<p>Zoosermom–the “conspiracy theory” missypie and I just wove may be just that, hot air. </p>
<p>You are right to wonder if there is some highly incriminating evidence that hasn’t been disclosed. That would be the less off-the-wall explanation for a charge of 2nd degree murder, no lesser offenses as an option for the jury.</p>
<p>There could be forensic evidence that refutes whatever Zimmerman said. We don’t know exactly where Martin’s body was found and what the angle of the bullet was. I hope the police took lots of pictures of the crime scene.</p>
<p>I’m wondering how quickly the crime scene was cleaned up. One thing that has baffled me is that Trayvon was shot near the house where his father lived, and the area is very open. If there had been a shooting/crime scene in my neighborhood, everyone would know about it. It might very well have been in sight of the house. Trayvon’s father had a missing son. Did he not hear of the shooting at the time? If he was looking for his son that night or the next morning, wouldn’t he have asked neighbors if they’d seen him, and heard about the shooting then?</p>
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<p>Interesting requirement in the all. I guess the prosecution has to be very careful with the elements as an error in any of them gets him off the hook.</p>
<p>I was also concerned about that same possible “conspiracy” theory of the murder 2 charge, and was disappointed there was not a lesser charge included, as 07Dad said why go that far with a strong charge, acknowledge how tough it is to prosecute and NOT provide another charge if that one cannot be prosecuted.</p>
<p>Couple things that made me think that was the attorneys bizarre choice of talking to the media, which announced “Z was not in Florida”, which turned out most likely to not have been true because the next day he was in police custody in Florida. </p>
<p>But it sure distracted any locals from trying to locate Z. Then the next day the special prosecutor makes her announcement, and is very sympathetic to the victim’s family, while also highlighting the fact that she never “promised” the family any outcome. Also, Z’s new attorney is also toning down the anger level. Wondered if there was some overall goal here perhaps pursued by Governor Scott of preventing riots, which I would think HE anticipated. I know it’s a bit out there but it has had me wondering…</p>
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<p>I’m not going to cast any pooh on the man. The “kid” was 17.</p>
<p>I read that the Dad thought Trayvon might have gone to the movies when he was not in the condo. It implied that the Dad had been “out” when the screams and shooting occurred and after the Dad’s return went to bed without knowing where Trayvon actually was and that it was only the next morning when Trayvon wasn’t there that the Dad started to hunt.</p>
<p>I’m not casting anything on Trayvon’s father, God forbid, or blaming him for anything. I feel awful for both parents and the other son. I have just been wondering about this, how the news of the shooting wasn’t immediately transmitted throughout the community. Didn’t the neighbors who witnessed the crime wonder who the victim was?</p>
<p>Trayvon had no id on him. There had been reports of criminal activity in the community over the previous 6 weeks. Orlando’s crime rate is off the chart. The neighbors did not recognize him because he wasn’t “local” just like Z.</p>
<p>If the neighbors thought it was a person from somewhere else up to “no good” why would they care and, more important, where would they look? They would not have seen a “victim.”</p>
<p>We have the benefit of hindsight. Trayvon wasn’t what it might have seemed. The neighbors (and Z) did not have that “sight” at the time.</p>
<p>07Dad, you stated, "If the neighbors thought it was a person from somewhere else up to “no good” why would they care and, more important, where would they look? They would not have seen a “victim.”</p>
<p>“Trayvon wasn’t what it might have seemed??” um, what do you mean 07Dad? </p>
<p>are you suggesting those neighbors would have profiled Trayvon as Z did? so simply because he was dead he was a bad guy?</p>
<p>they would not see a dead teenager as a homicide victim? really? I see a dead teenager in my neighborhood and I would be HORRIFIED. </p>
<p>as other posters have mentioned, the women who lived in the condo in front of the yard where Trayvon died tried to contact the police and were not responded to.</p>
<p>“I’m not casting anything on Trayvon’s father, God forbid, or blaming him for anything.”</p>
<p>One interesting fact that I read in a Reuter’s article and I don’t know if anybody has mentioned this earlier, is that the father and mother are divorced, and the father had brought Trayvon on a trip to visit the father’s girlfriend - who lived in the gated community. Father is a truck driver and his GF lives far from his home.</p>
<p>Trayvon was available to make the trip because he had been suspended from school.</p>
<p>This is interesting from a sociological viewpoint to me - effect of divorce on children and the family, and especially in the African American community.</p>
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<p>That’s what I’m thinking…but then I watch too much CSI, LOL. This seems a perfect case for them. I can see Ted Danson saying, “Now let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s see what the evidence tells us.” Bullet trajectory through the body, how far away the shooter was from the victim–there will probably be an animation of the shooting at trial.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that Trayvon’s father lived with his girlfriend in the gated community, and that Trayvon lived in the Miami area with his mother most of the time, and that he had been sent to spend some time with his father during the suspension, presumably so that his father could talk to him about his actions and consequences. Does the father live near Miami, too?</p>
<p>myturnnow–</p>
<p>This thread is 92 pages long. We have gone over and over varying perceptions that someone might have had of all this.</p>
<p>To a neighbor who saw Trayvon’s body, he was a non-local in a gated community, on foot, at night and in the rain. Had he been up to no good? Well, on more than one occassion it gets reported in my local community paper that someone was stopped (by the off duty police officers we hire) and arrested with the notation “identity unknown.” </p>
<p>In my law school graduating class, one girl had to go into hiding and retain criminal counsel to clear the matter up when the background check prior to licensing turned up an outstanding felony warrant. She got it cleared up, but a “friend” of hers from HS had gotten busted years before and had given the cops her (the student’s) name when arrested since she did not have id on her. The girl had skipped her bail. </p>
<p>It is common for crooks/dealers while out on a job not to carry id with their address that might lead the police to where they might find evidence of other crimes.</p>
<p>Former President Bush lives on a gated street less than 2 miles from my house. I do not doubt that if Trayvon had been seen on that street under the identical circumstances, he would have been followed, stopped and questioned. If he had no id on him it would not surprise me if he was taken in for additional questioning. If he had started to run, I would not have been shocked if he was shot.</p>
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<p>He might have been followed, stopped and questioned by the police or the Secret Service. Not by some random nutcase. Police are allowed to follow, stop and question people. I’m required to cooperate with the police. I’m not required to cooperate with random nutcases, and they’re not allowed to shoot me if I, understandably, try to flee from their random nutcasiness.</p>
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<p>There could be. I think it is noteworthy that nothing in the charging affidavit refutes anything that Zimmerman said. The only sentence in the affidavit that might refute a self-defense scenario is the one stating that Trayvon’s mom said the screams were Trayvons, and that is hearsay. Otherwise, as Dershowitz pointed out, the affidavit itself supports a self-defense scenario.</p>
<h1>1372 NY Mom - From another article:</h1>
<p>[Justice</a> for Trayvon Martin | The Miami Times](<a href=“http://miamitimesonline.com/justice-for-trayvon-martin/]Justice”>http://miamitimesonline.com/justice-for-trayvon-martin/)</p>
<p>“Both parents live in Miami-Dade County, but Fulton was raising Martin in Miami Gardens as a single mother. Martin was visiting his girlfriend with his son in Sanford when the tragic shooting occurred. Both parents say they were working together to raise their son. They add that they were devastated when they heard the 911 tapes.”</p>
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<p>No, it wasn’t me, but I remember it well. That little technicality of fitness to take the bar…no one ever thinks it’s going to come back, “no you can’t take the bar and by the way, why don’t you come to the police station right now.” Talk about adding stress to an already stressful situation!</p>
<p>Thanks, parent1986, for the clarification.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang–I am against concealed carry and SYG laws. But, Florida has both (and accepts the concept of citizen’s arrest).</p>
<p>In that perfect storm, the people in Florida, whether they know it or not, roll the dice every time they are out on whether they may get gunned down due to the differing perceptions of gun toting citizens with the cowboy “ok” that is SYG.</p>
<p>missypie–I guess class of 1985 has that to make it special, right?</p>