CSGV – We Love to Misrespresent the Facts

I meant to post this a few days ago, but got busy.

CSGV made a dramatization video of the Martin/Zimmerman incident. Of course they couldn’t do a real dramatization, because folks would be wondering…what was Mr. Martin doing for 2-4 minutes. 

All the voices seem to have this heightened falsetto tone which rather turns me off further.  But essentially it ends with dozens of hooded victims on ground and a quote that laws should protect the victims.

And you know what? I agree. Yes, I absolutely agree with CSGV on this. I think the only disagreement we have is WHO was the victim.  CSGV has a fundamental flaw. They exist to stop “Gun Violence”.  As such, they view any gun violence as bad. Even when that violence is protecting the lives of good/innocent people.

Were they to call themselves CSV, Coalition to Stop Violence. They might have objected to Mr. Martin smashing Mr. Zimmerman’s head into the ground. Might have objected to Mr. Martin initiating physical confrontation.  But that is not a concern to CSGV. They only care about guns which in all cases are bad. 

This is a common trait of anti-gun groups. And this is why we see criminals in their victim rolls. Because if a woman shoots and kills a man trying to rape her, CSGV views the rapist as the victim and the woman defending herself as the criminal.

PAGunblog.com postulates this video probably wasted a fair chunk of change with little likelihood to have much influence. (I do hope they’re correct.) I hope they’re right.  But you know, I’d love to see our side do a video which matches the facts.  Namely, Mr. Zimmerman in his car until dispatch asks him which way did the suspect run. Mr. Zimmerman stopping running when asked to do so (which believe it or not, even the CSGV video appears to depict).  And then Mr. Zimmerman on the phone with dispatch for a few minutes.  Likely watching the rear gate.  2 minutes or more passing by. Hangs up, walks back to his car and is suddenly jumped by Mr. Martin. Who punches him, breaks his nose, and begins smashing his head into the ground. 

I wonder if people saw that video, which follows most of the evidence we have.  If folks would think differently, and wonder what was Mr. Martin’s problem that he liked to resort to violence.

http://news.yahoo.com/psa-reenacts-trayvon-martin-shooting-stand-your-ground-195410511.html

Thoughts on the Zimmerman Trial and Witness Testimony

 

Some interesting thoughts on the testimony being given in the Zimmerman trial. I swear, this reminds me of “My Cousin Vinny”, even a bad lawyer can pretty much tear up the testimony.

Witness Bahadoor on Tuesday, who has apparently signed a petition in favor of prosecuting Zimmerman. (Which means she’s already got a strong bias.) But a number of issues exist in her testimony.

“I saw what looked as figures and arms flailing,” said Bahadoor. She says it was too dark for her to identify the individuals or to clearly see what position they were in.

This is followed by a claim that after she heard the gunshot. “It was just a body in the grass,” said Bahadoor. “I remember it being face down.”

So wait, a biased witness calling for the prosecution of Mr. Zimmerman, states that it was too dark for her to identify individuals or the position they were in. But in that exact same darkness, she can identify Mr. Martin lying face down. 

Does that strike anyone as odd? 

***

Next witness Surdyka, who claims she believes the yelp for help was made by the “boy”. Now here is something at play, most are assuming that since the help was high pitched, that it must be from a boy. And this is because they were shown a 13 year old kid. Mr. Martin had already gone through puberty and reached a height in excess of 6ft.  He likely had a deeper voice than Mr. Zimmerman. Heck, I’m a stocky short overweight mostly of Italian descent, and I can make a pretty high pitched yelp when caught off guard.

But here is where I think Surdyka proves her testimony is unreliable.  “I heard like from my window a pop, pop, pop.” said Surdyka. “You know I don’t know what a gun really sounds like.”

Okay, I would wager that what Surdyka was actually hearing was likely the thud of Mr. Zimmerman’s head against the cement. At least in preceding the gun shot. Why? Because one round was fired.  Not three…  at best maybe an echo of the shot. But most of Florida is damnably flat.  So I don’t think there is likely something to give that much of a delayed echo.

Her 911 call is more acurate, in that it only reports one “bang” or “pop”

***

“When I shut my nightlight off, and I could see two men on the ground. I knew it was something very serious,” said Surdyka.

Interesting, when she could see two men on the ground. Not a man and a little boy. Remember that, Mr. Martin was physically a match for Mr. Zimmerman.

***

Smart question on West’s part. Of questioning how much and what Surdyka saw, by asking about the muzzle blast. And whether she “really” saw the gun go off. I do have to admit, I’ve never seen a gun fire at night. I’d presume there would likely be some illumination. Especially from a short barreled firearm.
***

Jeantel, the friend who Mr. Martin was on the phone with. Is very convincing. Almost makes you believe that Mr. Martin was chased and confronted by Mr. Zimmerman. And that Mr. Zimmerman’s claim to have abandoned pursuit only to be later attacked by Mr. Martin, to be bogus.

But there are some interesting things to note…
Miami Herald has a map of the neighborhood overlaid by events.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/14/2748048/interactive-map-of-trayvon-martin.html

First, Mr. Martin did not take the shortest route home. Which is something most would do in the rain.
7:09 – Mr. Zimmerman calls police to report suspicious person.

7:11 – Mr. Zimmerman reports person fleeing to back entrance, and gets out of his vehicle.  Pursues for 15 seconds before police tell him to stop.  15 seconds would likely put him in close vicinity to where the shooting transpired.

7:12 – Mr. Zimmerman informs police he is unaware of individual’s location.

7:16 (approximately) – Incident between Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Martin transpires.

At least 4 Minutes transpire between the separation and the incident. Per the map, Mr. Martin’s body was a mere 200 ft from his backyard. 

Something is very very weird, if it takes you 4-6 minutes to walk 200ft.

To give you an example, this short legged heavy set almost 40 year old was able to cover a similar distance in just under a minute walking.  Running it’d be far less.

Those four minutes literally provide enough time for Mr. Martin not only to run all the way home, but to return back to the area Mr. Zimmerman was standing at.

Zimmerman did not kill that boy

He was dead long before Mr. Zimmerman shot Mr. Martin.

***

When George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin the media portrayed it as an over zealous community watch man. We were shown kiddie pics, altered 911 logs and a lot more.

But then folks scoured the web and Martin started to look more like a thug. dealer, gangster, thief.

These text messages leave little doubt that the cute little boy was sadly dead a long time before Mr. Zimmerman shot Mr. Martin

http://www.gzlegalcase.com/index.php/court-documents/174-defendant-s-3rd-supplemental-discovery

UPDATE: More pics at CNN article

Keep your booger picker off the trigger

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/justice/florida-zimmerman-defense/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

ABC reveals the Bloody Red Zimmerman of Florida

The media has been pretty much mucky with this case since it’s inception. I remember the video from the police station talking about how no wounds or injuries were visible.

Seriously? Did ANYONE watch that video? Granted, I couldn’t see injuries at that resolution, but the way Zimmerman was walking looked akin to a quarterback who got sacked and is limping off the field.

So now it comes out that we have a photo of Zimmerman, his head dripping in blood from numerous places. Yes, folks….say it with me….that’s an “i-n-j-u-r-y”.

Now, I am still going to stand by my original stance, the mere fact that Zimmerman was injured does not necessitate his innocence or guilt. Numerous criminals are injured in the midst of committing a crime. What it does do, is lead credance to Zimmerman’s story that he feared for his well-being. And provides him with a justification for use of force in self-defense.

What now needs to happen, is a jury needs to decided, based on all the evidence WHO they think initiated physical confrontation. That is really the deciding factor in this case to me.

If Zimmerman initiated the use of force by attempting to detain Martin, than Martin was within his right to hit, and use physical force again Zimmerman. But if Martin initiated the physical confrontation, than based upon Zimmerman’s injuries, he has a clear motivation for the use of deadly force to protect his own life.

Furthermore, there is an element I have been somewhat surprised hasn’t come out. To date, we have had a repeated claim of racism and needless shooting. But as more and more comes out regarding this case, how long until the Hispanic community begins to view Zimmerman as innocent and begin vocalizing on his behalf. No one wants to join on the side of a “baby killer”, as initially portrayed by the mainstream media. But a family man helping to keep his neighborhood safe from thugs who finds himself on the ground having his head smashed into the pavement. That is something one can sympathize with. And I think we may start to see a larger Hispanic voice start vocalizing on behalf of Zimmerman as more facts are released to the public.

H/T to ABC News
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/20/Zimmerman-bloody-head

H/T PAGunblog.com

New judge for Zimmerman

Per CNN… “Florida judge to step aside from case involving neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot teen Trayvon Martin”

I believe this was the right decision. Whether the judge would have decided fairly or not is of less importance then removing any perception of influence.

Shots fired into police car in Zimmerman’s neighborhood

So it begins…

This entire case has been a tinderbox ready to ignite a powder keg. And man have fear that reason will not out match passion. There are concerns that Rodney King king riots may occur.

Sadly, the mainstream media seems to be actively pursuing this with repeated inflammatory articles. One would almost think the likes of MSNBC and CNN are hoping riots will occur.  Yes, CNN it would be newsworthy…but do you really want this?  What if the riots hit in Atlanta (which isn’t very far from Florida). 

http://gma.yahoo.com/police-car-shot-trayvon-martins-neighborhood-184110824–abc-news-topstories.html

The sad thing is that the article above essentially documents a LOT of “S-T-U-P-I-D” on both sides.

Castle Doctrine on Parole vs Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Below I am going to make the case that we have a law that we desperately need to repeal…

The Martin-Zimmerman case has enacted tons of attention on Florida’s Castle Doctrine and duty to retreat laws – this despite the fact that it is irrelevant to the case.

1.  If Martin was actively beating Zimmerman while he was on the ground, per George Zimmerman’s testimony. Zimmerman has no means to retreat.
    
2.  If Martin was fighting off a George Zimmerman who was forcibly confronting him, per the Martin side of things, than Zimmerman also does not fall under the duty to retreat clause, being the aggressor.

So what is the argument against Castle Doctrine in this case?

“Zimmerman should be arrested and jailed!”

But wait, I thought America believed in “Innocent until proven guilty!” And this is the crux of the matter, do we believe in innocence until proven guilty?

If so, we need to let the process work. We might need to nudge it, but I sure as heck DO NOT want to eliminate America’s “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” foundation. And I’d wager African-Americans are even less inclined to see us disolve that fundamental American trait. Cause let’s be honest, African-Americans have throughout American history more often than most groups found themselves presumed “Guilty Before Innocent”.

Let’s just hypothetical say that Zimmerman is telling the truth. Do we really want to send a man to prison if he’s innocent?

And if he’s not innocent, and that determination is made, then Zimmerman will go to prison for manslaughter.

But let’s talk about all the hub-bub regarding repealing Florida’s Castle Doctrine. Why? How did it affect this case other than Zimmerman isn’t sitting in jail right now awaiting determination to his innocent or out $5 Grand for a bail bond.

The real net result is very minimal in regards to final justice.

CONFESSION: I did feel that initially, it looked as if the process had stopped when there were numerous questions involving this case. And that continued investigation, and a judicial review was necessary. I still believe Zimmerman may be guilty, but with all the evidence released, I have probably moved from a 60% / 40% in Martin’s favor to 60% / 40% in Zimmerman’s favor. But all that said…my opinion is meaningless, it’s the investigators and/or jury’s that will count.

***

Now let’s talk about a law that Florida absolutely needs to repeal.

Parole

The parole process releases thousands of criminals onto our streets. And please understand, these are criminals – they have not completed their sentences. They haven’t “done the time, for the crime”.

I don’t know the exact figure, but I would wager an estimate that 85% of these parolees commit crimes upon their release. Though far less are likely caught, and even less lose their parole. My family had dealings (unfortunately) with one convicted Federal felon on parole. He was habitual in both fraud and crime, and yet three law enforcement branches did nothing about it for over a year.

One study concluded 45% of parolees fail their parole. Now realize, what that means…1/2 of parolees fail. Of that, the article claims 2/3 return for technicalities. Now considering it took about a dozen crimes for the one parolee I’ve ever had to deal with. I wager he probably returned on a technicality as well.

What affect does the returning of parolees to society result in? Per this article

• 8% rise in aggravated (violent) assault
• 20% rise in robbery reports
• 10% rise in burglarly reports
• 20% rise in murder rates

So the misguided claim is that Florida’s Castle Doctrine law is reponsible for the death of an innocent youth. Okay, well parole is responsible for the death, rapes and assault of tens of thousands of innocent people. If we need to abolish a law, one that leads to the harm and death of innocents, then clearly, the practice of parole should be abolished.

Imagine the life Jaycee Dugard would have had if Phillip Garrido , a convicted kidnapper, rapist, sex offender had not been paroled – who testified in court, “that he masturbated in his car by the side of grammar schools and high schools“. 

Do you think Jaycee’s life would have been better if she wasn’t locked in a basement being raped repeatedly for nearly 20 years?

Seriously, I believe the parole system is fundamentally broken. It exists because our prisons are too full. Our prisons are too full because we fill our prisons with perpetrators of so-called “victimless crimes”.  Be it an individual who enjoys growing and smoking cannibas or an elderly handicapped orchid hobbyist arrested by a SWAT team. (Seriously, neither is someone I want filling up my jails. If you want to abuse your body on drugs, that’s your call. The mere choice of drug, cannibas vs alcohol/tobacco really shouldn’t be the difference of freedom or prison. 2 years of filling up a prison slot that could have been used for a violent murdering rapist. Really, which do you want locked up and kept from society. 

God help those who find themselves or their loved ones harmed by a parolee. I believe at that point, the government has failed in it’s duty. Releasing violent criminals to prey upon society and repeat their crimes is negligence on the part of the government – and de facto negation of the rights we have ceded to them.

Therefore, I believe we should enact a campaign to have Florida repeal parole. Thousands more innocents are harmed in Florida by the parole process than Castle Doctrine.

Could the Martin-Zimmerman shooting be racially motivated?

The rosy picture of Martin continues to degrade. Claims (remember, just that ‘claims’) of pot use, drug dealer, burglar tools, stolen jewelry, punching a bus driver, all contribute to a less than rosy picture of Martin than his parents would like to portray.

“They’ve killed my son, and now they’re trying to kill his reputation,” Sorry Mrs. Martin, but your son killed his own reputation with his behavior. Bringing it out merely highlights it.

But believe it or not, none of those really affect the outcome of the decision for me. It still left Zimmerman leaving his vehicle. And whenever I came to his claim that Martin came at him from behing, I was left asking; “where is the motive?” I saw no motivating reason that Martin would have come after Zimmerman. And that was the biggest issue I had with Zimmerman’s story. For me to believe that Zimmerman was acting in self-defense, I needed a motive for Martin to be assaulting him. Until today, I did not have one.

Zimmerman and Martin’s Girlfriend both seem to affirm this dialogue, or something close to it, occurred:

Trayvon: “What are you following me for?”
Zimmereman: “What are you doing around here?”

Seems innoculous enough at first glance, right? Nothing inflammatory. Nothing there that would seemingly make Martin rush George Zimmerman from behind is there?

Recently, there has been some mention that Travyon might have had some confrontational dealings with a gang of hispanics. If this is true, this becomes the missing piece in Zimmerman’s scenario – the motive.

Look at the following photograph of Trayvon Martin (recent, as opposed to innocent child) and George Zimmerman. Now picture in your mind not a confrontation between a Neighbor Watch but two rival gang members. Now re-read these statements:

Trayvon: “What are you following me for?”
Zimmereman: “What are you doing around here?”

Now these simple words take on a whole new confrontational meaning. Zimmerman’s response comes across as defending one’s “turf”. Could Trayvon Martin have interpreted the hispanic George Zimmerman’s comment as a challenge – believing it to come from a rival gang member.

Except that George Zimmerman was not a rival gang member, but a Block Watch (and yes, organized not vigilante / self-appointed as was first reported). Next thing Zimmerman knows he is being attacked by a Trayvon Martin who presumes he is from the rival hispanic gang.

The above is all speculative, but does provide an arguable motive. And this is why I have felt from the beginning that this particular case needed judicial review. Sadly, now with the media frackus and twits like Spike Lee tweeting out the address of Zimmerman’s residence. We’ve have to be careful that the judicial review is allowed to proceed with integrity and that Zimmerman gets his fair hearing in a court of law.

An Article on Daily Beast is espousing racism. But I question, what if Trayvon Martin is in fact dead because he was racist against hispanics? It’s presumptive but a possibility. However, it’s an topic that is unlikely to ever be broached publicly. And that right there is the problem with our nation, and what the author of the article does not understand. The problem is that race as been made a one-sided heirarchal dialogue. That is not the equality of Martin Luther King’s dream, nor does it further progress toward a color blind world.

Some additional links with good commentary (H/T PAGunBlog.com)

• http://extranosalley.com/?p=22187
• http://www.wagist.com/2012/dan-linehan/was-trayvon-martin-a-drug-dealer

Zimmerman/Martin Case: Things seem to be going in a new direction

Today, Yahoo had a news article.  It’s one of a half a dozen that I’ve seen in the past day or so that has a different ‘attitude’.  Namely,  a far less biased tone, and one that is questioning of Martin’s nature. It also happens to include a new photo of a much older Martin lacking the child-likeness of the photo that has been used prior.   A criticism that many have made over this issue, and rightly so.

The article also details some interesting accounts from Martin’s Facebook page, including that Martin had swung at a bus driver.  The article also restates that Martin’s suspension was due to marijuana pariphenalia (empty dime bag).

What’s being painted is a troubled, aggressive young man.  And I think the media is now becoming a little shy of being too strongly in Martin’s camp because of a fear that Martin may show himself to be a not-so-great street urchin.

How does this affect my view of the case?

Not very much, first off, as much as I dislike street urchins it is not within my jurisdiction to remove them from the streets. Although when they are removed, I believe all of society benefits.

My view is the same as it was before, but I’ll expound on the matters in relation to the present state of things:

1.  There were too many questions regarding this case and who initiated the conflict, that I felt it had to go to trial. It wasn’t clear cut.  Zimmerman appears to have pursued, and a dual self-defense scenario could be possible. In such a case, I believe a judicial determination needs to be made. 
    
2. Zimmerman, may have acted negligently, and there is a good chance he could find himself facing manslaughter convictions. However, more evidence is mounting that Zimmerman may in fact have been acting in self-defense and been pursued by Martin.

   In Zimmerman’s defense, it’s become fairly clear he was not a lone-patrolmen and was involved in an active community neighborhood watch.  The 46 calls have been revealed to be over 11 years (very reasonable as a block watch captain). And many friends, of varying ethnicities, have vocally supported him as not being a racist.

3. This ALL comes down to about one minute of time, in which the question is “Who confronted who first?” and who first created a scenario in which the individual felt threatened for their well being. Was Zimmerman’s shot in defense of his well being? Or was Martin’s punch in defense of his well being? That’s up to a court to decide.
    
4. What I’ll wager will happen, Zimmerman will either face manslaughter charges or the charges will be repudiated and Zimmerman will be set free. He then will be sued in civil court.  Even if they cannot pursue Zimmerman in civil court for self-defense, I’d wager a good lawyer can sue him for negligence and improper actions in his role as a Block Watch captain. And that those failings were a contributing factor to Martin’s death. (So they won’t be able to try him on the shooting itself but on his role in the neigborhood watch.

I’ve never suspected that Martin is squeaky clean.  But unless he was in the act of crime or harm, I do not think he should have been approached in such manner.  There is a lot of questionable testimony on both sides. And I believe the only way for this to be answered is to go to court and let the courts sift through all the evidence and rhetoric and make a determination.

That seems much more likely to happen now.  Initially it looked as it might not, and that was where my objection lay, now a more thorough investigation is transpiring.  Now my hope is that there is a “fair” trial. That Zimmerman is tried fairly, and the result be accepted.

The sad thing is that this will likely go down far more in legacy for it’s perceptions.   Now what we all have to hope and pray for is that cooler heads prevail. That calls for lynching, riots, and bigotry are not tolerated from any side.

Zimmerman’s Police Report (Courtesy of WEER’D

Here is a link to the police reports.  http://cnninsession.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/martinpolicreport.pdf

Of note, Martin’s body was between two houses.  I view this key in Zimmerman’s case.  Zimmerman stated he exited his vehicle to determine a street sign (perhaps house #).  However, the location of Martin’s body puts this statement into great question in my view.

The location leads me to believe Martin was the one acting in self-defense against a pursuer. But I don’t truly have enough detail to make any judgment beyond “this needs to go to trial and be judiciously determined”.   WEER’D postulates a series of events in which Martin is the attacker. This could be true as well, in which case Zimmerman would have acted in self-defense.

The crux of the issue is that enough questions in this case have arisen so that it is not a clear cut case of self-defense.  My feeling is that self-defense should de facto unless there is a reasonable doubt. And in this case, I believe there is a reasonable doubt.

If Zimmerman is innocent, I hope he can prove so.  But at the same time, I think he was negligent in his actions. And in so being, has created a mess for the rest of our community and left a young man dead.

H/T to WEER’D WORLD

UPDATE: Commentor on WEER’D WORLD links to article substantiating Zimmerman’s role as a neighborhood watch captain. This does aid Zimmerman’s case. And does show how much mis-information is out there regarding this case.  We can make assumptions, but the only real judgment is that this needs a judicial review.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10791755-neighbor-comes-to-defense-of-trayvon-martins-shooter