Posted on 05/08/2012 7:39:01 AM PDT by Aunt Polgara
George Zimmerman's Arraignment Hearing to be live streamed today at 1:30 pm ET
Dershowitz is wrong on a technicality. He says that the affidavit itself represents an unethical prosecution. That is false, at least under FL rules of Crim Procedure.
Not to say that this is an ethical prosecution. I think it is an unethical one, on par with Nifong. The only difference between the evidence Corey is using, and what SPD used, is DeeDee and Sybrina. Neither one of those witnesses should be given much in the way of credibility - DeeDee for withholding any report at all until weeks after the shooting, and then only after the 911 recordings had been made public.
-- All that will happen then is the Feds will intervene. --
The Fed hurdle is even higher than the state hurdle, and Corey kicked the "Zimmerman's a racist" prop out from the Fed's case.
Zimmerman's self-defense claim hinges on his being reasonably in fear of serious injury, and, I agree, on a close range shooting. But close range shooting isn't enough on its own. Having his account substantiated with multiple piece of evidence is what gets him the justice he deserves. He was decked, see broken nose. He didn't seek the fight, see call to police. He didn't seek to be arms length from Trayvon, let alone being decked. He was at a physical disadvantage for most or all of the duration of the fight, see eyewitness testimony that has him on the bottom. His head was being bashed, see cuts. He was yelling for help, see eyewitnesses and contemporaneous remark to EMT.
The state has NOTHING in the way of contradictory evidence, except Sybrina's claim that Martin is heard screaming for help. So, who you gonna believe? Sybrina? of the eyewitness +George +George's dad +George's brother (and there is a report that the police asked George to reproduce his scream, and they recorded that reproduction).
Essentially what's going on is a need to disprove a few deliberate, craven liars.
Since Dee Dee didn't initially come forward...My first question is “what is she hiding?” Local LEO say those that don't report incidence until later often have something to hide. Was she involved with his drug use? source?
(How difficult to prove witness tampering/intimidation?
The Lynch mobbers never expected it, their worst nightmare.
Even if he is convicted and given a harsh sentance, their “celebration” will be indistiguishable from a riot.
The Motion for immunity will be decided after a hearing. The judge must take and weigh evidence. If the judge finds it more likely than not that Zimmerman was reasonably in fear of imminent serious personal injury (and in FL, a person throwing beer bottles at you is enough to create that fear), then he must grant immunity from further prosecution. The use of deadly force was justified.
On a Motion to reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter (assume for talking purposes there is NO immunity from the judge), there would probably not be a separate hearing, and might be no need for an heading at all, not even the immunity hearing. The judge needs to find probable cause, some scintilla of evidence that Zimmerman operated with a depraved mind, or else the basis for a murder charge is lacking. The state has been asked to produce a Statement of Particulars, which is supposed to tie allegation of fact to elements of the crime.
A Motion to Dismiss based on either ground can be made at any time, even during the conduct of the trial. I don't recall a case that was charged to the jury, where defendant subsequently appealed and won on the basis of being entitled to 776.032 immunity - that's effectively a legal impossibility anyway, as if the case goes to trial, the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman did NOT act in justified self defense; and that is harder to prove that fining it more likely than not that Zimmerman DID act in justified self defense.
>>Corey kicked the “Zimmerman’s a racist” prop out from the Fed’s case.<<
We can at least thank her for that.
How so??
It fits into the Obummer plan of dividing our country.
Divide by race.
Divide by gender.
Divide by social position.
Divide by religion.
Divide by education.
Divide by labor Union/managment.
Divide by energy source.
One would think by the time he’s finished attacking each facet he would have little positive support left.
IN any other case, I’d expect the judge to dismiss after the arraignment phase. In this one, he will probably let it go to trial with strict controls on what the prosecution can put on. IOW, kick it to a jury with little chance of a guilty finding. Of course in these days, that does not guarantee a not guilty given there may be a hung jury.
Then a refile on a lower charge if the vote is close, if not, no file...and Holder comes riding to the rescue with the case presented in Tampa JD with the sons of Obama on the jury.
Blacks are more racist than Whites
~ Larry Elder, "The Ten Things You Can't Say In America"
At least one eyewitness. It was reported that an earwitness was comforted by investigator Serino saying that person yelling for help survived.
I think John will testify; I don't trust the 13 year old to give truthful testimony. He may have played football with Trayvon, and in the "snitches get stitches" category, his peer group is black males.
But yeah, on Sybrina's role in Corey's fiction - Sybrina is counterbalanced by Zimmerman relatives who will testify to the opposite of what Sybrina does. So, all of those interested parties "balance out" as useless. We're left with the same evidence that SPD had, which, ironically, includes Tracy Martin saying the screamer isn't his son.
-- Since Dee Dee didn't initially come forward...My first question is "what is she hiding?" --
Probably she's hiding the truth. She knows that Trayvon was playing cat and mouse, that he wasn't scared, and she may know that Trayvon decked Zimmerman.
At any rate, coming out after significant parts of the investigation are public gives her time and information with which to craft a plausible lie. Further, she's an interested party.
-- How difficult to prove witness tampering/intimidation? --
Snitches get stitches - pretty difficult to trump that.
“..and Corey kicked the “Zimmerman’s a racist” prop out from the Fed’s case.”
>>How so?? <<
During the call to the cops, Zimmerman muttered under his breath “f***ing ??”
There were charges that he said “ f’ing coons”, but then it was speculated that he said “cold.” In the probable cause affidavit, Corey stated that it was “punks.” Ergo, no racial slur.
There's also the matter of chamber of Zimmerman's gun being empty, which raises the possibility that he may have been shot during a struggle for posession of the gun.
I assume they also have, or will have the lab work on Trayvon's blood chemistry which may yield some evidence.
But you can't intimidate a security camera. Ergo hoodies.
There is a serious problem with that. Unless the case gets kicked out before a jury decision, Zimmerman, his homeowner’s association, etc. are still open to civil damage lawsuits like what happened to OJ here in Los Angeles. He was found not guilty by the jury, but was financially ruined by the civil suits. It's all about the Benjamins
I don't see any way the feds can manufacture racial animus and attribute it to Zimmerman, even on a temporary basis. Without racial animus being THE reason for the attack, the feds have no cause of action against a citizen.
Not relative to the case, just curious:
Wonder if Tracy Martin has any DUI or PI charges? Many young people involved in the things Tray seemed to be interested in are simply doing their own interpretation of a parents behavior.
>>I don’t see any way the feds can manufacture racial animus and attribute it to Zimmerman, even on a temporary basis. Without racial animus being THE reason for the attack, the feds have no cause of action against a citizen.
<<
The only thing they might dredge up is Zimmerman’s years old MySpace page, but if there is any racial animus there, it appears to be against Mexicans.
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.