the possible routes, followed by what I think are the likely possibilities. I don't think we have enough evidence to arrive at a final conclusion, so I don't make one. [More...]

More discovery in the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case will be disclosed to the media on May 31. On June 1, Judge Lester will hold a hearing on the state's motion to seal and prevent public release of some of the discovery. Notice of the hearing was provided to lawyers for the media (order here) who have previously intervened in the case objecting to the state's withholding of information.

The state's motion is here. George Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara agrees with the state and is asking for at least 30 days to review the material before it is released so he can decide what objections to make.

O'Mara says he's received thousands of pages of discovery as well as recordings. The documents released to the media consist of 183 pages, some videos, photographs and audio recordings. What's in the rest of the thousands of pages? [More...]

As I've written previously, the changes in statements of W-6 (John), W-12 (wife of w-13) and W-2 (the sister without her contacts who saw, and then didn't see, two figures chasing each other) are not a big deal.

Now that I've listened to all of the witness recordings, and most of them several times, I think the most important witnesses are W-11 and W-20, W-13, and W-6. They heard or saw the most, and were in the best position to discern what was happening. None has the whole story, but each of their accounts mesh and each fills in gaps in the accounts of the others, combining to make a coherent and consistent chronology. [More]

A new Quinnipiac poll in Florida shows a majority of Floridians still approve of the state's Stand Your Ground law and oppose gun control

Republicans lean heavily in favor of the law, with 78 percent supporting it, while 59 percent of Democrats are against it. Fifty-eight percent of independent voters support the law, while 35 percent are against it.

The poll shows there remains a gender gap on the law as 65 percent of men and 48 percent of women say they support "stand your ground." There is also a major gender gap in Florida over gun control. According to the poll, 62 percent of men are against more gun control. A majority of women surveyed -- 54 percent -- back increased gun control in the Sunshine State.

The George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin shooting doesn't seem to have changed their opinions. [More...]

As Mark O'Mara reminds people on the George Zimmerman website, not all discovery has been provided. Some we will never see.

Things I'd like to know: What time did George Zimmerman leave his house? What route did he take from his house to where he parked his car? How long was he driving before he parked his car and called the non-emergency number to report Trayvon Martin? Where exactly was his car parked? What route did Trayvon take after walking close to GZ's vehicle? [More....]

The Orlando Sentinel reports that four "key witnesses" provided statements in March that differed in part from their earlier statements. The Sentinel portrays the changes as "major" and says they are potentially damaging to Zimmerman's case.

The four witnesses the Sentinel lists are witnesses W-2, W-6, W-12 and W-13. Two of them aren't "key" to anything. The other two, W-6 and W-13 are key, but neither changed the most critical elements of their accounts. W-6 didn't budge from his assertion that during the struggle he witnessed (in which someone cried out for help) Trayvon was in black and on top of Zimmerman whose shirt or jacket was red. W-13 didn't change his account of what he saw or what Zimmerman said, he just provided his perception of Zimmerman's demeanor when later asked. [More...]

I'm still working through the discovery in the George Zimmerman case. I have a long post I'm writing on Witnesses #6 and #13, who I think may be the most important witnesses to the criminal case.

One thing that stikes me is that police are no better than lay people as eyewitnesses. For example, in describing Trayvon Martin's clothes the night of the shooting:

• Ofc. Ricardo Ayala, Page 14: 2/27/12, 2:28 am: Trayvon is lying in the grass, wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, white/red tennis shoes.
• Officer Joseph Santiago, Page 16: 3/2/12: describing his participation on 2/26: Got to the scene, Trayvon was on his back, had gray sweatshirt, light colored shorts, white tennis shoes.

Trayvon had on a light grey Nike sweatshirt (ME-8) and a dark grey Fruit of the Loom hooded sweatshirt (ME-12.) (Report here. Curiously, the police reports list the sweatshirt as ME-12 and the hoodie as ME-8.) He was wearing tan pants, as is evident in the 7-11 video. [More...]

Our last Zimmerman thread is full. Here's a new one.

One thing I noticed in the discovery is the multiple persons who observed George Zimmeman's injuries at the scene:

Officer Stacie McCoy:

I instructed Officer T Smith to have SFR provide medical care to the subject reference visible blood on his face and to transport the subject to the SPD for everyone’s safety.

Officer Michael Wagner:

I walked to Ofc Smith's car where Zimmerman was sitting and in handcuffs and used my personal iPhone (due to an immediate lack of access to a digital camera) to take a picture of Zimmerman's face. I saw that Zimmerman’s face was bloodied and it appeared to me his nose was broken. I also saw that the back of Zimmerman’s head was bloodied.

I then walked to where Martin lay on the ground and took a photo of Martin’s face as well. I observed no physical injury to Martin

[More...]

Update: MSNBC has posted all 183 pages of the documents released today. So has The New York Times here.

The discovery in the George Zimmerman case has been released. It's abundantly clear why Zimmerman was not arrested the night Trayvon Martin was shot. There was no evidence he committed a crime.

There are now plenty of photos like this one showing Zimmerman's injuries to his nose and scalp. Police reports refer to Zimmerman's voice being heard crying out for help multiple times in one of the 911 calls. The only eyewitness who could make an identification as the struggle was ongoing and before the shot (who appears to be John) told police at the scene that the man in the red jacket was on the bottom, crying for help, and the guy on top of him was repeatedly hitting him.

So why did one officer request a capias? It had nothing to do with evidence of a crime. It was because the officer said had Zimmerman stayed in his car, nothing would have happened. [More...]

Mark O'Mara says on camera he did not leak Zimmerman's medical report to ABC News. I'd bet he's telling the truth and didn't leak it. Who's suggesting he did? Team Crump, of course.

O'Mara has had this report for weeks. He had it in court with him at the bond hearing and said he hadn't yet turned it over to the prosecution. Zimmerman's father, brother and friends referred to it in interviews weeks ago.

The report was given exclusively to Matt Guttman of ABC News. [More...]

The New York Times reports the results of its reporters' investigation over the last several weeks into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

It includes a lot of unnamed police sources and claims by unnamed witnesses made after the fact. Most of this stuff we've heard before, and I'd caution against assuming the New York Times is reporting facts. It's reporting what unnamed police sources and witnesses told the reporters, which may or may not be accurate. [More...]

Update: I was able to find a copy of the actual 8 page list of discovery items released by state's Attorney Angela Corey.

ABC news has obtained the 3 page medical report from the doctor who examined George Zimmerman the day after he shot Trayvon Martin. The report was included in the discovery turned over to the defense Monday.

Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury....

The report also shows Zimmerman's upper lip and cheek were bruised and he had lower back pain. The back of his head had two lacerations, one of which was almost an inch in length. [More..]