17 yo Trayvon Martin Shot to Death by Neighborhood Watch Captain #32

[raeann]

I wonder how often that situation occurs with other people (being only a credit shy but still in the ceremony)?

At many schools, there is only a ceremony once a year, so they allow those with just a class or two to finish go through the ceremony. There is always an asterik next to their name in the grad list stating that they have not yet completed their degree. This school though, seems to have had a ceremony in December, so they would definitely have another at the end of the spring semester. Doesn't really make sense for him to have done it at the earlier one if all he had was one class left, but who knows.

jmo

 

[Phoenixfla]

A ex LE officer on Nancy Grace said his nose could have been broken from shooting the gun. It is possible, and that is what I think probably occurred. The minor injuries on the back of his head could have been caused during the scuffle, or Trayvon might have pushed him after he first touched Trayvon, and he fell down. jmo

That is possible, but a jury will have to believe that beyone a reasonable doubt. If there is another plausible explaination, they will IMO give the jury reasonable doubt about what happened.

 

[LyndyLoo]

Maybe because he thought they weren't doing their job properly and he wanted to make them be more active in the complex...also maybe since he wanted to be in LE, he was trying to impress them with his 'skills' in identifying suspicious persons or situations he thought they should be aware of, the children in street, etc.?

BBM

Ohhhh Dear..my Bolded above seems to fall under the category of "Vigilanteism" doesnt it??

He was trying to prove he was more affective than LE and also trying to prove he was more than Good at identifying and catching thieves that pleagued HIS community?

Yikes..I see that this guy was indeed a loose cannon :jail:

 

[Reader]

If the phone is LE property and he took a picture that he may have been instructed to do is one thing but as GrandmaJ said to release it is misconduct. I highly doubt it was LE. The officer was supposed to have secured the gun and cuffed GZ. If that is a phone in GZ's ear he was not cuffed and an officer taking a picture prior to securing him would probably get that officer fired. JMO

Was it a cover up between GZ and LE from the beginning, with the officer 'documenting' his injuries?

If so, that explains why he is so 'frustrated to be arrested to begin with'.

IMO

 

[jaded cat]

Was it necessarily a lie?

When you're pushing 28, referring to someone you thought was, say, in his early 20s, as a "kid" and as "few years younger than me", are not necessarily contradictory.

Also, his impression may have changed to thinking he was older than a "kid" after he got smacked in the face by him so hard that it broke his nose and knocked him to the ground (if that's what happened).

11 years younger is more than a "few". There is no evidence that TM struck GZ in the nose at all, much less hard enough to break his nose and knock him to the ground.

 

[Reader]

So does this mean that if the picture was taken with a personal phone that the wound is not admissible evidence?

That would be up to the SA and judge if it is inadmissible...but IMO if it was a personal phone there is a real problem with the chain of possession...where has it been? has it been altered or even fabricated...who took and has been holding it all this time...have they even given it to LE before? If LE took it on a personal phone, lots more troubles for that officer.

 

[LambChop]

Was it a cover up between GZ and LE from the beginning, with the officer 'documenting' his injuries?

If so, that explains why he is so 'frustrated to be arrested to begin with'.

IMO

I don't think LE took that picture just like I don't think an officer would have gone to ABC and given them the picture right in the middle of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department unless this officer was planning on changing careers. jmo

 

[suspicious1]

Zimmerman enrolled in Seminole State College in 2009, and in December 2011 he was permitted to participate in a school graduation ceremony, despite being a course credit shy of his associate's degree in criminal justice. Zimmerman was completing that course credit when the shooting occurred.

What? Why the special treatment?

Hey Tehcloser, :wave:

I really don't consider it special treatment because I too was able to graduate with my class in June although I would not be finished until July with my studies. Quite a few people I know were able to do the same thing...I guess it just depends on how far you are away from obtaining the necessary credits.

 

[suzihawk]

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/trayvon-martin-case-sources-tell-wftv-police-wante/nLbjr/


"Police Capts. Darren Scott and Bob O'Connor will run the department during the absence of Bill Lee.

On Thursday Lee announced that he was temporarily removing himself as police chief.

WFTV’s Jeff Deal learned that Lee, just before he stepped down as chief, promoted five other officers.

The city manager confirmed the promotions and said the officers completed the promotion process at the end of last month.

Some of those promoted have been involved in cases that have made the news.

John Labree, John Foshee, and Steven Lynch were promoted to sergeant. Two current sergeants, Tony Esoss and Randy Smith were promoted to lieutenants.

Smith was head of investigations when George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin.

Steven Lynch was the officer who shot and killed suspect Nicholas Scott in 2010 after Scott allegedly tried to run him down.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement decided that the shooting was justified.

John Foshee made headlines that same year after someone stole his M4 assault rifle from his car in Volusia County.

Friday the city manager also introduced the two captains who will now lead the police department.

The captains were not allowed to answer questions."

AND

""The city’s new public relations person, Lisa Mosca, even ran from WFTV’s camera when reporter Jeff Deal tried to ask a few questions about the promotions.

The chief is continuing to collect his $100,000-a-year salary while on leave.

The city has also hired Massey Communications, a public relations firm, to help handle the Trayvon Martin situation, but the city is refusing to say how much it is paying the firm.""

BBBM

:floorlaugh: Did this strike anyone else as hilarious? OMG, that's one helluva PR person. :floorlaugh:

 

[sleonardelli]

There was a case (I can't recall the names) but the case was about a husband who killed his wife and set up another guy to make it as though he had come into his house and was killing his wife with a hammer so he shot the man. This man was a cab driver or shuttle driver who had driven the wife home from a business trip, the wife had complained to her husband that the guy had said some strange stuff about killing people. So her husband called the guy's boss and wanted to have him fired, then he called the guy himself and had him come to his home so he could "apologize to the wife", and set it up as though the guy came on his own and murdered his wife and he shot him in self defense.. Anyway, LE first believed the husbands story, only to find out months later that the first cop on the scene had got his camera from his cruiser and had taken one picture of the 2 bodies that lay on the floor dead. This photo, that no one had seen finally came to light and broke the case wide open, the husband's story didn't match, he was arrested and charged with both murders.
Does anyone recall this case ?

Mark Winger

"Paramedics arrived and found two people on the floor, the man about five feet from the woman. A quick-thinking police officer, David Barringer, shot three Polaroids to record the scene before anything was moved. He noticed blood spatters on the wall and ceiling, and several pools of blood near both victims. Both were still breathing when they were transported to Memorial Medical Center. Mark Winger remained behind to speak with police rather than accompanying his wife in the ambulance."

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/.../mbb208_mark_winger_harlan_coben/1_index.html

 

[jaded cat]

Wow. I don't own a gun. I've never owned a gun. I've never had an interest in police work. But I recognize that people are different. Just because I can't imagine being armed, much less leaving my vehicle to follow someone while being armed, does not mean there are other people for whom that's perfectly normal.

Being in contact with the police the way GZ was means one of two things: an innocent mind, or an incredibly diabolical mind. Occam's Razor suggests the former.

Actually, it means nothing. It's only what GZ is saying at the time, not what might have been occurring.

 

[HiHater]

Zimmerman enrolled in Seminole State College in 2009, and in December 2011 he was permitted to participate in a school graduation ceremony, despite being a course credit shy of his associate's degree in criminal justice. Zimmerman was completing that course credit when the shooting occurred.

What? Why the special treatment?

In his defense, that's not exactly special. Most colleges say that participation in a ceremony does not constitute degree conferral or something to that effect. When I got my Bachelor's there was a lady there who knew she had failed a class but she still got to walk...:moo:

 

[LolaMoon08]

Nice! New information! George had the gun for 2 years. That puts to sleep my assumption that he may have gotten it when he was promoted to "Neighborhood Watchman." I see he had a problem with a dog named "Big Boi" and all I can say is that I LOVE this dog owner as I am a huge Outkast fan! :floorlaugh:

And the party was to celebrate him graduating, even though he was a credit short, so that makes me feel a little bit better. I thought we were dealing with another "event coordinator."

Sooooo... when do we get the written statement, the recorded interview and the walk-through George did?

 

[LolaMoon08]

Mark Winger

"Paramedics arrived and found two people on the floor, the man about five feet from the woman. A quick-thinking police officer, David Barringer, shot three Polaroids to record the scene before anything was moved. He noticed blood spatters on the wall and ceiling, and several pools of blood near both victims. Both were still breathing when they were transported to Memorial Medical Center. Mark Winger remained behind to speak with police rather than accompanying his wife in the ambulance."

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/.../mbb208_mark_winger_harlan_coben/1_index.html

I remember that case!! That husband had the police so fooled at first!

 

[elementary]

It's normal and natural for a neighborhood watch person in a gated community to follow an unrecognized-and-therefore-suspicious person. It's reasonable for him to tell the police to call him since he had no idea where he would be since he was following someone else.

<modsnip>

So every stranger in a gated community is suspicious and a stranger following someone isn't?

 

[jaded cat]

We all saw the most recent pictures of Trayvon from right before his death, there's no way that upon seeing him up close that anyone couldn't tell he was a teenager.

I agree, if he was going to use any excuse, it would have been that he couldn't tell in the dar from further away. But he did know, he said it, twice.

And didn't the police report say Trayvon was 6'0"? Trayvon must be the only person who continues to grow after death, I've seen some places claim he was as tall as 6'7".

JMHO

Yeah, I'm pretty sure TM was reported as being 6'0. The claims of him being 6'3" need some verification. I don't think it matters, since he's DEAD. If he was 6"3" and 150-160, he was a wiry young man, which, incidentally, is what we see in his pictures. Very tall and thin.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

IF I remember correctly, all police said was that they seen the picture or knew about the picture? I don't think they actually said they had it?

MOO

You may be right. I'm going from memory.

 

[mercuriod]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure TM was reported as being 6'0. The claims of him being 6'3" need some verification. I don't think it matters, since he's DEAD. If he was 6"3" and 150-160, he was a wiry young man, which, incidentally, is what we see in his pictures. Very tall and thin.

Really sad thing is it doesn't matter what Trayvon's height was, he will never reach his full height just as he will never reach his full potential, all thanks to a crazy nutjob!

 

[suzihawk]

Zimmerman enrolled in Seminole State College in 2009, and in December 2011 he was permitted to participate in a school graduation ceremony, despite being a course credit shy of his associate's degree in criminal justice. Zimmerman was completing that course credit when the shooting occurred.

What? Why the special treatment?

Was Bill Lee still teaching at the college at the time?

 

[jaded cat]

It's normal and natural for a neighborhood watch person in a gated community to follow an unrecognized-and-therefore-suspicious person. It's reasonable for him to tell the police to call him since he had no idea where he would be since he was following someone else.

<modsnip>

Absolutely NOT. The rules for almost all NW groups plainly states NOT TO FOLLOW, just watch. NW is not LE.