Is this the eye witness you were referring to?
I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I haven't viewed the video (rarely do - I wait for the transcripts) so I'm speculating that this is a witness who claims the police blew her off. I think it's a rehash of Cutcher, nothing new. Cutcher, by her early statements, didn't see the fight. She came on the scene AFTER shots were fired.
One shot fired ;-)
I predict “Effing Colds” will come out of the woodwork claiming to be eyewitnesses.
I don't understand Banfield's "it did not go the way that she and her attorney thought."
This also sounds like a 911 call that hasn't been made public - at least I don't recall one with the phone held so the operator could hear the sounds of the fight.
CNN is being stingy with information on this witness - what does that tell you?
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did. I was actually quite surprised at a difference in her account of what transpired the night that she saw what happened as Trayvon Martin was shot dead. Now earlier she has said to us that it was very difficult to make out what was going on, about 25 feet from her window.CNN - April 6, 2012But one of the things she told us, John, was that the police did not seem interested in how much she wanted to tell them. She told us that she asked the police if she could take them to the location where it happened and kind of reenact a little bit about what she saw happen, and they seemed very disinterested and did not go to the location with her -- again, outside of her window. She also said that she had called 911 and that she talked to 911 all the way through this account, even holding the phone up to her window so that they could hear the yelling.
And then, John, surprisingly, she also said that this week, just two days ago, she's finally had a chance to talk to the state attorney, that officials from the state attorney's office have now finally shown up and asked her some questions. And it did not go the way that she and her attorney thought.
AVLON: Well, have police commented on this witness?
BANFIELD: No, not yet. Other than to say that they're not commenting on the case at all, because it's been taken over by the state attorney. One thing you might be surprised at, the state attorney has a varied job here, John. They've got a couple of jobs they have to do.
Number one, they have to look at the case itself. They're essentially taking over the investigation from the Sanford Police Department, but they're also looking into whether anything went wrong with the investigation with the Sanford Police Department. So, you would think that the interview would be very long, if you have an actual witness in the case.
And this person says she saw it all. Granted, it was a long way away, 25 feet, maybe not so long, and granted it was dark. But she did witness this incident play out. When I join you shortly, you're going to find out how long the interview actually was and what she and her attorney thinks about that.
AVLON: And there were multiple witnesses, right, Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: Hard to say. A lot of people, John, called 911. How many people had a vantage point? That's going to be critical.
Not every piece of information that's come out about this case has come out about this case. A lot of that could be protected and privileged information right now. It might be in the purview of the Sanford Police Department. It might be something that only the state attorneys know at this point.
One thing we can say for sure, a lot of people seem to think they know what transpired between these two parties the night that Trayvon Martin died. But clearly there's a lot we don't know.
Banfield alluded to the obvious - that the eye witness was now giving a more “robust” description in recent days than her original account. THAT is very interesting, given all the media conviction noise being used as red meat thrown to the radical reactionaries who react, seemingly, for a living.
BTW, Banfield started somewhere, got bumped to Court TV and having paid her dues, I take it, has a gig at CNN.
Anyone remember the details of her bouncing career? I kind of like her, so far, and she is very pretty, though taking up with CNN keeps me skeptical that my good opinion will be long lived.
Witness claims the yell was the younger person. Could not hear the words. Deeper voice was louder ...
It's going to be pretty funny if Zimmerman sounds like a soprano. We don't know which person has a deeper voice. Lots of speculation in this witnesses testimony.
Larger person on top - what is "larger?"
I think this is an old account - meaning we've heard of it before. I won't be surprised if this is Cutcher. CNN is protecting the identity, witness didn't express pleasure at the interview with state attorney, who would have a record of he previous encounter with police (Cutcher refused to give a statement).
Risible text at the CNN link ...
This eyewitness account brings us closer to understanding what really happened. We at AC360 have been trying our best to stick to what is knowable about the case, and discard what can only qualify as speculation.
Andeson Cooper (Ashley Banfield) - April 6, 2012
BANFIELD: More breaking news tonight only on 360, a key witness to the killing of Trayvon Martin who says police turned down what might have been important information about this case. She also talked about whose voice she heard that night crying for help, Martin's or his killer, George Zimmerman.In addition that, Zimmerman's attorney advancing new and some say novel an explanation of their client's head injuries that night, shaken baby syndrome. And more new data in case that's already seemed packed with too much information and too few hard facts.
Nearly six weeks since George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin scuffled, we still really don't know what happened in the minute or so before it began. Did Martin stalk and sucker punch Zimmerman or did Zimmerman confront Martin?
Conflicting claims, but again, no hard facts. Was Zimmerman being beaten to within an inch of permanent brain damage, as his brother has said, or was the scuffle minor enough for Zimmerman to get up and walk around and then just minutes later seemingly walk around a police station unharmed?
We have got grainy videotape, but no medical records and no forensic proof yet as to who was actually crying out for help or who was on top when the deadly shot was fired between those two who were scuffling.
No clear answers which leaves the case open to interpretation, speculation, accusations, but again, no resolution, which is why 360 and Anderson have been doing their level best to stick to the facts while trying to expand what we really do know.
And that's how we will do it tonight starting off with one of the eyewitnesses, an actual eyewitness. We have already confirmed through our reporters and our producers on the ground that this witness does live in the complex and that she has spoken with police. She broke her silence on this program last week and she hasn't spoken with anyone else. So we're bringing her back because tonight, she's got a lot more to say. We spoke exclusively earlier this evening. And we're showing her in shadow to conceal her identity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: When you heard those voices that night, can you characterize what kind of scream you heard?UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, there was two as I say yelled for help and the first one was like just a very clear loud yell for help.
But it really is the second one that really always will stay with me. It was kind of almost like a yelp. It was like a devastating, dispirit type of yell for help. And even to a sense, it could even be -- possibly have been a cry.
BANFIELD: Did it sound like you could determine it was someone who was in his late 20s or someone who was in his late teens?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, from the very beginning and I still do feel that it was the young boy.
BANFIELD: And when you say young boy, do you mean a 17-year-old?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Sorry. I kind of -- not knowing either person, I kind think there was the boy and there was the man, because the boy was -- well, the person was 17. BANFIELD: Knowing now what you know, go back to that night. At the time, you didn't know how would anybody was in that struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.
BANFIELD: When you heard the yell, did you make a determination?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I definitely could tell that it was a younger, youthful voice than it was the deep voice that I heard when they were argue, and I heard them outside my window.
BANFIELD: Tell me more about the argument.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I didn't hear the words, but when I opened my window I could definitely hear someone arguing, someone yelling. It wasn't like someone was out there having a conversation.
BANFIELD: Were they both yelling?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could still hear the younger -- I'm saying again, the younger person's voice, but really the other voice was the one that was more dominant and loud.
BANFIELD: The deeper voice was louder?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. BANFIELD: What was the younger voice saying and what kind of a context can you give me with regard to that part of the argument?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you could still hear the other person's voice, but just not as much as the person that was being the louder aggressor.
BANFIELD: Could you make out anything that was being said between them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I could not. I just immediately knew that it was not somebody having a conversation. It was something very serious.
BANFIELD: It sounded like a confrontation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BANFIELD: Did it sound like one was being confronted and another was defensive or did it sound like both were confrontational?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would have to say both, but you just really hear that one louder, dominant voice more than you hear the other one.
BANFIELD: The older person's voice or the deeper voice?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.
BANFIELD: Did you ever hear any racial slurs in that confrontation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because I did not hear any words, just arguing.
BANFIELD: Did the argument sound serious enough that you thought someone is going to get hurt here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew there was something definitely wrong. Of course, then, when I saw it next, it was two men on the ground. So at that point I definitely knew there was something wrong and I needed to call.
BANFIELD: When you called 911, what did you tell them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told them that there was two men on the ground, something really horrible is happening.
BANFIELD: Did you talk to the dispatcher at the time that the gunshot went off?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did.
BANFIELD: And what did the dispatcher ask you and what did you tell the dispatcher?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I kind of was watching and talking at the same time. And not really ever hearing what a gun sounds like in person, for me, it was more of a popping noise.
So I think in my mind, I'm thinking OK, that probably is a gunshot, but you're just in such disbelief that this is happening right outside your window.
BANFIELD: Did you tell the dispatcher I think I heard a gunshot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BANFIELD: And what did the dispatcher ask?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I just said to him, I hear popping noises and I think it's a gunshot.
BANFIELD: Did the dispatcher ask for descriptions of what was going on as you were talking?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was more that I was describing because it was like I'm watching a movie and I'm telling you on the phone, you know, exactly what I'm hearing. In fact, I even thought to myself, why am I telling him on the phone what's going on? Let me just take the phone and put it right up to the screen. Possibly he can even hear it.
BANFIELD: Is that what you did?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did.
BANFIELD: You held your phone to the screen so the dispatcher could hear everything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did. But I'm not sure at what point I put it up, but I did tell him, I'm putting it up to the screen, maybe you can hear it.
BANFIELD: Where were you looking at the moment the gun fired?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was looking at the two men on the ground and heard the gunshot.
BANFIELD: Could you tell who was on the top, who was on the bottom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it was very dark, but I really would have to say that I thought it was the larger person that was on top.
BANFIELD: And when the gunfire went off, what happened to the larger man who you think might have been on the top? What happened at that moment?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I will just say a couple seconds later that larger man was walking closer to where I could see him.
BANFIELD: Before those couple of seconds at the moment the gunshot went off, what happened with the larger man?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, obviously the other man -- the boy was dead and the other person got up and was walking away from the body.
BANFIELD: When you first saw him coming towards you, could you see any blood on his face? Was it light enough for you to be able to see any blood on his face if there was any there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was not light enough for me to see if there was any blood on the face.
BANFIELD: So there could have been, but it's just not something you could testify to?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I cannot testify because I did not see.
BANFIELD: Did he say anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a man that came out with a flashlight who was a resident and they possibly were saying something to each other, but I could not hear what the words were.
BANFIELD: Your experience with the police that night, did they ask you any questions? Were they interested in hearing your account?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. The lead investigator came into my house with another police officer and I taped what I witnessed.
BANFIELD: What kind of questions did they ask you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just what I saw, what I heard.
BANFIELD: Did they seem -- did they seem interested? Were they in-depth in their questioning of you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure if I would say in-depth, just that I kind of told what I saw and heard.
I did offer to show them where I did see the incident, and they said, no, we don't need to see it.
BANFIELD: They weren't interested in you taking them to that location?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they were not. * WITNESS: I did offer to show them where I did see the incident and they said, no, we don't need to see it.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: They were not interested in you taking them to that location?
WITNESS: No, they were not.
BANFIELD: Why do you suppose they weren't interested?
WITNESS: You have to ask them that.
BANFIELD: Were you surprised?
WITNESS: I don't know how investigators think.
BANFIELD: You offered to take them to the location where you saw them fighting?
WITNESS: Yes.
BANFIELD: And they declined?
WITNESS: Yes.
BANFIELD: In retrospect, are you surprised?
WITNESS: I can't answer either way.
BANFIELD: Did you get a feeling one way or another from these investigators things that they may have said to you while they were in your unit as to how this all unfolded?
WITNESS: Well, after I finished my taping and I still was feeling, you know, quite upset, I expressed that, you know, I'd never really forget those yells for help.
I wish I could have done something, you know, in retrospect and the lead investigator said to me kindly, he just said, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, the person that was yelling for help is alive."
BANFIELD: Since that time, the lead investigator, Chris Serino, has been reportedly -- an account of his says reportedly been to another resident who had a 10-year-old boy who called 911 that he didn't necessarily believe Mr. Zimmerman's story.
Does that surprise you?
WITNESS: Well, it was kind of bewildering to me at the time to think, wow, I really thought it was the boy crying for help, but here's the lead investigator, you know, telling me that, no, it was Mr. Zimmerman whom I know that name now.
BANFIELD: Where you saw the fight taking place, was there a hard surface anywhere nearby, a sidewalk or a street?
WITNESS: It's the back of the complex where homes -- the back of the homes were facing where it happened and there is a sidewalk. But when I watched it, they were always on the grass.
BANFIELD: How far away was the sidewalk?
WITNESS: I would say about four feet.
BANFIELD: So they were about four feet away from a hard surface?
WITNESS: Yes.
BANFIELD: If Mr. Zimmerman said that his head was being slammed against the sidewalk and that he was trying to maneuver himself on to the grass, would that make sense according to what you saw?
WITNESS: Well, I can't speak for him. I just know from the time that I watched it was entirely on the grass.
BANFIELD: Were the police receptive to your attempts to fill them in on further details after this incident?
WITNESS: Well, we had the community meeting with everyone and my developments and the police officers came and said it was very critical. If anybody has anything to say and something that they witnessed. Actually they left their business cards on our doors and I just know me for, I called the lead detective twice and I still have not received a phone call back.
BANFIELD: Are you surprised by that?
WITNESS: I just thought that they would call me back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)BANFIELD: Again, a witness in the case of the shooting of Trayvon Martin afraid to show her identity, but at least speaking with us in silhouette to tell her story. As to the allegation that the Sanford police were not terribly interested in the re-enactment or at least a tour of the crime scene that she witnessed, the scene that she witnessed at altercation I should say. We called the police for their response to this, but we didn't get a call back. It was late at night in Florida as well.
But on another note, in one of the questions I mentioned in there. There was an eyewitness that I had said was 10 years old, in fact 13 years old so misspeaking there.
Moving on, after that interview, I also spoke with eyewitness' attorney, Derek Brett. He said something very interesting about the state attorney who by the way has finally just two days ago interviewed this witness.
So the state attorney watching over this case has finally decided this witness needs to be interviewed. It happened on Wednesday.
But Derek Brett, the attorney for this said what was unusual about the interview was the lack of thoroughness that he saw in the state's investigation. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BANFIELD: Did you feel confident that the state attorney was thorough in its questioning of your client?
DEREK BRETT, ATTORNEY FOR EYEWITNESS: If this was a first time questioning session, then I would be very concerned. These gentlemen had affidavits, an affidavit from my client from before.
They -- he had at least whatever notes have been taken by the lead Sanford investigator, which I could be critical of that investigation and that question. I can state that. But it's difficult to surmise exactly what the state attorney's office and their two investigators that called down from the Jacksonville state attorney's office actually knew at that point.
So do I think that there could have been other questions asked? Yes. Do I -- was I in any position to help them fill in the blanks or ask questions to my client? No, that's not my job. It's the job or investigator, even if it is necessary to reiterate questions.