Zimmerman Trial: Tired of media bias? See gun-friendly legal coverage

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

I just posted up the end-of-day wrap-up for day six of jury selection in the Zimmerman case, available at Legal Insurrection here: Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Six Wrap-Up.

There were two notable jurors of the day:

H13 seemed to feel that the fact that Zimmerman was armed, even though lawfully, at the time of the incident suggested some wrongdoing on his part.  Clearly, his being armed made her uncomfortable.  She also recalled having "lived through" other racially-tinged riots, such as the Rodney King riots (albeit it seems she was not physically present at those riots, but knew of them from media reports).  The most shocking of her comments, however, was when she noted that her present recollection was that Zimmerman had followed Martin against police orders.  Asked if she would be able to reconsider that opinion if she heard evidence in court to the contrary she answers "I don't think I could be open to that."  H13 was dismissed by the Court.

(For a thorough debunking of the false "Zimmerman followed Martin against police orders" narrative, click here:  Zimmerman Trial: Myth Busters: Did Zimmerman “chase” Martin against police orders?)

H27 was well-informed about the case, and could recall hearing the various police recordings and other details.  It has been a striking consistency that the prospective jurors who have appeared to learn in favor of Zimmerman have tended to be well-informed about the facts of the case, whereas prospective jurors who have seemed to lean against Zimmerman have professed an almost coma-like ignorance of the facts of the case.  During questioning by de la Rionda H27 volunteered that he had contributed $20 to George Zimmerman's legal defense fund, but nevertheless said he could be a fair and impartial juror. H27 was ultimately dismissed by the Court.

For all the juicy details, click here:  Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Six Wrap-Up.

Following the wrap-up of prospective juror voir dire the court recessed, only to return to complete the Frye hearing that had been left unfinished the week prior to the start of jury selection.  For more on that, click here: 

Zimmerman Trial: Frye Hearing Continues with Prof. James L. Wayman

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/06/zimmerman-trial-frye-hearing-continues-with-prof-james-l-wayman/

Tomorrow we'll do another full day of live stream, all-day coverage of day seven of jury selection.  Be sure to join us.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[poster formerly know as Silverbullet]

The more details I learn the more it looks like Martin was really a "fine upstanding citizen".

I am not God and dont pick who lives and dies, but at the end of the day if his parents had him grounded for SMOKING DOPE and being suspended for a bag with resin he would be alive.


I think what he did was brilliant. I would not do what zimmerman did, but there is more about trayvon's skin tone than the facts and that is what I have issue with.

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

Well, we're gearing up for Day 7 of jury selection.  It's amazing to think that we've spent all this time with the jurors and we're still only doing the preliminary voir dire, limited to asking questions about pre-trial publicity.  If it takes an hour to get through a jury on that basis, and sometimes it has, how long is it going to take when the lawyers are doing an unlimited voir dire?

In any case, I thought it might be useful to take a moment, lift our heads from the weeds of jury selection and specific factual matters, and take a brief 30,000 foot view of the trial.

I've posted at some length about the State's challenges in proving the charge of murder in the second degree (can't be done, in my opinion), or manslaughter. 

As to manslaughter, petty much anytime you deliberately use any force against someone and they die it's going to be manslaughter--UNLESS you have some lawful justification.

And that's where Zimmerman's legal defense of self-defense will come into play.

A few days ago I put up a "self-defense backgrounder" post over at Legal Insurrection, but I don't believe I've mentioned it here so many of you might not have seen it. 

The post covers the four main Florida self-defense related statutes I expect to be relevant in this case, and the statutory criminal charges in play (murder and manslaughter).

I also present a conceptual framework, "The Five Principles of the Law of Self-Defense," to guide our ongoing assessment of how successfully (or not) the State is making its case to disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, Zimmerman's claim to have acted in lawful self-defense.

Enjoy!

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

Just FYI, Day 7 of jury selection has just kicked into gear.  Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

We'll also be doing our usual end-of-day summary of events.  I'll drop a brief note when that's up, for folks who are interested.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

One of the enduring myths of the falsified public narrative promulgated by the State prosecutors and other anti-Zimmerman zealots has been that George Zimmerman “chased down” a frightened Trayvon Martin who was simply attempting to secure the safety of his destination (his father’s girlfriend’s home in at the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood.

Is that what really happened?  Or is George Zimmerman’s recounting more credible and consistent with the facts in evidence?



Take a look at my latest fact-based "myth busters" installment, and decide for yourselves:  Myth Busters: Did Zimmerman “Chase Down” a Fleeing Martin?

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

I just posted up the end-of-day wrap-up for day 7 of jury selection in the Zimmerman case, available at Legal Insurrection here:  Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Seven Wrap-Up.

The biggest news of the day is that the Court's goal of selecting 40 prospective jurors to go on to the next round of full voir dire has been achieved, and Judge Nelson dismissed the jurors who did not make it through the first round of questioning.  The lucky winners are:

B12, B29, B35, B37, B51, B61, B7, B72, B76, B86, E13, E22, E28, E40, E54, E6, E73, G14, G29, G47, G63, G66, G81, H18, H29, H35, H6, H69, H7, H81, H86, I19, I24, I33, I44, K80, K95, M75, P67,  I5.

We’ll be posting a compilation of our notes for each of these 40 in post coming soon.

The announcement of the successful candidate jurors having been announced, we saw a relatively rare appearance by Prosecutor Angela Corey, when she stepped to the front of the court room and directed the courthouse personnel in arranging the chairs for the jurors tomorrow morning.

For all the juicy details, click here:  Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Seven Wrap-Up.

Tomorrow we'll do another full day of live stream, all-day coverage of day eight of jury selection, the "Full Voir Dire Edition".  Be sure to join us.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Cbmarine]

Judging from the Google Earth image, the community looks small.  Why did GZ not know the name of the street?

. . . to a darkened area of the sidewalk, as the dispatcher was asking me for an exact location the suspect emerged from the darkness and circled my vehicle.  I could not hear if he said anything.  The suspect once again disappeared between the back of some houses.  The dispatcher once again asked me for my exact location.  I could not remember the name of the street, so I got out of my car to look for a street sign.  The dispatcher asked me for a description and the direction the suspect went.  I told the dispatcher I did not know but I was out of my vehicle looking for a stret sign and the direction the suspect went.  The dispatcher told me not to follow the suspect & that an officer was in route (sic).  As I headed back to my vehicle the suspect said “You got a problem,” I said “No.”  The suspect said, “you do now.”  As I looked . . .

[Law of Self Defense]

Stress?  He'd moment earlier had a stone-cold killer walking around his car and staring him down.  Might make me a bit nervous and forgetful, too.

But heck, once in college I went to a party with a regular girl friend and in the middle of introducing her to somebody I complete blanked on her name.  Utterly.  Nothing. Stood there open mouthed and quite obvious about it.  After a half-minute or so I just walked away to find the keg.

We didn't date long after that.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

As we’ve been watching the preliminary voir dire of dozens of prospective jurors over the past week or so, we’ve heard innumerable mentions of a “juror questionnaire.”* This is simply a list of questions, agreed to by both parties and the Court, which the jurors are asked to complete in writing before being questioned in voir dire.* Their answers help the Court and parties quickly identify prospective jurors who must be dismissed as a matter of course–for example, if they are related to or have a business interest with one of the parties.

Their answers can also shed a subtle but discerning light on any prejudices they might bring to the trial that could prevent them from serving as a fair and impartial juror.* Some of these questions often seem completely irrelevant to the case at hand–such as, “Please list your 3 favorite TV shows,” or “Please list the 3 people you admire most/least”–but to a skilled jury consultant the responses to these questions can provide a deep insight into the prospective jurors covert prejudices.

The defense has retained the services of a world-class jury consultant, and I have obtained a sample of a jury questionnaire he used in a previous murder case (a rather bizarre one, actually, State v. Durst).* If you’ve never before had the opportunity to see a juror questionnaire, now's your chance, as the court advances the 40 "winning" jurors into the next round of full voir dire.

Zimmerman Trial: Never seen a juror questionnaire before? Here you go . . .

Enjoy.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:* Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

Just FYI, Day 8 of jury selection has just kicked into gear.Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

At end-of-day yesterday Judge Nelson announced that the Court had achieved its goal of selecting the "top 40" prospective jurors who are to "advance to the next round". The "lucky winners" are:

[indent=1]B7, B12, B29, B35, B37, B51, B61, B72, B76, B86, E6, E13, E22, E28, E40, E54, E73, G14, G29, G47, G63, G66, G81, H6, H7, H18, H29, H35, H69, H81, H86, I5, I19, I24, I33, I44, K80, K95, M75, P67[/indent]

We've pulled together a compilation of all our notes on the lucky winners over at Legal Insurrection here: Zimmerman]Jury Selection Profiles- “Top 40″ Advanced to Next Round.

We'll also be doing our usual end-of-day summary of events.* I'll drop a brief note when that's up, for folks who are interested.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook]Facebook: Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

Many of you may have heard bits and pieces about the gun and ammo that George Zimmerman used to save his life from Trayvon Martin's deadly force attack, but we all know that facts and details can become blurry in the re-posting on the internet.

To set the record straight, I've acquired a copy of the official Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Forensic Laboratory Report on Zimmerman's gun and ammo, and I thought I'd share the details of that with you, as well as provide a PDF of the official report itself (available at the bottom of this post).

If you're interested in seeing my blog post on this, and a copy of the original FDLE Forensic Laboratory Report, click here:

FDLE Forensic Report: Zimmerman's Gun & Fatal Bullet

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

I just posted up the end-of-day wrap-up for day 7 of jury selection in the Zimmerman case, available at Legal Insurrection here:  Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Eight Wrap-Up.

Today the State conducted voir dire of the pool of 40 prospective jurors.  (The defense has it's turn tomorrow.  Also tomorrow marks the return of State expert witness Tom Owens, at 2PM.)

Most striking about today's voir dire is how large a proportion of the day involve de la Rionda speaking, rather than any of the prospective jurors.  His speech was often long, somewhat rambling, and ultimately appeared to be an effort at conditioning the prospective jurors to a particular judgmental and emotional position–for example, participating in Neighborhood Watch is somehow similar to taking the law into your own hands.

Given the (to this New Englander’s eyes) somewhat astonishing responses–35% having been victims of crime, 10% having been victims of violent crime, 25% having Neighborhood Watch programs in their community, 30% owning or having owned personal firearms (the one having owned also having possessed a CCW), and another 30% having family or close friends who own guns–I’m not sure whether de la Rionda’s apparent selling proposition–which seems to be that Zimmerman took the law into his own hands–is being targeted at an amenable market.

The survivability of such a theory of the case seems particularly uncertain given the actual facts in evidence, which overwhelmingly favor the defense.  For example, will it really be a credible argument that Zimmerman was seeking to “take the law into his own hands” when it was he who phoned the police, in his role as leader of his Neighborhood Watch Program to report a suspicious person in his neighborhood plagued with robberies?

For all the juicy details, click here:  Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Eight Wrap-Up.

Tomorrow we'll do another full day of live stream, all-day coverage of day nin of jury selection, the "Full Voir Dire Edition".  The defense will have it's chance for voir dire of the 40 prospective jury candidates, and at 2PM we'll welcome Mr. Tom Owens back to the court (probably virtually). 

Be sure to join us.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey folks,

Just FYI, Day 9 of jury selection has just kicked into gear.  Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

Click here for our re-cap of yesterday's State-led voir dire.

Today the defense has it's chance to voir dire the remaining pool of 40 prospective jurors.

Also, at 2PM the State's expert witness Tom Owens is scheduled to re-testify in the still incomplete Frye hearing being held to determine if the Statet's experts will be permitted to testify at trial.  Mr. Owens, you will recall, was the State's expert witness who said of the Witness #11 911 audio tape, "this is not really good evidence."

Zimmerman Prosecution's Voice Expert admits: ?This is not really good evidence?

We'll also be doing our usual end-of-day summary of events.  I'll drop a brief note when that's up, for folks who are interested.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[Law of Self Defense]

Hey Folks,

If you're not watching this live, you're missing a tremendous voir dire by O'Mara.  Just absolutely devastating to the State's ability to advance their theory of the case given the facts in evidence.

Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

I'll cover it all in my end-of-day wrap-up, but it's a beauty to behold.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:  Law of Self Defense

[SturmRugerSR9]

6 jurors picked, all women.