Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.
Henry Ford
Zimmerman: The Saga Continues
I think that Barack Obama, who made one of the biggest Presidential gaffes in my lifetime by identifying with victim Trayvon Martin as his virtual son, has painted himself into a corner and is now in a no-win situation. I think the special prosecutor, by filing second-degree murder charges, set some unrealistic expectations, particularly among many progressives and/or members of the black community. The "post-racial" President Obama will be held responsible for any related unrest if the charges are dismissed or the jury finds him innocent (I do not see Zimmerman getting convicted, unless the prosecution has some evidence I haven't seen or heard discussed in the media).
On the other hand, even if somehow the prosecution gets the conviction, there are serious due process questions with Zimmerman's rights given short shrift. I noted in an earlier post (after Zimmerman was charged) that legal experts were sounding skeptical about the charge based on information presented to date. Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said then that the evidence, as presented in the media, was "so thin that it won’t make it past a judge on a second degree murder charge … everything in the affidavit is completely consistent with a defense of self-defense."
Whereas the anti-Zimmerman forces had publicly raised doubts about Zimmerman's claims of being bloodied during a struggle with Martin, we now have, via an ABC News exclusive (see embedded videos below), a validated picture of blood trickling from the scalp of Zimmerman which was taken literally within minutes of Martin's passing. (I would expect that the police would have retained materials associated with the cleaning of Zimmerman's wounds; additionally, I don't watch TV shows like CSI, but I would think with Zimmerman's head hitting the concrete, there should have been traces of Zimmerman's DNA at the scene. I would expect with due professional care, the police should have gathered evidence around the general area surrounding Mr. Martin.) Given evidence of one or more witnesses to a struggle and a verified time-specific photo of Zimmerman's fresh wounds, it's difficult to see how the charges of murder stand up.
Dershowitz suggests not only has the prosecution a weak case from the get-go but may have omitted material evidence, not only a violation of professional ethics but of the law itself (oath to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth and nothing but the truth): "An affidavit that willfully misstates undisputed evidence known to the prosecution is not only unethical but borders on perjury because an affiant swears to tell not only the truth, but the whole truth, and suppressing an important part of the whole truth is a lie...this is not the first time they have willfully omitted exculpatory evidence. It's a continuing problem. Here, it’s not only immoral, but stupid. The whole country is watching."
Here's my basic subjective read of the situation based on the facts and some inferences (I'm not alleging this is factual): Zimmerman saw somebody suspicious in the neighborhood and started tailing him. He contacted the dispatcher, whom duly cautioned him about approaching dangerous suspects and at some point needed some additional street identification for the police. Trayvon was aware of and took exception to the fact Zimmerman was following him and confronted the much smaller man after Zimmerman got out of the vehicle to get a better view of the street signs. A startled Zimmerman was caught off-guard , and Trayvon decided to teach Zimmerman a lesson, quickly wrestling him to the ground and started beating him. Zimmerman, being battered, reached for his weapon, there was a struggle and he fatally shot Trayvon.
This is based on a few salient facts: Trayvon was several inches taller and in good physical shape; Zimmerman was no match for him. It's hard to believe that Trayvon, who was on foot, would have been in a close struggle with Zimmerman unless he chose to do so (e.g., he could have stayed his distance from Zimmerman coming out of the car; the evidence shows a gunshot at close range, not a lucky shot at a suspect moving away from him in a poorly lit neighborhood).
Am I blaming the victim here? No. But the key question is why Zimmerman got out of the car. If indeed Zimmerman's car was in the area of a local intersection and if a dispatcher transcript makes some request for additional street information, this suggests that all that Zimmerman was trying to do was to help the police pinpoint the area of the suspect. The state can insist all it wants that Zimmerman was imprudent for tailing a suspect, but I'm not sure that Zimmerman's actions were unlawful: he had the right to drive his car in the neighborhood: if, indeed, as circumstantial evidence indicates, Martin assaulted Zimmerman, that makes Zimmerman the victim, not the aggressor; it's hard to believe that Zimmerman would be the aggressor in a confrontation with a well-built teen a half foot taller than him: it's not a fair fight.
But if Zimmerman was imprudent to pursue Martin, it was equally imprudent for Martin to approach Zimmerman. While Zimmerman was being assaulted, he had a right of self-defense. The prosecution seems to be arguing even if there was a struggle between Zimmerman and Martin, Zimmerman chose to shoot a retreating Martin after the fact of the assault. Yet the evidence seems to suggest that Martin was shot in the chest, not in the back. (I would have expected the latter from a retreating Martin for the state to argue that the attack was retaliatory, consistent with the charge of second-degree murder.)
There may be some other evidence I'm not aware of, but it seems that the state's case is "Look, we told Zimmerman not to go after him; Zimmerman is thus responsible for any fight and a death resulting from the fight." This is not unlike arguing that it is unwise for a woman to go to a strange man's apartment at night, so hence she's responsible for any ensuing rape. What kind of Alice in Wonderland thinking is it to saying that someone doing something unwise provides the other party an automatic pass for criminal activity? Regardless of whether it was right or prudent for Zimmerman to pursue Martin, all that is immaterial to the fact of a conflict. I think any jury in its right mind would think reasonable doubt comes into play when we know the defendant is much shorter than the victim and the defendant was wounded at the time of the fatality.
Former Secret Service Agent and US Senate Candidate
Dan Bondigo (R-MD) Comments on
Colombia Secret Service Sex Scandal
Political Humor
A classic George Carlin bit as we approach Earth Day:
"Eleven Secret Service agents are being investigated. So far one has been fired, one resigned, one retired, and the rest are thinking about leaving just because the party is over." - Jimmy Kimmel
[Eleven Secret Service agents are being investigated. So far one has been fired, one resigned, one retired, and the rest are thinking about REDACTEDjust because the party is over.]
"After they promised $800, they only gave her $30. That's what you call a trade deficit." - Jimmy Kimmel
[.... That's what you call a politician.
...That's what you call a (travel) budget deficit.
$30 was for the sex; $770 was the optional hush money fee.
The agents were confused: $30 was the old price--before Fed Reserve chief Ben Bernanke fired up the fiat currency presses....
That's what you get for spending too much time around Barack Obama.... Sooner or later you pick up on his spendthrift habits.]
"The escort claims the agents said they did not remember agreeing to pay $800 because they were drunk the night before and she refused to leave the room until she got paid. Eventually they settled for $225. These are the guys we should put in charge of negotiating our foreign debt." - Jimmy Kimmel
[Barack Obama claimed that he could not remember agreeing to cut the budget deficit in half because he was drinking Obama beer the night before. The younger generations, which have been screwed by Obama's profligate spending using their blank check, should Occupy the Oval Office until Obama agrees to make a down payment on his $5T debt.]
That Secret Service sex scandal keeps growing. Here's the latest: Three of the Secret Service agents involved in the sex and cocaine scandal are now leaving the agency. On the bright side, they
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Rolling Stones, "The Last Time"
