Trayvon Martin, Vigilante Justice

[Cylinder]

The New York Times chimes in with some claims regarding the SPD investigation. From the lede, we can tell the Grey Lady feels which way the wind is blowing:

The killing of Trayvon Martin here two and a half months ago has been cast as the latest test of race relations and equal justice in America. But it was also a test of a small city police department that does not even have a homicide unit and typically handles three or four murder cases a year.

An examination of the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the case shows a series of missteps — including sloppy work — and circumstances beyond its control that impeded the investigation and may make it harder to pursue a case that is already difficult enough.

Wait - I thought this was more about white boys and priviledge. Hrmm... Oh well, let's look at the claims.

On the night of the shooting, door-to-door canvassing was not exhaustive enough, said a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. If officers had been more thorough, they might have determined that Mr. Martin, 17, was a guest — as opposed to an intruder — at a gated community called the Retreat at Twin Lakes

That's because Ms. Fulton and Mr. Martin was not home at the time of the shooting. As the discovery summary shows, SPD had at least four investigators conducting interviews and taking statements the night of the shooting - taking statements from at least 6 different witnesses, taking multiple statements from Zimmerman and collecting evidence from Martin's body.

Investigators found no witnesses who saw the fight start.

Yup. Same as the follow up investigation.

Others saw parts of a struggle they could not clearly observe or hear.

And?

One witness, though, provided information to the police that corroborated Mr. Zimmerman’s account of the struggle, according to a law enforcement official.

Ominous.

There was only one photo taken by the police at the scene of any of Mr. Zimmerman’s injuries — a full-face picture of him that showed a bloodied nose — before paramedics tended to him. It was shot on a department cellphone camera and was not downloaded for a few days, an oversight by the officer who took it.

This is potentialy a partial oversight, though SFD would probably be interested in assessing Zimmerman's head wounds as a priority. Of course, SFD rescue was documenting the injuries as well as the responding officer.

The vehicle that Mr. Zimmerman was driving when he first spotted Mr. Martin was mistakenly not secured by officers as part of the crime scene. The vehicle was an important link in the fatal encounter because it was where Mr. Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious teenager in a hooded sweatshirt roaming through the Retreat. Mr. Zimmerman also said he was walking back to the vehicle when he was confronted by Mr. Martin before shooting him.

SPD could not have simply seized the vehicle. They would require a warrant. Once again, we don't really know when officers left the scene and if at they time they have determined that probable cause did not exist to arrest Zimmerman and search his property. Certainly, Florida law prevents SPD from doing anything with the vehicle until that determination is made.

The police were not able to cover the crime scene to shield evidence from the rain, and any blood from cuts that Mr. Zimmerman suffered when he said Mr. Martin pounded his head into a sidewalk may have been washed away.

We don't know the conditions during the time of the investigation, but they make a good point here. You can get a good-quality gazebo for a couple of bills.

The police did not test Mr. Zimmerman for alcohol or drug use that night, and one witness said the lead investigator quickly jumped to a conclusion that it was Mr. Zimmerman, and not Mr. Martin, who cried for help during the struggle.

No probable cause to arrest means no probable cause to search.

 

[Cylinder]

I'm not sure - but probably It's easy to miss things in this thread, so better safe than sorry, or something like that

I can't speak for WC, but I'm presuming that he's rerferring to Gilbreath's testimony that the FBI audio tests were inconclusive.

 

[Natural Born Skeptic]

The New York Times chimes in with some claims regarding the SPD investigation. From the lede, we can tell the Grey Lady feels which way the wind is blowing:

Wait - I thought this was more about white boys and priviledge. Hrmm... Oh well, let's look at the claims.

That's because Ms. Fulton and Mr. Martin was not home at the time of the shooting. As the discovery summary shows, SPD had at least four investigators conducting interviews and taking statements the night of the shooting - taking statements from at least 6 different witnesses, taking multiple statements from Zimmerman and collecting evidence from Martin's body.

Yup. Same as the follow up investigation.

And?

Ominous.

This is potentialy a partial oversight, though SFD would probably be interested in assessing Zimmerman's head wounds as a priority. Of course, SFD rescue was documenting the injuries as well as the responding officer.

SPD could not have simply seized the vehicle. They would require a warrant. Once again, we don't really know when officers left the scene and if at they time they have determined that probable cause did not exist to arrest Zimmerman and search his property. Certainly, Florida law prevents SPD from doing anything with the vehicle until that determination is made.

We don't know the conditions during the time of the investigation, but they make a good point here. You can get a good-quality gazebo for a couple of bills.

No probable cause to arrest means no probable cause to search.

Nice analysis. Sadly the media is almost always about wanting to "tell a story". And you can be damned sure they'll manage to tell the story they want to tell. As you pointed out, half of the points don't even make sense, but she needed to throw them in there to tell the story she wanted to tell.

 

[Natural Born Skeptic]

BTW, one of the things that immediately jumps out from the get go is that they "only do 3 or 4 homicide investigations a year", ergo the suggestion that they can't possibly know what they are doing or lack expertise or whatever it is that's supposed to suggest. But couldn't it just as easily be suggested that allows them to really focus on the few homicide investigations they do have? Bottom line, she provides no evidence whatsoever that the number of homicide investigations they perform is directly related to their competence.

I'd think it far more likely it happens to be related to the competence or lack thereof of their investigators.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2012/5/16/12944/9520

Jeralyn Merritt's take.

 

[crimresearch]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2012/5/16/12944/9520

Jeralyn Merritt's take.

*"Profiling, following and pursuing someone is not provocation for a punch in the nose or banging someone's head into concrete."*

hmmm... where have I seen something along those lines before?

 

[LTC8K6]

So who took the photo of the back of GZ's head at the scene?

 

[johnny karate]

That's because Ms. Fulton Green and Mr. Martin was not home at the time of the shooting. As the discovery summary shows, SPD had at least four investigators conducting interviews and taking statements the night of the shooting - taking statements from at least 6 different witnesses, taking multiple statements from Zimmerman and collecting evidence from Martin's body.

Corrected a minor error for you. Brandy Green is Tracy Martin's girlfriend, Sybrina Fulton is Trayvon's mother.

But yes, Martin and Green were not at home, but Green's son Chad was. And unless Trayvon's presence there was a secret they were trying to keep, it's quite possible some of Green's immediate neighbors would know or recognize Trayvon.

The presumed lack of canvassing raises a very good point about the bias with which the Sanford PD may have approached this case. Did they simply assume he was the trespasser that Zimmerman made him out to be?

SPD could not have simply seized the vehicle. They would require a warrant. Once again, we don't really know when officers left the scene and if at they time they have determined that probable cause did not exist to arrest Zimmerman and search his property. Certainly, Florida law prevents SPD from doing anything with the vehicle until that determination is made.

I'm not sure what information could be expected to be gleaned from the vehicle, but it seems the police didn't even know about it until later:

A law enforcement official said officers did not seize Mr. Zimmerman’s vehicle because they thought that he had been on foot. They did not realize that he had been driving until after his wife had moved the vehicle, the official said.

If true, that seems very odd for the police to be unaware of that detail, and again, might speak to a degree of carelessness.

Also, interesting quote from Bill Lee about Zimmerman:

We think that what he did was terrible. We wish that he had just stayed in his vehicle.

The article indicates that comment was from a "recent interview", but a Google search yields no results. Anyone know the source?

As you pointed out, half of the points don't even make sense, but she needed to throw them in there to tell the story she wanted to tell.

Bottom line, she provides no evidence whatsoever that the number of homicide investigations they perform is directly related to their competence.

The author of the article is male. I'm surprised someone could get wrong such a simple and so easily confirmed detail.

 

[LTC8K6]

BTW, one of the things that immediately jumps out from the get go is that they "only do 3 or 4 homicide investigations a year", ergo the suggestion that they can't possibly know what they are doing or lack expertise or whatever it is that's supposed to suggest. But couldn't it just as easily be suggested that allows them to really focus on the few homicide investigations they do have? Bottom line, she provides no evidence whatsoever that the number of homicide investigations they perform is directly related to their competence.

I'd think it far more likely it happens to be related to the competence or lack thereof of their investigators.

Well you can't put GZ in jail because SPD didn't do a "good enough" investigation.

I'm not sure how the NYT thinks SPD could have seized or even searched GZ's truck if they went with SYG at the scene.

 

[crimresearch]

Well you can't put GZ in jail because SPD didn't do a "good enough" investigation.

I'm not sure how the NYT thinks SPD could have seized or even searched GZ's truck if they went with SYG at the scene.

The police could have, should have, and probably did do an inventory of the contents upon taking him in for questioning.

If they had found a daytimer in GZ's handwriting for that date 'To Do: Live target practice on punks', I'm sure that would have come out earlier when they were releasing stuff.

Other than that, what exactly would the police be searching for? Blood? Drugs? Immigration papers? The real shooter?

The media is going to beat this like a pinata no matter what happens.

If it turns out to be another Richard Jewell, then they'll start blaming the 'other' media for rushing to judgement and being irresponsible.

,

 

[LTC8K6]

In intermediate-range wounds, the muzzle is held away from the skin but close enough that it still produces powder tattooing. This type of wound is also characterized by numerous reddish-brown to orange-red lesions around the entrance to the wound.

http://www.relentlessdefense.com/forensics/gunshot-wounds/

 

[johnny karate]

The police could have, should have, and probably did do an inventory of the contents upon taking him in for questioning.

Or maybe they didn't:

A law enforcement official said officers did not seize Mr. Zimmerman’s vehicle because they thought that he had been on foot. They did not realize that he had been driving until after his wife had moved the vehicle, the official said.

 

[Cylinder]

...Immigration papers...pinata...

 

[Cylinder]

Or maybe they didn't:

They cannot search his car without warrant.

 

[crimresearch]

[qimg]http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/2996/sw50sw8sw578w.gif[/qimg]

Not where I come from, homes...

 

[johnny karate]

They cannot search his car without warrant.

I'm not the one who made the claim that they did, so I'm not sure why it was my post you quoted.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Thought this bit was interesting....

In announcing the charge, Ms. Corey praised the Sanford Police Department’s work, indicating that it had conducted a “thorough and intensive” inquiry and was a “tremendous help” to her office.

 

[Cylinder]

I'm not the one who made the claim that they did, so I'm not sure why it was my post you quoted.

Because I think you're wrong as hell and able to articulate your position. Call me crazy...

 

[TheL8Elvis]

Thought this bit was interesting....

Thorough ? How can that be ....

 

[Cylinder]

Thought this bit was interesting....

I must have missed where the cell phone delay was because no-one knew the password.