The Anniversary of the George Zimmerman Trial
This coming Tuesday will be a year since several hundred potential jurors appeared for jury selection for the 2nd degree murder trial of George Zimmerman. The process continued to actual selection and trial. On July 13, 2013, 6 women acquitted Zimmerman for killing unarmed 17-year old Trayvon Martin.
Because Trayvon Martin lives in the hearts of many, we cannot forget discovery, pre-trial procedures, jury selection and the trial itself. An important issue for the trial was who was screaming for help, the screams being captured in the background of a 911 call. All experts concluded that the voice was NOT that of George Zimmerman, but the Honorable Judge Nelson who presided over the case, would not allow those experts to testify.
While it as plain from his call to police dispatch that George Zimmerman left his truck and followed Trayvon, the Honorable Judge Nelson would not allow the initial aggressor part of self-defense law to be included in jury instructions.
Orlando Sentinel interviewed Robert Zimmerman Jr. about the life of his brother, George, since the verdict. According to his brother, George, who is now 30 years old, moves among the homes of people who let him sleep on the couch. He is still unemployed; his divorce from Shellie is still pending; and he owes his defense attorneys Mark O’Mara and Don West $2.5 million.
“I think his state of mind is better,” said Robert Zimmerman, Jr., “but I would submit that he is a very traumatized person because he has had his liberty taken away from him.”
Since he took the actual life of a teen who ran from him, I would submit that George can’t complain about his own liberty. His life is the consequence of his own actions.
Judge Debra Nelson who presided over the murder trial is also presiding over Zimmerman’s defamation case against NBC. A hearing is scheduled next week on NBC’s motion to dismiss the case.
Since the verdict, Mark O’Mara has raised his hourly rate from 
$400 to $525 and speaks to Bar Associations, law schools and attorneys about what he has learned about the media, high-profile cases and social media.
Witnesses Jonathan Manolo and John Good have written books and Mark O’Mara has plans to write one as well where he wants to address race and the criminal justice system. After using dog whistles, thugifying Trayvon, and a closing argument that appealed to the racial biases of the jury, I wonder how such a book with work out for O’Mara.
Before Zimmerman’s trial, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin settled a wrongful death claim for more than a million dollars against the homeowners association where Zimmerman was the Neighborhood Watch. They have put the money to good use, advocating against gun violence and stand your ground laws. They have established the Trayvon Martin Foundation. They often speak at hearings, marches and rallies. In December, they met with publishers about a potential book about Trayvon. Last month, Sybrina hosted a weekend retreat for mothers who have lost children to gun violence.
My question remains, where is Don West?
Posted on 06/08/2014, in George and Shellie Zimmerman, Justice For Trayvon and tagged anniversary, Debra Nelson, Don West, George Zimmerman, Judge Nelson, justice for Trayvon, Mark O'Mara, NBC, trial, voice experts. Bookmark the permalink. 58 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
It all seems so long ago. Sybrina’s work will give her some measure of peace, I hope. I honestly cannot imagine losing a child, much less the way she lost Trayvon.
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Jackie, I totally agree. Sybrina and Lucia McBath have found ways of using lemons for lemonade. They are strong women who are using their strength to also hold up other mothers.
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I think the trial of zims suing roseanne is next week.
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Rachael,
Roseanne has a motion to dismiss pending. Looks like George might be able to see his parents in court although 2 different cases.
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I can’t imagine any judge awarding his parents damages against Roseanne. Although we know stranger things have happened.
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I can, but I can’t. I mean, I know my view is not popular, but IMO, what she did was wrong, absolutely wrong. HOWEVER, they are lying when they say they had to move because of her – they had already moved.
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Rachael, I agree with you that the personal information of others should not be made public without their approval. Like you say however, Papa and Mama Zim had already left their house. They may have left their house because of fear, but wasn’t because of Rosanne tweeting their address.
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Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat™.
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Hey Jueseepi. Thanks for the reblog. Hope you had a wonderful weekend.
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A year already?? Wow, time flies. George may have been found not guilty, but it certainly sounds like karma got him good. Not a happy life.
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Eurobrat, last year this time as there were pre-trial hearings, I was trying to do yard work in-between watching live streams of the hearings. This year, that time has come again for doing yard work.
I said before the trial that regardless of the verdict, George may be breathing but his actions on February 26, 2012 took his life. The man who offered Maddy a job didn’t do the same for George and evidently, none of his supporters are in a position to provide him with employment. The first thing a group of them did after the verdict was give him money for guns — no job, no housing.
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Well, we all know that guns are the number one priority in life, right? *rolls eyes*
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Don West beat it real quick, didn’t hang around like O’Mara and suck up to the media,
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After West daughters got in the media he shut his mouth and left, God forbid his daughters get drug through the mud like Trayvon and his family, West knows how bad that can get,
since he had a huge hand in it.
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Lexiechey! Welcome to Blackbutterfly7. You are so correct. At least West’s daughters are alive to defend themselves, unlike Trayvon.
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My heart still aches everytime I think of Trayvon Martin.
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renxkyoko, you’re not alone.
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it’s disgusting omar thinks he has an audience who’d give a shit about what he thinks. he’s the dullest babbling idiot on cnn when they do let him squeeze in a word. at first I refused to watch cnn when I heard they hired him but I’ve caught a couple of shows he was on.
it may be my wishful thinking but I don’t think he’ll last long cuz i don’t think he’s well received by viewers or the other ppl who are on the show with him. I’ve seen sunny hoston basically tell him to STFU because again, he thinks he’s some sort of authority on racial issues and guns??!! Who TF lied to him & gave him that dumbass idea??!!!
@Xena isn’t “out” a Typo at
While all experts ruled out that the voice was NOT that of George Zimmerman, the Honorable Judge Nelson who presided over the case, would not allow those experts to testify
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You know, he was in a position to really do something for race realtions. He really could have made a difference. At least he could have told people to stop when it came to the horrible things they said about Trayvon, his family, and black people in general. People would have listened to him. But they DID listen to him. He encouraged their animal behavior and instead of putting race in the 21st century, singlehandedly set it back 60 years. I hate him and will never forgive him for it. EVER!!!. I understand he was the defense, the “other side,” and I know he had a job to do but dragging a dead kid through the mud and throwing it in his parents’ face was NOT a part of his job and I still hurt and cry over some of the things saids, things he could have put a stop to if he was REAL concerned about race and justice and social media. I he makes me even more sick than GZ.
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The fact that O’Mara and West associated themselves with The Conservative Treehouse speaks volumes. When Bernie de la Rionda mentioned that pre-trial, I could see O’Mara and West smirk. What I observed is that O’Mara and West played the race card in exchange for the chance of increasing donations to Zimmerman’s legal defense fund. I remember West putting on a circus about deposing attorney Benjamin Crump, AFTER comments were posted on the Conservative Treehouse wanting him to humiliate attorney Crump. The names they used for attorney Crump, their denigration of him, and putting words in his mouth with slurs and accents, should have told West that their reason for wanting him to humiliate attorney Crump was racially based.
The same is true for Trayvon’s phone records. Everyone with an ounce of legal knowledge on admissible evidence knew that Trayvon’s phone records could not be admitted into evidence at trial. O’Mara? He simply posted and wrote on his website about the contents of the phone, including photos that till this day, lack evidence that Trayvon even knew they were stored on his phone – if they actually were. The person discovering them said they were in a hidden file with a separate password. Since Trayvon is not alive to testify to the contents of his phone, O’Mara’s release of the purported contents was malicious.
Then there was O’Mara, who in spite of law, wanted Tracy and Sybrina put out of the courtroom during trial because Papa and Mama Zim were sequestered out of the courtroom. He clearly demonstrated having no respect for Rules and Laws and that his idea of “equality” is to put the emotional needs of a living killer higher than the emotional needs of the parents of the person who was killed.
One couple could talk to their son about what happened in the courtroom after the trial. The other couple will never be able to talk to their son because of what the son of the other couple did.
O’Mara and West were to prevail on Zimmerman’s behalf by applying facts to the law. They did not. They used racial biases and stereotypes and then argued for Judge Nelson to remove parts of the law.
We shall not forget. Man does not have the ability to resurrect the dead. The consequences of injustices when lives are taken are never the past.
As far as I’m concerned, listening or reading O’Mara say anything about race relations in America and the justice system is like listening to a man talk about the experience of going through labor and child birth. He will never, ever, have that experience.
(Now getting off the soapbox.)
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((( APPLAUSE! )))
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X2
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x3! We like your soapbox – it’s a righteous and informed one.
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Hey groans! Good to see your fonts.
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Well Robbie, I’d like to know what your deal is. You sure can stand up for your brother and talk about how his liberty has been taken away. How come he is homeless sleeping on couches from people who will take him in? What’s up with that, why is he not living with you? And what about your parents? It would be a cold day in you know where before I’d let my brother be homeless or let my parents live hotel to hotel especially if they were recieving death threats,…..that is unless I believed my brother to be a cold blooded murderer, and my parents disowned me because of my sexuallity. Not that your asking my opinion, but I’ll tell you anyway, I believe the “truth” and your family are strangers.
PS. I don’t know about you Robbie, but if I had killed someone for any reason, I would be haunted with that memory, but not your brother. In fact, he doesn’t know why. How are you and your family coping with that answer?
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Dreamer. Ahhh. Thanks for catching that. I’ll change the verbiage.
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LLMPapa’s video “Witness 18 – The Statement of a Teacher”
(Jane Surdyka – W18)
Witness Jane Surdyka at GZ trial:
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Wow! Does time fly….but at the same time my blood still boiled at the words that GZ lost his “LIBERTY”!! Really?? Are you kidding me? It sounds to me like nothing has changed for him except he doesn’t have his own ‘HUNTING LODGE” anymore!! Someone else is still paying his bills & everything & anyone who touches him turns to shit.I find it amazing all the money that him & his parents raised,but have nothing but a bunch of guns & ammo.According to Omara he had to sell a boat & other stuff himself,so the money wasn’t going to them.
I do not see how it can even be legal or without some kind of conflict for the corrupt Nelson to be involved in any of these cases.Is she the ONLY judge in that county?
Yes….I noticed EVERYBODY writing a book & the ONLY one who should be allowed to is Trayvons Family to defend the SMEAR JOB the Duhfense,witnesses,Zimmerman family members,even the jurors AFTER the trial! God Bless that Child.
I don’t KNOW where Don West is ,but I hope him & his daughters got dumped in an ice cream machine showing their stupidity!!
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Marilyn, why don’t you really say what you want. 🙂
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as for the federal case, I need a civil rights attny to speak to the types of evidence that’s needed to convict a man who stalked and killed a black boy. and not only the killer, the conspirators after and before the fact too.
and as for the state’s trial, which I thought Prof Leatherman might have done, explain what a trial attny and judge could’ve done differently had they’d been involved. maybe sit down and explain why the judge wasn’t taken to task for disallowing voice experts when we know they’re used extensively in courts throughout the country already..i don’t recall exactly what her excuse ended up being in this case, but I remember thinking at the time she made her ruling to avoid confusing the jury.
but why then allow 14 non-experts testify it was the man w gun screaming for help? why not instead wait for the man who’s fully capable of testifying for himself get up and speak for himself?
I think it’s fair for the family of an unarmed dead minor child to identify his voice, since he is not here to speak for himself and because he was a minor child who deserves to have his voice recognized in the trial of his killer. but how is it fair to allow the defendant to avoid testifying and allowing everyone he knows to identify his voice but not allow an expert who says otherwise to refute them? what if for example, Trayvon had no family to testify? would he basically be SOL and have no one speak up for him since the experts weren’t allowed to testify to their findings of scientific certainty, that his killer’s voice was not the one screaming for help on tape? in essence, any victim who’s not here to testify can have his voice stolen at the trial by the same man who stole his life as long as the judge decides expert testimony that doesn’t support the killer is too confusing to the jury.
no. that’s not fair. because if you’re claiming self defense YOU need to prove it was self defense just like anyone who makes any affirmative claim in court. which seems especially reasonable when your victim is not here to confront you because YOU killed him. if you kill someone and the circumstances don’t clearly present self defense it should be your burden of prove. why should you receive so much extra benefit from your victim’s inability to defend himself in court when the prosecution has in this case an extraordinarily rare opportunity to bring the victim’s own side of the story to the jury, via audio and voice experts? if the audio experts where to bolster the killer’s defense best believe he’d want them to testify. so why isn’t the state, who’s representing the interests of the people and the dead minor given the chance to have his defense heard!? and especially his last words?
basically Trayvon’s screams keep getting lost and forgotten in the discussions of this case. but to anyone who analyses this case, it’s clear that the screams prove Trayvon was terrorized and murdered on audio. once the state found those screams were in fact the dying words of their victim, they should’ve used all their powers to ensure every single word was used against the killer in that trial.
Trayvon’s screams are the strongest direct evidence of the killer’s guilt.
the screams prove the context of the murder, in so much as to what was being said and done and whom was saying and doing it. the screams are among the best evidence along with the killer’s own NEN call recording, in every sense because they show the impossibility of the killer’s rendition of events. they prove what he said did not occur and could not be true.
even if you can’t understand every single word that’s being screamed, you can tell they were not the words the killer claimed were said by either one.
why lie? because if he told the truth he’d be admitting to 1st degree murder of a minor.
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Very thorough, penetrating post, Shannon. Thank you.
Those screams are Trayvon’s testimony. A person carefully aiming his gun to avoid shooting his own left arm and carefully aiming at Trayvon’s heart would not be able to
scream like that. That was the scream of an innocent, terrified individual looking death in the face. Those were the desperate screams of Trayvon recorded miraculously as his last and only testimony. I feel strongly that a Higher Power saw to it that those screams were recorded. They are screams that will forever cry out for justice.
I vow to never forget Trayvon’s screams, and I believe that history will never forget his screams.
May God bless Trayvon’s soul throughout eternity, and may God bless and always be a comforting Presence for Sybrina, Tracy and all of his loved ones.
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LLMPapa’s video “Witness 18 – The Statement of a Teacher”
(Jane Surdyka – W18)
Witness Jane Surdyka at GZ trial:
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I hope west & omara’s careers are ruined. I hope they both are the laughing stock of the community forever. I hope they all get exactly what they gave to everyone they disrespected and hurt during that kangaroo court.
btw,i don’t believe omara is doing all that well financially or professionally. any professional could see their defense was not the work of legal genius, it was the work of sham trial in every sense of the word. they didn’t win a case, they just played a part. that goes for judge nelson too. if nbc is smart they’d get rid of her if she’s even involved any further than granting a dismissal.
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Shannon, about Judge Nelson. Let’s not forget that she is the judge who presided over Emmanuel Burgess’ case and sentenced him. When O’Mara talked about the burglaries in the Retreat at Twin Lakes, Judge Nelson knew that the only thing Burgess and Trayvon had in common was race.
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Excellent observation, Xena.
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I have a lump in my throat.. My hearts breaks a lot when I think about the BS trial.. I believe in karma and God very strongly. The killer of TM so far had some in runs with laws aka KARMA during August 2013-jan 2014.. I wonder why he’s quiet…
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Lairdbearly, good question. Maybe he’s quiet because that was recommended seeing that he’s still under federal investigation. Maybe he’s quiet because he realized that even those saying they support him, don’t really support him as a person. The more he brought attention to himself, the more people became aware of him and didn’t like what he revealed about himself.
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Robert Jr. revealed his ugly soul in that interview.
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Where is Don West? Probably camped out by the mailbox waiting for the big check from Zippy. It should be there any day now. You did remember to give him a pre-addressed envelope with a stamp on it, didn’t you?
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The corrupt Judge Nelson is The primary responsible for the child killer freedom . today.
She single handled the stage to the players whom performed a vile live production under
her cynical direction.
The corrupt Judge Nelson let US to believe she will dispense justice from the start of the trial until her lasts performances,what a shameful judgeship!
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Xena even when I do not post often I’m an avid reader,excellent blog and people!
In another note ,something is brewing ,child killer POS is MIA.KARMA !
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Joseph, the only thing that I TRULY desire to hear about the killer-adulterer-thief-child molester-all big and bad with a gun threatening his father-in-law, is that he’s been indicted for violating Trayvon’s civil rights. If that does not happen, I’m still satisfied in knowing that he’s homeless, jobless, and can’t marry his baby’s momma because HE wanted to challenge Shellie in the divorce case.
And thanks for the compliment. There are great people here, you included.
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One could tell by the dumb @$$ questions, that BDLR was asking of the witnesses, that there was something up in this farce of a so called murder trial. The fact that this woman owns a cat and, the cat’s name, was not relevant but he asked those stupid questions any way. To the person who called Debora Nelson corrupt, I couldn’t agree with you more!!!!!!
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Judge Nelson is a disgrace to the robe which she wears and, this is the judge, that O’dirty and company wanted because they knew she was a dirty corrupt judge!!!! She and Pest, put on a real good show during that farce.
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LadyStClaire, I’m wondering how she is going to decide GZ’s suit against NBC?
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What happened to that Kubidos (can’t remember how to spell his name) law suit?
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The last I heard, Ben filed an amended complaint. That pretty much starts the entire case over.
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Hi I’m new here. I still can’t believe a murderer has gone free. I believe most even those defending the jerk knew he premeditated the murder.
It’s clear by a few things. #1 he told 911 he didn’t know where Trayvon was but he did know.
He knew while he was talking on the phone with 911 & it became clear he knew when he told the investigators later in his walk through that he SAW Trayvon run behind the buildings.
Yet 2 police, 2 attorneys, a Judge, neighbors & family lied for him to get off.
This is a major shame to the US & a blot on the US Justice System.
It makes one ashamed to say they are American.
And it makes me angry everytime someone agrees that there was a fight between the jerk & Trayvon because its clear there never was a fight.
Trayvon was on the phone out of breath after having run closer to his fathers condo.
He thought he lost the jerk, & he continued talking on the phone.
He was approached by the jerk & when he didn’t respond the way the jerk thought he should, he was either pushed or assaulted some way (enough to knock the headphones out of his ear & cause the phone connection to break)
Trayvon did nothing wrong by asking the question why are you following me.
Anyone else in the same position would’ve done the same thing.
The jerk also made it clear of his intentions when he changed his mind about meeting the police at the mailboxes to “have them call me”
Some people claim to be smarter than others in this country yet they want people to believe they couldn’t figure this out ? I don’t believe it & I believe they knew he premeditated murder, yet they pulled every string they could to allow him to go free & not pay for his crime.
Yet they pull every string to try to make others who are innocent do time for alleged crimes.
Trayvon didn’t have time to be fighting he was accosted, assaulted & his life was threatened & everytime someone agrees there was a fight, it takes away from the innocence of Trayvon.
I don’t understand why its so hard for some to understand that Trayvon was truly innocent, he was frightened & he did what he knew to do he RAN away from what he perceived was danger. Fight or Flight. When he was cornered behind the buildings it was unexpected to him because he thought he lost the jerk so he continued talking on the phone.
The screams tell the rest of the story, he was terrified. If he was fighting, he wouldn’t be screaming in terror like that, especially if he was getting the upper hand.
Aside from all of that, the ME report clearly states that his hands were not cut.
Yes, there was a minor cut on his LEFT hand/finger but that was all.
Trayvon is RIGHT handed. This makes a difference when one fights.
His RIGHT hand was his dominant hand so if he was fighting he would lead with his RIGHT.
And if he led with his RIGHT, he would have had injuries, cuts, bruises to his RIGHT hand but he had none.
He also only had one drop of the jerks DNA on his INNER sweatshirt, along the bottom close to the waist area. The position of this drop of the jerks DNA PROVES that the jerk was on top of Trayvon. Being on top means the jerk had the upper hand.
It really bothers me when I see comments on articles on the internet that agree there was a fight between them. The Jerk had to say that to convince everyone it was self defense but there was no self defense because there was no fight.
I enjoy reading your blog & am glad I am not the only one who still is bothered by this case.
I kept telling myself to let it go but it still bothers me deeply. Trayvon was an innocent kid walking home from the store, talking on the phone.
If you take various time lines & line them up you will see the truth.
On the 911 call the Jerk made, he told 911 he didn’t know where the kid was.
Note that time, note the length of the call & subtract that time he said that from the length of the call. Then go to axiomnesia & look up the 911 call records. They are in the 7th supplement section. Note the time the screams were heard. Add the amount of time left over you got from subtracting where he said he didn’t know where the kid was on the 911 call to the time the screams were noted which is 7:16:35. You will come up with something like 7:17:44. Look at that same document (911 call records) and note the first time the gunshot was called in. It’s 7:17:07. Subtract 7:17:07 from 7:17:44. You will get something like 37 secs.
I say something like because you have to be sure the 911 call doesn’t add to the time of the call by having a bunch of dead space on the end of it. If it does you have to take that dead space off because it only lengthens the 911 call.
There are a few formulas you can use to figure this out but using the 911 call records (an official document ) & the length of the 911 call also an official document since it was recorded at the 911 call center station, this is an acceptable way to PROVE there was no fight.
In addition to this, add the ME report, no cuts, bruises on is dominant hand, add what the witness Rachel said about what she over heard & you have a pretty clear picture of what happened.
I hope this jerk gets what’s coming to him. Live by the sword die by the sword.
It was premeditated murder. My thoughts always with the family of Trayvon.
Sorry my post is so long.
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“I kept telling myself to let it go but it still bothers me deeply. Trayvon was an innocent kid walking home from the store, talking on the phone.
I understand how you feel, Aware.
We have to hope that the Department of Justice will ultimately bring charges against gz for a hate crime and violating Trayvon’s civil rights.
Have you seen this article post by Xena at this link? ->
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@yahtzee no I haven’t read it yet, but I’ll read it now ty
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It is a great article 🙂
I know that you will like it, Aware.
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I read it thanks for suggesting.
I am so glad DOJ has not forgotten this case.
Yes ! Z violated Trayvons’ civil rights on at least 2 fronts I can point to now.
But I know that the Government is very thorough so it may take a while.
They like to have all their ducks lined up 🙂
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