Category: Current Events

Big tornados ripped through yesterday. A bit worried that the last thing we heard from Traction Control in Arlington was “Rain, hail and thunder have just started.” We sincerely hope any readers in the area made it through things unscathed.

That’s one thing I like about living here, is that we’re not too crazy on natural disasters. We might get blizzards sometimes, and the occasional remnants of a hurricane that brings torrential downpours, but nothing life threatening. Just about every other place I’d consider living has something. Texas? Hurricanes and Tornadoes. Florida? Hurricanes. Washington State? Earthquakes and the occasional volcano. Colorado? Hmm. Colorado might be fairly natural disaster free in most of the places that have tech jobs. Sure blizzards, but I’m used to that.

Getting tired of this case yet? I sure am. But it’s all that’s in the media, and it’s the best shot our opponents in the gun prohibition movement have had to return to relevance in years. Unfortunately for them, I think this case jumped the shark. Miguel notes the slowly disappearing political memes. Over at Just One Minute, it turns out the audio forensics expert offered up by the media is, in fact, no such thing. Turns out plenty of other experts agree that the comparison just isn’t valid. I’m not surprised to hear this, because the story of the audio analysis set off my bullshit alarm as soon as I read it, but not being an expert in the field, I was reluctant to come out guns blazing on it.

Also, ABC now has an “enhanced” video that shows Zimmerman’s injuries, which is several lacerations to the back of the head. I don’t think the guy needs to be bleeding out all over the place. I’ve had my bell rung hard enough in my life without drawing blood to know you can still get a concussion without cutting the scalp. Also in that article:

In a letter to U.S. Department of Justice officials, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton allege that State Attorney Norm Wolfinger met with the Sanford police chief within hours of the teen’s death and that together they overruled a detective’s recommendation that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter. The letter claims a lead investigator filed an affidavit stating that he didn’t find Zimmerman’s story credible.

Wolfinger called the allegations “lies” and said no meeting took place.

“I’m outraged by the outright lies contained in the letter,” Wolfinger said in a statement. “I encourage the Justice Department to investigate and document that no such meeting or communication occurred.”

It’s been rather amazing how much of what the family has said in public have turned out to be outright fabrications. The family has very little credibility left with me at this point, especially since I was originally quite sympathetic to the idea of taking the case to a grand jury to evaluate the evidence. I still think that’s the right thing to do in this case, but my sympathy for the family diminishes with every fabrication. I tend to give grieving families the benefit of doubt, but I don’t like being outright lied to. The lawyer over at Crayfisher notes:

On another topic, I have seen a number of posts bemoaning how the “wingnuts” are smearing Tayvon Martin and defending his killer. According to these people anyone who casts doubt on Zimmerman’s guilt must be a wingnut.

Since when is defending accused criminals a wingnut activity?

This has been driving me bonkers too, that the left has essentially taken the position that Zimmerman is guilty before his case has even gone before a jury. I think blowhards like Sharpton would be happy to lynch Zimmerman in the media if it means Sharpton gets to be relevant again. I believe the reason the NAACP has been, comparatively speaking, the voice of reason here is they probably understand that if this case blows up in a big way, it’ll hurt Obama. Rightly or wrongly, I think a lot of Americans viewed Obama as an opportunity to move beyond the politics of race. This case is not only bringing that back to the forefront, it has the potential to set race relations back decades. For people like Sharpton, that translates into increased relevance, but I don’t think that’s a good thing for this country.

Lead and Gold is not impressed with his analysis. I don’t understand why anyone pays attention to Frum anymore.

BTW, root canal was mercifully short. Less than an hour. That was my fourth root canal, over all, but the third on a second molar. The other ones seemed to take a lot longer. This one was about 50 minutes.

Off to the dentist this morning for a root canal, so I’ll have to leave you with some tab clearing this morning.

Michael Bane talks about the self-defense implications of the Trayvon Martin case.

What’s happening to Zimmerman can happy to any of us.

Some thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case from The Balloon Goes Up.

How common are deaths like Trayvon Martin’s?

CoBIS, New York’s failed ballistic database, has been repealed.

Joe Biden says the Florida killing could spur gun law debate.

NBC Doing Internal Investigation Regarding Alteration of Zimmerman 911 Call.

The former defense attorney over at Crayfisher isn’t impressed either, and a commenter at another blog noticed this:

Golly, the Easy Voice Biometrics software has only been available since March 7. And the webpage that it is sold on is registered to:
Registrant:
Owen Forensic Services, LLC
Administrative Contact:
Owen, Thomas
Owen Forensic Services, LLC

He has managed to get a lot of free publicity for his new software product with this story!!

Sure has. Plus some other audio analysis folks over at another blog suggest that the conditions aren’t correct for a good analysis. Once again, the real world is not CSI.

Dave Kopel has an excellent summary of Florida’s stand your ground law, and how it’s not relevant in the Trayvon Martin case, no matter which narrative you believe.

A forensics firm has taken the 911 audio that’s been released and analyzed them, and determined the screaming voice was not George Zimmerman’s. The guy who did the analysis is credentialed. That said, I’m skeptical of a lot of this CSI stuff, after so much of it that was accepted as scientific was later proven to be based on junk science. Phones and walls acts as filters for audio signals. If I’m on the jury, they need to show me, using the same methods, how much the scream correlated to Martin’s voice before I’ll accept it. Keep in mind there was an eyewitness, and in my view as a juror, an eyewitness is going to trump audio forensics, if they can’t ID the scream to either voice. Also, one person in this field thinks you’d need an exemplar of Zimmerman screaming to do an accurate analysis.

An excellent article about what the police procedures generally are in a case like the Martin shooting, written by a cop turned lawyer:

Here’s the deal: They might have had probable cause to arrest but did they have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of Zimmerman’s guilt? It is very common for police to wait until the investigation is complete before making any arrests. There were still some things they didn’t know that night.

Indications are that the police did not identify Trayvon until the next morning. Without his identity they had no way to check for a criminal record. Toxicology reports won’t be available for a few days either. What if the police arrested Zimmerman and then discovered that Trayvon was a known gang-member who was high on cocaine when he was killed?

Actually, the toxicology report may be the only interesting thing to come out of the autopsy. We know he was shot and who shot him. The CPR attempt would have really messed-up any forensic evidence on the skin and clothing. If the toxicology report shows drugs or alcohol in Trayvon’s system that will help Zimmerman.

If I was the defense investigator I would want to know a lot more about Trayvon. Where was he staying? When did he leave the house? Where did he go? Is the place he was killed between those two points? I once won a case where a girl said my client and another boy tried to rape her on the way home from school. One problem with her story was that the place she said it happened was the opposite direction from her home. That’s why you check these things out.

The media says he walked to 7-11 to buy an iced tea and some skittles. According to Google the nearest 7-11 is almost two miles away and it was dark and raining. My kids wouldn’t walk next door on a rainy night, but then I’m from California. What time did he arrive at 7-11? There should be a register receipt showing a purchase of an iced tea and Skittles with a time and date stamped on it.

Read the whole thing. Life isn’t like CSI, and despite what our opponents have been saying, there’s not much that’s remarkable about this case in terms of the law.

From ABC News. Forgive the waste of taxpayer money that appears at the beginning of this video (looks like only the one on the ABC site has the Obamacare is great ad):

A few thoughts. People looking to jump to conclusions are saying this video shows that Zimmerman was uninjured. I don’t think it shows that at all. It shows he’s not badly injured, for sure, but the law doesn’t require you to get to the point you’re badly injured before defending yourself with deadly force. You just have to be in reasonable fear of grave bodily injury or death, and typically, getting your head beat into a pavement would qualify.

Now, back to what’s on the video. I think I notice a bandage on his nose, and what looks like a minor laceration on the back of his head. It’s hard to tell because they blur his face when it comes into view. It also looks like they blurred the back of his head for a second. But I agree with folks who note he’s steady on his feet. That would tend to indicate he didn’t receive major head trauma. But this does not negate his self-defense claim, unless the video shows he is totally uninjured. I don’t think it conclusively does.

Thirdly, if you’re ever involved in a self-defense situation where you’re even remotely injured, ask the police to take you to the hospital. Get examined by a doctor. Thanks to the wonders of malpractice suits, Doctors are far more careful than first responders, in terms of “Well, you know, he could have a concussion, we’d better keep him.” It’s also going to look far better, if this hits the paper, to be “released from the hospital” rather than “treated at the scene.” Doctors are also going to be more credible at characterizing your injuries, and can then testify on your behalf in court. It also buys you time for your lawyer to get down there.

Ann Althouse: “Thank you, 52% of America.” Maybe we need “We are the 52%” t-shirts, since hoodies are now the exclusive realm of the left.