Bruce W. Krafft shares a conversation. [More]
I've been occupied with other priorities and haven't had time to weigh in on this case, but do note the antis are dancing in the blood with all their might in order to kill "stand your ground" and to keep it from spreading.
Here's the thing--Workman asks a good question: "Was ‘SYG’ law even relevant?"
I've been marginally watching this from the sidelines and here's a sneaking suspicion I can't shake: I’ve read officials aren’t prosecuting him saying they can't because of stand your ground laws that need to be changed. I’m wondering if that’s a cynical strategy on the part of prosecutors who are hostile to anything making their burden of proof more difficult to overcome—it seems they very well could charge and prosecute the guy—who followed and confronted the teenager after being specifically told not to by the 911 dispatcher. I’m suspecting the decision to not prosecute is a calculated legal and political exploitation of the situation.
To be fair, Anderson Cooper had a segment on Wednesday with sound professionals dissecting the audio.
ReplyDeletePersonally I can't tell whether he said F**king Coons or not, however it seems irrelevant to a case of self defense if he had initiated the confrontation, as Workman pointed out.
Couldn't agree more on the political BS. The police really screwed the pooch on this one, and for that, I think you can pretty much kiss any SYG law ever being passed in any state again. I guess mission accomplished?
I'm not saying Zimmerman's innocent, but it's disheartening to see the biased "facts" being repeated everywhere. Zimmerman wasn't told not to follow Martin. Here's part of the 911 exchange (remember that Zimmerman had been following this guy for a bit while on the call):
ReplyDelete...
Zimmerman: Somethings wrong with him. Yup, he's coming to check me out, he's got
something in his hands, I don't know what his deal is.
Dispatcher: Just let me know if he does anything ok
Zimmerman: How long until you get an officer over here?
Dispatcher: Yeah we've got someone on the way, just let me know if this guy does
anything else.
Zimmerman: Okay. These assholes they always get away. When you come to the
clubhouse you come straight in and make a left. Actually you would go past the
clubhouse.
Dispatcher: So it's on the lefthand side from the clubhouse?
Zimmerman: No you go in straight through the entrance and then you make a left...uh
you go straight in, don't turn, and make a left. Shit he's running.
Dispatcher: He's running? Which way is he running?
Zimmerman: Down towards the other entrance to the neighborhood.
Dispatcher: Which entrance is that that he's heading towards?
Zimmerman: The back entrance...fucking [unintelligible]
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah
Dispatcher: Ok, we don't need you to do that.
Zimmerman: Ok
Dispatcher: Alright sir what is your name?
Zimmerman: George...He ran.
Dispatcher: Alright George what's your last name?
...
Then Zimmerman says Martin ran and there's no indication that he followed at this point. The record shows something a whole lot different than the claim that "he started chasing him after being told not to." I'm just sayin'.
Based on eyewitness testimony that Martin attacked Zimmerman and was on top of him assaulting him, the Stand Your Ground law actually would prevent Zimmerman's arrest because the cops would not have probably cause to believe that the killing was unlawful. Of course, if they had told us before about this eyewitness testimony, then not arresting him wouldn't have been so controversial in the first place.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/witness-martin-attacked-zimmerman-03232012
And then there is this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/witness-martin-attacked-zimmerman-03232012
which might ALSO explain why Mr. Zimmerman has not been charged...