<p>I think even a minor can be called by a grand jury. Does anyone know for sure?</p>
<p>Also, I am not sure, but I do not think the minor has the right to have a parent present. I know that the witnesses generally do not have a right to legal counsel before the grand jury. </p>
<p>What an experience.–Alone before a grand jury at 13 in one of the most controversial cases in a long while. And the kid is the one witness that says Trayvon was on top of Z.</p>
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It makes me sick to think what might have happened if he had run toward Zimmerman and his gun. Pretty much anyone would be startleable after shooting someone to death.</p>
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In light of the ease with which Zimmerman’s address was considered fair game, I would be very worried if my son had something to say that didn’t fit with the expected narrative. I wonder if there is a line that Spike Lee and Roseann Barr won’t cross.</p>
<p>Agreed. ^^^</p>
<p>Amen. ^^^</p>
<p>Sigh. What difference does it which one was on top … or when. </p>
<p>“Oh Z was on the bottom, which is why Martin had to die.” Right.</p>
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<p>Really. While I think these Cowboy laws are dangerous, I can at least understand that these issues can and may make a difference to the grand jurors. </p>
<p>I don’t think they will screen the grand jury members like happens in a trial. Try to tell someone who has been mugged that it makes “no difference.”</p>
<p>I’m skeptical of all the eyewitness testimony. Humans are terrible, just terrible, at being eyewitnesses, as has been repeatedly experimentally demonstrated. The 13-year-old is probably no less reliable than the other witnesses, but if I were on the jury I’d pay little attention to details provided by any of them. The altercation was very short, less than 2 minutes I think (the timeline can be verified with all the phone calls), and people are just not good at making sense of a chaotic situation like that, especially in the dark.</p>
<p>I believe every witness is telling the truth as they believe it, but eyewitness testimony is inherently untrustworthy.</p>
<p>I thought that the 13-yo said that he couldn’t tell which person was on top in the dark (didn’t most of the witnesses say that it was too dark and rainy to see well, and one witness even said that he only saw one person?). His mother said that the police tried to get him to say that Z was on top, when the finally interviewed him, over a week after the shooting.</p>
<p>[U.S</a>. News - Witness’ mom says police told her Trayvon Martin shooting wasn’t self-defense](<a href=“http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/28/10909475-witness-mom-says-police-told-her-trayvon-martin-shooting-wasnt-self-defense]U.S”>http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/28/10909475-witness-mom-says-police-told-her-trayvon-martin-shooting-wasnt-self-defense)</p>
<p>One possible scenario of Zimmerman being on the bottom, if he and trayvon were standing close enough, and Zimmerman shot, trayvon might have not died instantly and moved forward. And fell on him. If zimmerman had pulled a gun on trayvon, maybe trayvon thought he could fight. Zimmerman doesn’t look very fit, and I bet I could take him down. It would also explain the possible scratches on top of head.</p>
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<p>If someone pulled out a gun on me in a similar situation, I’d try to wrestle/disarm him/her ASAP no matter what as all bets are off when a gun is brought into play. </p>
<p>Especially considering there’s been plenty of news about unprovoked random shootings by murderous sociopaths. It wasn’t like it was in the past where someone pulling a gun on you would be mollified if they were given a few dollars or found you’re a poor kid/person with nothing in your pockets. </p>
<p>More importantly, if this was what actually happened…Martin would have a strong case for SYG as the mere act of pulling out a gun on someone is universally considered highly threatening and legally viewed an act of assault itself in many jurisdictions…even if the gun wasn’t actually used. </p>
<p>Especially if the one armed acted in ways which could reasonably be viewed as provoking the confrontation and/or seeking out trouble.</p>
<p>NYM–this is another area where the media (ABC) has contributed to the confusion.</p>
<p>There are ABC stories that say that the kid told the police that Trayvon was on top of Z. Then there is the **kid’s Mom **telling Al Sharpton (msn?) that her son was not able to tell who was on top. </p>
<p>But, Mom tells Al that the policeman said he was out to prove it was not self-defense since he had kids, etc… </p>
<p>Great–which is it? Kid says Trayvon on top, the s*** hits the fan (kid and Mom are black), Mom tells Al --no,no–my son could not tell who was where and --ta, da–the police tried to get my son to say Z was on top.</p>
<p>I’ll admit that as a parent, I might be tempted to try and “save” my son by saying --he knows nothing helpful–all a big mistake–leave him out of this. Or was this just shoddy, shoddy “news” work?</p>
<p>Big problem to me is that the ABC reports did not give details of the alleged statement by the kid, much less attribute the story to s named sourse. Nor has an official report of the interview with the kid surfaced. Nice job.</p>
<p>I hope the grand jury looks into this. Does anyone know if this interview with the kid should have been/was recorded.</p>
<p>^ It is very confusing, I read also that the Mom said police tried to influence son to identify color of jacket after he said he couldn’t see race or color of the jacket, asking him to pick one of three colors. I could see a 13 yr old picking a color just to get the interrogation over with, perhaps not even fully realizing the impact of such a statement.</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate, but I don’t think the press can be trusted on this case.</p>
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<p>It is like the press (what I used to think of as the “mainstream”) has gone crazy trying to compete with the Internet/Nancy Grace to break (or make or be?) “THE STORY.”</p>
<p>And, the agenda pols (of all types) have learned to play this to the MAX.</p>
<p>I guess it’s impossible for us to know what the boy saw, given all this conflicting information. I hope the investigators can get an accurate story. After all this time, and especially if there were attempts by various people to influence the story, it may be impossible. </p>
<p>I didn’t realize that the 13-yo and his mother were black. I did see her on TV, with her lawyer, who looked about 16 yo. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. I was surprised to learn that Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who is frequently on MSNBC, is black. She was on a panel of black commentators discussing this case.</p>
<p>07DAD - I didn’t mean it doesn’t make a difference to an individual whether they get mugged or not. I was suggesting that the issue of whether Z or Martin was on top for an instant isn’t going to determine this case. I’m sure there will be more than enough forensic evidence and professional testimony to get a clear result.</p>
<p>You do bring up an interesting point though. Z thought Martin was probably a criminal, and acted accordingly. Martin thought Z was up to no good … a mugger (or worse). From Martin’s standpoint he was pursued by a mugger. He confronted the mugger and got shot dead. And now the mugger is claiming self-defense. Sure, why not? For a moment the intended victim may have been on top. Sounds like justifiable homicide to me. </p>
<p>News Flash: Mugger shoots intended victim … claims self defense. “He looked at me wrong. I had to shoot!”</p>
<p>According to multiple sources a fistfight broke out and the guy who was losing pulled a gun and killed his opponent. (Usually the most a pugilist loses is part of an ear.)</p>
<p>Interesting… NBC is apologizing for ‘mishandling’ the police dispatcher’s conversation with Zimmerman:</p>
<p>That apology addresses the “Today” show’s failure to abridge accurately the conversation between Zimmerman and the dispatcher in this high-profile case. This is how the program portrayed a segment of that conversation: </p>
<p>Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.</p>
<p>And here is how it actually went down: </p>
<p>Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about. </p>
<p>Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?</p>
<p>Zimmerman: He looks black. </p>
<pre><code> What a difference a week makes…
</code></pre>
<p>Good! I wish all news outlets were that willing to question their decisions. It’s a very humility-driven thing to do. Maybe it will start a trend.</p>