I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that other evidence besides a clipping from the Miami Herald was entered by the defense.Originally Posted by bdcheung
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that other evidence besides a clipping from the Miami Herald was entered by the defense.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that other evidence besides a clipping from the Miami Herald was entered by the defense.
1) Martin was walking down the street.
2) Zimmerman thought he looked suspicious.
3) Zimmerman called 911.
4) 911 told Zimmerman not to follow Martin.
5) Zimmerman continues following Martin.
6) Martin asks Zimmerman not to follow him.
7) ???
8) Zimmerman shoots Martin in the chest.
There appear to be 3 possibilities re #7:
1. Zimmerman confronted Martin, Zimmerman initiated physical contact, a struggle ensued, and Zimmerman shot Martin.
2. Zimmerman confronted Martin, Martin initiated physical contact, a struggle ensued, and Zimmerman shot Martin.
3. Zimmerman confronted, Martin, turned to return to his vehicle, Martin attacked him, a struggle ensued, and Zimmerman shot Martin.
Most of the reporting seems to advance either #1 or #2.
I read a sole report that stated that Zimmerman made statements advancing #3.
The usual caveats concerning accuracy of reporting, waiting for more/accurate/vetted information, etc apply.
If either #1 or #2 are accurate, then Zimmerman should be held accountable. Yes, #2. Martin had the same rights to stand his ground and to self defense as Zimmerman, after all. Bearing in mind that he was the doing nothing wrong, was minding his own business, etc.
Zimmerman still has an obligation to avoid acting in a way that makes to the use of force more likely.
Confronting people walking through your neighborhood because they look suspicious when the nice 911 voice asked you not to isn't a good way to act in a manner which minimizes the need to use force.
There are many more possibilities than just 3, for example:
Zimmerman lost sight of Martin, when he turned to return to his vehicle Martin ambushed him...
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
The only fact I'm certain of is that Zimmerman had NO reason to exit his vehicle. Whether he was right or wrong at the instant he pulled the trigger doesn't matter too much. 50 911 calls in the last year, the majority being false alarms. Mall ninja type people earn mall ninja type prizes is my take away.
J.M. Johnston
Host of Ballistic Radio - Sundays at 7:00 PM EST on Cincinnati's 55KRC THE Talk Station, available on iHeartRadio
What? How could that possibly happen? That absolutely doesn't jive with what the media's been telling me.
He had called 911 about a suspicious person.
That person went out of his sight.
He wanted to give the responding officers as much information as possible.
He exited his vehicle to follow and observe the suspicious person from a safe distance.
^^^All of those are reasonable actions^^^
What actually happened and his state of mine, we'll probably never know.
But I do know that I absolutely do NOT trust any media source to get the facts right.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
As to 50 911 calls in a year.
I had a murder victim turn up about 100 yards from my back door in a pasture.
The police told me to call them anytime I saw a vehicle or people in the pasture, and to use 911 if I wanted to.
In between then and now I've probably called the non-emergency line 20 times for suspicious vehicles back there.
As to investigating suspicious people.
I've had my barking dogs alert me to people in the pasture.
I'll often walk around the house to the alley or into the back yard to investigate.
Sometimes it's a neighbor, sometimes it's people who have no business back there and they get the police called on them.
Suppose I walk around the side of the house and see someone I don't recognize walking towards the pasture one evening.
I follow them to see if maybe it's my neighbor.
When I round the corner into the alley I get jumped by a youth of a different ethnicity and end up shooting them.
How do you think the media will present my story?
Zimmerman appears to be a douche based on the VERY limited information we have.
But I'm not going to fire up the donkey bbq just yet.
"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
The difference is that you are investigating suspicious activity in and around your property. You can't call the police every time your dog barks or you would eventually be on an ignore list.
In this case we have someone who was patrolling his neighborhood and followed someone who he thought was suspicious and then exited his vehicle against the directions of the 911 operator to confront him.
Had he not exited his vehicle when there was no direct threat to himself or anyone else, the confrontation and shooting would never have occurred.
Had the shooter been investigating a suspicious sound outside, been jumped, and then shot the attacker it would have been an entirely different thing.
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