# In which Stoid (The Prosecutor) Cross-examines Bricker (George Zimmerman) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561 "2012-04-22T05:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/21 "2012-04-22T18:30:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > even though it was raining he was walking very slowly, while most people would walk quickly to get out of the rain. He was also looking at the houses as he passed as though trying to see if people were home. I thought that fit the profile of someone casing houses for a possible burglary. > [@Bricker](#): > > No. It was simply that he was moving slowly and appeared to be checking the houses he passed. Is there anything else about him or his behavior that made you think he was suspicious, or is this it? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/22 "2012-04-22T18:43:10Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Mr. Zimmerman, as we are on a message board, I hope you will forgive me for asking more than one question at a time. If I don’t I fear we will be at this for months… > > Thank you for that refresher. Now… > > 1. Describe what Trayvon was doing or what else you saw that made you think that Trayvon was “suspicious”. > > 2. Please use [this map](http://viewfromll2.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/zimmermanmap.png) (and disregard the marks already on it unless you agree that they are accurate as to what they say) and indicate with as much precision as you are able, looking back, the location where you stopped your truck and where Trayvon “came into view”. In a brief look at the map, I stopped just at the crosswalk (green circle 3). He came into view at 2 o’clock on the green circle. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/23 "2012-04-22T18:46:25Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Is there anything else about him or his behavior that made you think he was suspicious, or is this it? Not about his behavior, no. I wondered if he was on drugs because he was walking so slowly, too, but it was all tied to his walking speed. When people are walking in the rain they usually walk purposefully and he wasn’t doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/24 "2012-04-22T19:40:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not about his behavior, no. I wondered if he was on drugs because he was walking so slowly, too, but it was all tied to his walking speed. When people are walking in the rain they usually walk purposefully and he wasn’t doing that. I don’t mean to be repetitive, Mr. Zimmerman, I just want to give you every opportunity to make sure you are understood, so this is the last time I’ll ask: have you now told us all the things about Trayvon Martin that led you to finding him so suspicious that you felt a call to the police was appropriate? Is there anything else you’d like to add? Take a moment, we have time. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/25 "2012-04-22T20:08:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > At about 7 p.m. on the night in question, I called 911 to report a suspicious person in the gated community called the Retreat at Twin Lakes. I live there and serve as neighborhood watch captain, although I was not on duty that night. Regarding your role as neighborhood watch captain… you say you were not “on duty” that night. Please describe what being “on duty” means, in terms of your actions. For instance, do you drive around the development? Do you walk around? Do you just look out your window? And who defined what those duties should be? Was it you, was it something written down in the bylaws or other paperwork associated with your neighborhood watch? Also please tell us how long you have lived in the development, how long you have been acting as the neighborhood watch captain and please give us some idea, if you have been “patrolling” as part of your duties, of how many hours or days you have spent engaged in this activity. Here is [another map](http://g.co/maps/et8jm), this one shows the entire development. Please tell us what area you usually patrol, if indeed that is what you do. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/26 "2012-04-22T20:14:14Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I don’t mean to be repetitive, Mr. Zimmerman, I just want to give you every opportunity to make sure you are understood, so this is the last time I’ll ask: have you now told us all the things about Trayvon Martin that led you to finding him so suspicious that you felt a call to the police was appropriate? Is there anything else you’d like to add? Take a moment, we have time. Counsel: Objection, asked and answered. (Notwithstanding and subject to that objection, the witness will answer.) No, that’s what it was. He did have his hands near his waistband, but that’s not why I found him suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/27 "2012-04-22T20:14:59Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Regarding your role as neighborhood watch captain… you say you were not “on duty” that night. Please describe what being “on duty” means, in terms of your actions. For instance, do you drive around the development? Do you walk around? Do you just look out your window? > > And who defined what those duties should be? Was it you, was it something written down in the bylaws or other paperwork associated with your neighborhood watch? > > Also please tell us how long you have lived in the development, how long you have been acting as the neighborhood watch captain and please give us some idea, if you have been “patrolling” as part of your duties, of how many hours or days you have spent engaged in this activity. Here is [another map](http://g.co/maps/et8jm), this one shows the entire development. Please tell us what area you usually patrol, if indeed that is what you do. Objection: relevance. Your Honor, none of this goes to any elements of the charges preferred against Mr. Zimmerman, including state of mind. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/28 "2012-04-22T20:19:34Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Objection: relevance. Your Honor, none of this goes to any elements of the charges preferred against Mr. Zimmerman, including state of mind. Objection back: Ms. Gibbler is not Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mr. Bricker is. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/29 "2012-04-22T20:20:58Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Objection back: Ms. Gibbler is not Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mr. Bricker is. I thought that Bricker was Mr. Zimmerman. Is he defending himself. That’s never a good idea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/30 "2012-04-22T20:23:44Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I thought that Bricker was Mr. Zimmerman. Is he defending himself. That’s never a good idea. 😉 Yeah, well, when you hold a mock trial in a message board thread, you gotta make adjustments. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/31 "2012-04-22T20:27:46Z")
If the testimony was that he wasn’t on duty, how does asking about a typical day when he’s on duty not relevate? I made that up. Spread it. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/32 "2012-04-22T20:28:26Z")
Mr. Zimmerman, please indicate on the map exactly where you were when you first observed Mr. Martin. Also tell us if you were moving, and if so what direction. Also indicate where you were at the point you called the police and spoke with the dispatcher, and where Mr. Martin was at that time, when you were describing him as “coming toward” you. Also please indicate where Mr. Martin was running when he ran, as you described to the dispatcher. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/33 "2012-04-22T20:33:44Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He did have his hands near his waistband, but that’s not why I found him suspicious. If that’s not what made you suspicious, why did you mention it at the time, and why do you mention it now? Also, since you mention that you were looking at his hands, which were near his waistband, did you notice him carrying a 7-11 bag, or holding a bottle of iced tea in one or the other of his hands? If you did notice that one or the other of his hands was occupied carrying or holding the items we know he had just purchased from the 7-11, iced tea and a packet of Skittles candy, does your statment that his his hands were near his waistband mean that he was holding these items near his waist, that only one hand was near his waistband, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/34 "2012-04-22T20:43:48Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Regarding your role as neighborhood watch captain… you say you were not “on duty” that night. Please describe what being “on duty” means, in terms of your actions. For instance, do you drive around the development? Do you walk around? Do you just look out your window? Usually I just keep an eye on things, report anything suspicious. > [@](#): > > And who defined what those duties should be? Was it you, was it something written down in the bylaws or other paperwork associated with your neighborhood watch? Nothing all that official. We had a Neighborhood watch program and I was the only volunteer. No one reply defined any duties. > [@](#): > > Also please tell us how long you have lived in the development, how long you have been acting as the neighborhood watch captain and please give us some idea, if you have been “patrolling” as part of your duties, of how many hours or days you have spent engaged in this activity. Here is [another map](http://g.co/maps/et8jm), this one shows the entire development. Please tell us what area you usually patrol, if indeed that is what you do. Lived there about three years. Been the neighborhood watch captain since last September. I don’t patrol. I just keep an eye out. I reserve time to be in he neighborhood ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/35 "2012-04-22T20:47:52Z")
Isn’t the prosecution asking about things not in evidence (what Zimmerman had in his hands, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/36 "2012-04-22T20:53:17Z")
Maybe we can stipulate that a bottle of iced tea and some Skittles were recovered from the scene. Fun thread! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/37 "2012-04-22T22:58:43Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Isn’t the prosecution asking about things not in evidence (what Zimmerman had in his hands, etc.). Remember that this is theoretically the defense case. The prosecution has already completed its case-in-chief. Presumably these things were already in evidence, and she’s therefore got the foundation to ask the question. If she asks about something that’s more controversial, we’ll need to talk it out. But the Skittles etc are not a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/38 "2012-04-22T23:02:36Z")
What if he had a bottle of soda and some Pop Rocks? Could that be considered a weapon? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/39 "2012-04-22T23:05:07Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > If that’s not what made you suspicious, why did you mention it at the time, and why do you mention it now? I mentioned it at the time because I was worried he might have a weapon. I mentioned it now because you were urging me to be as complete as I could, and I didn’t want to leave you or the jury with the impression that I didn’t recall saying it. > [@](#): > > Also, since you mention that you were looking at his hands, which were near his waistband, did you notice him carrying a 7-11 bag, or holding a bottle of iced tea in one or the other of his hands? If you did notice that one or the other of his hands was occupied carrying or holding the items we know he had just purchased from the 7-11, iced tea and a packet of Skittles candy, does your statment that his his hands were near his waistband mean that he was holding these items near his waist, that only one hand was near his waistband, or something else? I think he had a bag in his left hand and his right hand was free. It was his right hand that I saw go near his waistband, as if he had something tucked in there. I was afraid it might be a weapon. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561/40 "2012-04-22T23:11:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I think he had a bag in his left hand and his right hand was free. It was his right hand that I saw go near his waistband, as if he had something tucked in there. I was afraid it might be a weapon. Was there any reason you thought he might be reaching for such a weapon, if he had one? Had anything happened, or were you just generally concerned that someone with a weapon would automatically be inclined to reach for it randomly? What I mean to say is that you appear to be telling us that the proximity between his hand and waistband immediately suggested to you that he had a weapon, and I’m trying to understand why, even if he had one, you would think he was reaching for it? If indeed that was the thought process you had, forgive me if I’m assuming too much and please feel free to clarify if there’s anything I’ve misunderstood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-stoid-the-prosecutor-cross-examines-bricker-george-zimmerman/619561.md?page=3)