From the Orlando Sentinel:
The details revealed by the source provide new insight into what Zimmerman said happened in the earliest moments of his contact with Trayvon. And they may reveal the inconsistencies alluded to by prosecutors in the case.
One of those inconsistencies: Zimmerman told police Trayvon had his hand over Zimmerman’s mouth during their fight on the night he shot Trayvon.
The Sentinel’s source confirmed that Zimmerman’s statements include that allegation. But authorities do not believe that happened, the source told the Sentinel, because on one 911 call, someone can be heard screaming for help. If it were Zimmerman, as he claims, his cries were not muffled, the source said.
Zimmerman also told police, the source told the Sentinel, that while the two were on the ground, Trayvon reached for Zimmerman’s gun, and the two struggled over it.
Those portions of Zimmerman’s account are not corroborated by other evidence, the source said.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, said he hasn’t yet seen his client’s statements to police, and it would be inappropriate for him to address specific evidence in the case.
“It’s hard for me to even comment on it,” O’Mara said.
Sanford Spokesman Sgt. David Morgenstern said the police department “cannot make any comments on anything related to the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case.”
Reached in Birmingham, Ala., Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said Thursday that Zimmerman’s claim that he was screaming in the 911 call and that his mouth was covered by the teen don’t add up.
“[Trayvon's father] Tracy Martin told me that that’s what [police] told him,” Crump said, of Zimmerman making those statements to police.
“It’s either one or the other, it can’t be both,” Crump said. “We have to put together this puzzle because, unfortunately, we don’t have Trayvon Martin’s version” of events.
Benjamin Crump reminds me of why I decided to go to law school. Due to a litigious ex-wife I found myself unwillingly sitting in courtrooms quite a bit in the Eighties and Nineties. As I would wait for my case to get called I watched the court handle other cases. Listening to some of the attorneys talk I realized I was definitely smart enough to make it through law school.
I don’t know exactly how long the fight between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman lasted, but it was long enough for people to hear it and call the police before the fatal shot was fired. I’m gonna guess it had to be at least 30 seconds but not more than a minute.
A lot can happen in 30 seconds. Place your hand on a hot burner and hold it there for half a minute. Feels like forever, doesn’t it?
So the fight starts. Trayvon hits George who goes down. Trayvon jumps on George and begins to pummel him. Then he grabs George’s head and smacks it on the sidewalk. George begins screaming for help. Trayvon puts his hand over George’s mouth trying to muffle his cries. George struggles to free his mouth. Trayvon sees George’s gun and reaches for it. The two men struggle briefly over the gun and then it goes off.
Could all that take place in 30 seconds? Easily.
Filed under: Crime Tagged: | People v. George Zimmerman
somehow or other there always seems to be a source. They leak so-called information that people can not check and in this instance are adding fuel to a smoldering fire.
We do not know all the facts and we won’t until it goes to court. A young man’s death happened and another young man’s life has been altered in a less than 5 minute altercation. Because of race baiters there have been more incidents of racial conflict and more lives have been altered.
this has to stop
Why would an attorney keep quoting a third party who is not another attorney or law enforcement official about what the police said shortly after the incident before the investigation was even done? I do not think Mr. Taylor understood exactly what he was being told and I would probably not either if I was unfortunate and in his place. Crump sounds like he only hears what he wants or what he considers useful. Continuing to say that is what Mr Martin told him is not reasonable. He is the attorney with a professional responsibility, not Mr. Martin.
I don’t think Mr. Crump’s primary concern is his clients. He has another agenda.
This case of vigilante “justice” seems to be factually clear, were is Obama with his teaching moment?? Seems to have barely made a ripple in the local news.
http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/1st-degree-murder-charge-for-man-suspected-of/1KMVZhxlPUGbu1nGtwjQAg.cspx
Seems reasonable to me.
I got this reply on twitter when I tweeted a link to this post. Interesting if true:
I’ve heard that but not from an official source.
I appreciate the knowledgable posts on the Martin case on this site. Most things I read other places are very biased.
no bias here just the facts.THANKS!!
I love a good conspiracy theory, but what’s so odd about the Trayvon/Zimmerman tragedy is that there’s simply no conspiracy here. It doesn’t even had a whiff about it. The media has tried and tried to imply racism, premeditation, corruption, all these elaborate plots, but if you look at the case, there’s just nothing there. What can I say, it was men, testosterone, and a gun. Sad, but fairly common.The circumstances of this case are so ordinary, they’re almost boring. I bet there’s been dozens of similar incidents since we first heard about Zimmerman. All this controversy has been completely manufactured by the media. It’s kind of creepy.
Thank you, myiq! I keep reading that GZ’s screams would have been muffled and can’t for the life of me figure out why people don’t understand that TM’s hands weren’t over GZ’s mouth the entire time. (They probably ended up there precisely because GZ was screaming.) When a violent, physical confrontation takes place, it is not some static, freeze-frame event, it’s a fast jumble of action/reaction. And a lot, a whole helluva lot, can happen in 30 seconds.
IMO, the media has grossly misrepresented this story from the get-go. The guilters promptly hopped on, and now those who jumped to conclusions don’t want to admit it because that concession requires that they take a good look in the mirror and examine their own damn prejudices.
I just want everyone to know I feel really guilty about posting this comment at Just One Minute:
I’m gonna go sit in the corner and feel shame now.