Posted on 07/08/2013 5:10:03 PM PDT by IChing
It’s George Zimmerman’s defense team’s turn to put forth their case, and quite frankly, they have a fairly easy path ahead. The wind is at their backs because no real, compelling evidence was brought before the jury by the prosecution in their initiative phase of this kangaroo charade (because none actually exists).
Nonetheless, despite the lack of evidence against the accused, rather than issue a judgment of acquittal last Friday, the judge punted the whole matter onward, and eventually toward the jury phase. So now we watch attorneys Mark O’Mara and Don West solidify the fortress of exculpatory factors for their client. Meanwhile, prosecutors can only make rather vain displays of flailing stabs at discrediting defense witness’ statements, while trying to throw out evidence & throw up procedural blocks to the defense.
This having been the first full day of defense testimony in this unsavory spectacle of prosecutorial misconduct, it started off featuring witness after witness taking the stand to swear that the voice of someone yelling desperately for help on the 911 call recording which has come to be known as the “Lauer tape” (after the last name of the witness who made the phone call) is that belonging to George Zimmerman.
The parade of highly competent defense witnesses making that same testimony actually began late last Friday, after the prosecution rested its case and the judge denied a defense motion for a Judgement of Acquittal based on lack of evidence against their client (earlier that day, Trayvon Martin’s mother and older brother had claimed it is Trayvon’s voice).
At the end of Friday’s drama, Zimmerman’s mother and uncle briefly took the stand in the first volley of the defense phase, and both stated very firmly and with steadily-controlled passion that it is George’s voice screaming on the tape. Their statements, delivered in thick “Spanglish” accents, seemed to come from a visceral level, and evoked visible reaction from Zimmerman himself, to the point where his eyes appeared to be tearing up while locked onto his uncle–a former U.S. Army command sergeant major and current sheriff’s deputy–speaking forcefully of his role in George’s early life, and of his adamant conviction about the subject of his testimony; that his nephew is the one yelling over and over for help on the tape.
This morning’s developments saw and heard no less than five close friends of Zimmerman, at least two of whom have direct past experience hearing Zimmerman’s voice yelling loudly at multiple political rallies, support his story. Furthermore, at least two also testified that the kinds of profanity used by Zimmerman on his calls to police non-emergency dispatch did not, in their view, indicate ill will, hatred, nor the depraved state of mind required for a charge of second-degree murder.
Remember, the police dispatcher himself said the same thing on the witness stand last week–that Zimmerman’s comments about “these a**holes always get away” and “f***ing punks” were, in his six years’ experience as a 911 dispatcher, fairly normal remarks, of the type which often come from ordinary citizens calling police to report suspicious activity.
Zimmerman’s friend from last week, federal air marshal Mark Osterman, was again on the stand, describing how no law enforcement agency (that he knows of) has a policy which allows any officer to carry out duties without having a live round in the chamber of their weapon, and that the lack of an external safety on a semi-automatic pistol is not necessarily a safety feature in all circumstances. (for what it’s worth, I can corroborate what Osterman says, from a professional standpoint.)
Adding fuel to the fire in the belly of the defense juggernaut, encore performances were given by both of the Sanford police detectives who’d already been called to testify for the state last week, Doris Singleton and Chris Serino.
Singleton and Serino both testified that upon playing the Lauer tape for Trayvon Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, he had said in their presence that it is not his son’s voice screaming.
Later, when Tracy Martin himself was called to the witness stand by Mark O’Mara, he told a different story than Singleton and Serino did: Martin swore that he had at that time said instead that he couldn’t tell whether it was Trayvon’s voice or not. He also acknowledged that he changed his position later on, claiming that the voice is Trayvon’s.
Between the testimony of the two detectives and Martin came that of a rather interesting and compelling witness, the owner/operator of the gym of which Zimmerman was a member in the year leading up to the incident in question.
Adam Pollock presented a somewhat charismatic, energetic, and forceful personality, describing his involvement in bodybuilding, martial arts, and all kinds of fitness-related competition, training, and instruction from his early childhood to his current professional standing as a consultant and entrepreneur.
O’Mara put Pollock through the paces for awhile, picking his brain as to the different kinds of fighting skills and mixed-martial arts techniques which exist, and which are taught in classes at his gym.
O’Mara then had Pollock physically, positionally mock-demonstrate on him, on the courtroom floor in front of the jury, the same “ground-n-pound” technique that primary eyewitness John Good described last week, when he testified as to what he saw Trayvon Martin doing to Zimmerman while mounted on him “MMA style.”
Pollock described Zimmerman having come to him and to his gym as a flabby, soft, heavy, and utterly non-athletic specimen with the goal of “losing weight and getting in shape.”
Although Zimmerman did succeed in losing quite a lot of weight through his exercise and dieting efforts–Pollock said 70-80 lbs.–he simply did not have the adequate athletic background from childhood sports activities, nor the overall inclination/scheduling flexibility, to really develop any fighting skills at all. Pollock described at length and in detail the heavy commitment required for someone of Zimmerman’s profile to attain accomplishments of proficiency in the realm of even basic boxing, and that Zimmerman’s non-athletic softness and lack of total dedication/sparse class participation just couldn’t cut it in the least. When asked over and over again by both the defense and prosecuting attorneys, Pollock was steadfast and rock-solid in insisting, rather forcefully, that someone like Zimmerman was only a “0.5″ on a scale from 1-10 in terms of being able to even throw a punch effectively. He refused to let Zimmerman ever get in the ring, not rating him beyond mere shadow-boxing out of safety & liability concerns.
Pollock greatly helped the defense by firmly putting into the jury’s minds that Zimmerman was not in any way in a capacity to counter nor withstand the physically overwhelming, blitzkrieg onslaught of flying fists from Trayvon Martin, especially once Martin had him pinned underneath him flat on his back, even attempting to smother him.
What the jury may or may not know is that Martin was a strapping, athletically-conditioned high school football player who had an ardent lust for fighting, even texting to a friend that he wanted a rematch with one opponent he’d already beaten because the guy “didn’t bleed enough for me, only his nose.”
Otserman’s additional testimony helps show the jury that Zimmerman carried his concealed firearm in a conventional, responsible, and safe way, and that Zimmerman deployed it only as a last resort to save his own life.
As for the rest of the day’s courtroom action, once the day’s witnesses had been heard, things pretty much bogged down in involved arguments over prosecutors trying to get judge Nelson to throw out testimony and evidence unfavorable to their side.
Nelson has been helping the prosecution all along, as everyone has been able to see for themselves. I can understand why De la Rionda and his cohorts are grasping for all the help they can get, because they are pushing a train that has no tracks underneath it.
We can only pray that the jury can also recognize this for what it is.
Looks to me like he's only here to promote himself at our expense.
You OK with that?
As I said, it is decent - in fact excellent - original content, and IChing participates in the threads, so yup. 100% OK with it. If he gets some hits, great!
Good conservative writers should be encouraged. We desperately need more of them.
CYA! PUNT!
Ya know though, this isn’t my house. It isn’t yours either. Lets defer to the person who created and owns this house, if he cares to comment: Mr. Robinson, respectfully, what say you?
But you re able to just barely eke out enough time to write your own stuff and post it here.
Curious how that works, isn't it?
Why, if it weren't for your obvious ivory-pure intentions, one might almost think you were only about self promotion.
Thank you.
Seems my first option was true. He wasn’t ‘high’ on pot.
I've read all his articles, on the several threads he started, and not once have I clicked to go to his website. So... I don't see that we are 'expending' anything.
Thank you, piytar! Some day I do hope to make a dime or to at it somehow (not a single penny to me now for this stuff), and the encouragement in forums like here definitely is what keeps me working at developing whatever it is that it takes to do that.
Jeff Head promotes his books on here. What's the difference ?
I told this one crank on the FR Facebook page who was giving me the same grief that ClashDaily.com is seemingly always on the lookout for new writers, and that he might direct his energies to trying his hand at it himself instead of just sniping at others who are doing the work. lol
Actually, methinks it might be the same crank.
no difference..it just allows Humblegunner to don his thong and shoot bottle rockets at himself
America Has Talent type stuff
wet grass!?? Does it make a sound?
lmao BARF
I don’t understand why they haven’t done a demonstration tape recording of Zimmerman screaming “help, help” just like during the event. They could play both and ask Traydmark’s mom which one was her son. The jury could hear that it was the same person. Is there a difficulty in re-creating the kind of screaming he made that night?
The potheads are going balistic with their denials.
..and it’s not MY blog(unless one means I’m associated with it), it’s the premier up-and-coming conservative mosh pit led by Hannah Giles’(of the duo with James O’Keefe who, working with Andrew Breitbart, brought down ACORN posing as prostitute & pimp) pastor dad, Doug. Based on a Facebook comment I made, DG asked me to contribute a column during the Christopher Dorner episode last Feb., then invited me to keep posting. I may be helping DG make money, or even JimRob to draw interest/donations a tiny bit here, but beyond that it’s just my own vanity and my desire to spread the word on topics of mutual interest here that motivates me.
The judge originally barred any mention of the MJ in opening statements as it went to character testimony, which (in my understanding) isn't admissible unless someone says what a great guy he was. Then the opposition can bring in evidence of bad character to refute it.
Also, the ME originally said that the low level of MJ wouldn't have any effect on TM. During testimony last week, the idiot ME (thank you, God) changed his mind and said it might have an effect.
That opened the door for the defense to bring in the MJ use, not as a character defect, but as possible evidence of TM’s behavior that night.
For those who know more about this than I do, would the low level of MJ in Trayvon be significant if it was evidence that he was in withdrawal since his usual suppliers were back in Miami?
I’d consider it worth a go, but then again it might just be a distraction when the prosecution witnesses already have major holes in their story anyway. It might not be needed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.