McCarthy is far closer to right than is David French. What French and SO MANY commentators forget, or do not address, is this: Even if the affidavit may provide “probable cause,” IT IS STILL AN ETHICAL VIOLATION TO FILE CHARGES unless the prosecutor reasonably believes that a conviction can be won with the known evidence that’s believed to be admissible.
There is no effing way that the known (at least publicly known) information could win a “beyond reasonable doubt” Murder Two conviction from any reasonable jury.
Same strategy as the Rodney King police officer’s trials then. That certainly worked out well when the jury couldn’t convict them of attampted murder.
Personally, if this is the underlying objective for this procedure, it would be kindness to George in a Machiavellian move, thus protecting him from further harm.
But I'm not a lawyer or politician -- just an interested observer. Obama and Holder will have fits in both areas, eh?
A hasty and egregiously flawed case could be expedited and concluded finding Zimmerman guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
This would allow Obama the opportunity to crow, revel in self-adulation and preen as the "protector-of-the-poor-and-minority classes" right before an election.
Shortly thereafter, the conviction would be vacated.
But then, I am a cynic.
Zimmerman's not going to plead to a lesser charge - there's no reason to, because it's obvious theres no way to make M2 stick.
But it should be thrown out at the evidenciary hearing. That way civil process is blocked as well - and it's not just civil process against Zimmerman. Punk Trayvon's parents and lawyers are looking at the deep pockets of the HOA and the City and whomever else they can dig up - and these corporate entities currently employ their own law teams that are very busy informing the State that they will legally retaliate against the State if it exposes them to suit through the abuse of its powers.
I believe the military aviation term for what is going on is a "furball."
The dispatcher did not “admonish” Zimmerman. He did not even “advise” Zimmerman; and he certainly did not “order” Zimmerman not to follow Martin.
The dispatcher said: “We do not need you to do that.” Taken literally (which is how everything spoken by a 911 dispatcher should be taken) — that is nothing more than a statement of what the dispatcher does or does not need. A perfectly reasonable response would have been: “that's okay, I don't mind continuing to follow him”.
911 dispatchers, like air traffic controllers, space ground controllers, etc. need to speak in clear, unambiguous language. Polite circumlocutions, and other ambiguities, can cause deaths.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote, in "Outliers: The Story of Success" about how polite, ambigious language has killed airline passengers and crew. Here's a link to one of many articles on the subject:
http://www.academicinfo.net/blog/patrick-woessner/2009/02/10/educations-power-distance-index
I decided to trust this woman's judgement based on her reputation as a Republican who was tough on crime. Stupid me. As one FReeper commented to me, "she's a hack."
I now think he was right.
What right does a prosecutor have, without proper evidence, to cause the arrest and detention of an innocent man? When a judge throws out this charge the prosecutor should be forced to spend the same amount of time in lock-up then FIRED.
bttt