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June 27th, 2013
12:53 AM ET
Zimmerman trial: dramatic third day
Legal Analyst Sunny Hostin and Criminal Defense Attorney Danny Cevallos discuss testimony by Trayvon's friend, neighborhood witnesses and previous 911 calls on the third day of the George Zimmerman trial.
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Post by: Anderson Cooper Filed under: Crime & Punishment • Danny Cevallos • George Zimmerman • Sunny Hostin • Trayvon Martin |
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A key witness, Johathan Good said it was Zimmerman on the bottom yelling for help. He asked Good for help, bnut Good declined and called 911
Johnathan Good testified that Zimmerman was on the bottom and Trayvon Martin was on top swinging MMA style blows down onto Zimmerman, but he could not actually see the nblows meet Z's face as Martins body covered Z's facial area. But he believed that Martin did strike Z in the face.
If he believes that happening, why can he not accept that Martin was slamming Z's head into the sidewalk. After all, he could njot see Z's headx area, as he so testified. Seems ito be nconsisitent reasoning to me.
seems honest to me. if he couldn't SEE the follow through he did not say that he could. sounds like an honest answer to me.
MR. Zimmerman knew what he was doing, when you step up to someone in hood they step back, Mr. Zimmerman is a want be cop , they even said donot follow the young man ,but knew one thing i got a gun, it was just a fight , someone was getting ready to stop it , if the police did not he got beat down and did not want to lose from a teen ager , Zimmerman knew he had the upper hand the gun, that why he follow him , if no gun he would of waited on the police, but with that gun come power and heart that man Zimmerman what he was doing they should charge him with 1 degree murder
I was wondering if anyone has thought about the greater picture and what this and how this effects the neghborhood watch. Because zimmerman didnt have to get so close. Evan the officer on the phone said he didnt need hom to follow.
My pont this should lead to runner bullets being carried by neighborhood watch personel. Beause they are not trained.
There needs to be a discussion on watch programs and training because if zimmerman kept his distance and followed the police instruction. ultimately manslaughter is going to be the verdict because he did defend hmself but never needed to folow in the firast plac which led to the confrontation.
But as i say there nees to be addressed training and such that watchmen are aware of what to do. and no one on watch should be carrying live ammo. period.
rubber bullets sorry for the spelling
People talk about who is the aggressor, I feel that Zimmerman was the aggressor simply because he kept invading Trayvon's space by following him this could not have made Trayvon comfortable if anything he was probably nervous and done what he needed to do. He stated that he thinks he lost the him this only means that he tried getting away from Zimmerman while hiding and running between houses. The lawyers are not doing enough for me, they need to check how Zimmerman classifies his race on various application through his lifetime. I'm sure he refers to himself as white, I believe he only called in on Black people and this is a case of racial profiling. RACE is a factor regardless to what they believe.
do you want someone to have a rubber bullet if someone is breaking into your home. I realize trayvon martin was not breaking into anyones home but it appears he was not paying any attention to what was really going to happen. If someone asked us what are you doing, wouldn't most innocent people turn around and talk to the person asking the question? hands held up and hey sir, I am not doing anything. i'm just on my way home to my dads house he lives at.... i'm visiting for the week. end of story. don't disrespect people. it makes you look like you're up to no good. and then the aggressor becomes the scared party and in this case the man with the gun. if you did that to a police officer how close do you think you could get to him and his weapon before he decided to shoot?
Let's get back to the basics/reality of what occurred between Zimmerman and Martin... Martin was being pursued by Zimmerman and Martin was rightfully scared. Zimmerman initiated the confrontation with Martin and a tussle ensued. Martin was trying to defend himself and I'm sure became more frightened when he saw Zimmerman had a gun. Good for Martin if he did end up on top and got a few punches in – at this point I'm sure Martin thought he was fighting for his very life. Even rape victims, who are fighting for their life, quite often inflict some kind of injury to their attacker. Martin was scared and defending his life and had every right to inflict a few "defensive" scratches and bumps on Zimmerman's head. Zimmerman pursued and confronted Martin, when told not to by authorities, a scuffle ensued, Martin was getting the better of Zimmerman, so Zimmerman "chose" to use his gun (deadly force) and shot Martin – this is "at least" 2nd Degree Murder! James Craig (Private Investigator).
MMA = person on top straddling the person on the bottom..? how did Zimmerman get his gun? when T.M was straddling
, his knees would have been ( where) near the arm pit, lower chest. Then T.M. would have to been in a position for Z to not to obtain his weapon, because TM's knee, thigh would have obstructed the weapon, how is that possible when that was an MMa position. Z did say that his weapon was in the holster.
For sure Zimmerman was watching Martin, but who struck who first is not perfectly clear. It is clear taht Martin was on top of Z punching him in the face and Z was yelliing for Help. Z asked Johnthan Good for help in stopping Martins attack, and Good said he would call 911. Good looks like a strong man and could hacve helped.
Thus far, it seems that someone is missing the obvious. If Trayvon had approached Zimmerman in his car, the altercation would have taken place in the street. This is not the case, however. It took place on the grass and sidewalk. The second question which might be raised is the fact that Zimmerman's minor wounds could have been self inflicted. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has been known to have happened.
You are Forgetting that a witness was at Zimmermans side moments after the altercation occurred, no chance to self inflict wounds. Travon was clearly a person of questionable character with all his troubles at school and prior drug incidences
So you think Zimmerman banged his own head to cause his head injuries. I suppose you think Z punched himself in the nose too.
I believe the same thing could have been self inflicted wounds, my question is why did he act this night and actually follow the person. I believe because he had himself a new toy GUN and wanted to use it on someone BLACK. End of story.
if Zimmerman was truly on his way to the store. why not just call in the suspicious act and go on about his day? we already know he watches the neighborhood, so whats to say he wasn't out patrolling, saw treyvon martin, and decided that he wasn't going to let this one get away? or even that he saw treyvon on his way to the store leaving the complex, waited to see if he returned? I think it was premeditated murder.
IF . . . Trayvon were doing the right thing in school in Miami, he wouldn't have been in Sanford.
IF he was going home from the store, when he reached home, why didn't he just stay there?
IF is a really big word that just leads in circles in this case.
This girl and the teenage Trayvon were talking to each other as teens do....they are not politically correct as adults sometimes try to do. The fact is that If Mr. Zimmerman were to have stopped following the young man when he was told to by the 911 operator, none of us would be talking about this.
It is not against the law to follow someone on a rainy night in your neighborhood, when you are the neighborhood watch captain.
The key word is WATCH not pursue.
I was watching the panelist discuss the Zimmerman trial as either being a black and white racist issue or not. Hello the whites have no dog in this fight Zimmerman is Hispanic and as a Sanford resident I hope this will be remembered if Zimmerman is found not guilty.
I guarantee you that Zimmerman classifies himself as White. He feels that he has some White privileges hopefully they show him that you can go around gunning people down because they look suspicious to you.
I would like to comment on a few things in regard to the Zimmerman trial in regard to the use of the N word use in the telephone conversation between the Treyvon and his friend. In the African American community we have adopted the N word not in the same context as it would be use by other races. We have taken the N word and reversed it, by doing so we have changed the definition in our community. We used the N word as a term of endearment. One African American male may say to another male of any race "Your my N....".The younger generation has come to use the N word even describing people of other races, whether male or female. If you ask any young person today they will tell you that this word has be transformed, and is now more readily accepted. When Tryon used the N word he was not connecting it to pass or, connecting it to the discrimination that African Americans endured over the years. We must acknowledge that times have changes, and the language of our youth can not be interpreted in the same manner because the meanings, and connotations have in fact changes of the years.
What's up with the attorneys? They need to be questioned. People want to say that race had nothing to do with this case, but in fact it has everything to do with this case. Why can't they except the fact that a 300 pound cannot sound the way that Trayvon Martin did on that tape. How can they explain the marks on Zimmerman when Trayvon was laying face down in the grass? There should be a mixture of races on that jury to bring all opinions together for a better outcome. Zimmerman is not worried at all about this trial especially if he is falling asleep in court. He probably feels like he will walk out of the court room a free man. Zimmerman probably broke down and started hitting his head against something, you can't put anything past someone with a violent history.
I just hope justice is service. Wrong is wrong.
He had a gun, followed an unarmed teen- with the gun, shoots him and then claim to stand his ground to save his life? Really? Does that even make sense to anyone? Who cares who started the fight- this man harassed the teen with a gun and shot him in cold blood!
So every time someone fights with us, we can just shoot them and call it stand your ground? Every time your wife describes a person, you take it for truth and start profiling? Are we back to the era of "they all look alike?"
Let's say for the sake of argument, Trayvon started the fight, was he not standing his ground too? So why should it even matter who started the fight? The person that needed to stand his ground was the one that was been followed/harrassed- that is Trayvon, not George.
Yes Ma'am I believe Trayvon was standing his ground and just decided that he was tired of trying to lose this guy and went ahead to face the bully. Zimmerman is a bully and he proved it in every sense of the word bully. We talk about stopping bullies these days and Zimmerman sitting in court though if he has done nothing wrong. And the lawyer are not doing Trayvon no justice it really seems like a set up, just to say now we took this to court and you all need to go away. Whats with this 6 white jurors and women if not mistaken where are the Black men and women? I smell a rat.
I wonder if the police every ask Zimmerman why he took his weapon. When he got out of the vehicle. What did he see about Martin that he needed to take a weapon? Why did you get out of the car? Why didn't he run when he had the chance? Zimmerman had the power the whole time, he knew he had a weapon.
He didn't "take" his weapon, it already was in a holster on his person.
I want to make a comment regarding the lashing Ms. Jeantel is getting for her iinability to "read cursive." My family is in an upper middle class suburb in Southern California, and unfortunately I must say my three kids ages 23, 20, and 17 would have a very hard time reading cursive. This has always been a point of contention with me and I had brought it up to my children's principal at their grade school. Our district only lightly covers cursive in 2nd maybe 3rd grade. Consequently all three have EXTREMELY POOR signatures and DO NOT know how to write much of anything in cursive. It was explained to me it was not worth using class time being schools have to teach so much in order to meet bench marks and cursive isn't even used any more. I would venture to say it would be very interesting to see if "average white America" is finding this to be true with their children- If their honest!
I have been watching some of the Zimmerman case,I have no idea if he is guilty or not but some of the talk shows have this man guilty already,why don't they just listen to the evidence and then decide,but they are throwing gas on the fire.If the evidence shows he is guilty then let justice prevail.This is not racial so the show host should not make it sound like it is .Listen to the case and make a judgment ,the host need to be fair to both sides.
It does take a rock scientist to understand that Zimmerman was following we all heard the conversation on the 911 call. The 911 operator asked Zimmerman was he following the suspect and he said he was and Zimmerman was asked not to follow him and let law enforcer do their job. Zimmerman continued to follow the boy, and being followed is not a pleasure actually it's very frightening, and you must make a decision as to what to do when someone is being a bully towards you. A lot of time lapsed which only could mean that Trayvon was hiding and going between houses trying to get away. Trayvon grew tired and stopped the chase and confronted his aggressor. Asked Why are you following me? End of Story
I think zimmerman saw treyvon on his way to the store, went and got his pistol, waited for martin to return and shot him. zimmerman claims to have been going to the grocery store right? well, why do your need a gun whiling buying groceries? zimmerman was looking for trouble and treyvon fit his description of what he was looking for.
I completely agree with you. He was out looking for trouble.
Why do you need a gun to go to the grocery store well let's think about that. Just a few stories here remember the man in Adi's who stopped a nut from stabbing a bunch of people. How about the old man who shot and killed a walmart deli workers ex boyfriend who repeatedly stabbed her. Don't you think the woman in New Jersey wished she had a gun who kicked in her front door and beat her to a pulp. I carry my gun everywhere I legally can when I'm home it's on my side. Am I afraid? No It's insurance just like my car or home do I want to use it? No would I? Yes Would I feel bad? Yes but I'll worry about my feelings after I kiss my kids goodnight.
I agree, and Zimmerman wanted to be some kind of hero.
Zimmerman's other calls are not irrelevant. He was calm in those and did not follow. In Treyvon's case, George was tired of seeing them get away and did not want to let Treyvon do the same. He was stalking.
He was wisely followinhg–not stalking.
What if the black man had killed the white man? Would he be defended the same way there is no excuse for regardless of the circumstances MURDER IS MURDER!
Again here we go with this F.L law you can't shoot some one for a fist fight or just because someone punched you in the nose . Now listen closely IF IT"S TRUE that Travon went from a struggle/fistfight and started to smash Zimmerman's head in to the CONCRETE SIDEWALK that is a deadly weapon and then by F.L concealed carry law Zimmerman can use deadly force to eliminate the attack.
Yes you are right about using the concrete as a deadly weapon, but consider that it was Zimmerman's actions which provoked the conflict between the two.A person cannot claim self defense when they are the one who caused the confrontation in the first place. The point where Zimmerman crossed the line where he could no longer claim self defense was when he got out of his car. When he did that he went from passive observation to active pursuit.
Keep in mind that nearly all public schools NO Longer TEACH cursive reading or writing. We as parents who debate this are told that our children are the computer generation. They need to know how to type and read type. In preschool and kindergarten they don't teach print they teach D"nealion which is a combo of print and cursive. My children went to public in Chandler AZ and Olathe, KS (US News in May rated my kids High School #4 in the state). My teenage children can not read cursive or write cursive. It is like asking their great-grandmother to tweet them. I am shocked that the defense attorney is not aware of this and allowed himself to fall into that trap.
Has anyone asked, "What happened to the 2nd suposed suspect with Trayvon?" or asked Zimmerman, "would he have run away too after seeing someone he didn't know following him?"
Did he say that Zimmerman's past should not be of the concern of the court but yet they consistently bring up Trayvonn's past the whole time. Trying to make it justified for him to be killed
They may get to Marftin's past also. It may not be too pretty.
It has been established that she lies to save face, so why not her friend's?
Does that change the fact: Zimmerman killed Trayvon. Don't you have friend that lie? Have you never lied? so who cares whether or not she's lying- someone took a life he did not create...why? That's what's on trial not rachel or anyone else.
I did not have a problem hearing or understanding Rachel on the stand soI don't understand why people in the same room did. I did not like the fact that the news media did not bleep out information about where she attended school and the grade she was going into this fall. That being said, maybe she lied about her age because she didn't want her classmates to know she was older than most kids going into 12th grade, maybe we was afraid she would be bullied and harrassed about it.
Zimmerman's trial "I believe justice will prevail." I just viewed portion of the panelist weighing in on will the witnesses "hurt or help" the prosecution. On the outside looking in, watching tv, reading the news etc... Have anyone answered these questions themselves: Did Zimmerman follow Trayvon? QA: "911 Call" Operator TOLD Zimmerman 'we do not need for you to do that" did he stop there, no. Secondly QA: "Determining wether who was screaming or yelling for help" on top or bottom. Have Zimmerman testified or have been questioned who was yelling help. I'll ask.... Mr. G. Zimmerman during the alleged attack/struggle did you scream help / was it you or Trayvon yelling help / which of you were yelling help as described/heard by the witnesses and heard on the the recorded 911 call before the gun shot/projectile.... Simplicity and Evidence Peace love to the family