<p>I have experience with the criminal and juvenile justice system in Texas. I also have handled matters relating to med-malpractice at hospitals and have read about mis-identification of babies and patients who are in the facilities. Recently I was asked to look at claims (that were admitted) where a funeral business misplaced bodies (X was supposed it be in this spot but wasnt), so they were not really sure where particular bodies were buried. </p>
<p>My point is that the shock of the delay in getting in touch with Trayvons folks is shocking, but not surprising when institutions are involved.</p>
<p>I posted a link earlier in this thread that shows how in Texas people are using our castle/stand your ground law to shoot people messing with their rims from the safety of their own balconies. One guy told 911 what he was going to do–take his gun and go after the people he saw in his neighbors yard. He shot and killed someone. Never charged. Yahoo!</p>
<p>I read that the Florida stand your ground law came in response to a Fla. Supreme Court case that did not allow a married woman the use of the common law castle doctrine (a defense to killing based on a right to use lethal force when attacked in your home) to shoot and kill her abusive husband when he was beating her in their home. The Court said that she had to flee!</p>
<p>Laws commonly referred to as “castle laws” or “stand your ground laws” are not all the same. Also, “castle law” typically refers to justification of use of deadly force against an intruder in your home, where you may be trapped, or may not have a safe place to flee to (though there are obviously situations where fleeing is the safest thing to do, regardless of “castle law” or not), as opposed to “stand your ground law” referring to situations possibly outside your home.</p>
<p>I am the type of person who wants to have faith in our justice system, so I tend not to pre-judge the propriety of law enforcement’s decisions or (in)actions, or make assumptions simply because I have not been made aware of what they have done.</p>
<p>I missed the reports about how Trayvon was eventually identified, and I could not find them on the internet. Do we know that the police department made no effort to determine his identity or contact people who knew him? How was he finally i.d.'ed?</p>
<p>Zimmerman’s criminal history. With the below history, the police had to have seen this when they checked his background at the scene of the murder. Get pulled over for a traffic offense and this can be checked. This certainly appears to be a situation where Zimmerman’s father had some influence as each of his previous arrests were “closed” and he was able to get a gun, and act as a community watch person. It is outrageous that with this history the Sanford PD had NO reason to disbelieve Zimmerman’s claims???</p>
<p>RESISTING OFFICER WITH VIOLENCE
BATTERY ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
2005-MM-010436-A-O
ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE MICHAEL
10/05/1983
07/18/2005
Orlando
Miller, W Michael
Misdemeanor
Closed
CR-RESISTING OFFICER WITHOUT VIOLENCE
2005-DR-012980-O
ZUAZO, VERONICA vs. ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M
08/09/2005
Div 44
44, TBA
Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS
2005-DR-013069-O
ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE M vs. ZUAZO, VERONICA A
08/10/2005
Div 46
White, Keith F
Domestic Violence
Closed – SRS</p>
<p>Unrelated to the article, one thing that I hope will come out of all of this is a real change in attitude towards untrained citizens serving as law enforcement. The fantasy idea that all it takes is willingness to help out by patrolling around the neighborhood and carrying a weapon–no, it’s not that simple. Even the trained professionals (meaning, the police) get it wrong sometimes.</p>
<p>^(N.B., with my response, I am not defending Zimmerman; rather I am trying to defend the process):</p>
<p>Zimmerman was not convicted in any of those cases; the prosecutions were dropped after “PTD,” which I assume means he attended a pre-trial diversion program in lieu of prosecution. (Like, for example, a drug treatment program in lieu of being charged for marijuana possession).</p>
<p>I also note that there are no arrests for an underlying charge in connection with the resisting charges. This suggests a scenario in which Zimmerman may have been unjustifiably stopped or accused of something that he did not do or that the prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge, and Zimmerman reacted violently to the police in response to it. (Like, for example, in a case of mistaken identity in a burglary where the wrongly arrested person reacts in self-defense by arguing and resisting arrest, and no burglary charges are ever brought).</p>
<p>We also do not know when Zimmerman got his gun, or Florida gun possession laws vis-a-vis arrest records. Maybe someone else knows.</p>
<p>And how insanely ironic would this be…Zimmerman stalks and accosts an innocent, unarmed individual, that person MAY have reacted by defending himself physically, and Zimmerman shots and kills him. If Zimmerman was repeatedly wrongfully arrested and reacted in self-defense he was apparently lucky that the person doing the arresting was a trained professional, not a vigilante nutjob roaming the streets with a gun.</p>
<p>If Zimmerman had no gun that night, I’m willing to bet he would never have gotten out of the car to accost Trayvon Martin. The gun provided him with the bravado necessary to behave like an ass, in direct opposition to 911 instructions. If Zimmerman had no gun, but accosted Martin anyway, the worst that would have happened was a fistfight. It is highly unlikely that anyone would have died.</p>
<p>The fact remains that if anyone “stood their ground” when threatened that night, it was Trayvon Martin.</p>
<p>That is so very true. That’s why I see these perhaps well-intentioned laws as allowing, and to some extent, encouraging “cowboy” actions. It is interesting to me that uniformly the police chiefs in states that propose aggressive castle/stand your ground /kill to protect property laws OPPOSE them.</p>
<p>"… with this history the Sanford PD had NO reason to disbelieve Zimmerman’s claims???"</p>
<p>Absent complete incompetence on the part of Sanford PD (and after reading what Zimmerman’s dad had to say about the Martin incident), it’s possible it went something like this:</p>
<pre><code> “Don’t mess with Judge Z’s kid.”
</code></pre>
<p>Does anyone have any reliable information on the details of Zimmerman’s father’s former employment as a magistrate? I’ve seen intermet posts that he was one in the Virginia Supreme court, in Orange County, Fla. and as a US magistrate judge (no info on what jurisdiction).</p>
<p>Where is the special treatment/pull/influence with the locals supposed to come from being a retired magistrate out of state, out of county or in the federal system?</p>
<p>Are the police kidding? There are 911 calls that show how the confrontation began! A man, with a gun and a past history of violence, stalked an unarmed teenager. That man was told to NOT follow the kid. Now that kid is dead.</p>
<p>I read today that one of the investigating officers is among the ones implicated in the cover-up of the beating of a black homeless man. Seems like a wonderful place all around.</p>
<p>But Zimmerman wasn’t charged and probably never would have been if weren’t for trayvons parents. It took people fighting for justice to get it. He still hasn’t been charged. They didn’t test him for drugs or alcohol. They trusted his side of the story. </p>
<p>Trayvon was a kid walking around. He was stalked by a man. He tried to get away from man. Who had a gun. Man with gone persisted even when told to stop. If trayvon had killed Zimmerman, would the stand your ground law protected him? I seriously doubt it seeing the actions of the states attorney.</p>
<p>There is a case in NYC where a cop killed a 68 year old black man in his home. Long story short, police claimed to press that victim had a hatchet. It was a lie. </p>
<p>Point is, we can not always trust the police and trust they will eventually donthe rightnthing. We can not always trust the prosecututors to do the right thing. Ofte. Sadly, ot takes family and friends to push for justice.</p>