A Florida judge overseeing the coming trial of George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin .. http://topics.wsj.com/person/M/Trayvon-Martin/6906 .. last year, ruled Tuesday that attorneys can't mention the teenager's alleged drug use, school suspension or past fighting in their opening statements.
But Seminole County Circuit Judge Debra Nelson said she would consider permitting some of those matters to be raised at trial if she deemed them relevant to the proceedings.
The judge decided several key issues at Tuesday's two-hour hearing in Sanford, Fla., during which prosecutors and defense lawyers jostled for advantage ahead of the trial, which begins June 10. The judge denied a defense motion to delay the trial.
Prosecutors say Mr. Zimmerman, a neighborhood-watch volunteer who is Hispanic, pursued Mr. Martin, who was black and unarmed, and prompted their deadly encounter in a gated community in Sanford. Mr. Zimmerman told police he was attacked by Mr. Martin and shot him in self-defense; he has pleaded not guilty. He didn't attend Tuesday's hearing.
The delay in arresting and charging Mr. Zimmerman triggered nationwide protests and set off heated debate over whether Mr. Martin was a victim of racial profiling.
Last week, attorneys for Mr. Zimmerman released evidence obtained from Mr. Martin's cellphone, including text messages in which he referred to smoking pot, getting into fights and being suspended from school.
Mark O'Mara, an attorney for Mr. Zimmerman, said in court Tuesday that such evidence was "completely relevant" to the defense's theory that Mr. Martin was the aggressor on the night of the altercation and that his alleged marijuana use may have made him paranoid. Prosecutors argued in a legal filing that such material was "irrelevant" and "would serve only to prejudice the jury."
The fact that Judge Nelson left leeway for such issues to be brought up in court means "the door can always be opened," said Tamara Lave, a law professor at the University of Miami. For instance, defense attorneys might try to introduce such evidence in response to a witness's statement that Mr. Martin would never provoke a fight or do anything illegal, Ms. Lave said.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Mr. Martin's family, hailed the judge's rulings in comments to reporters after the hearing. "Trayvon Martin did not shoot and kill anybody," he said. "Trayvon Martin is not on trial."
Among other significant rulings Tuesday, the judge denied motions by the defense to allow jurors to visit the scene of the shooting so they could better visualize the sequence of events that night and to sequester the entire jury pool of 500 people. To preserve jurors' anonymity, the judge ordered lawyers and court personnel to refer to prospective jurors by number rather than name.
Left unresolved was whether the judge would allow the testimony of audio experts who have analyzed tapes of 911 calls to police the night of the killing. Experts have reached different conclusions about whether screams heard in the background of a call were Mr. Zimmerman's or Mr. Martin's—or whether such a determination was even possible. The judge said she would address the issue at a separate pretrial hearing June 6.
Write to Arian Campo-Flores at arian.campo-flores@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared May 29, 2013, on page A6 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Judge Curbs Defense in Case Over Teen Killing.
George Zimmerman Trial: FBI voice analyst says screams in background of 911 call "very difficult to analyze"
By Erin Donaghue June 6, 2013 6:10 PM
George Zimmerman, left, appeared in court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing ahead of his second-degree murder trial, which launches with jury selection June 10. He stands accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. / AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool
(CBS) Testifying for the defense during a pre-trial hearing Thursday, an FBI voice-recognition scientist said that he didn't believe it was possible to identify who was screaming in the background of a 911 call placed the night George Zimmerman shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
The testimony of Hirotaka Nakasone capped a day of proceedings ahead of Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial, which launches with jury selection on Monday. Zimmerman argues he killed Martin, 17, in self-defense during an altercation in a Sanford, Fla. gated community last year.
A major decision before the judge during the proceedings, which will resume again at 9 a.m. Friday, will be whether or not to allow the testimony of a state audio expert who says he heard Martin screaming and saying "I'm begging you" in the background of the same call.
If allowed, the testimony could be key for the prosecution. But with proceedings still ongoing, the judge has yet to rule on the subject.
Experts have come to mixed conclusions about the screaming in the background of the 911 call, which was placed by a neighbor. Nakasone said that the screaming lasted for about 18 seconds - however, the amount of screaming that was not "stepped on" by the voice of the 911 dispatcher or caller was only about three seconds.
He said because the screaming voice was affected by distress or emotion, there was no way to compare it to "reasonable, natural speech and come up with correct answers."
"The screaming was not normal - it was pretty much uttered by someone who was facing probably imminent threat of death," he said. "Very difficult to analyze."
The defense has argued that the state expert who heard Martin screaming used unproven scientific techniques, and Zimmerman's brother Robert Zimmerman told CBS News' Crimesider the finding amounted to "voodoo forensics."
Also Thursday, a court information technology director testified that he found more than 1,000 additional photos -- including photos of marijuana and a hand holding a gun - and some deleted text messages on Trayvon Martin's phone. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara has maintained that prosecutors didn't turn over the information, and has asked the court to sanction prosecutors.
The judge ruled that the issue of possible sanctions should be taken up after trial, and also rejected a defense request to allow a handful of jurors to testify anonymously.
Aside: years ago i was told by a detective that certain voice experts were favorites of defense teams, while others were favorites of prosecutors .. i remember saying, "You're kidding." .. he said, "No" .. right or wrong ever since then i've been a bit skeptical of those situations, and of certain 'expert' witnesses .. :)
Angela Corey should be held accountable for her actions as State Attorney of Florida, particularly with regard to the way in which she is going to the most unconscionable lengths to secure the conviction of twelve year old Cristian Fernandez.
Corey claimed in October of 2011 that "No one's ever talked about life in prison. The rumors are rampant about that" which is a lie, given the mandatory penalty for first degree murder in Florida is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. She added "I resent people who don't know anything about this case espousing opinions without knowing all of the facts and circumstances". The same could be said for Corey and her failure to be cognizant of the laws which she was elected to implement and adhere to.
This was further exemplified when in December of 2011, Corey boldy stated "In the juvenile system, we can only incarcerate or have him contained for not even two years..." which is yet another falsehood. The Southern Poverty Law Center redressed her ill informed statement thusly "Florida law grants the juvenile system broad discretion to handle the treatment and rehabilitation of children like Cristian, including the power to detain a child as long as necessary to protect public safety." .. .. more with links .. http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/remove-state-attorney-angela-corey
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Cristian Fernandez pleads guilty to manslaughter, gets juvenile sanctions Posted: February 8, 2013 - 7:18pm | Updated: February 8, 2013 - 11:18pm
Richard Hornsby lawyer opinion on the rule of law in the Zimmerman case .. to the end ..
In George Zimmerman’s case, it seems pretty clear that he found himself on his back and was having his head hit against a hard surface. We also know, based upon the funeral director’s statements, that Trayvon Martin did not have any noticeable injuries.
Thus the safe conclusion would be that Trayvon Martin had George Zimmerman in a compromising position that, in my opinion, would have been disproportionate to any perceived or real provocation made by George Zimmerman.
And if George Zimmerman did find himself on his back, was having his head hit against a hard surface, and felt his only choice was to use his weapon to defend himself against Trayvon Martin’s disproportionate response, then his use of deadly force to defend himself would have been excusable homicide.
As a result, the charge of Second Degree Murder would be subject to dismissal under Florida’s self-defense law.
.. with comments .. one which appeals ..
TheJBMission on May 5, 2012 at 2:57 pm said:
Hi Richard, Good article and I’m so glad you weighed in with your expertise of the law. Your article is helpful for the ones like me who feel the GZ is at fault for TM’s death. Thank you. You said, “So if George Zimmerman is to be the aggressor, and thus forfeit his right to self defense, it must be shown that he “provoked” Trayvon Martin to attack him in someway.”
I believe GZ did just that. I think blatantly following someone would provoke a person to act out. If it’s proven in GZ’s own words that he not only tailed him but got out of his vehicle when he lost site of him then TM is defending himself. Another point, Since GZ was acting in a LE capacity even though he’s only a NWC,
Although GZ initially wasn’t acting as NWC on Feb 26th, after he saw TM he then went into NWC mode. He’s busy doing his self proclaim job. He then called non-emergency 911. He spoke with LEO’s on the phone. He describes the suspect’s appearance and location. He assures LEO’s he’ll keep an eye on the guy. He’s good. Bravo for the NWC!! But now he is no longer “Joe Blow Citizen” who has a right to carry a gun. He’s now “NWC”. The manual clearly states that NWC’s cannot carry a gun. Therefore he unlawfully shot an unarmed citizen. In my opinion.
.. ?? .. i haven't been following the trial until peeking yesterday and Hornsby must be, and i'm not sure if when Hornsby wrote "it seems pretty clear that he found himself on his back and was having his head hit against a hard surface." .. um, just remembered one of the comments suggested Richard Hornsby may have written the above before the trial .. yes, Zimmerman had a tiny cut (no stitches necessary) on the back of his head, but (if so) Hornsby would not have seen Selma Mora's testimony at the time .. my ?? only arises from the conflict of two witness testimony .. Selma Mora says Zimmerman was on top .. note: the top and bottom situation comes in about 16:11 ..
and John Good said Trayvon was on top
====== .. anyway ..
Don West proved that he is a sadistic racist bigot
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Good afternoon:
Don West’s cross examination of Rachel Jenteal was one of the most offensive events in a courtroom that I have ever seen and I sincerely hope that the jury realizes that the ugliness he displayed was all about him and his contempt for black people.
She had no motive to lie and she did everything possible to avoid publicity.
The jury will soon discover that the defendant confirmed to police the two most damaging statements about which she testified. That is, Trayvon asked the defendant why he was following him and he responded by asking Trayvon what he was doing in the neighborhood.
The jury already knows from listening to the recorded NEN call and from Sean Knopke, the NEN dispatcher who handled that call, that the defendant got out of his vehicle and ran after Trayvon when Trayvon attempted to flee and conceal himself in the grassy area between the two buildings containing townhomes.
The most effective cross examination would have been to ask the following question and sit down:
------ Ms. Jenteal, you were not there and you did not see what happened, correct? ------
Instead, by exploiting cultural and language differences to impress everyone with how smart and clever he believes himself to be, he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a self-centered and bigoted asshole.
Meanwhile, I believe Rachel Jenteal held up very well.
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