Globe makes the opening statements:
"Zimmerman trial to hinge on sharply differing accounts; Jury selection begins Monday in Florida slaying" by Lizette Alvarez | New York Times, June 09, 2013
NEW YORK — Was it murder when George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin? Or was it self-defense?
That was the question 16 months ago, after Zimmerman pulled a handgun from his waistband and shot Martin once in the chest as they fought in the darkness.
It was the question the initial police investigation and the first prosecutor wrestled with, an investigation shadowed by Florida’s expansive law on self-defense — Stand Your Ground — which, if imposed, could have classified the shooting as justified.
And it remains the question now, as potential jurors file into the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla., on Monday at the start of Zimmerman’s trial on charges of second-degree murder. The process is likely to take a few weeks.
Because no one saw the fight unfold, the case may come down to which version of events the jury finds more believable: Zimmerman’s assertion that he was attacked by Martin, or an account by a young woman who was talking to the victim on the phone moments before he was killed.
The young woman has said Martin sounded scared on the line. She said he asked Zimmerman why he was following him before the struggle started, and the call ended abruptly.
The credibility of both will be examined closely, and that of each has already taken a hit. Last June, the court found that Zimmerman and his wife had lied to the court about their finances. The young woman said she had been unable to attend Martin’s funeral because she had gone to a hospital, but it came out at a recent hearing that no medical records existed to support her statement.
At trial, prosecutors will assert that Zimmerman was a reckless vigilante who provoked the fatal confrontation by profiling Martin, a black 17-year-old who was minding his own business.
Defense lawyers will portray Zimmerman as a dutiful watchman for a condominium development who spied an unfamiliar young man with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up, began to follow him, and wound up shooting him dead out of fear that he himself would be killed.
The general outcry and the delay in charging Zimmerman until six weeks after the shooting helped lead to the firing of the Sanford police chief; the case’s reassignment to a special prosecutor, Angela B. Corey, who is the state attorney based in Jacksonville; and the filing of second-degree murder charges against Zimmerman.
But the jurors will be ordered to set aside the furor and focus on evidence.
That night, a high school student faced off against a gun-wielding volunteer guardian of the neighborhood. Minutes later, Zimmerman was on his back, with gashes on his head and a broken nose; Martin lay dead.
Zimmerman was in his car in his gated community when he spotted Martin walking. Zimmerman became suspicious. He called the police nonemergency line.
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” he told the dispatcher. The dispatcher asked him about the man’s whereabouts. Zimmerman got out of the car and followed in Martin’s direction. The dispatcher said it was not necessary, and Zimmerman said, “OK.”
Prosecutors will argue that Zimmerman disobeyed the police and deliberately pursued Martin, provoking the confrontation. The defense will argue that Zimmerman was headed back to his car when Martin accosted him.
Interviews with legal experts and a review of disclosed legal documents reveal a sequence of events that remains hazy in one critical aspect: It is still unclear who physically confronted who and how Martin wound up on top of Zimmerman.
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No offense, but the police kill more black people in a single day and yet it is Zimmerman who gets all the attention while police are absolved?
Related: Arkansas Acrobatics
And down the memory hole it goes!
"Voice sample considered in Fla. case" June 08, 2013
SANFORD, Fla. — Under questioning from Zimmerman’s attorney, Tom Owen, an expert hired by the Orlando Sentinel to compare a voice sample of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman with screams for help captured on 911 calls from neighbors, conceded that the sample wasn’t long enough to run a proper test, according to the specifications of the software. He said he ‘‘looped’’ — or repeated the sample — in order to run the analysis.
Then it's no good and worth nothing.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson has said the standard for determining whether technology is allowed at trial is whether it is too novel or not accepted by a community of experts.
Owen also conceded he had a financial interest in the software he used to conduct the analysis.
$igh.
An FBI expert testified a day earlier that there wasn’t enough clear sound on the 911 recordings to determine whose voice it was.
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Related:
Fla. trial witnesses to testify publicly
Judge in Trayvon Martin case puts limits on defense
I thought I zipped the case shut, but here it is again. Since they engaged in mind manipulation from the start I'm sour on the case. I am sorry someone is dead.
UPDATE: Jury selection begins in Trayvon Martin murder trial
"Protesters questioned whether the Sanford Police Department was seriously investigating the case of Martin, a black teen from the Miami area. Zimmerman is Hispanic."
Also see:
"Tropical Storm Andrea rumbles through Fla. as rest of East Coast braces" by Jennifer Kay | Associated Press, June 07, 2013
MIAMI — The first named storm of the Atlantic season hammered Florida with rain, heavy winds, and tornadoes Thursday as it moved toward the coast of Georgia and the Carolinas, promising sloppy commutes and waterlogged vacation getaways through the beginning of the weekend.
Tropical Storm Andrea was not expected to strengthen into a hurricane but forecasters warned it could cause isolated flooding and storm surge before it loses steam over the next two days....
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Related:
Heavy rains hit the Bay State
After record rains, more showers ahead
The cool, wet weather has doused any talk of global warming in my Globe.
"Fla. widow, 84, claims $590M Powerball jackpot" by BRENT KALLESTAD | Associated Press, June 06, 2013
TALLAHASSEE — An 84-year-old Florida widow who bought her Powerball ticket after another customer let her get ahead in line came forward Wednesday to claim the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history: $590 million.
Gloria C. MacKenzie, a retiree from Maine and a mother of four who lives in a modest, tin-roof house in Zephyrhills, where the lone winning ticket in the May 18 drawing was sold, took her prize in a lump sum of just over $370 million. After federal taxes, she is getting about $270 million, lottery officials said.
Wow, the state took more than half.
She did not speak to a crowd of reporters outside lottery headquarters, leaving quickly in a silver Ford Focus with her son and family friends....
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