I haven't written about the Trayvon Martin case (here) because I haven't felt I've anything to really add. I am definitely concerned that people's opinions on both sides are heavy on ideology and light on available facts.
I've encountered two pieces of information today that have me thinking that Mr. Zimmerman should be facing charges. And I don't think he's the only one.
The first: I listened to the tape of the 911 call from a neighbor, in which you can clearly hear someone screaming for help in the background, and eventually, a gunshot. (You can listen for yourself here...skip to 2:50 if you just want to hear the call.) Zimmerman has claimed that was him screaming for help. I suppose that's possible. I don't know what he sounds like when he's screaming for help.
But it sounds a lot like a teenage boy to me.
The second: this video released by ABC News this evening. It is surveillance from the police station as Zimmerman is being brought in, immediately after the incident, at which time both he and the police have claimed he sustained injuries consistent with a physical struggle in which he had been punched in the nose, knocked to the ground, and had his head slammed into the ground.
He looks pretty good to me.
If the video is legit, this is pretty damning for Mr. Zimmerman, and the police who filed that report.
We shall see.
14 comments:
What seems to be lost is that if the charge is murder, the police can take their time since there is no statute of limitations issues. So I'd rather see the police take their time and get it right than to rush in and arrest someone who hasn't committed a crime. And I certainly don't want to see someone arrested because the mob demand it.
Agreed on all points, Dave.
At this point I'm more bothered by the possibility that the police who wrote the report of his injuries seem to be complicit in a cover up. Because if this video shows what it appears to show, they were.
One note of caution -- I read that Zimmerman did get treatment of some sort from EMTs at the scene, which might explain his improved appearance. There's so much fog in the reporting that I don't know that I believe any of it.
I still think that, in the end, he's going to face a manslaughter charge. He may beat it, though, because there's going to be any number of ways to establish reasonable doubt.
Maybe. But head wounds bleed a LOT. He's not even bandaged.
FWIW, here's an article from The Daily Caller concerning the lack of a head injury on the ABC News video.
May not mean anything. May mean a lot.
The enhanced still looks like they cranked the contrast way up with Photoshop. Compare the intensity of the putative laceration to the outline of his head. I'm not sure it means much. If that dark spot being as big as it is were a fresh wound, I really think it would either be bloody or at least bandaged.
Seriously, I have no desire to see an innocent man go to prison. Here, or ever. But this whole thing just stinks.
dont know about heads, but i've seen broken noses, and they bleed a lot. a whole lot. there is no blood on his shirt.
This thing is really a nationwide version of Rashomon.
"This thing is really a nationwide version of Rashomon."
Best summary to date.
what is "Rashomon". (ignorance exposed.)
Rashomon is an classic Japanese movie from about 1950. A samurai is murdered and there are four witnesses, whose stories contradict one another.
I saw the movie over 25 years ago so my memory is a little hazy on the details, but one key line is this:
Man just wants to forget the bad stuff, and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way.
I'm going to have to go find it and watch it again. Akira Kurosawa, the director, is one of the greatest filmmakeers of all. He also did "Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo," among others. Definitely worth your time, Gino.
Gino, you would dig Rashomon. Right up your alley.
i'll look for it.
i know the name Akira Kurosawa. but i'm pretty sure i havent seen anything he did.
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