Just keep denying:
page 122: “contact shot”. Meaning the forensic analysts estimate the gun was in contact with the clothes.
page 127: stippling, intermediate range. Meaning the medical examiner estimates the gun was inches away from the skin.
If Zimmerman used a knife instead of a gun to defend himself It would have made a bigger hole in Martin’s chest.
Words like these typically come from someone who has never actually studied martial arts. No sane instructor I’ve ever met has advocated hand-to-firearm combat. Even standard knife defense is to create distance and escape/run.
If someone breaks into your house and you think they are armed you escape and call the police.
No, special forces members are not “quite often” black belts OR instructors. Yes, they receive hand-to-hand combat training, but that doesn’t instantly make them black belts. It generally takes 6-8 years of solid training to make black belt in any MA (like judo or BJJ) that is combat effective.
Or maybe he wouldn’t have been following Martin around looking for an excuse to play Rambo.
I can agree with at least half of this sentence.
The thing that none of us know is Zimmerman’s story in full. All we’ve been working with is snippets here and there. But there are elements of his story that have yet to officially see the light of day, and I strongly suspect that instead of helping Zimmerman’s case, they only make him look even more like a liar with an overactive but sloppy imagination.
Like this whole business with Martin circling his car while he was talking to the dispatcher. I haven’t seen anyone who believes Zimmerman’s story address this newest addition to the narrative, probably because its so hard to swallow that its preferable to pretend that it’s just baseless rumor rather than go through the silly motions of accepting it. But I am curious what his defenders will say if and when this claim is brought up in court. Does anyone really believe that Martin circled Z’s truck while he was on the phone with the dispatcher?
Zimmerman took exquisite care to describe Martin down to the button on his shirt and the position of his hand relative to his waistband, but he somehow neglected to tell the dispatcher Martin was doing 360s around his truck? America is supposed to buy this? Anyone who does, please raise your hands.
It was written in plain English. The technical terms can be looked up. The internet is a wonderful resource if you’re willing to use it.
Have you looked at a map of the area? “Following around” consists of something like 225 feet. The entire route Martin took from the clubhouse to the confrontation was about 525 feet. You can look up the area on Google Earth and measure it yourself.
And there is no evidence that he was playing Rambo. He had called the police and was doing the next logical thing which was to keep Martin in sight. He had asked the police to call his cell phone when they arrived so he could coordinate their search.
What will be brought up in court, if there is a trial? Martin punched Zimmerman, broke his nose and continued to beat him while he lay on the ground. Is there any evidence that will be presented by the prosecutor to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this didn’t occur?
If the two men had exchanged words until the police arrived, Martin might still be alive.
Will a jury, if there’s a jury, decide this case on a 360 tour of Zimmerman vehicle? Zimmerman saw a suspicous person and called the police. The suspicious person watched Zimmerman while Zimmerman watched him. The suspicious person ran away.
If I were selected for the jury, I would want to know how the two men met up again. Is there any evidence that Martin couldn’t have been on top of Zimmerman, pinning him to the ground, and beating his head on a concrete sidewalk. There are police photos and medical reports of Zimmermans bleeding head and numerous bruises. Martin had an injury to his hand and a hole in his chest. It’s obvious that Martin was winning any fight.
Is there any evidence that Zimmerman didn’t believe that his very life was in danger?
Is there any evidence that Zimmerman is actually guilty of 2nd degree murder? Not manslaughter or reckless endangerment but 2nd degree murder?
So has Dershowitz. Dershowitz has only been addressing the information Corey presented to the judge to 1) arrest Zimmerman and 2) set Zimmerman’s bail. According to Dershowitz, based on what Corey actually presented, Zimmerman should not have been arrested for violating FLA laws according to FLA law.
If Corey has “other” evidence that suggests a 2nd degree murder charge, it should have been presented to the judge or Zimmerman should not have been charged with 2nd degree murder. According to the Harvard law professor.
Nowhere on the 911 call did he say Martin did a 360 or circled his car. If his truck was on the street then Martin would have walked around it because there are no sidewalks between the clubhouse and the cut-through sidewalk that goes behind the houses (where the confrontation took place).
Hahaha, you’re a hoot. You want Zimmerman sent to prison because he owns a firearm and used it defend his own life. You don’t care why he used it, only that he did use it. Do you believe that everyone who uses a handgun to defend their own life should be sent to prison?
I don’t see how Zimmerman’s statement won’t be brought up in court, since without it, he won’t be able make an affirmative defense. Remember, the onus is not just on the State to prove its side. Zimmerman has to offer a preponderance of evidence that he acted lawfully, and he won’t be able to do without his statement coming into play
Zimmerman’s entire defense rests upon his credibility. If the jury thinks he lied about what happened that night, then they have no reason to give any weight to his story of events. They will have to give more weight to other evidence, which more than likely goes against Zimmerman.
This is a silly question. You don’t look for evidence that someone couldn’t have been doing something. That’s like proving a negative. The better question is there any evidence that Zimmerman shot Martin unlawfully. And the answer to that is yes. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in jail right now.
Do you think Martin circled Zimmerman’s car? Yes or no.
If Dershowitz is right then the Prosecutor deliberately set the bar higher knowing it would be knocked down.
Hahaha. Unfortunately for you and your own extreme opinion, the courts do rely on “established facts”. All of the States rely on forensic experts which are also available to defendents. I’ve afraid there is nothing you can do about that.
I think he walked around his car because there is no sidewalk between the clubhouse and where the cut-through sidewalk picks up.
If you look at the transcript of his 911 call he is not very good at describing stuff. Instead of telling them to stay on the road he keeps telling them to go left (the road bears to the left). Zimmerman: “Yeah. You go in straight through the entrance and then you would go left. You go straight in, don’t turn and make a left”. “Um, if they come in through the gate, tell them to go straight past the clubhouse and, uh, straight past the clubhouse and make a left and then go past the mailboxes you’ll see my truck.”
So unless he specifically said martin did a 360 then a description of circling his car is about as accurate as his skill-sets allow for.
Well…yeah, like, that’s the point. Glad you picked up on that detail.
Z was mysteriously silent about Martin pacing around his truck, while it was supposedly happening, while he was on the phone. But later when he spoke to the cops after the shooting, he regaled them with a story about how Martin approached his vehicle and frightened him so bad that it made him roll up his window.
To me, this reads just like a lie intended to make Zimmerman look like as meek and nonconfrontational as possible, while making Martin look the opposite. There is no way to make it fit without looking ridiculous.
Knocked down by who? The prosecutor? It was Corey who set the bar at 2nd degree. Dershowitz is saying that what Corey actually presented to the judge does not suggest 2nd degree murder. Dershowitz is suggesting that since Corey did not present evidence of 2nd degree, Zimmerman should not have been charged with 2nd degree.
If Corey’s presented evidence that only suggests manslaughter, then Zimmerman should have been charged with manslaughter. The prosecutor shouldn’t be allowed to lie in court to falsely charge someone with a violation of a particular State law when the State can only prove that another State law has been violated. They can’t charge you with car theft just because you were caught speeding. The car actually has to have been stolen.
Corey can always add or change the charges against Zimmerman up until the time jury selection begins or the first witness is sworn in if there is no jury.
So, wait a minute. You think when Martin saw Z was looking at him and ran, prompting Z to exit his car to give chase…then what.
Zimmerman promptly got back into his truck?
And Martin immediately headed back to the scene and started pacing around the truck?
To believe this, you’d have to believe something would have had to possessed these two guys to go into instant rewind mode and then behave in a manner completely antithetical to their initial behaviors. Doesn’t make sense.
I was suggesting that the Corey presented a charge knowing it would be struck down. In other words, a sham trial to appease the public.