Court of public opinion looms large in George Zimmerman murder trial

rockin'robin said:
how so?...Haven't seen her "around" at all lately....and No...she is not well-liked in Jacksonville...She's power hungry, no matter how many people she steps over....
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"Citizens' Grand Jury For Allegedly Falsifying Arrest Warrant And Complaint"

just.... hilarious
 
There and not many experts bigger than The Dersh

A medical report by George Zimmerman’s doctor has disclosed that Zimmerman had a fractured nose, two black eyes, two lacerations on the back of his head and a back injury on the day after the fatal shooting. If this evidence turns out to be valid, the prosecutor will have no choice but to drop the second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman — if she wants to act ethically, lawfully and professionally.

There is, of course, no assurance that the special prosecutor handling the case, State Attorney Angela Corey, will do the right thing. Because until now, her actions have been anything but ethical, lawful and professional.
She was aware when she submitted an affidavit that it did not contain the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. She deliberately withheld evidence that supported Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense. The New York Times has reported that the police had “a full face picture” of Zimmerman, before paramedics treated him, that showed “a bloodied nose.” The prosecutor also had photographic evidence of bruises to the back of his head. But none of this was included in any affidavit.

Now there is much more extensive medical evidence that would tend to support Zimmerman’s version of events. This version, if true, would establish self-defense even if Zimmerman had improperly followed, harassed and provoked Martin.
A defendant, under Florida law, loses his “stand your ground” defense if he provoked the encounter — but he retains traditional self-defense if he reasonably believed his life was in danger and his only recourse was to employ deadly force.

Thus, if Zimmerman verbally provoked Martin, but Martin then got on top of Zimmerman and banged his head into the ground, broke his nose, bloodied his eyes and persisted in attacking Zimmerman — and if Zimmerman couldn’t protect himself from further attack except by shooting Martin — he would have the right to do that. (The prosecution has already admitted that it has no evidence that Zimmerman started the actual fight.)

This is a fact-specific case, in which much turns on what the jury believes beyond a reasonable doubt. It must resolve all such doubts in favor of the defendant, because our system of justice insists that it is better for 10 guilty defendants to go free than for even one innocent to be wrongfully convicted.
You wouldn’t know that from listening to Corey, who announced that her jobs was “to do justice for Trayvon Martin” — not for George Zimmerman.

As many see it, her additional job is to prevent riots of the sort that followed the acquittal of the policemen who beat Rodney King.
Indeed, Mansfield Frazier, a columnist for the Daily Beast, has suggested that it is the responsibility of the legal system to “avert a large scale racial calamity.” He has urged Zimmerman’s defense lawyer to become a “savior” by brokering a deal to plead his client guilty to a crime that “has him back on the streets within this decade.”
But it is not the role of a defense lawyer to save the world or the country. His job — his only job — is to get the best result for his client, by all legal and ethical means.

Listen to the way a famous British barrister put it in 1820:
“An advocate, by the sacred duty which he owes his client, knows, in the discharge of that office, but one person in the world, that client and none other . . . Nay, separating even the duties of a patriot from those of an advocate, and casting them, if need be, to the wind, he must go on reckless of the consequences, if his fate it should unhappily be, to involve his country in confusion for his client’s protection.”
The prosecutor’s job is far broader: to do justice to the defendant as well as the alleged victim. As the Supreme Court has said: “The government wins . . . when justice is done.”
Zimmerman’s lawyer is doing his job. It’s about time for the prosecutor to start doing hers.

Dershowitz, a defense attorney, is a professor at Harvard Law School.


Read more: Drop George Zimmerman
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Zimmerman investigator returns to witness stand

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The lead detective in George Zimmerman's second-degree murder case testified Monday that Trayvon Martin's father told him that screams for help on a 911 call weren't his son's.

Officer Chris Serino was called by the defense to testify about a meeting with Martin's father in the days after the Miami teen was fatally shot by Zimmerman last year.

At the meeting, when Tracy Martin listened to the 911 recording and was asked if it was his son, Tracy Martin said "no," Serino said.

"He looked away and under his breath he said 'no'," Serino said.

Tracy Martin was in the courtroom as Serino recounted the meeting.

Under cross examination, prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda suggested that Tracy Martin may have been in denial about his son's death and uttered, 'no."

"It could be perceived as denial," Serino said.

The investigator's testimony was just the latest effort to determine who was crying for help on the 911 calls. Convincing the jury of whose voice is on the tapes is important to both sides because it would help jurors decide who was the aggressor in the confrontation that left Martin dead. Relatives of Martin's and Zimmerman's have offered conflicting opinions on previous days about who is heard screaming.

A series of Zimmerman's friends on Monday testified that the screams on the recording were their friend, and the 911 call was played multiple times in the courtroom.

After the call was played for Sondra Osterman, defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked who it was.

"Yes, definitely. It's Georgie," said Osterman, who testified she first met Zimmerman in 2006 while working with him at a mortgage company. Osterman and her husband, Mark, describe themselves as the best friends of Zimmerman and his wife.

The emergency call captured the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin shortly before Zimmerman fatally shot the teen. Zimmerman's mother and uncle testified last Friday it was Zimmerman screaming. Martin's mother and brother also took the witness stand last Friday to say the voice belongs to Martin.

Zimmerman himself once said during a police interview that the screams didn't sound like him, though he and his family later said the screams were his.

Prosecutors had wanted to introduce as witnesses two audio experts who said the voice belonged to Martin and ruled out Zimmerman's voice. But Judge Debra Nelson prohibited the audio experts from testifying, saying their methods were unreliable.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and says he shot Martin in self-defense during a scuffle in the townhome complex where he lived. Martin was there visiting his father and his father's fiancee.

Prosecutors contend that Zimmerman was profiling Martin and perceived the teen as someone suspicious in the neighborhood, which had been the site of a series of break-ins.

Prosecutors were also seeking Monday to stop defense attorneys from presenting an animated depiction of the fatal fight. Their motion requests that the animation not be mentioned or played at Zimmerman's trial, claiming it would only confuse jurors. They said the animation doesn't show a murder weapon, only approximates positions based on witness accounts and artificially depicts lighting conditions.

Defense attorneys hadn't immediately filed a response. Prosecutors said in their motion that the animation commissioned by the defense was created by employees of the animator re-enacting the fight wearing motion-capture suits.

Under cross-examination, prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda implied that Sondra Osterman and her husband, Mark, had a stake in the outcome of the trial because they had written a book about Zimmerman's case and were donating the proceeds to their friend.

Mark Osterman took the witness stand after his wife to testify about how Zimmerman had chosen and purchased his firearm. He testified that Zimmerman could shoot with both hands, and he also said he recommended keeping the gun loaded.

He said it was Zimmerman's voice screaming when the 911 call was played for him in the courtroom.

Former co-worker Geri Russo also testified it was Zimmerman yelling on the call, as did John Donnelly and Leanne Benjamin, a married couple who became good friends with Zimmerman and his wife.

The prosecutor also played for Sondra Osterman a nonemergency police call Zimmerman made to report Martin walking through his neighborhood. In the call, Zimmerman uses the words, "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away." Sondra Osterman identified the voice as Zimmerman's.

When asked by O'Mara if she detected ill will, spite or hatred in his voice, she answered no.

Prosecutors must show that Zimmerman acted with ill will, spite or a depraved mind in order to get a second-degree murder conviction.
Zimmerman investigator returns to witness stand
 
Judge has decided to allow the toxicology report including the THC in Trayvon's system.
 
TXgolfer said:
Judge has decided to allow the toxicology report including the THC in Trayvon's system.
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At last! However, Trayvon supporters complain that GZ's DNA was not tested at that time. Well, what do you think? I think the police should have him take a DNA test to prove that he was not on drugs or not intoxicated.
 
CrazyPaul said:
At last! However, Trayvon supporters complain that GZ's DNA was not tested at that time. Well, what do you think? I think the police should have him take a DNA test to prove that he was not on drugs or not intoxicated.
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I'm sure they normally would have tested GZ if they felt that there was any wrongdoing.
 
TXgolfer said:
:dunno: you would have to ask them. They sure didn't seem to believe this was a crime until outsiders got involved.
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they were pretty sloppy like how they improperly handled the evidence.
 
Jiro said:
they were pretty sloppy like how they improperly handled the evidence.
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Again, I don't think they believed there was any wrongdoing. They still might not believe that...
 
rockin'robin said:
Like-wise and the same for Trayvon....smoking pot laced with THC?....and most likely a heavy amount...as he was an avid weed smoker.....videoed at the store "swaying back and forth"....
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THC is a chemical in pot . And for the swaying back forth , TM could had been listening to music.
 
whatdidyousay! said:
THC is a chemical in pot . And for the swaying back forth , TM could had been listening to music.
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I would like to ask you something. When you are on the way home, do you walk on their front yards in the rain while there are sidewalks in your neighborhood? That would be weird, wouldn't it?
 
George Zimmerman's Account Supported By Forensics, Expert Testifies

The markings the fatal bullet left on Trayvon Martin's sweatshirt and body supports George Zimmerman's account that Martin was on top and leaning over him when Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, a leading forensics expert testified today.

"The medical evidence is consistent with his statement," Dr. Vincent Di Maio told the Florida court.

Di Maio said that the pattern of powder burns on Martin's sweatshirt and skin indicated that the shirt was two to four inches away from Martin's chest when he was shot by Zimmerman.

"Mr. Martin was over him, leaning forward," he said.

"If you are lying on your back your clothing is going to be against your chest," said Di Maio. "The clothing is consistent with someone leaning over the person doing the shooting."

George Zimmerman's Account Supported By Forensics, Expert Testifies - Yahoo!
 
rockin'robin said:
The markings the fatal bullet left on Trayvon Martin's sweatshirt and body supports George Zimmerman's account that Martin was on top and leaning over him when Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, a leading forensics expert testified today.

"The medical evidence is consistent with his statement," Dr. Vincent Di Maio told the Florida court.

Di Maio said that the pattern of powder burns on Martin's sweatshirt and skin indicated that the shirt was two to four inches away from Martin's chest when he was shot by Zimmerman.

"Mr. Martin was over him, leaning forward," he said.

"If you are lying on your back your clothing is going to be against your chest," said Di Maio. "The clothing is consistent with someone leaning over the person doing the shooting."

George Zimmerman's Account Supported By Forensics, Expert Testifies - Yahoo!
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I think this is why the prosecution spent so little time on forensics. Science defies their case. There only hope is to play on emotion. The City Manager hurts them as well. The defense is doing a great job of showing this trial was the result of emotional people rather than law.
 
Zimmerman was getting meds that cause drugs cause aggressive behaviors
and I do not heard anyone talking about this. So it should not matter that TM was smoking pot that night. I just hope to HELL GZ does not get walk away from this.
 
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