Continue Reading...

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled that the data was not admissible as evidence in opening statements, aligning with prosecution arguments that Martin's history is irrelevant to the case -- the business of which is to determine whether Zimmerman's claim of shooting in self-defense stands up. Via ABC News:

Zimmerman's lawyer argued that Martin's marijuana use and history of fighting was central to proving that Zimmerman acted in self-defense.

"We have a lot of evidence that marijuana use had something to do with the event," Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara said. "It could have affected his behavior."

Nelson said that evidence would not be permitted in opening statements, but left open the possibility it could eventually be submitted during the trial.

 

Continue Reading...

Text messages that show Martin admitting to smoking weed, describing previous fist fights and showing an interest in guns, prosecutors argue, are not admissible as evidence for whether Zimmerman shot the young man in self-defense or not. Via the Guardian:

Continue Reading...

Let's start with our gold medalist in the field of ineffectual apologies – Rick Ross. Ross has come under fire for his part on Rocko's "Gift of Gab" mixtape, specifically the track "U.O.E.N.O." As activist journalist Rosa Clemente pointed out, "U.O.E.N.O." contains Ross' "problematic" line, "Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it." "Molly," by the way, is what the young folk call Ecstasy.

Continue Reading...

Although Zimmerman will still pursue a self-defense argument in his June trial, his attorney told a judge to cancel the specific "stand your ground" hearing scheduled for April, in which his client was expected to seek immunity. Essentially, the decision to drop a "stand your ground" defense indicates that Zimmerman's lawyers hope to show at trial that their client was not in a position to retreat. Self-defense laws usually demand that an individual make every possible attempt to defuse a situation before attempts at retreat are exhausted, in which case the use of deadly force is legally justified. "Stand your ground" removes this "duty to retreat" stipulation -- lethal force is justified simply if a shooter “had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful act was occurring or had occurred.” If Zimmerman's team believe they can show he shot Martin as a last resort, there's no need to invoke "stand your ground."

Continue Reading...

Not long after the shooting, young people, of all races took to the streets, to show their solidarity with Trayvon, in Million Hoodie Marches, saying, “We are all Trayvon.” In the ensuing year, the response to the case often shook out under two camps: those who identify with the young man, versus those who reflexively, insistently, perniciously identify with George Zimmerman. (“We are all George Zimmerman," they inherently believe, the potential victims of a nasty mugging.)

Also not long after the shooting, I appeared on The O’Reilly Factor to insist that Trayvon had been “shot in cold blood.”  The show’s host took great exception to my claim.  Bill O’Reilly vented surprise and outrage that I would be unwilling to shoot an armed assailant attempting to mug me.  “I would shoot a four-year old!” O’Reilly shouted at me.

Continue Reading...

Zimmerman, 28, was eventually prosecuted. In April he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, and is currently awaiting trial set for June 10. While news about the case has perennially hit headlines in recent months -- for example, when Zimmerman offered his autograph to his legal fund donors -- the proceeding have general fallen under the media radar. Here are the major developments and issues to be aware of.

1) Contradictory evidence

Continue Reading...

Salon reached out to NRA and Gun Owners of America for comment. The latter, which considers itself the "no compromise" gun group (as opposed to those delicate tulips at the NRA), took on the report at length through spokesman Erich Pratt. Professor Hoekstra then defended his work to Salon.

Here are a few representative quotes from each. The full responses can be viewed here.

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

The suit alleges that NBC's edits portrayed Zimmerman as "a racist and predatory villain." Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder for shooting dead 17-year-old Martin last February. Martin's death sparked a nationwide outcry as the shooter was not charged until April. Commentators saw structural racism underpinning the police's decision to take for granted Zimmerman's claim of self-defense and invocation of Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. However, Zimmerman and his attorneys charge that NBC engaged in "yellow journalism" in attempting to assert a racist motivation through specific edits made to a 911 call he placed on Feb. 26 to authorities just before the shooting occurred.

Continue Reading...

In her first hearing since taking over the case, Judge Debra S. Nelson said June 10 would be the start of George Zimmerman's trial, though the date could change as both sides get prepared for what is expected to be a three-week trial.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the February shooting of the unarmed 17-year-old Martin. Zimmerman claims he was attacked and the shooting was self-defense.

Zimmerman's defense team tweeted after the hearing that they will likely ask for a "stand your ground" hearing in April or May. Under Florida law, Zimmerman can request the hearing and argue his self-defense case before the trial. If the judge were to side with Zimmerman, the murder charge would be dismissed and there would be no trial.

Nelson took over the case in August after an appeals' court said Judge Kenneth Lester should be removed for making disparaging remarks about Zimmerman's character. Lester also advocated for additional charges against Zimmerman during a bond hearing, saying he lied to the judge about how much money he had.

Continue Reading...

Change for Trayvon, the name of the Martins' political action committee, aims to raise money to fund candidates and efforts around the country dedicated to challenging the stand-your-ground, or "Castle" law -- legislation that permits the use of lethal force by a party who feels threatened. As the Martins note on the Change for Trayvon website:

Stand your ground laws exist in 32 states across our nation, and have allowed people to escape responsibility. Although these laws have good intentions, their result has allowed shooters to avoid justice, and for families to not have an opportunity for closure in these tragic deaths.

Stand your ground is a solution in search of a problem, and it’s a terrible solution, with tragic results; like the death of our son. These laws need to be revised to require prosecutorial or judicial review.

Continue Reading...

The results rule out Martin's DNA from being on the gun's grip. Zimmerman's DNA also was identified on the gun's holster, but no determination could be made as to whether Martin's DNA was on the gun's holster, according to the report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Martin during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford in February. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense.

A delay in Zimmerman's arrest led to nationwide protests.

The question of whose DNA is on the gun and holster could play a role in Zimmerman's defense.

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

"The senseless death of this innocent young man should be a wake-up call," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a co-sponsor of legislation that would expand current federal law enforcement guidelines against profiling and mandate training on racial profiling at all federal law enforcement agencies.

"He was profiled, followed, chased and murdered," said Frederica Wilson, the cowboy hat-wearing congresswoman representing Miami Gardens where Trayvon lived with his mother. "This case has captured international attention and will go down in history as a textbook example of racial profiling."

More than 225 organizations submitted testimony for the hearing, which included testimony by five congressmen, civil liberties advocates and two police officials. Five senators attended, including Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. Most of the speakers favored the legislation, sponsored by Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, which would also forbid law enforcement officers from using race, ethnicity or religion as a factor in routine policing decisions.

Continue Reading...

ALEC is now shutting down its "Public Safety and Elections" task force. ALEC's Public Safety and Elections task force's goals were twofold: to improve "public safety" by making it easier for citizens to carry guns everywhere they go and to shoot certain people without fear of arrest or prosecution, and to improve elections by making it harder for politically undesirable types to exercise their right to vote. (Why were gun rights and voter disenfranchisement the purview of one task force? Those two issues really have very little in common besides being of supreme importance to paranoid white people.)

Continue Reading...

Special prosecutor Angela Corey's decision to charge Zimmerman with second-degree murder in the killing of the unarmed black teenager is just a first step. There's debate about Corey's charging decision and the strength of her case against Zimmerman. A verdict is a long way off. Yet Wednesday represented a victory for the forces of social justice nonetheless.

I have found the backlash against the movement stunning. Go back to the earliest days of the case. After more than a week of being stonewalled by police about the investigation into their son's killing, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton hired lawyers and held a press conference March 8. "We feel justice hasn't been served," Martin told reporters. Police chief Bill Lee Jr. fought back, insisting that his department had conducted a thorough investigation and failed to find reason to charge Zimmerman. "There is evidence that Zimmerman acted in self-defense," he announced. Lee told a Sanford Herald reporter that arresting Zimmerman "would have been a violation of his civil rights." In his public pronouncements he sounded more like Zimmerman's attorney than a law enforcement official looking for the truth. He was eventually suspended.

Continue Reading...

In addition to revealing that Zimmerman has spoken with Hannity – the Fox host refuses to divulge what they discussed – the pair said they were "concerned for his emotional and physical safety" and suggested he might be suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from watching too much television coverage of the case. They wouldn't disclose Zimmerman's whereabouts, with Uhrig saying, "you can stop looking in Florida, look much further away than that," but "he's in the United States."

Continue Reading...

After weeks of silence and seclusion, George Zimmerman is speaking out. A little. The man who shot Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26 as he was walking home from a convenience store has launched a webpage with the catchy, Slim Shadyesque name The Real George Zimmerman, a zesty American flag motif and, on each section of it, the Edmund Burke maxim that "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."

Admitting "that I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life," the 9-mm-toting citizen -- who apparently sees himself as triumphing over the evil of passivity -- is trying to drum up financial and public relations support. On his site, he circumspectly refers to "a life altering event" he was "involved" in – and says he wants to head off the scam "defense fund" accounts he claims have been set up in his name.

Continue Reading...

Quincy recently hosted an online conversation on the epidemic of violence against young black men. Here is the full video of that discussion:

To participate in Salon's webcasts with staff and friends, join the Salon Core community.

Continue Reading...