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Author Topic: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin in Florida #2 5/10/12 - 7/12/12  (Read 362688 times)
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kcrn
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« Reply #740 on: June 22, 2012, 06:51:25 PM »

Trayvon Martin case opens NABJ convention in New Orleans
June 22 '12
H

NEW ORLEANS --
The Trayvon Martin case was the first topic of discussion at the opening ceremony of the 2012 National Association of Black Journalists Convention, which was held Thursday in New Orleans.
 
The panel discussion was titled, “Newsmaker Plenary: Trayvon Martin: A Crime Story In The Digital Age.”
 
More than 500 journalists from across the world attended the panel discussion, featuring Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton, father Tracy Martin, Rev. Al Sharpton, and the Martin's family attorney Ben Crump.
 
The Twitter hashtag was #trayvonnabj and the discussion was moderated by CNN Legal Analyst Sunni Hostin.
 
First up was Rev. Sharpton, whose part of the panel was a one-on-one interview with Sunni Hostin.
 
On the backlash of being an advocate and a MSNBC host at the same time, Rev. Sharpton said that people know his talk show is about opinions, basically saying you know what you are going to get when you watch his show.
 
Sharpton said Rev. Jesse Jackson and Glenn Beck have both lead marches and championed causes while hosting national cable shows. So he said when were the rules rewritten for him, defending the idea that he can be an activist and a host/journalist at the same time, without conflict.
 
Before Rev. Sharpton left the stage, he left the crowd of journalists with “families never plan to be victims.”  ::snipping2::

http://cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/6/21/trayvon_martin_case_.html?cid=rss

wow good choice of journalists there. Sunny hostin? I cant stand her. She changes her opinions when the outcome is something different than what she believed before. I saw her do it over & over in the casy anthony trial. She saw her guilt before the ng came back & then suddenly she could see why they came back with a ng. She always has to be right. I flip the channel if shes talking.

btw, is there a national convention for white journalists? I bet not. That would be racist & discriminatory. How is this ok?
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sharon
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« Reply #741 on: June 22, 2012, 06:56:38 PM »

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/21/2860569/zimmerman-told-police-trayvon.html

Posted on Thursday, 06.21.12

Tapes show Sanford Police grew skeptical of Zimmerman's story
 
George Zimmerman gave multiple interviews to police in the days after the shooting.

By Frances Robles and Marc Caputo
frobles@MiamiHerald.com

Three days after George Zimmerman killed an unarmed teenager and went home free, he had a predicament: The lead detectives investigating the shooting seemed to no longer believe his story.

Sanford Police Det. Chris Serino told Zimmerman in a series of interviews that day that he was a “good guy,” but that there were holes in his story, including minor injuries that did not match the beating he said he received at the hands of a “child” who carried candy.

Zimmerman repeatedly told police that Trayvon Martin sucker-punched him, tried to suffocate him and bashed his head into the concrete to the point it felt his “head was going to explode.” He said Trayvon tried to take his gun from him before saying: “You’re going to die tonight, motherf-----.”

But Serino wondered why Zimmerman’s skull wasn’t fractured, why he didn’t know the street names of a tiny neighborhood where he’d lived for three years and why he had no defensive wounds on his hands. Serino got him to acknowledge what Trayvon’s parents and lawyers have said all along: that Zimmerman got out of his car that night not so much to check for an address to give police, but to find out where the teen went.

“That was a kid with a future, a kid with folks that care. Not a goon,” Serino said. “In his mind’s eye, he perceived you as a threat. He has every right to defend himself.”

 ::snipping2::
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Toler
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« Reply #742 on: June 22, 2012, 07:00:38 PM »

Trayvon’s Parents Say They Prefer the High Road as Zimmerman Seeks to Tell His Side
Parents of the slain teenager say they want to raise awareness regarding Stand Your Ground laws around the country.
June 21 '12

NEW ORLEANS — While an avalanche of information was released by the lawyers for George Zimmerman, the parents of Trayvon Martin said they remain fixed on their central goals: raising consciousness about racial profiling and combating Stand Your Ground laws that have been enacted throughout the country.

“We are committed to accomplishing certain things that are important to us,” said Tracy Martin, father of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old high school student who was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Martin spoke with BET.com during the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in New Orleans. Both parents spoke at the gathering.

 His comments came just hours after the lawyers for Zimmerman released a large number of documents and recordings aimed at portraying his side of the case. The lawyers released written statements by Zimmerman following his shooting of the unarmed teenager.

The lawyers also released a number of audio and video recordings of interviews with investigators in which Zimmerman states that he was attacked by the teenager and hit violently to a degree that his head “felt like it was going to explode” and that the teenager had covered his nose and mouth before reaching for Zimmerman’s 9mm gun.

The release of the material is the first time the public has heard Zimmerman’s account of the events that took place on that February evening in a suburb of Orlando, Florida, when Trayvon Martin was killed. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing. He has claimed that the shooting was in self-defense and has invoked Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, the law that entitles people to use deadly force if they consider themselves to be in danger.

Benjamin Crump, one of the lawyers for Trayvon Martin’s parents, largely sidestepped questions related to the release of the material from Zimmerman’s lawyers. He said he wanted to do nothing to interfere with the trial, but added that “drabs of information coming out don’t paint a complete picture.”  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/06/21/trayvon-s-parents-say-they-prefer-the-high-road-as-zimmerman-seeks-to-tell-his-side.html?cid=facebook
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Toler
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« Reply #743 on: June 22, 2012, 07:03:10 PM »

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/21/2860569/zimmerman-told-police-trayvon.html

Posted on Thursday, 06.21.12

Tapes show Sanford Police grew skeptical of Zimmerman's story
 
George Zimmerman gave multiple interviews to police in the days after the shooting.

By Frances Robles and Marc Caputo
frobles@MiamiHerald.com

Three days after George Zimmerman killed an unarmed teenager and went home free, he had a predicament: The lead detectives investigating the shooting seemed to no longer believe his story.

Sanford Police Det. Chris Serino told Zimmerman in a series of interviews that day that he was a “good guy,” but that there were holes in his story, including minor injuries that did not match the beating he said he received at the hands of a “child” who carried candy.

Zimmerman repeatedly told police that Trayvon Martin sucker-punched him, tried to suffocate him and bashed his head into the concrete to the point it felt his “head was going to explode.” He said Trayvon tried to take his gun from him before saying: “You’re going to die tonight, motherf-----.”

But Serino wondered why Zimmerman’s skull wasn’t fractured, why he didn’t know the street names of a tiny neighborhood where he’d lived for three years and why he had no defensive wounds on his hands. Serino got him to acknowledge what Trayvon’s parents and lawyers have said all along: that Zimmerman got out of his car that night not so much to check for an address to give police, but to find out where the teen went.

“That was a kid with a future, a kid with folks that care. Not a goon,” Serino said. “In his mind’s eye, he perceived you as a threat. He has every right to defend himself.”

 ::snipping2::

Isn't that a major part of a good investigation? Questioning...
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grace-land
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« Reply #744 on: June 22, 2012, 07:41:23 PM »

http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/06/22/trayvon-martin-family-lawyer-zimmerman-video-shows-inconsistencies-in-his-story/

Trayvon Martin Family Lawyer: Zimmerman Video Shows Inconsistencies in His Story
June 22, 2012

Trayvon Martin’s family lawyer, Ben Crump, said the police interview tapes that were released this week highlight possible inconsistencies in George Zimmerman’s account of the incident that culminated with him killing Martin.
 
“So you basically jumped out of the car to see which way (Martin) was going?” investigator Chris Serino asked Zimmerman, which was acknowledged with a “Yes, sir.” Serino responded, “That’s not fear, you know what I mean. That’s one of the problems I have with the whole thing.”
 
Crump pointed to these questions as one of the key pieces of the released evidence. “Obviously, the lead detective did not believe Zimmerman, his credibility’s a major issue. And yet, remember, it is only his version,” he said.
 
According to Crump, Martin’s family wants all of the evidence to be released to the public. “They want all the evidence out because they know their son, they know the kind of child he was,” Crump said.
 
The police video and audio recordings were released by Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara on the defense team’s website. His reasoning was similar, wanting the public to have full access to the evidence.
 
“My fear is that people have made up their minds on anger, hatred, predisposition on things, and that hurts the process,” O’Mara said. “This process is going to work best when all the evidence has been reviewed and then people can make their decision.”
 ::snipping2::

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jamcakes
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« Reply #745 on: June 22, 2012, 08:13:51 PM »

http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/06/22/trayvon-martin-family-lawyer-zimmerman-video-shows-inconsistencies-in-his-story/

Trayvon Martin Family Lawyer: Zimmerman Video Shows Inconsistencies in His Story
June 22, 2012

Trayvon Martin’s family lawyer, Ben Crump, said the police interview tapes that were released this week highlight possible inconsistencies in George Zimmerman’s account of the incident that culminated with him killing Martin.
 
“So you basically jumped out of the car to see which way (Martin) was going?” investigator Chris Serino asked Zimmerman, which was acknowledged with a “Yes, sir.” Serino responded, “That’s not fear, you know what I mean. That’s one of the problems I have with the whole thing.”
 
Crump pointed to these questions as one of the key pieces of the released evidence. “Obviously, the lead detective did not believe Zimmerman, his credibility’s a major issue. And yet, remember, it is only his version,” he said.
 
According to Crump, Martin’s family wants all of the evidence to be released to the public. “They want all the evidence out because they know their son, they know the kind of child he was,” Crump said.
 
The police video and audio recordings were released by Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara on the defense team’s website. His reasoning was similar, wanting the public to have full access to the evidence.
 
“My fear is that people have made up their minds on anger, hatred, predisposition on things, and that hurts the process,” O’Mara said. “This process is going to work best when all the evidence has been reviewed and then people can make their decision.”
 ::snipping2::



I admit I want to know all sooner than later.  However, I don't like having this case tried in the court of public opinion before it ever gets to the real court house. But maybe GZ's attorney feels this is the only way that GZ will stand a chance against the lynching by the MSM.
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Toler
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« Reply #746 on: June 22, 2012, 08:18:34 PM »

http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/06/22/trayvon-martin-family-lawyer-zimmerman-video-shows-inconsistencies-in-his-story/

Trayvon Martin Family Lawyer: Zimmerman Video Shows Inconsistencies in His Story
June 22, 2012

Trayvon Martin’s family lawyer, Ben Crump, said the police interview tapes that were released this week highlight possible inconsistencies in George Zimmerman’s account of the incident that culminated with him killing Martin.
 
“So you basically jumped out of the car to see which way (Martin) was going?” investigator Chris Serino asked Zimmerman, which was acknowledged with a “Yes, sir.” Serino responded, “That’s not fear, you know what I mean. That’s one of the problems I have with the whole thing.”
 
Crump pointed to these questions as one of the key pieces of the released evidence. “Obviously, the lead detective did not believe Zimmerman, his credibility’s a major issue. And yet, remember, it is only his version,” he said.
 
According to Crump, Martin’s family wants all of the evidence to be released to the public. “They want all the evidence out because they know their son, they know the kind of child he was,” Crump said.
 
The police video and audio recordings were released by Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara on the defense team’s website. His reasoning was similar, wanting the public to have full access to the evidence.
 
“My fear is that people have made up their minds on anger, hatred, predisposition on things, and that hurts the process,” O’Mara said. “This process is going to work best when all the evidence has been reviewed and then people can make their decision.”
 ::snipping2::



I admit I want to know all sooner than later.  However, I don't like having this case tried in the court of public opinion before it ever gets to the real court house. But maybe GZ's attorney feels this is the only way that GZ will stand a chance against the lynching by the MSM.

...MSM, Ben Crump, Al Sharpton et al.
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jamcakes
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« Reply #747 on: June 22, 2012, 10:32:26 PM »

Edit to add link per Amys Sister.  MB
http://www.examiner.com/article/trayvon-martin-morgue-3-days-as-john-doe-after-mom-reported-him-missing


::snipping2::According to the interview PEOPLE had with Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, he was not concerned when his son didn't return home the evening he was shot because he thought he might have gone to the movies with his responsible older cousin. He went to sleep, and when he awoke to find his son gone he grew concerned. He made several phone calls, no one knew where Trayvon was.

Tracy Martin called the Sanford Police who came to his home the morning after the shooting. When he told police about his son's disapperance, police asked him for a photo of his son. Tracy showed the police officer a photo of Trayvon he had saved on his cellphone. The officer said he was going to show Martin a photo to see if it was his son. It was a photo of Trayvon's dead body.   ::snipping2::

These were not uncaring parents who had no regard for their child as has been reported over and over.  The early reports that Trayvon lay dead in the morgue for three days before his parents claimed him were especially disgusting.  The fact is LE made no attempt to locate the family of the deceased after the incident.

 ::snipping2::According to the ABC News article, the family said officers didn’t bother to ask neighbors if they recognized Trayvon, who had been staying with his father who lives in the neighborhood where he was shot.

Police reportedly had Trayvon’s cellphone in their possession yet they alledgedly made no attempts to call his friends or family whose numbers could have been retrieved from his phone. According to his girlfriend, she and Trayvon were talking on the phone moments before he was shot and killed by 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman. ::snipping2::

The very next morning after waking and seeing that his son was not home Tracy, Trayvon's father, called dispatch to report him missing.  He even states to dispatch that it hasn't been 24 hours yet but his son is missing, so he knows that 24 hour rule but he's clearly concerned.


My take:

Tracy & GF left Trayvon & GF's son (TM's little "brother") home alone while they went out.  Supposedly, TM went to get snack for lil bro, but never returned home.  When Tracy & GF get home, lil bro never tells them TM went out for his snack but never returned home. Likewise, Tracy knows TM is not at home, but doesn't ask lil bro if he knows where TM is. He just goes to sleep that night aware his son is not at home and left no messages for his parents as to where he was going.

Somehow this scenario smells on numerous levels.  Yet, the parents and MSM, just want us to believe that TM is a sweet caring teenager and the parents are the epitome of parenthood.  Frankly I don't buy all the "whitewashing" the MSM is doing. I guess they don't care what some questioning whites like me think, after all, I'm just another white bigot.  They're more concerned with brainwashing the unquestioning masses with misrepresentations. 

 jmo
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kcrn
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« Reply #748 on: June 22, 2012, 11:35:09 PM »

Trayvon’s Parents Say They Prefer the High Road as Zimmerman Seeks to Tell His Side
Parents of the slain teenager say they want to raise awareness regarding Stand Your Ground laws around the country.
June 21 '12

NEW ORLEANS — While an avalanche of information was released by the lawyers for George Zimmerman, the parents of Trayvon Martin said they remain fixed on their central goals: raising consciousness about racial profiling and combating Stand Your Ground laws that have been enacted throughout the country.

“We are committed to accomplishing certain things that are important to us,” said Tracy Martin, father of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old high school student who was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Martin spoke with BET.com during the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in New Orleans. Both parents spoke at the gathering.

 His comments came just hours after the lawyers for Zimmerman released a large number of documents and recordings aimed at portraying his side of the case. The lawyers released written statements by Zimmerman following his shooting of the unarmed teenager.

The lawyers also released a number of audio and video recordings of interviews with investigators in which Zimmerman states that he was attacked by the teenager and hit violently to a degree that his head “felt like it was going to explode” and that the teenager had covered his nose and mouth before reaching for Zimmerman’s 9mm gun.

The release of the material is the first time the public has heard Zimmerman’s account of the events that took place on that February evening in a suburb of Orlando, Florida, when Trayvon Martin was killed. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing. He has claimed that the shooting was in self-defense and has invoked Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, the law that entitles people to use deadly force if they consider themselves to be in danger.

Benjamin Crump, one of the lawyers for Trayvon Martin’s parents, largely sidestepped questions related to the release of the material from Zimmerman’s lawyers. He said he wanted to do nothing to interfere with the trial, but added that “drabs of information coming out don’t paint a complete picture.”  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/06/21/trayvon-s-parents-say-they-prefer-the-high-road-as-zimmerman-seeks-to-tell-his-side.html?cid=facebook

i have to wonder how they would feel about the syg law if they or their son had killed someone in self defense.
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kcrn
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« Reply #749 on: June 22, 2012, 11:38:18 PM »

Reading here, it is very plain to see how emotional and polarizing this case really is. I guess Tracy and Sabrina must be happy to see this, for this is what makes cases stay in the forefront of the news. I hope they are careful though, b/c legacy they want for TM may come back to bite them on the butt.  I can understand their grief and outrage when told the circumstances of TM's death. I can understand their frustration when the investigation seemed to be not going anywhere or in the direction they wanted it too.  What I don't understand is the deliberate misrepresentation of TM as the innocent young teenager (much younger photos of Trayvon when we find out that Tracy had one taken 2 weeks before TM died, the cover-up of TM's juvenile problems, ie suspensions from school, removal of Twitter and FB accts,etc).  I don't agree with the hiring of a media consultant, bringing in Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the New Black Panthers, etc. The parents knew what would happen with them on board, yet did nothing to distance themselves from them.  They also knew how the false representation of TM would play out, yet did nothing to stop it.  They deliberately swayed public opinion with false representations.  Maybe the MSM did it, but the parents silently condoned it.

OK, so the parents wanted the truth.  But it seems to me when the truth they got isn't what they wanted, they set about creating their own version of the truth. And that brings me back to TM's legacy. Tracy & Sabrina will have to live with the truth of what they have done to Trayvon's memory. Personally, I'd rather have no legacy than one based on misrepresentations.

And what about GZ's civil rights.  Trayvon's parents are so set on TM's  civil rights and creating a legacy for their child, they seem to have forgotten that everyone is entitled to civil rights.  The calls for GZ's death, and race riots if GZ is acquitted negates any civil rights being afforded to GZ.

Yes, I am emotionally invested in this case.  I am truly saddened over the premature and tragic circumstances of TM's death. And yet I am appalled at the way the media has presented TM and GZ, and this tragic unfolding story. I am angered at GZ's civil rights being compromised.  I just hope that the truth and justice will prevail.  I just hope that it can.

This post gave me "goose bumps."  I feel so much the same way...and you were able to put it into words.  So many times I have stopped reading this thread because of the bickering...because of how angry I feel inside sometimes.  But, I keep coming back because I believe that George is being used for so much more than he should be.  While, I am saddened that Trayvon is gone and he is voiceless...I am also sad that George is too.  I don't care what anyone says in reply to this feeling either...it is mine...and it is my right.  I feel what I feel for a reason...I am a rational and caring person...so, I don't feel that I am being crazy in this.  I can't even post on my Facebook about this topic because my black friends attack the post immediately...and no, I do not post anything racist.  I recall putting a news article up once about George found to be on the ground and WOW...I was attacked for posting it. 

i know exactly what u mean. I dont even engage in conversation with my black friends about this case because they have already made up their minds that this was racially motivated.
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cecilita
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« Reply #750 on: June 22, 2012, 11:58:35 PM »

Reading here, it is very plain to see how emotional and polarizing this case really is. I guess Tracy and Sabrina must be happy to see this, for this is what makes cases stay in the forefront of the news. I hope they are careful though, b/c legacy they want for TM may come back to bite them on the butt.  I can understand their grief and outrage when told the circumstances of TM's death. I can understand their frustration when the investigation seemed to be not going anywhere or in the direction they wanted it too.  What I don't understand is the deliberate misrepresentation of TM as the innocent young teenager (much younger photos of Trayvon when we find out that Tracy had one taken 2 weeks before TM died, the cover-up of TM's juvenile problems, ie suspensions from school, removal of Twitter and FB accts,etc).  I don't agree with the hiring of a media consultant, bringing in Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the New Black Panthers, etc. The parents knew what would happen with them on board, yet did nothing to distance themselves from them.  They also knew how the false representation of TM would play out, yet did nothing to stop it.  They deliberately swayed public opinion with false representations.  Maybe the MSM did it, but the parents silently condoned it.

OK, so the parents wanted the truth.  But it seems to me when the truth they got isn't what they wanted, they set about creating their own version of the truth. And that brings me back to TM's legacy. Tracy & Sabrina will have to live with the truth of what they have done to Trayvon's memory. Personally, I'd rather have no legacy than one based on misrepresentations.

And what about GZ's civil rights.  Trayvon's parents are so set on TM's  civil rights and creating a legacy for their child, they seem to have forgotten that everyone is entitled to civil rights.  The calls for GZ's death, and race riots if GZ is acquitted negates any civil rights being afforded to GZ.

Yes, I am emotionally invested in this case.  I am truly saddened over the premature and tragic circumstances of TM's death. And yet I am appalled at the way the media has presented TM and GZ, and this tragic unfolding story. I am angered at GZ's civil rights being compromised.  I just hope that the truth and justice will prevail.  I just hope that it can.

This post gave me "goose bumps."  I feel so much the same way...and you were able to put it into words.  So many times I have stopped reading this thread because of the bickering...because of how angry I feel inside sometimes.  But, I keep coming back because I believe that George is being used for so much more than he should be.  While, I am saddened that Trayvon is gone and he is voiceless...I am also sad that George is too.  I don't care what anyone says in reply to this feeling either...it is mine...and it is my right.  I feel what I feel for a reason...I am a rational and caring person...so, I don't feel that I am being crazy in this.  I can't even post on my Facebook about this topic because my black friends attack the post immediately...and no, I do not post anything racist.  I recall putting a news article up once about George found to be on the ground and WOW...I was attacked for posting it. 

i know exactly what u mean. I dont even engage in conversation with my black friends about this case because they have already made up their minds that this was racially motivated.
I understand, I have 2 friends are african americans that were so rude with me when we were talking about this case because they know that I grew up in Peru and I have family there. I was very surprised about their comments because both are professional ladies
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Toler
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« Reply #751 on: June 23, 2012, 01:01:49 PM »

My First Day at NABJ - 2012
June 23 '12

 ::snipping2::
After the awards were giving out, Reverend Al.Sharpton spoke about his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case. Sharpton (who shed a ton of pounds) dismissed the notion that his involvement changed the discourse in the case. He said, "People don't call you to hide their problem. They call you to expose their problem." In my opinion, Sharpton's involvement was the match that lit the fire in the Trayvon Martin case. I think people tend to forget the "Reverend" in front of Mr. Sharpton's name. He started off as an activist not a journalist, so does he need to be objective post his current position as MSNBC Commentator, maybe, but to what extent? It's an unspoken truth in the black community that when Rev. Al Sharpton is called marches spread across the nation like wildfire and attention is drawn to the issue at hand.
 Following Al Sharpton, Trayvon Martin's somber parents and lawyers sat on a panel and talked about the importance of black journalists and the coverage of their son in the media. Ben Crump, Trayvon Martin's family attorney said, "We were begging the media to look at the facts." Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin said she was disappointed at some of the medias coverage of her son's death. Tears welled in her as she said, "It wasn't news to me, it was my life." The room grew silent as she passed the microphone to her lawyer. After Trayvon's parents and lawyers left the stage, a panel of black journalists who have been following the case discussed their role in covering a case objectively despite it being so close to home. I could relate to what the panelists were discussing because I pitched the story to a conservative national publication that I was interning for at the time. I knew the story would be huge, but being the only black woman in the newsroom I didn't want to seem too invested in the case, but I knew Trayvon Martin's story was beyond newsworthy. I pitched it and wrote an op-ed piece about how Trayvon Martin could have been my brother and received a lot of interesting comments from some readers. Daralene Jones, General Assignment Reporter, WFTV-Orlando who broke the story in Florida said she received emails from readers throwing racist slurs at her like they were compliments. After hearing everyone's personal connection to Trayvon Martin's story I just hoped that Trayvon's family felt the support of black journalists.  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nakia-hill/nabj-2012-experience_b_1621088.html
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #752 on: June 23, 2012, 02:40:33 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1206/21/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Zimmerman Recreates Trayvon`s Death
Aired June 21, 2012 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

 ::snipping2::
We`re all over two huge cases tonight, and the Jerry Sandusky trial is one of them, where an explosive new revelation has just come out.

And the incredible video that we now have of George Zimmerman leading police step by step on what he says happened the night he shot and killed Trayvon Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, the video everyone`s been waiting for. George Zimmerman takes cops back to the scene of the crime and reenacts what he says happened the night he gunned down Trayvon Martin.

The former Neighborhood Watch volunteer claims there was a vicious attack that left him bloodied and bruised. But Trayvon`s not here to tell his side of the story. We`ll play the reenactment video next. Is George Zimmerman believable?

The attorney for Trayvon Martin`s family joins me live with a panel of experts to debate it. And we`re taking your calls.

Plus, a bombshell in the Jerry Sandusky child molestation trial. Just hours after the jury goes to deliberate, Jerry Sandusky`s adoptive son publicly, for the very first time, accuses his father, Jerry, of sexually abusing him. Why did Matt Sandusky wait for the very moment when this shocker would not be heard by the jury, which is sequestered? Could this still affect the case?

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH SHOOTING TRAYVON MARTIN: He ended up on top of me. And he just kept punching my face, my head. I was screaming for help.
He put his hand on his nose -- on my nose and the other hand on my arm, (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: My son was not committing any crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

ZIMMERMAN: I felt like my head was going to explode.

He said, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

He says, "You`re going to die tonight. You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: His credibility is the most important thing in this entire case.

ZIMMERMAN: I didn`t think I hit him as I sat up and, like, "Oh, you got me. You got it. You got me. You got it." Something like that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, astonishing new video. George Zimmerman recreates what he says happened the night he shot Trayvon Martin dead. What does this mean for Zimmerman`s murder trial?

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell.

Take a look. George Zimmerman, the day after the shooting, leads investigators through the crime scene in Sanford, Florida, giving cops his version of events. His head is bandaged, but he`s walking around un- handcuffed.

And right now, we are going to show you the key crucial portions of this video uninterrupted so you can see for yourself and judge for yourself. Watch this. George Zimmerman explaining how he says he killed Trayvon Martin, in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZIMMERMAN: Here he yelled from behind me to the side of me. He said, "Yo, you got a problem?"

I turned around and said, "No, I don`t have a problem, man."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where was he at?

ZIMMERMAN: He was about there. But he was walking towards me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This direction here?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. Like I said, I was already past that. So I didn`t see exactly where he came from. But he was about where you are.

And I said, "No, I don`t have a problem." And I went to get out my cell phone, but I left it in a different pocket. I looked down in my pant pocket.

And he said, "You got a problem now." And then he was here and punched me in the face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here?

ZIMMERMAN: Right up around here. To be honest, I don`t remember exactly. I stumbled, and I fell down. He pushed me down. Somehow he got on top of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the grass or on the cement?

ZIMMERMAN: It was more over like here. I was trying to push him away from me. And then he got on top of me somewhere around here. And that`s when I started screaming for help. I started screaming, "Help, help."

That is when he grabbed -- oh, I tried to sit up. And that`s when he grabbed me by the head and tried so slam my head down.

No. My body was on the grass. My head was on the cement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. This is the best I can feel -- I felt like my body was on the grass and my head was on the cement. And he just kept slamming and slamming me. And I just -- I kept yelling, "Help, help."

His hand on his nose -- on my nose and the other hand on my mouth and was just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) choking me. And -- and I tried squirming again. All I could think about was -- when he was hitting my head against, felt like my head was going to explode and I thought I was going to lose consciousness.

So I tried to squirm so I could get -- he only had a small portion of my head on the concrete. So I tried to squirm off the concrete. And when I did that, somebody here opened the door. And I said, "Help me, help me."

And they said, "I`ll call 911."

I said, "No, help me. I need help." And I don`t know what they did.

But that`s when my jacket moved up, and I had my firearm on my right side here. My jacket moved up, and he saw -- I feel like he saw, looked at it. He said, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)." And he reached for it. I felt his arm going down my side, and I just grabbed it. And I just grabbed my firearm and shot him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After you shot him, what did he say?

ZIMMERMAN: After I shot him, he like sat up...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re still -- you`re down here, in the grass.

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir. He was on top of me like this. And I shot him. And I didn`t think I hit him because he sat up and he said, "Oh, you got me. You got it. You got me. You got it." Something like that. So I thought he was just saying, "I heard it. I`m leaving now."

So I don`t know if I pushed him off me, he fell off me. Either way, I got on top of him, pushing his arms away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You flipped him over?

ZIMMERMAN: I don`t remember how I got on top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s fine.

ZIMMERMAN: But I got on his back, and I moved his arms apart. He was hitting me in the face and the head. I thought he had something in his hands. So I just -- I moved his hands apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You had him face down then?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes. Face down. And I was on his back. And then somebody came with a flashlight. And I thought it was a police officer. So I said, "Are you the police?" And I still had my hand out and I said, "Are you the police? My gun`s right here."

He goes, "No, no, I`m not. I`m calling the police."

I said, "Don`t call the police. Help me restrain this guy."

And he said, "I`m calling the police. I`m calling the police."

I said, "I already called. They`re on their way. They`re coming."

And that`s when the police officer came around. I saw the police officer so I stood up and I holstered my weapon. He said, "Who shot him?"

And I said, "I did."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have a team of experts here to analyze the video you just saw. And I want you to join us. Call me with your thoughts: 1- 877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Let`s do a round robin with our panel of experts. Does this hurt George Zimmerman`s case, or does it help him? I want to begin with Natalie Jackson, the attorney for Trayvon Martin`s family.

Natalie, your thoughts about that video?

NATALIE JACKSON, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON`S FAMILY: It certainly hurts -- hurts his case. We see a lot of inconsistencies. I know you said that this is the most important part that you played, but, Jane, there was a part before that where George Zimmerman talks about how he got out of the car.

He said that he got out of the car to assist dispatch with looking for an address. We know from listening to the tape when he was talking to the non-emergency number that he got out of the car to run after Trayvon. That is the most crucial part. He lied about why he got out of the car.

And from there it just goes downhill. There`s many inconsistencies in this video and in the three additional statements that he made.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark Eiglarsh, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor, Miami.

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I couldn`t disagree with her more. I don`t know if we`re watching the same thing or whether she`s being objective or not. But I have no -- you know, I`m not fighting for any side here.

But objectively, today was a blockbuster, as you would say. It is a bomb shell. It is a game-changer.

I have no idea whether he`s being truthful on this video or not, but there doesn`t appear to be any lying in him. He looks believable. And...

JACKSON: Have you read the statements?

EIGLARSH: I`m not done. I am not done. And I didn`t interrupt you.

In the court of public opinion and in a courtroom where there will be no witnesses to contradict what he has to say, I think for the first time ever I see potentially a jury acquitting him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, Natalie, I want to give you an opportunity to respond.

JACKSON: The response is that, you know, I think that a lot of people are making comments -- there are four other statements that he made plus this video.

EIGLARSH: I saw them all.

JACKSON: You have to compare it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark.

JACKSON: You have to compare it to his -- his tape when he called the non-dispatch number to report Trayvon being in the area.

What do you say about him saying that he got out of the car to assist dispatch with an address? We clearly know from his own words he got out of the car to run after Trayvon. He said it himself.

EIGLARSH: I don`t see that. Just so we`re clear, I did -- I listened to every single piece of evidence released. I spent all morning listening to it. And if there are any minor inconsistencies, and I saw very few...

JACKSON: That`s not a minor. That`s huge. That`s why he got out of his car.

EIGLARSH: No, no, no. I disagree with you. I disagree with you. I don`t see that as a contradiction.

And overall, if you`re being intellectually dishonest, you need to be very concerned if you`re looking for a guilty verdict.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, hold on a second. Let`s bring in somebody else.

JACKSON: ... guilty verdict.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Rolonda Watts, you`re a television -- long-time news reporter. Your thoughts?

ROLONDA WATTS, REPORTER: Well, I -- I heard inconsistencies, as well.

But the legal analysts are even pointing out that there are two important things that we`re going to have to look at as we examine the Zimmerman case. One is provocation, the other escalation.

And what he`s trying to show here, or at least those who are pulling for Zimmerman, they`re trying to show here is that he thought he was pulling for the gun and that he thought that his life was being threatened. The escalation. So he can prove the "stand your ground" law.

But quite honestly, to me, it doesn`t fit. It doesn`t sound like the profile that we`ve heard of Trayvon.

The sad story is that Trayvon is not here to defend himself. While Zimmerman has the right to defend himself, Trayvon doesn`t even have the right to live.

But what I have heard about this kid, that he was a good kid. He was not a goon. That he was mild-mannered. He had Skittles and an iced tea, for goodness sake. He was strolling in the rain. This doesn`t sound like somebody who jumped somebody, cussed them out and said they were going to kill them. That`s does -- that`s an inconsistency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: Somebody here opened the door. And I said, "Help me, help me."

They said, "I`ll call 911."

I said, "No, help me."

And somebody came with a flashlight. And I thought it was a police officer. So I said, "Are you the police?" And I still had my hand out. And I said, "Are you the police? My gun`s right here."

And he goes, "No, no, I`m not."

That`s when the police officer came around -- I saw the police officer so stood up and I holstered my gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. If I`m counting right, George Zimmerman refers to approximately three witnesses. We`re going to have to see if they corroborate his version of events.

There`s the guy who went outside and said he was calling 911. There`s the other witness with a flashlight George thought was a cop and then the actual cop, the first one on the scene.

And then of course, there`s the forensic and injuries, the blood to George Zimmerman`s head, the broken nose, alleged. Doug Burns, former federal prosecutor but also a criminal defense attorney, how do you come down on this?

DOUG BURNS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I come down between what we`ve heard. In other words, look, first of all, you`ve got to break this case into two parts. Why did he go after him? He made a phone call and they said, "Don`t follow this kid." Remember that?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

BURNS: But the fact is, all the legal pundits and scholars and experts say it still doesn`t matter, because once they`re in an encounter, he can use force equal to what`s presented to him. OK. That`s very nice in the classroom or in a media discussion, but in the real world that becomes very problematic.

Because my original take is, look, if you and I are in a fistfight, I can`t pull out a gun and kill you. OK? Because that`s not equal to the force that`s involved.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.

BURNS: But by the same token, you could theoretically kill me with your bare hands. OK? That`s possible. So it becomes a very, very tricky calculus.

If you look at his injuries and the extent of them and then you look at these explanations that he`s giving where he may subjectively feel that he`s in some kind of serious danger, it becomes a horserace.

But you made the key point. And one of the other guests made the key point, you have two witnesses. One is deceased, sadly and tragically. So the three other witnesses, as you yourself said, are going to be absolutely critical. Will they corroborate what was the level of force?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And guess what? We`ve heard reports that those witnesses have changed their stories.

BURNS: Well, that`s a problem, for sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. It`s a big problem.

Let`s go out to the phone lines. Ayesha (ph), Michigan, thank you for your patience. Ayesha (ph), your question or thought?

CALLER: My question is, if he was in a tussle in the rain, how come he come in the precinct clean? Your shirt ain`t wrinkled. Your shirt don`t have dirt on it. It don`t even have blood on it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, OK. I want to clarify. This video is taken the day after the shooting. His head is bandaged in the back. So he`s already been to the police station. He was reportedly cleaned up at the scene. And then they bring him back here.

But I will say one thing, Michelle Suskauer, criminal defense attorney, there`s been a lot of criticism, obviously, of law enforcement that they did not investigate, that they essentially took George Zimmerman`s version of events face value, blindly. And we are seeing, I would say, at least some kind of investigation here -- Michelle.

MICHELLE SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via phone): Absolutely. I think this video really shows that there was some due diligence. It may not be up to everybody`s standards, but certainly they have George Zimmerman.

This video -- by the way I agree wholeheartedly with Mark Eiglarsh here -- is very, very telling. It`s going to be powerful if a jury gets to see it. Because it`s not only what he says, but how he says it and how confident he is. How he`s not stammering. What he looked like. The injuries.

And also looking at the -- where the witnesses could have been. And their vantage point. I think that`s really significant.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but -- but...

SUSKAUER: I think it`s very helpful for the defense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But Rolonda, he is a liar, according to prosecutors. He has lied in court about how much money he had.

WATTS: Well, that`s the whole point. The prosecutors are going to have to prove that what he`s saying here, the story that he`s giving here is totally unbelievable.

We also have to look at how much of a scuffle was there? Was this a scuffle enough to say, "I`m going to kill you and kill somebody"? Those are the questions that are going to have to be asked in court.

And I also ask the question, you know, all of us love the hero in a community, a guy who comes in and saves the day. If Trayvon Martin was the bad guy that he makes him out to be, who`s attacking security people in the neighborhood, community watchmen, then the whole neighborhood would have come out and said, "Hooray for Zimmerman." We didn`t see that. We didn`t see that. So that raises some questions to me, too. Because the kid has never been defined as anything but mild-mannered.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: I just pinched his arm, and I grabbed my gun and I aimed at him, fired one shot. He kind of sat back and said, "You got me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ve also obtained this video of police in Sanford conducting a lie detector test. Actually it`s a voice analysis is what they call it, test on George Zimmerman. And there was one key question that they asked that we want to show you. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the month of February?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you in fear for your life when you shot the...

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Let me ask the question. Were you in fear for your life when you shot the guy?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So they asked George Zimmerman if he was in fear for his life when he shot the gun, and he said yes. And police have since reported, reportedly, that he passed the test.

So, again, Natalie Jackson, Trayvon Martin`s family attorney, this was a voice analysis where they measure stress levels. What does this mean for the case?

JACKSON: That`s not admissible in court, but going back to the video, I mean, at the end, even the part that you played, he said that he shot Trayvon and Trayvon said, "You got me."

And then he said that Trayvon continues to talk as he goes on Trayvon`s back. And he holds his arm. After he shot him.

And then the witness comes out. I mean, this is all inconsistent with what has been played out. It`s inconsistent with the witness story who said he called 911. It`s inconsistent with everything. It`s just full of inconsistencies. I think that, you know, this does not help.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Mark Eiglarsh, I would agree that there was something that struck me as a little sort of theatrical Hollywood language when George Zimmerman says that Trayvon said, "Oh, you got me," and he thought that he meant that, "Oh, you made your point." But he didn`t think he really shot him.

Now, the autopsy showed that he was hit directly in the center of his body, in his chest. How can you shoot somebody in the chest and think you didn`t shoot them?

EIGLARSH: Jane, I don`t know. And let me just say this, I don`t disagree with you. There`s a lot that`s very self-serving. It almost seems like there`s a checklist that he went through, "What do I need to say to make sure I get off?"

But the reality is he doesn`t come across, in my opinion and in my opinion to the jurors, as a liar, per se. And the bottom line is there`s no other witnesses who are going to contradict what happened right before he pulled the trigger.

So what you`re left with is someone -- assuming the facts are true or cannot be contradicted -- who reasonably feared death or great bodily harm and didn`t have any reasonable means to escape the harm even if you find that he was the aggressor, which under his version he was not.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go out to the phone lines. Beverly, Texas, your question or thought, Beverly.

CALLER: Well, my thought is that I think George Zimmerman already had the gun out. And I think Trayvon Martin thought he was going to kill him. And you can`t outrun a bullet.

And then George Zimmerman on the video showed how Trayvon was holding his mouth and nose with both hands, yet he was beating his head into the concrete at the same time? The kid didn`t have four arms. He didn`t weigh 300 pounds where he could hold him down and do all this at the same time.

And then he said that the kid was reaching for his gun while he was doing all this. It just doesn`t make any sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle Suskauer, criminal defense attorney, how do you respond to that?

SUSKAUER: Well, Jane, this happened in a matter of moments. It was quick. There was tremendous amount of adrenaline going on. Certainly, a large amount of testosterone going on. And there weren`t a lot of lights. It wasn`t well-lit. So, you know, we`re never going to know exactly how it happened.

And, yes, there are going to be -- absolutely there are inconsistencies. It`s a question of whether the jury is going to find that those are material and whether or not he`s believable.

But this -- again, this video is very telling. And I think it`s going to play very well in front of a jury.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, this tape was released by the defense, even though under Florida`s sunshine laws, it would have been released anyway.

I am wondering, could this be a strategy to garner support for Zimmerman`s bid, which he is going to formally ask to be released on bail again next Friday? Could this be part of the strategy to garner public sympathy in anticipation of that bond hearing next Friday?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: He was up on top of me, and he just kept punching my face and my head. I was screaming for help.

He put his hand on his nose -- on my nose. And other hand on my mouth. He said, "Shut the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

FULTON: My son was not committing any crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!

ZIMMERMAN: Each time it felt like my head was going to explode more than the last.

He says, "You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

He says, "You`re going to die tonight. You`re going to die tonight, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

CRUMP: His credibility is the most important thing in this entire case.

ZIMMERMAN: (inaudible). Shut up. And he said, ok, you got me. You got it. You got me. You got it. Something like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news, Trayvon Martin shooter, George Zimmerman`s lawyers release his version of events in the form of a video taken with investigators the day after George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin dead.

Take a look at some of the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: He said, yo, you got a problem? I turned around, I said, no, I don`t have a problem, man.

He grabbed me by the head and tried to slam my head down. He put his hand on his nose -- on my nose and his other hand on my mouth and said shut up (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He was hitting my head against -- I thought my head was going to explode. I thought I was going to lose consciousness.

He said, you`re going to die tonight. He reached for it. I felt his arm going down my side and I grabbed it and I just grabbed my firearm and I shot one time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s his version of events. Of course the young man, the 17-year-old who was simply going to get Skittles and ice tea and going back to his dad`s place, he`s not here to tell his side of events.

One of the key questions, will this video be allowed in as evidence at trial because some people feel it`s George Zimmerman making a pretty compelling case for himself.

Doug Burns, former federal prosecutor, will the jurors in his secondary murder trial see this video?

DOUG BURNS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I can`t tell you how many comical situations I have been the minute the defendant says something that helps the state, they`re racing to put it in. The minute a video helps the defendant, the state stands up with a straight face, your honor, that`s hearsay, we don`t want it coming in and you just shake your head at the defense table.

It`s a discretionary ruling. It`s up to the judge. I think technically it`s hearsay but I also think the judge will let it in.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark Eiglarsh, will the judge let the jurors in this murder trial see this video?

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. And he should. And if he doesn`t, what you can do is you can re-create it. You can bring the jurors through pictures, through video yourself. You can create it through his testimony. He`s going to have to testify at trial. And that with the physical evidence showing the broken nose, the damage to the back of his head and no other witnesses, again, to contradict what happened during those critical moments before the shooting, again, I think he`s in a good situation today.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Phone lines, Duelma (ph), Massachusetts, your question or thought, Duelma?

DUELMA, MASSACHUSETTS (via telephone): Hi, Jane. I`m just wondering why are people defending him when he`s the one that started the whole thing? He`s the one that confronted the young man. And when the young man turned around and defended himself, he shot him. I`m saying, if that was my kid, I would tell him defend yourself and stand up for yourself.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You make an excellent point. This is told from the narrow boundaries of what George Zimmerman wants to focus on. And not the fact that he was the initiator. And that is established in the 911 call.

Michelle Suskauer, he`s following Trayvon Martin saying he looks suspicious; he looks like he`s on drugs or something. We determined that the young man was going to get Skittles and ice tea and he was talking to his girlfriend and heading back to his dad`s place. His dad was staying with his girlfriend.

MICHELLE SUSKAUER: This is a video. This is a voluntary statement that George Zimmerman did. He didn`t have to do this. (AUDIO GAP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Guess what, Michelle, you`re breaking up. I`ll give Mark Eiglarsh the final word.

EIGLARSH: Jane, we don`t know what happened, but in the court of law, it`s based on evidence. It`s not about the truth. We learned about that in Casey Anthony. It`s about what can be proven. We`ve got his word. He conveniently killed the one person who could contradict, thus we`re left with the injuries, we`re left with his version. And you know what; this could create a problem for prosecutors.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, Florida is a "Stand Your Ground" law. And that is perhaps the biggest problem of all.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #753 on: June 23, 2012, 02:51:30 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1206/22/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL
Sandusky Jury Still Deliberating
Aired June 22, 2012 - 19:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

 ::snipping2::
Plus, we`ll play more astonishing video of George Zimmerman telling cops his version of events the night he gunned down Trayvon Martin. You`ll see cops put the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer through voice analysis and lie detector tests. Are there inconsistencies between his walking re- enactment and his 911 call? We`ll investigate.
 ::snipping2::
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH TRAYVON MARTIN`S MURDER: (inaudible). He said "You`re going to die tonight (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

He says "You`re going to die tonight. You`re going to die tonight (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

NATALIE JACKSON, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: He lied about why he got out of the car. And from there it just goes downhill.

ZIMMERMAN: He ended up on top of me and he just kept punching my face and my head, screaming for help.

He put his hand on his nose -- on my nose and the other hand on my mouth and said (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: Our son was not committing any crimes.

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: For the first time ever I see potentially a jury acquitting him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His credibility is the most important thing in this entire case.

ZIMMERMAN: He sat up and he says, "Ok, you got me. You got it. You got me. You got it." Something like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stunning new evidence. The police interrogation of George Zimmerman. Does he change his story and incriminate himself? We`re going to play the tapes right now so you can decide for yourself.

Jane Velez-Mitchell back with you -- live.

Yesterday we showed you George Zimmerman re-enacting his deadly confrontation with Trayvon Martin. Police investigators taped his testimony at the crime scene. But some of what he told them seems to contradict other evidence.

Watch George Zimmerman explain why he got out of his car and then listen to what Trayvon Martin family attorney Natalie Jackson, told me about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIMMERMAN: He asked me where he went, what direction he went, and I said "I don`t know." And then I thought to get out and look for a street sign.

JACKSON: He said that he got out of the car to assist dispatch with looking for an address. We know from listening to the tape when he was talking to the non-emergency number that he got out of the car to run after Trayvon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are there other apparent contradictions? Also, tonight, we`re going to show you newly released audio of a police investigator grilling George Zimmerman and a cop sounds like he doesn`t believe his story. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you head of the neighborhood watch?

ZIMMERMAN: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once again, something else I got to try and explain away.

How do you not know the three streets in your neighborhood you`ve been living in for three years? I don`t know how to answer that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Midwin Charles, defense attorney, it appears the investigators are skeptical. So I have to ask at the end of the day, the reason there was a national uproar was there was no arrest initially.

MIDWIN CHARLES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And they said nothing to see here. Nothing to see here. But you can see the investigators are very skeptical of him.

CHARLES: Yes, I mean I think one of the things that I find interesting with that tape is he says he got out to try to find the street sign. But hello, my guess if you`re part of the neighborhood watch, you know the neighborhood. Why would you want to do that?

So that`s one of the things why you have to ask yourself particularly since we know there`s a 911 call that exists in which he was told, "We don`t need you to do that. Don`t get out of your car. Don`t follow him."

So you have all these questions are raised by that videotape. I don`t think that this is a videotape that exonerates him of the charges.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Sanford police took a lot of heat for how they handled this case. But now we`re seeing they didn`t blindly accept George Zimmerman`s version of events.

Watch this from his interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person was not doing anything bad. You know the name of the person that died?

ZIMMERMAN: Trayvon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trayvon.

ZIMMERMAN: Trayvon Martin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trayvon Benjamin Martin. He was born in 1995, February the 5th. He was 17 years old.

In his possession we found a can of ice tea and a bag of Skittles and about $40 in cash. Not a goon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got problems with black people?

ZIMMERMAN: Of course not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. I had to ask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Susan Constantine, jury consultant, the cops are basically asking him if he`s a racist. This exhibits a lot more skepticism than we presumed on the part of the police.

SUSAN CONSTANTINE, JURY CONSULTANT: Well, you know, I watched that tape from the beginning to the end several times, Jane, and I`ll tell you what I noticed.

The first part where he was driving in the car and he was using his hand gestures and telling what direction he was going, he was very fluid in his hand gestures. When it got to the very specific points that everyone is questioning, somehow he forgets. He also pauses, he hesitates, he breaks eye contact. And at one point before he actually got to where the altercation happened, he actually pointed and he used this signal like this. Now, that`s the only time he did that.

And, you know, as a body language expert, I`m telling you right now the story`s not fitting the way he`s telling it. There`s a lot of discrepancies.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Show me the signal quickly.

CONSTANTIN: Right here, the gunpoint. If you go back and watch those videos, you will see him take this position when he is pointing to where one of the houses was at the end of the street. It shocked me, Jane. I was absolutely shocked.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
 ::snipping2::
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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« Reply #754 on: June 23, 2012, 08:05:21 PM »

i just wanted to comment on some previous posts about talking about this case with co workers but didn't want to add on to the stack of quotes because it was already long..

in my office they actually sent out an email saying we weren't allowed to discuss this case because one of my african american co workers was upset and complained that two people were talking about how GZ should be found not guilty  (shockingly i wasn't one of the people and yes i have strong opinions that it was self defense). 
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« Reply #755 on: June 23, 2012, 09:14:43 PM »

Zimmerman Acquits Himself—Yet Again--of Trayvon’s Murder
June 22 '12

LOS ANGELES--Rogue, self-appointed vigilante George Zimmerman is at it again.

The "it" is acquitting himself of the murder of Trayvon Martin. Here's his latest  media spin on Thursday--the killing according to Zimmerman. Martin verbally abused him, then punched and stomped him, and repeatedly banged his head into the concrete. To drive his fight-for-his-life defense home, Zimmerman says he thought Martin was going for his gun and that he simply beat him to it and shot him only to save his life.

Indisputable Facts

Zimmerman's crock of blarney about the events of that fateful night is contradicted by an indisputable body of factual evidence.

*He defied a clear directive from a police dispatcher to stand down and not follow Martin.

*There is the audiotape of Martin's phone call to his girlfriend in which he says he was being followed by a strange man.

*Zimmerman did not have or show any identification to Martin, leaving the teenager unable to tell a neighborhood “watch” person from a street thug.

*Zimmerman’s own damning words admit he was following Martin to see what he was doing.

*The mysterious wounds that later appeared on Zimmerman, supposedly from being assaulted by Martin, that are not evident in the initial police footage of him exiting a police car immediately after the shooting.

*Then there are statements by two witnesses stating they heard what sounded like Martin, not Zimmerman--screaming for help, and that Zimmerman was straddling Martin--not the other way around, as Zimmerman now claims.

Zimmerman's fantasyland version of events is punctuated by the single most significant indisputable fact: He’s alive; Martin isn’t.

George Zimmerman lives to tell whatever story he wants to allege to the press and the world without fear of contradiction from Martin. Even more frighteningly, he can tell it on the witness stand.

Even if his attorneys don’t call him to testify, the defense will be amply armed with the storehouse of officially released and unofficially leaked “new” and negative information about Martin to bolster his tale.   ::snipping2:: 

Degrading to Martin’s Family—and Justice

The campaign of innuendo and attack against Martin and defense of Zimmerman bolstered by new allegations about the shooting, of course, comes months after the killing. This puts the prosecution and Martin family supporters in the awkward and degrading position of having to fend off every hint or outright accusation of wrongdoing by Martin while Zimmerman’s image of a zealous troublemaker continues to get scrubbed cleaner.

The lethal combination of Florida's stand-your-ground law, Martin’s carefully constructed bad-guy image carefully constructed by Zimmerman and his defense team and the complicity of much of the media--and its dutiful reports often taking every Zimmerman concoction as fact--is fast turning the Martin murder into a pitiable fiasco.

The conduct of this case disgracefully mocks the legal and criminal justice system. But that's what happens when an accused criminal is allowed to publicly acquit himself.

Make no mistake, Zimmerman will continue to do just that.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a frequent political commentator on MSNBC and a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the author of How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge. He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network. Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.php?article_id=9744bdf9d64686e5b255295d8adc78ab&amp
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« Reply #756 on: June 23, 2012, 09:28:01 PM »

Zimmerman Acquits Himself—Yet Again--of Trayvon’s Murder
June 22 '12



 on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.php?article_id=9744bdf9d64686e5b255295d8adc78ab&amp

These kind of biased op-eds really pizz me off. Just more fuel to the fire to polarize the masses.
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« Reply #757 on: June 23, 2012, 10:39:53 PM »

Zimmerman Tapes: Variations Versus Differences
June 22 '12





We need another thread to continue the analysis of the George Zimmerman statements, interviews with police and crime-scene re-enactment.

So many were released yesterday, I doubt anyone but true case afficionados have listened to them all. I know I haven't. Yet across the internet, people are cherry-picking, pointing to minor variations as if they are contradictions affecting the totality of George Zimmerman's version of events.

If George Zimmerman told the exact same story over the course of days, people would say it was rehearsed and false. Variations are to be expected, human memory is not like a video recorder, it changes over time. So what is a reasonable test? How about this?

Forensic document examiners (handwriting experts) compare a known document to an unknown document to determine whether the same person wrote both. The known document might be a letter the person wrote in the past. The unknown document might be the ransom note.

One test for concluding if the same person authored both is whether there are a substantial number of similarities in the absence of a significant dissimilarity. Only a significant dissimilarity is considered a difference. Put another way: Are there are a sufficient number of significant characteristics and an absence of any significant inexplicable differences

A variation is not a difference. It is not a significant dissimilarity. How do these experts tell whether something is a variation or a difference? That's subjective, up to the examiner. (And why handwriting analysis is not considered science -- it's too subjective.)

Here, since we're dealing in the court of public opinion and with opinion not science, we can all be like document examiners.

There may be many variations in George Zimmerman's multiple accounts, but which, if any, amount to a significant dissimilarity that rises to a difference over a variation, and warrants someone concluding the essential elements of his version are not true?

My opinion: This is self-defense. Zimmerman was not the aggressor, he did nothing to provoke Trayvon Martin’s beating him, breaking his nose and slamming his head into concrete. He had every right to respond with deadly force to stop Trayvon’s physical attack on him and to prevent Trayvon from getting control of his weapon.  ::snipping2:: 

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2012/6/22/143156/459
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« Reply #758 on: June 24, 2012, 10:14:53 AM »

George Zimmerman barely mentions race talking about Trayvon Martin
June 23 '12

Something's missing from the hours of video and audio recordings released last week that, for the first time, let us hear George Zimmerman explain in his own words what happened the night he shot Trayvon Martin.

 What's missing? Any sign of the rampant racism that the case was tagged with since it grew into an international sensation.

 Zimmerman was accused of using a racial epithet during his phone call to police to report Trayvon as suspicious. Everyone from civil-rights activists to armchair detectives suggested Trayvon wouldn't have caught his attention at all had he been white. And then there was the NBC-edited version of the call to police that made it appear as though Zimmerman spontaneously offered up Trayvon's skin color rather than responded to a direct question from the dispatcher.

 Yet in the hours and days following the shooting, long before Zimmerman — or Sanford police — could have conceived that the case would attract the eyes of the world, race was barely mentioned at all.

 Zimmerman never once brings up Trayvon's race until directly asked by police to describe the 17-year-old's appearance.

 His apparent lack of interest in the matter continues to debunk the popular narrative of the shooting: that Zimmerman is a racist who targeted Trayvon because he was black.

 Investigators asked him several times why he considered Trayvon suspicious.

 Zimmerman offers a variety of reasons that may or may not be valid: Trayvon was an unfamiliar face in a neighborhood where Zimmerman says he knew everybody; it was raining and Trayvon looked to be walking too leisurely, as if he was scoping out houses; and Trayvon "looked like he was on drugs."

 Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, never said the thing you might expect to hear from a racist: that Trayvon was suspicious because he fit the too-general description — black teenager — of suspects in recent neighborhood burglaries.

 If Zimmerman was preoccupied with the color of Trayvon's skin, it stands to reason that he would have mentioned it early on, before he knew the world was watching. How could a racist resist the temptation to mention race?

 It didn't come up until — near the end of one interview recorded the night of the shooting — a detective asked him what Trayvon looked like. Zimmerman provided a description: African-American. Early 20s, late teens. About 6 feet. Slender build. Hoodie and sweat pants or jeans (Trayvon was actually wearing khaki pants).

 A lot of what Zimmerman says during the interviews doesn't add up.

 That's a column for another day.

 The central theme for months has been that George Zimmerman was motivated by racism, an accusation yet to be backed up by facts.

 Three days after the shooting — again, well before the wall-to-wall media coverage — Sanford Investigator Chris Serino calls Zimmerman back in for another interview.

 Serino sounds unconvinced of Zimmerman's story. He questions Zimmerman repeatedly about how the fight started and confronts the issue of racial profiling head-on.

  He asks Zimmerman why he considered Trayvon suspicious.

 "He was looking at the house intently," Zimmerman says. "... It's raining; he's not walking briskly to get out of the rain. I said, 'Something's off.' "

 Serino asks, "Had this person been white, would you have felt the same way?"

 Zimmerman immediately answers, "Yes."

 Later, Serino briefly tries to get at the issue again.

 "You got any problems with black people?" he asks.

 "No, sir," Zimmerman answers without hesitation.

 You could argue that Zimmerman would never make such admissions to police.

 Maybe. Zimmerman's credibility is certainly in question, especially after his wife was charged with lying in court about their finances.

 And there are stories from a former co-worker who said Zimmerman made disparaging remarks about him because he is Middle Eastern. Zimmerman made also made disparaging comments about Mexicans on an old MySpace page.

 But stack that up against the evidence that contradicts the popular image of Zimmerman as a man who went after Trayvon because he was black.

 Zimmerman and his wife reportedly mentored two siblings, who are black. When a homeless black man was sucker-punched in Sanford by a white police lieutenant's son — who wasn't immediately arrested — Zimmerman chastised the department at a public meeting for its handling of the case   ::snipping2:: 

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-23/news/os-beth-kassab-trayvon-martin-062412-20120623_1_shooting-pants-neighborhood-burglaries
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« Reply #759 on: June 24, 2012, 11:43:31 AM »


Trayvon Martin family lawyers win Bar diversity award
(Tiffany L. Williams, NABJ…)
7:34 p.m. EST, June 23, 2012

Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks, attorneys for Trayvon Martin's family, consider themselves lawyers who "fight giants" and take on the cases others would avoid. And now the Florida Bar is giving them some recognition as well.

 The Tallahassee attorneys were presented with the Henry Latimer Diversity Award at the annual Florida Bar Convention in Orlando on Friday.

 Latimer would have been the first black president of the Florida Bar before he died in a car crash in 2005.

 "This is the most prestigious award you can get," said Judge June McKinney, an administrative law judge in Tallahassee who was on the committee that created the award after Latimer's death.

 She said Latimer was the epitome of professionalism and was always willing to work with anyone in the name of productivity.

 "Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks fall into that category of people who benefit the whole state of Florida," McKinney said. "Often times they take on things that other people wouldn't take on because it's the right thing to do. They are following in Henry Latimer's footsteps."

 Both Parks and Crump say they are humbled by the honor.

 "To get an award bearing the name of Henry Latimer is a great honor for us," Crump said. "This award is about the efforts to make the Florida Bar more diverse and a better representation of all people. We are very proud to be a part of that effort."  ::snipping2:: 


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-23/news/os-crump-wins-bar-award-20120622_1_prestigious-award-high-profile-cases-florida-bar-convention
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