RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events 17 year old Trayvon Martin shot by Neighborhood watch guy Zimmerman

I would have shot him too if he was pounding my head on the sidewalk. Of course I probably wouldn't have picked a fight with him in first place.

SANFORD, Fla. – Judge Debra Nelson ruled Wednesday against two key pieces of evidence sought by George Zimmerman’s defense team.

Nelson said that text messages from Trayvon Martin’s phone which allegedly showed the slain teen to have a burgeoning penchant for violence will not be allowed into evidence.

Richard Conner, a computer forensics expert hired by the defense, was able to unlock “secret” text messages from the phone number used by Martin.

In those text messages sent from Martin’s phone — which analysts for the state were not able to obtain — Martin was said to have had conversations with friends about getting into fights. Martin’s half-brother allegedly asked Martin, “when you gonna teach me how to fight?”

Martin also sent text messages showing he was looking to obtain a handgun, he said. Those texts were sent in the week before Martin’s February 2012 visit to Sanford.

Nelson had put a decision on Martin’s text messages on hold prior to the trial. Both sides argued late into Tuesday evening over the relevance of the texts. State attorney John Guy argued “we don’t know who typed these messages, we don’t know if they’re connected.”

Nelson agreed, citing the “authenticity issue”.

Nelson also blocked animation created by Daniel Schumaker. The animation relied on witness testimony and statements to re-create the defense’s theory about the altercation between Zimmerman and Martin leading up to Martin’s death.

Schumaker relied on analysis provided by Vincent di Maio, the renowned gunshot expert who testified Tuesday the Zimmerman’s story — that Martin was on top of Zimmerman when he was shot — is consistent with the available evidence.

Barack Obama, community organizer: Work people into a frenzy. Divide them by race, or gender, or religion, or economic status, or whatever it takes. Then pretend to be the calm, reasonable moderator.

People are still falling for it, apparently, or he wouldn’t keep doing it. He just put out a statement on the George Zimmerman verdict, and it’s classic Obama. Let’s examine it piece by piece:

• OBAMA:
  The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America.

Would George Zimmerman’s death have been a tragedy, if he hadn’t defended himself and Trayvon Martin had succeeded in beating him to death? Something tells me Obama wouldn’t have cared. After all, Zimmerman doesn’t look like Obama’s son.

• I know this case has elicited strong passions.

Of course. That was the whole point. That was why Obama inserted himself into it in the first place. That’s why, when he was asked about the case, he didn’t just say he couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation. That’s why he disgraced the office of the President of the United States to divide people by race.

• And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.

It’s pretty funny for Obama to pay lip service to our “nation of laws.” He’s never met a law he’s not willing to ignore if it doesn’t suit him.

And if he really wanted “calm reflection,” why hasn’t he spoken out against all the less-than-calm reflection surrounding this case? Has he ever condemned the smear campaign against Zimmerman? Has he ever said it’s wrong to edit Zimmerman’s 911 call to make him sound racist, and give out his Social Security Number, and tweet what was believed to be his home address, and all the rest of it?

Of course Obama hasn’t said anything about it. That’s what he’s been counting on. That’s what he wants.

• And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis.

Now we’re getting down to it. Gun control. A Hispanic guy shot a black guy who was beating his head against the sidewalk, so let’s grab up all the guns. Let’s keep people from being able to defend their own lives.


Nobody ask Obama about gun violence in gun-controlled Chicago, okay?

• We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this.

Sure thing, President Scold. How about teaching our young men not to beat people up, because they might not win? That could stop a “tragedy” or two.

• As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin.

You dishonor him by using him as yet another political pawn, Mr. President. I’d say you should be ashamed of yourself, if I thought you were even capable of it.

So there you have it. Let’s hear it, commenters: Tell me why you hate the Hispanic guy who defended his own life and was found not guilty of murder.

And more importantly, tell me why it’s racist to criticize Obama for the things he says and does.

Martin’s school suspension record. According to an investigation by the Miami Herald, Martin was suspended twice - once in October of last year for graffiti, and prior to the shooting for possession of a bag with traces of marijuana and a “marijuana pipe.” Martin was also found in possession of some jewelry and what the Herald describes as a “burglary tool,” though these items were not convincingly established as being owned by Martin himself, following an independent investigation by police.

Both offenses, which would fall under the umbrellas of “vandalism” and “possession or use of alcohol and/or controlled substances,” would be sufficient to merit ten day suspensions under district policy. Martin was apparently also suspended at an indeterminate time in the past for tardiness and/or truancy, though the Herald does not specify for how long.

Even assuming the worst, all those are nonviolent WB. You seem to be ok with Zimmerman's violent acts hushed up. Domestic violence and assaulting an officer with violence!

Really shame on you.

In July 2005, Zimmerman, then 21, was at a bar near the University of Central Florida when a friend was arrested by state alcohol agents on suspicion of serving underage drinkers, according to an arrest report in the Sentinel. Zimmerman became profane and pushed away an agent who tried to escort him, the report said. Authorities said he was arrested after a short struggle. Charged with resisting arrest without violence, he avoided conviction by entering a pretrial-diversion program, something common for first-time offenders.

A month later, an ex-fiancée filed a petition for an injunction against Zimmerman, citing domestic violence. Zimmerman responded by filing a petition of his own the following day. The fight led to protective injunctions that expired Aug. 24, 2006.

Zimmerman married Shellie Nicole Dean, a licensed cosmetologist, in late 2007.

The next year, he resurfaced in court documents as a credit-card company pursued him. Capital One accused Zimmerman of failing to pay more than $1,000. He settled with the company for $2,135.82, records show, to cover his debts with interest, as well as attorney and court costs.

““I was arrested in July of 2005 for assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest with violence. Both charges were immediately dropped to resisting arrest without violence, and then dropped all together.

“I was in an altercation with an undercover officer that was taking part in an ATF sting for underage drinking in UCF. He never told me he was an officer and assaulted me first. Shortly after that, in September 2005, the same unit was conducting a sting at UCF and an officer was killed by an OPD officer because he discharged his weapon and did not identify himself.

“My father is a retired Magistrate Judge for the Supreme Court of Virginia and my mother was a deputy clerk of court for over 20 years. I hold law enforcement officers in the highest regaurd (sic) as I hope to one day become one. I would never have touched a police officer. Prior to and since that I have not been arrested.

Thank you and I hope to join you in January.

George M. Zimmerman.

“I was in an altercation with an undercover officer that was taking part in an ATF sting for underage drinking in UCF. He never told me he was an officer and assaulted me first. Shortly after that, in September 2005, the same unit was conducting a sting at UCF and an officer was killed by an OPD officer because he discharged his weapon and did not identify himself.

by Patrick Howley



African Americans benefit from Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law at a rate far out of proportion to their presence in the state’s population, despite an assertion by Attorney General Eric Holder that repealing “Stand Your Ground” would help African Americans.

Black Floridians have made about a third of the state’s total “Stand Your Ground” claims in homicide cases, a rate nearly double the black percentage of Florida’s population. The majority of those claims have been successful, a success rate that exceeds that for Florida whites.

Nonetheless, prominent African Americans including Holder and “Ebony and Ivory” singer Stevie Wonder, who has vowed not to perform in the Sunshine State until the law is revoked, have made “Stand Your Ground” a central part of the Trayvon Martin controversy.


Holder, who was pressured by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other progressive groups to open a civil rights case against acquitted neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Martin, criticized Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law in a speech Tuesday before the NAACP.

The law was not invoked by Zimmerman’s defense team but was included in instructions to the jury.

“We must confront the underlying attitudes, the mistaken beliefs and the unfortunate stereotypes that serve too often as the basis for police action and private judgments. Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhood,” Holder said to applause in his speech before the NAACP Tuesday.

“These laws try to fix something that was never broken. There has always been a legal defense for using deadly force if — and the ‘if’ is important — if no safe retreat is available. But we must examine laws that take this further by eliminating the common-sense and age-old requirement that people who feel threatened have a duty to retreat, outside their home, if they can do so safely. By allowing and perhaps encouraging violent situations to escalate in public, such laws undermine public safety,” Holder said.

“The list of resulting tragedies is long and, unfortunately, has victimized too many who are innocent. It is our collective obligation; we must stand OUR ground to ensure — (cheers, applause, music) — we must stand our ground to ensure that our laws reduce violence, and take a hard look at laws that contribute to more violence than they prevent,” Holder said.

But approximately one third of Florida “Stand Your Ground” claims in fatal cases have been made by black defendants, and they have used the defense successfully 55 percent of the time, at the same rate as the population at large and at a higher rate than white defendants, according to a Daily Caller analysis of a database maintained by the Tampa Bay Times. Additionally, the majority of victims in Florida “Stand Your Ground” cases have been white.

African Americans used “Stand Your Ground” defenses at nearly twice the rate of their presence in the Florida population, which was listed at 16.6 percent in 2012.

Catch up on this story:

• Star witness 'disappointed, upset, angry' about verdict
  
  Martin family may file civil trial
  
  Justice Department to re-open probe of Trayvon Martin shooting death
  
  Obama calls for calm reflection from Americans
  
  Gun given back to Zimmerman after trial ends
  
  Zimmerman is acquitted in Trayvon Martin killing
  
  Jury finds Zimmerman not guilty on all charges
  
  Jurors ask judge for clarification during final deliberations
  
  Prosecutor depicts Zimmerman as angry vigilante during closing arguments
  
  Defense rests without Zimmerman taking the stand
  
  Expert says evidence jibes with Zimmerman's story
  
  Trayvon Martin's father takes the stand
  
  Prosecution asks judge to block animated reenactment of Zimmerman and Martin's confrontation
  
  Defense attorney's daughter caught in Instagram controversy
  
  For more stories tagged 'George Zimmerman' or 'Trayvon Martin' click here

By Chris Francescani

NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - A former employee of Florida State Attorney Angela Corey's office plans to file a whistleblower lawsuit against George Zimmerman's prosecutors, his attorney told Reuters on Tuesday.

The action will put pressure on Corey, who already faces criticism from some legal experts for the unsuccessful prosecution of the case, which led to the acquittal of Zimmerman for shooting unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman's defense has also called for sanctions against her and her prosecution team.

Ben Kruidbos, Corey's former director of information technology, was fired after testifying at a pre-trial hearing on June 6 that prosecutors failed to turn over potentially embarrassing evidence extracted from Martin's cell phone to the defense, as required by evidence-sharing laws.

"We will be filing a whistleblower action in (Florida's Fourth Judicial District) Circuit Court," said Kruidbos' attorney Wesley White, himself a former prosecutor who was hired by Corey but resigned in December because he disagreed with her prosecutorial priorities. He said the suit will be filed within the next 30 days.

Corey and lead prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Corey referred Reuters to Kruidbos' termination letter, previously made public, in which Corey's office accused him of hacking confidential information from state computers.

The six-page letter, dated July 11, charges Kruidbos with "deliberate, willful and unscrupulous actions" that make him untrustworthy and calls his questioning of de la Rionda's actions regarding the cell phone evidence "a shallow, but obvious, attempt to cloak yourself in the protection of the whistleblower law."



BRADY DISPUTE

Zimmerman was acquitted on Saturday following a five-week trial that riveted America and relaunched debates on race and guns. The verdict sparked demonstrations in some cities by those angered by the decision.

On Monday, Corey told Reuters, "Our office adhered to the highest standards of ethical behavior."

Trial law requires prosecutors to share evidence with defense attorneys, especially if it helps exonerate defendants. The requirement is known as the Brady disclosure.

Kruidbos testified last month in a pre-trial hearing that he found photos on Martin's phone that included pictures of a pile of jewelry on a bed, underage nude females, marijuana plants and a hand holding a semi-automatic pistol.

The Martin family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kruidbos had emailed de la Rionda in late January and attached a report containing the text messages and images he had retrieved from Martin's cell phone, his lawyer said.

Zimmerman's chief defense attorney Mark O'Mara has said he didn't receive the material until June, shortly before the murder trial began.

Judge Debra Nelson ruled that pictures and texts from Martin's cell phone were inadmissible, after prosecutors argued that it couldn't be proven Martin actually took the pictures and wrote the texts on his phone.

The judge has yet to rule on whether the prosecution committed any Brady violations by not handing over evidence, as alleged by Zimmerman's defense team. (Editing by Dina Kyriakidou, Martin Howell)

Martin Supporters Call for "Anal Raping" of George Zimmerman

I wonder which tweet is MEM's?

... It's a change of pace from jerking off to dead Trayvon.

Try aiming a bit higher.

Nope. I'm playing by your rules. You have years of going overboard and saying some pretty horrible things that you felt entitled to say. I didn't tweet anything G-man and you knew that. Try aiming a bit higher.

think it was pretty clearly sarcasm on G-man's part, clearly making reference to your previous posts, and clearly not literally saying that you personally called for raping Zimmerman. But with humor insinuating that based on your previous posted opinions, you would advocate raping Zimmerman.

George Zimmerman trial coverageJuly 16, 2013|By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

If Trayvon Martin's parents file a lawsuit against George Zimmerman, they face a huge obstacle: Florida's "stand your ground" law.

That much-debated statute provides immunity not just against criminal charges but also against civil suits.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon's parents, would not say Tuesday what their plans are.

"We're not even thinking about it right now," he said. Parents Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton "are still trying to deal with the tragedy of this verdict."

But on Feb. 22 — months before the criminal trial — Crump attorney Bruce Blackwell told Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson that the family intends to sue. Its lawsuit would most likely be a wrongful-death claim or one alleging negligence.

Central Florida defense attorneys said Tuesday that just because Zimmerman was acquitted, that does not mean he won't be sued, but it does indicate the evidence weighs in his favor.

If Zimmerman is sued in this case, a judge would determine whether "stand your ground" applies. If the judge rules it does, Zimmerman would be released from liability. If the judge rules against that claim, the case would be tried before a jury.

Moments after Zimmerman was found not guilty, defense attorney Mark O'Mara said, "If someone believes it's appropriate to sue George Zimmerman, then we will seek and we will get immunity in a civil hearing, and we will see just how many civil lawsuits will be spawned by this fiasco."

That was a reference to a "stand your ground" hearing, one not yet held in this case.

Although O'Mara said shortly after the shooting that Zimmerman would challenge his criminal prosecution under that statute, defense attorneys ran out of time and opted to simply take the case to a jury.

The statute, enacted in Florida in 2005, provides criminal and civil immunity to anyone who uses deadly force if he has a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily injury.

O'Mara contends his client did, that he shot Trayvon on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford after the Miami Gardens teenager knocked him to the ground with a punch that broke his nose, then climbed on top and began banging his head against a sidewalk.

Zimmerman told Sanford police that he killed Trayvon in self-defense.

There have been no appellate cases in Florida that spell out how civil-trial courts should handle such claims, according to several Central Florida attorneys.

That makes predicting an outcome dicey, they said.

To win a "stand your ground" claim in a criminal or civil case, a defendant must show by a preponderance of evidence — more than 50 percent — that he had a reasonable fear of being killed or gravely injured, said Robert Buonauro, an Orlando attorney who has handled three "stand your ground" criminal cases.

I think it's a harder defense to use in a civil case," he said.

Winter Springs attorney Andrew Chmelir, who has handled but lost one criminal "stand your ground" case, said it's impossible to predict the outcome of such a claim in a Zimmerman civil case.

If a judge concludes that Zimmerman is not credible — prosecutors accused him of creating a "tangled web of lies" — he or she could rule against him and send the case to a jury.

Still, he said of Trayvon's parents, "They're going to have an uphill battle."

Retired Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton Jr., who served in Sanford for 24 years, pointed out that if Trayvon's parents sue then lose a "stand your ground" hearing, they could wind up paying Zimmerman.

The statute provides that anyone who prevails in a civil "stand your ground" hearing may collect attorney fees, court costs, expenses and compensation for lost income.

Zimmerman was found not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt