I have provided links below for the sources used in this article as well as interesting articles I have found that may or may not be included this article's content.
The defense started with arguments for an acquittal. Obviously the state has proved nothing yet, Judge Nelson, who is extremely prejudicial offered the defense nothing but an unreasonable decision that the trial should carry on.
Gladys, George's mother was the first witness called for the defense. She testified that the voice she heard screaming was the voice of her son George. Then, George's uncle, Gladys' brother, Jorge Meza was called to also confirm that the 911 call scream came from Zimmerman.
The defense continued with witness after witness to confirm who was screaming and all of them were remarkable.
“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that is George Zimmerman,” John Donnelly, a friend of Mr. Zimmerman’s who served as a combat medic in Vietnam and is now a physician assistant, testified. Mr. Donnelly’s wife, Leanne Benjamin, also testified that it was Mr. Zimmerman shouting on the recording.I am still behind on much of the testimony but, I am aware that the defense debunked the idea that George was some sort of amazing MMA style fighter. They also were able to demonstrate that Trayvon's father is a liar who did not initially state he heard Trayvon screaming and when the 911 tapes were presented to both parents, no law enforcement was allowed per their request.
The defense was denied the right to demonstrate the character of Trayvon using his text messages that reveal his interest in obtaining a gun, use of drugs, and pornography. According to the judge, any 7-year old could have got into the phone and sent those text -- ignoring the double password security on the phone. Apparently the phone information was considered authenticated for substantiating Trayvon was on the phone and texting Rachel but, magically the information that helped the defense became unable to authenticate.
The defense was also able to call a very impressive forensic pathologist who not only confirmed that the physical evidence matched that of Zimmerman's account but also said under cross,“This is not exactly a complicated case forensically.” He also testified to the severity of George's injuries.
For some reason, the defense chose not to tell the jury about the marijuana found in Trayvon's bloodstream at the time of death, even though that was ultimately allowed by the judge.
Next up was Mr. Bonaparte.
Norton N. Bonaparte Jr., Sanford’s city manager, testified that Mr. Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, and a few relatives had been invited to the mayor’s office to hear the call. They asked that law enforcement not be present. After hearing the call, Mr. Martin’s parents concluded it was their son screaming for help. Two police officers testified that Tracy Martin said two days after the shooting that it was not his son.
The fact that they heard the call together, instead of individually, raised concerns among law enforcement officials who said the parents could have influenced one another.Two neighbors testified about Zimmerman. One happened to be a black woman who supported Zimmerman and established the location of where his truck was parked that fateful night. Another neighbor testified Zimmerman had helped after her home was robbed.
Public safety consultant Dennis Root was then called to establish that Martin would definitely have a physical advantage of Zimmerman.
There is an animation video that the defense has put together that was not allowed into evidence but it can be used in the closing argument for demonstrative purposes.
Zimmerman did not testify. I do not blame him considering the political nature of this case. He has given plenty of statements that tell his story and it's clear his story matches the facts of this case -- circumstantial, physical, and direct.
The defense rested. The prosecution has completed their closing remarks. The entire show today can only be described as ridiculous. If anything the "bald headed dude" gave every reason to show the jury there was reasonable doubt. It was a failure in my opinion. How could it be anything else? The state never had a case to begin with; it is why Zimmerman was not originally arrested. Let's pray the jury sees through this debacle.
Some of my thoughts...
I am amazed at how this judge is able to carry on the way she has been. Her behavior and actions are disturbingly bias. She is clearly presenting herself as hostile toward the defense and protects the prosecution like a lion protecting its cubs. If I had the power, I would have her immediately removed from the bench. She is a disgrace to the courtroom as far as I'm concerned.
Reading various articles, forums, message boards, blogs, etc. it seems as if there are still people who are still stuck on stupid and keep repeating things that simply are not true. I have noticed that for many people, it does not mater what has been brought out in court, or how poor the state's case has been, they refuse to deal with reasonable logic. Many have gone so far as to change their entire story in order to "fit" their desired outcome.
It also doesn't matter how many times the NON- Emergency phone call has been played, Traybots INSIST that a 911 operator ordered Zimmerman to stay in his car.
UGH! I swear if I have to read that one more time, I might just explode because this statement is completely untrue by all accounts.
George called the non-emergency line just like he should have. He did not see Trayvon doing anything illegal but he obviously did not recognize him. What we know about Trayvon's whereabouts that evening confirm that he was not walking with a purpose or destination in mind. The convenience store he visited prior was only a mile away, yet from the time he left till the time George called, almost 40 minutes had passed. 40 minutes to walk a mile? That's not even possible. Walking at a slow pace, a very slow pace, a mile can be covered in 20 minutes. A reasonable person can conclude that Trayvon was indeed, wandering about, just like George said he was. He looked as if he were on drugs. Yes, Trayvon did indeed have THC, the ingredient found in marijuana in his blood.
I really don't care how much people want to argue with me about marijuana and tell me that it doesn't really do anything to anyone because that's not true, nor are peoples' body-chemistry the same. The fact is, marijuana has been documented for years to cause people to feel paranoid. You have a 17-year old, wandering about, paranoid, and telling his friend DeeDee that there is a "creepy ass cracker" following him. Well, at that point, nobody was "following him" because Zimmerman was observing him from his vehicle. We also know that Trayvon took off, ran, skipped, trotted off (whatever you want to call it), at some point. This is confirmed by DeeDee and it's also confirmed during the phone call that was recorded by police with Zimmerman. Zimmerman say, "he ran" and it is AFTER that point that Zimmerman got out of his truck. So how would Trayvon even know he was being "followed" unless he had indeed hid somewhere at some point to "watch" or dare I say "stalk" Zimmerman?
Let's talk about Zimmerman's story...
I also keep hearing people repeat over and over that Zimmerman has changed his story a bunch of times. Again, this is NOT true. All of his statements and his re-enactment video show that he has remained consistent. He also took a voice stress test. Of course he is not going to repeat word for word what happened. That's not how the mind works. When people are telling a story about what happened to them, especially something that caused a person to be under stress or in this case a fight, it's difficult to put everything together in a perfect way; people are multifaceted. They have many things going on in their mind and many things may come to them later.
What you must look for are great inconsistencies or great changes that contradict evidence. This is not the case with Zimmerman and the trial has revealed this to be true. Serino testified that Zimmerman's account remained consistent and his story supported witnesses as well as the physical evidence.
Zimmerman said that Trayvon emerged from the darkness, not bushes. It's in his written statement. For whatever reason, people are trying to hang Zimmerman over things that either are not true, or things they obviously heard from others, not things they have looked at or researched for themselves.
Another point that Traybot's are trying to make an issue about is Zimmerman having a round in the chamber while carrying. I even heard that Michael Savage tried making a big deal of this and accusing Zimmerman of being a hunter who was looking for a kill that night. Needless to say, I found my jaw on the floor. I love Savage but he's dead wrong. A person carrying a gun for self defense without a round in the chamber is akin to not carrying a gun at all. It is not only safe to carry a gun with a round in the chamber it is required if you want to have a chance at defending yourself and this case is proof. When a person is attacked, they do not have time to slide and fire. They pull and shoot. Dennis Root testified concerning this issue and confirmed this known fact.
Obviously I have written about all this before but, I feel compelled to cover this stuff again because I am still amazed by the ignorance I see on display over the internet.
There are too many unreasonable people and this trial has most certainly brought forth this fact. When a person acts with reason and are objective, they can accept facts. When one of those facts does not fit into their narrative, they consider another alternative, or consider looking at the story from another angle. What we are witnessing across the internet is a meltdown of irrational people.
There are other underlying issues that concern me. We have blacks advocating limits on guns and calls for more laws restricting the use of guns. Do they not realize that gun control laws are rooted in keeping guns out of the hands of blacks? Do they really believe that many people who are carrying guns and committing crimes are carrying their guns legally in the first place?
The facts demonstrate that people who legally carry weapons are doing so for the purposes of protection, not committing crimes and attacking other people. In fact, most people who chose to legally arm themselves do not feel any need to be confrontational. Most people do not want to ever use their weapon and in the case of George Zimmerman, it's clear he waited for several moments before he ever took out his weapon.
For Crump and the state prosecutor to assert during trial that somehow Zimmerman needed to be injured more in order to justify self-defense, they are misstating the law and in turn putting the ignorant at risk. Let's take your average Traybot who is still in the dark concerning the facts of this case, and let's say they find themselves in a situation where they are getting attacked. What happens if they are in a position where they want to defend themselves but decide not to because they have been told that their actions would be wrong because they watched and listened to Martin's scheme team? So instead of defending themselves, they end up permanently damaged or worse dead. At what point does their free speech become a liability to others? Do they not carry some weight of responsibility for what they are saying considering their role in the public eye and with their association with the law? I'm all for free speech but people who are active and claim to support the general interests of the public should be held to a higher standard. Certainly we hold police and fireman to higher standard and rightfully so. Attorneys spewing outright lies concerning what constitutes as a person being justified in defending themselves is akin to false advertising by a corporation trying to peddle a product that does not work for its intended purpose or is faulty by negligence.
Oh, and let's just get some other slanderous stuff out of the way as it pertains to Zimmerman's past, shall we?
I found the most absurd blog on the planet, where they are peddling the idea that the state has proven second degree murder. Now this site is nothing like Talk Left, where we see that even liberals have thinking minds -- at least when it comes to this case. It turns out, that you don't have to be conservative to support George. You can be liberal and use the law to support your conclusions. Talk Left have done a very good job at being objective and fair when it comes to ALL parties involved in this case. Stately McDaniel Manor~ is also a excellent blog that is apparently written by a former police officer, who is extremely knowledgeable and does a brilliant job at explaining this case from the viewpoint of someone in law enforcement. Anyway, back to this blog that I visited, clearly written by Traybots...
Of course, none of their accusations about George or the case were supported by links that would give the casual reader enough information explaining these claims. In fact, these are just bold statements that apparently do not require or even encourage others to look up for themselves. No, they accepted as facts and passed along as if they have been proven positive.
Several claims about George have been brought up by these sycophants:
1) George assaulted an ATF agent.
George was involved in an altercation in 2005 and this has been addressed repeatedly. He did not get out of trouble because of family connections -- his father is a magistrate who is not even in the state of Florida. The charges were bogus and you can read some more here or here since this information has been vetted thoroughly and amounts to nothing. He went to a diversion program, which is only offered to people who have NO prior arrests.
2) George assaulted his girlfriend.
Concerning the ex-fiance or girlfriend -- Mr. Zimmerman and a woman who identified herself as his ex-fiancée traded petitions for injunction, both claiming that the other had resorted to violence: she said he “smacked” her; he said she hit him with a baseball bat. Both injunctions were issued and they expired a year later.
Obviously a toxic relationship that thankfully went nowhere. This was also in 2005. This is 7 years prior to the shooting. 7 years. Even IF at worst we say that Zimmerman was in the wrong completely, this was when George was in his very early 20's. I know I've changed quite a bit in the last 7 years and during a person's 20's those 7 years can be extremely dramatic changes. To hold something against Zimmerman that happened 7 years ago, and that something being a bad relationship (which many, many people can attest to being in one at some point in their lives), is absurd. It's grasping for straws and split ones at that.
3) George molested his cousin.
Click here.
(I have a typo on this page; it should be "post" not "most" but for some reason I am having problems editing this extra page).
4) George stalked Trayvon, hunted him down, and killed him.
Again, another completely irrational conclusion. I do not believe for one minute that George was interested in a confrontation. George saw that Trayvon ran, skipped, trotted away...however you want to phrase it, he didn't have any reason to believe that Trayvon was going to come back and confront him. Who would think that? It's perfectly reasonable for a man in his own neighborhood to feel comfortable getting out of his vehicle to look and see where someone he felt looked suspicious ran off to. George was told to keep an eye on him [Trayvon]. That's exactly what he was doing and the operator merely said, "We don't need you to do that." That is not an order; that is not even a suggestion. It could very well mean to go ahead and look for him but you don't need to do anything if you don't want to. There was NO order to do anything, and the trial confirmed this. Again, nobody said anything about ordering him to stay in his vehicle. Those words were simply NEVER stated so, why are people still saying this same old tired line? It's as if these people are not even watching the trial; they just want to see an innocent man go to prison. They were sold a pack of crap and instead of insisting for a refund, they decide to do an infomercial for what they were sold.
What's even more bizarre is that these people who are insistent in their belief that Zimmerman was chasing Trayvon down, state that even if Martin did attack George he had a right to do so because Zimmerman got out of his vehicle, which is the same as starting a fight. I don't know what planet these people hail from but I cannot imagine living in a world where it would be completely justified for a person to think that someone getting out of their vehicle would be considered "starting a fight."
You cannot follow someone if you lost them. Think about it. If I'm in my car and I'm following someone (for whatever reason), and I lose them because I get stuck at a red light or something occurs where I lose sight of them, how am I following them at that point? I'm not. I might try and speed up to see where they went. Maybe I'm looking down the cross streets but even if I see where they went, it most likely will not be possible for me to catch up to them. In any case, it's not illegal to follow someone and getting out of your truck does not then mean you relinquish all rights to defend yourself.
The next thing we know is that Zimmerman was still on the phone with the operator while Trayvon was near his dad's fiance's house, according to DeeDee. Now, if he was near the house, how come he didn't just go inside? He already stated that he lost the creepy ass cracker so, how is it he ended up near the other end of the complex? The only timelines that fit is if Trayvon had backtracked his steps or if he decided to hide, backtrack, and hide again, closer to Zimmerman. Either way, it was Trayvon who approached Zimmerman and again, we have two independent witnesses that confirm this -- George himself and DeeDee.
Now what makes sense? Who struck who first? Who does a reasonable person believe at this point? A man who is trying to protect his neighborhood, wants to work in some capacity of the law -- so far we have heard being a cop or being an attorney, someone who is a student, someone who is married likely to have children, someone who just called the police and knows they are going to meet with them, OR a 17 year old who was high on drugs, walking about in a neighborhood where he is located only because of a recent 10 day school suspension, a troubled teenager who calls people "creepy-ass crackers," a teen who is known for enjoying fights, and took 40 minutes to cover one mile? Who do you logically believe would throw the first punch?
Now, let's forget for a moment who these people are. Let's pretend for a moment that we do not to know anything about either of these two men. Both are flawed, as we all are but, just consider the physical evidence at this point...
There were no injuries on Trayvon, other than his hand. There were several injuries on Zimmerman, including a broken nose, none on his hands. These are not speculations. Those are the inconvenient facts that Traybots need to understand. There is NO proof, either direct or indirect that proves Zimmerman ever had a chance to strike Trayvon. All of the evidence shows unequivocally that Zimmerman's story is correct.
What's most absurd is this idea that his injuries simply weren't good enough for him to have reason to grab his gun and shoot. I guess we are expected to just allow someone to beat the crap out of us, and wait until we are unconscious and cannot defend ourselves? How is one supposed to ascertain what damage will occur next? The very idea that his injuries were not life threatening is void of any logic. I cannot fathom what else Zimmerman was supposed to do at this point, especially considering that Trayvon was going for his gun. No, Trayvon's DNA was not on the gun but Zimmerman never said that Trayvon grabbed the gun. In fact, even if Trayvon did touch the gun, it was raining that night and the likelihood of a DNA sample being damaged increases.
5) George has followed and interrogated other residents.
Again, more conjecture because we simply do not know any specific details or information surrounding these allegations. Not one person was called to testify concerning these matters, and that most likely has to do with the fact that none of the claims were founded in logic and reason. The state has done some far-reaching things already and these accusations, without proof, would only further bury them in the hole they are currently in. By all means, if you can find specifics, post them here.
6) George harassed and racially discriminated against a co-worker.
This is another allegation that does not amount to very much. According to this person, he didn't feel liked by...well, pretty much everyone. So, if a person feels this way in general, why would he not project that onto George?
Okay. Let's go with this for a minute...George did say some bad things. He may have done some bad things as well. Also, most everyone makes racist comments. Seriously. I have. I don't consider myself a racist at all. However, if I were to try and tell you that I have never used racial epithets, I would be a liar. In fact, most of the stuff I have said comes in the form of jokes among friends but, let's say I made a joke one day and everyone laughed, thought it was funny and the next day I piss someone off and that someone heard my joke (knowing full well it was a joke). Let's say this turned into a nasty argument where I truly was not even at fault. What do you think is going to happen? Do you think that person is not going to embellish to others about my joke? Most likely, yes. Why wouldn't they?
The fact is, the FBI was even called in on this case and the majority of people describe George to be a fun-loving guy and nothing suggests he harbors a hatred for people of a different race -- he has a little black in his own family tree -- same as myself, BTW. So, yes he has some people who hate him, are holding a grudge, and maybe they have good reasons for doing so but, who here has not made some enemies along the way? I know I have and I don't like that I have but, it's the truth. I try never to hold grudges against anyone because I really don't want anyone to have a grudge against me but, I will tell you, I've made some bad mistakes in my life and there are a few people I can think of that have every right to not like me. I do feel bad about hurting them. Perhaps even George feels very bad about hurting the few people he did as well. Anyone of us put under a microscope are going to be flawed and George is NO different, neither is Trayvon but, we have to look at the totality of a person's character and so far, George's total character seems to be fairly good.
7) George was not attacked by Trayvon at all. His injuries were self-inflicted when he bashed his head into the cement and his nose was hit when he pulled the trigger to shoot Martin.
Now, a reasonable person would accept that George was indeed injured and was put in a situation where he had to defend himself but, this was not the case, instead these "no injuries" people changed their narrative to suggest that Zimmerman shot Trayvon in cold blood and immediately got up and knocked the back of his own head, faking injuries. Of course this sounds insane but, that was their story. Later we discover that there was a witness immediately after the shot took place and the police arrived almost immediately after that. George creating his own injuries is completely implausible but, that didn't convince the Traybots. Nope. They just changed their story again. Now, they admit to a fight and they admit that George had injuries but they just "weren't that bad."
I'm not sure how bad a person has to be hurt in order to have the right to defend themselves because the law actually states that you don't have to see any injuries to defend yourself but, according to the Traybot's I guess George was expected to continue taking a beating because the police were "almost there."
8) George was a trained MMA fighter. LOL!
George took some MMA style fighting classes that amounted to him losing weight. As revealed in trial, he was never ready to be in a ring and fight anyone. He was characterized as weak and not atheletic. He did lose weight and that was his goal. Many, many people take these types of classes, it does not mean they aspire to be a fighter in a ring. They do so for the purposes of getting heallthy and finding a fun and exciting way to do so.
How many women in the last 5 years took up pole dancing for excercise? Does that mean ALL those women want to be strippers? The inference here concerning George is absurd. It's reaching and hoping something will stick with the jury.
9) George Zimmerman approached Trayvon and attempted to detain him, even torture him. He didn't have Trayvon at gunpoint. He had him in a twisted arm-lock, to detain him AND torture some answers out of him.
Only when it became apparent that he'd MADE A MISTAKE, that this was NOT a returning gang member he'd be praised for catching, only then did the horrible truth dawn on him that HE was going to be in deep shit for detaining him. He couldn't just let him go and hope he'll run for the hills, as the cops were almost there. “I was running out of time”. That was the time to destroy evidence of his crime (the illegal detention) by removing the only witness to it (the victim). I'm not kidding...this is word for word what I found written. Ya know because it's so much easier to kill someone and claim self-defense rather than admit you tried to apprehend someone.
Honestly, I'm not even sure where to begin with this. Had this happened, the witnesses would have seen something completely different. It's complete conjecture that has no support in reality. Who on earth would choose to kill over simply saying, "I tried to detain him and I should not have done so." George is not stupid. He's not going to do something so idiotic. He may be concidered nosy but these types of people are good to have. The people who are complaning about George being an overzealous wannabe cop are the same people who complain that nobody watches out for others in a time of their need.
10) George had a 50 pound weight advantage over Trayvon. Simply amazing. This one was written just today!
This is not true. Trayvon, according to the medical examiner was 5'11" and 158 pounds. The body does shrink however, and apparently the 7 Eleven clerk was said to be 5'9" but, Trayvon appears to be much taller than him in that video. Also he would certainly weight more alive. In any case, he was likely around 5'11" to 6 ft. Zimmerman was 5'8" and I'm still finding conflicting information. At his heighest weight I am seeing 200 pounds on the night of the shooting, or 185. In any of these cases, considering the information we have there was not a 50 pound difference. The point is moot anyhow. Size almost means nothing when it comes to physical ability.
11) George Zimmerman was on drugs and/or drinking the night of the shooting.
There was no indication that Zimmerman was impared the night of the shooting. In addition the police cannot by law take someone's blood or urine unless they have probable cause. Nobody smelled alcohol or noticed anything about him that would indicate him being impared. Police are specifically trained to look for certain signs that indicate a person is impared. Anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of sitting through a diversion class for a traffic ticket is well aware of this and how the police know when they should conduct tests to determine this. Again, this is just another assertion that is thrown out by Traybots in hopes to demonize Zimmerman and call everyone in this case liars, except of course the little innocent child that was walking home with his Skittles.
12) Geoge is left handed and he says he shot with his right hand.
Big deal! This means absolutely nothing yet there are videos on YouTube that make a huge deal out of this, as if it were some grand "gotcha" moment. Most people who carry a weapon can fire with either hand. Furthermore, many people -- I happen to be one of these people -- do different things with different hands. For example, I am mostly right-handed but I cannot for the life of me shoot pool with my right hand. I have to shoot with my left hand. I don't know why, it's just what feels comfortable. Many times I will find myself using my left hand doing tasks even though I write predominantly with my right hand.
I have NO clue as to why Traybots find this trait so odd but they are looking for any reason they can to put an innocent man away.
Please forgive any errors. I didn't have very much time to proofread and quite frankly I am too tired.
LINKS and SOURCES:
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/07/why-zimmermans-motion-for-acquittal-should-have-been-granted/
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/04/17/update-9-trayvon-martin-shooting-case-latest-developments/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/86809463/Trayvon-Martin-s-NO-LIMIT-NIGGA-Tweets-The-Daily-Caller
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/05/george_zimmerman_claims_he_was_fighting_for_his_life_how_deadly_is_an_unarmed_teenager_.html
http://trayvon.axiomamnesia.com/people/witnesses/witness-9-files-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-case/
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/09/attorneys-spar-over-computer-simulation/?hpt=ac_bn5
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-the-killing-of-trayvon-martin/2013/07/03/0d76c176-e368-11e2-80eb-3145e2994a55_story_1.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/us/friends-testify-that-zimmerman-is-the-one-screaming-for-help-on-911-call.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/us/teenager-was-over-zimmerman-as-he-was-shot-expert-says.html?pagewanted=2
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