I wouldn’t even characterize the evidence as circumstantial...in fact, I am at a loss as to what the ‘evidence’ is. As far as I can tell, they have:
1. Martin’s mother says its his voice yelling for help. My response - if that were true, why isn’t this a First Degree Murder Case? Everybody knows its impossible to identify a top of the lungs scream, as heard through a window, as transmitted through a cell phone, as recorded bythe 911 system. Its useless as evidence. BTW - this notion that there is no existing recording of Martin’s voice, to compare with...none of his friends had any voice mails from him saved on their phone? Martin’s own voice mail greeting did not have his voice? Very unlikely.
2. The notion that Zimmerman ‘pursued’ Martin, even after being told to stop. I assume this is the ‘depraved mind’ inspired act, which constitutes Murder 2. My response - in the 911 call, you can hear Zimmerman’s breathing calm down, as he has clearly stopped jogging, and is walking. The operator asks him his home address...and Zimmerman won’t give it, because he says he dos not know where Martin is (and is afraid he might overhear the address). At this poitn, any problems resulting from the ‘pursuit’ are over. Contact has been lost...and Martin has had more than enough time to walk home. But another confrontation occurs. We have no idea who started it...but we do know that the ‘pursuit’ was not the ‘cause’ of this confrontation. So, we are left with a guy with a bloody head, saying he acted in self defense. The state has to prove otherwise...and they can’t.
3. They have soem testimony from a teenage 911 caller, who changed her original story...but admits to not actually seeing the confrontation. Useless as evidence.
So, I’m at a loss as to what the ‘evidence’ is.
Good post.
And, as I posted above, even if...not saying it happened...even if he tried to locate Martin after the kid ran, as he reported, he was CLEARLY not trying to locate him in order to harm him.
The whole thing, the actions, the call to the police non emergency number, the conversation, was about Zimmerman trying to help the police get to the location, as he thought the subject was possibly casing the backs of homes and he was a watchman for the neighborhood where break-ins had been occurring.
Regarding the screams, O'Mara asked the investigator if any independent forensics had been performed, and investigator mentioned some forensic analysis described in the local newspaper.
Apalling.
And admitted this person wasn't interviewed until 5 WEEKS after the incident.
Actually, circumstantial is not a bad thing. My fault for not clarifying what I meant by “circumstantial”. As I posted elsewhere, circumstantial is all evidence that is not an eyewitness to the shooting itself.
Sadly, television makes “circumstantial evidence” seem like some sort of lesser evidence. It is not and, in fact, is often much more reliable than eyewitness evidence.
My fault for not being more specific about what I mean.