Has everything become politics?
Recently I’ve come to the conclusion that the United States of America is slowly going stark raving mad. Apparently how you view anything that happens between now and Nov. 4 will depend on whether you’re a red stater or a blue stater. Sadly, the media in America seems to break pretty much the same way.
In Sanford, Fla., George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch captain described as white by the blue media and Hispanic by the red media, shot to death Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American teenager, if you’re in the blue media and a 17-year-old black suspect if you’re in the red media. Everything seems to reduce down to a red/blue conflict and people, whether media or audience, appear to be totally comfortable treating it that way.
I personally know some people who get apoplectic discussing the shooting, which is now officially a case.
Unlike the media commentators who would give you the impression that they were all there on the scene when it happened, or the partisans for Zimmerman and Martin, I can say categorically that I was not on the scene, and what information I have is totally from the media, statements of partisans for Martin and Zimmerman, and statements made by law enforcement and prosecutors. At best it’s incomplete.
Nevertheless, there are a number of deductions we can make from what was reported and, if accurate, can certainly help us in narrowing down the issues.
So what do we actually know and what can we infer from facts as we know them?
First, Zimmerman. There is apparently some video taken at the police station (I suspect they have a continuous loop) and possible additional video in the police car or maybe in the interview room. They may give us some idea if Zimmerman was actually injured and what he said happened, which could be used to prove self-defense or not. The problem is that the police department didn’t arrest him on the spot for the homicide and immediately advise him of his Miranda rights to remain silent. If they did, they should have recorded his statement, and if they didn’t, they should have had a homicide division in their department immediately call in the Orlando department to assist.
The early reports appear to say they released him, in his clothes, and gave him back the weapon, thereby losing some critical evidence. The clothes might show evidence of Martin’s blood, skin or hair, as might the weapon. Zimmerman might have Martin’s blood or skin under his fingernails. An examination by a doctor for the police department would have confirmed or disproved Zimmerman’s injuries, showing bruising or scratches indicative of a fight. Zimmerman might have had gunpowder on his clothing, which either is or isn’t consistent with what Zimmerman said happened, which would also help reveal the trajectory of the bullets.
By now, the clothes have been washed or thrown out and the gun has been fired again or cleaned or both, destroying whatever evidence they might have contained. In my mind there is also some question about Zimmerman’s mental state. His later disappearance, his lack of communication with his lawyers, calling the prosecutor and TV shows is not a good sign and a lawyer’s nightmare, although it might go to prove some questionable mental state as a defense. The only conclusion you can reasonably infer is that the Sanford Police department is totally incompetent or almost criminally negligent, or else trying to cover up. The state attorney who has already recused himself from the case, Norman Wolfinger, whom I assume is a public prosecutor, says he had no contact with the police department that night, which is highly suspect, and they’re going to be crawling over his phone logs and records.
Since Martin is dead and can’t speak, his body will have to speak for him. Martin’s body came to rest somewhere in the street. Assuming the police roped off the scene, took extensive photographs and measurements, indicated where the blood was found and the type of splatter, the location of the shell casings, carefully examined and documented the scene for telltale signs of a struggle, and preserved Martin’s clothes carefully, we might get a reasonable picture of what happened and if it was consistent with what Zimmerman said happened.
Probably most important will be the coroners’ and police ballistics’ evaluation and determinations as to the number of bullets fired, the distance from which they were fired, the type of bullets, the trajectory of the bullets through Martin’s body, the location of the spent bullets and the immediacy of death.
Additionally, I’d want everything; all tapes and phone logs from the police station, the 911 dispatcher, the ambulance and the EMT logs. A canvass of the neighborhood for witnesses, copies and tapes of all of Zimmerman’s previous call-ins at earlier times, contacting every one he reported or arrested or assisted in arresting. Rules for the neighborhood watch if they exist, neighborhood watch phone logs. Personal phone logs for both the police captain and prosecutor Wolfinger, their cell phones and home phones, and then emails from every source available and probably 50 other things that a good prosecutor or detective might need.
Put it altogether, this is a homicide case and not a Rorsarch test for red/blue state relations or American racial relations. The new prosecutor seems to know what she’s doing. I believe she has charged him appropriately and hopefully a fair trial will get us some answers and closure.