[Vision2020] Many Questions in Trayvon Martin Case

[Nicholas Gier]

Good Morning Visionaries,

Below is a Washington Post op-ed that raises essential questions about this
tragedy.  Below that is the latest on Zimmerman's claim that this big man
(accused in 2005 of battering a policeman) was brought to the ground by a
small black kid.

Nick

 *More questions in aftermath of Trayvon Martin's death*

*By Jonathan Capehart The Washington Post The Denver Post*

Nothing makes sense in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Nothing. Now I have
more questions, sparked in part by the leaked report of George Zimmerman's
account to police of what happened on Feb. 26. For some things there might
be simple explanations. We might not get answers to some questions. And we
might not like some of the answers we are given. But the questions must be
asked.

It wasn't until Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, called to file a
missing-person's report on Feb. 27 that police went to Martin's fiancee's
house with pictures of his son's dead body. News reports have said that
Trayvon's body was tagged as a John Doe. But the "Partial Report Only" that
was completed at 3:07 a.m. Feb. 27 lists Trayvon's full name, city of
birth, address and phone number. How did police get that information? Was
Trayvon carrying identification? Did police try to contact that home number?

Trayvon's father called his cellphone several times. Why didn't police
answer Trayvon's cellphone?

Zimmerman reportedly had a bloody nose and lacerations on the back of his
head and was given first aid by a Sanford Fire Department rescue unit.
Where is their report of his injuries? Were photographs taken of
Zimmerman's injuries?

Did the officer who placed Zimmerman in handcuffs read him his Miranda
rights?

The officer who handcuffed Zimmerman reported, "While the (Sanford, Fla.,
Fire Department) was attending to Zimmerman, I overheard him state 'I was
yelling for someone to help me, but no one would help me.' At no point did
I question Zimmerman about the incident that had taken place." Why not?

Zimmerman was then taken to the Sanford Police Department and interviewed
by an investigator. Was that interview recorded?

Was there blood spatter from Trayvon on Zimmerman's clothing? Were any
tests — DNA, gunshot residue — done on Zimmerman's clothing?

Were photographs taken of Zimmerman's clothing? Was the clothing taken into
evidence?

Were there any signs of a struggle on Trayvon? Scratches, bruises? Were
there traces of Zimmerman's hair or skin on Trayvon's clothing or under his
fingernails?

A drug and alcohol test was performed on Trayvon's body. Were drugs and/or
alcohol found in his system? Was a similar test done on Zimmerman? If not,
why not?

You don't have to be a devotee of "CSI" to come up with these questions.
They're pretty basic. That they have to be asked one month after the
killing of Trayvon Martin is alarming.

Newly released video of George Zimmerman at the Sanford Police Department
the night he shot Trayvon Martin to death show the neighborhood watch
volunteer without blood on his clothing or bruises on his face or head. His
clean-shaven picture seems to contrast with the violent beating he told
police he endured at the hands of Martin, 17, who Zimmerman said attacked
him from behind.

The video, obtained by ABC
News<http://abcnews.go.com/WN/trayvon-martin-case-exclusive-surveillance-video-george-zimmerman/story?id=16022897>,
appears inconsistent with Zimmerman’s recently leaked statement to
police<http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-26/news/os-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-account-20120326_1_miami-schools-punch-unarmed-black-teenager>
that
he was in a death struggle with Martin before Zimmerman shot him in the
chest in self-defense. Zimmerman told investigators that Martin jumped him
from behind, punched him in the nose and pounded his head into a sidewalk,
according to a police report first described by the *Orlando Sentinal*.

In the video, apparently taken by surveillance cameras outside and inside
the police station, Zimmerman’s face and head are clearly visible and show
no injuries consistent with the kind of fight Zimmerman's statement
described.

Zimmerman, 28, the neighborhood watch captain at the Retreat at Twin Lakes
gated community, is seen arriving in a police cruiser. He gets out of the
car with his hands cuffed behind his back. Zimmerman is clean-shaven and
appears several pounds lighter than in ubiquitous mug shot of him taken in
2005 when he was arrested on a charge of assaulting a police officer.

The video’s release comes amid shifting public perception of Martin, whose
baby-faced image has become the face of the so-called “Trayvon Martin
movement for Justice” that has captivated much of the U.S. Earlier this
week, school officials in Miami released Martin’s disciplinary record,
showing that he had been on a 10-day suspension when he was killed.
According to reports, school officials found an empty baggy that contained
marijuana residue. Meanwhile, some websites have replaced widely circulated
family photos of Martin with pictures of him sporting removable gold tooth
caps. Other websites have picked seemingly random photos of other youth in
questionable or offensive poses and claimed that they are of Martin.

Martin’s family has called the counter-offensive an assault on Martin’s
character and a “smear
campaign.”<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/trayvon-martin-family_n_1381564.html>
Tracy
Martin, the teen's father, told HuffPost earlier this week, “I refuse to
let them assassinate my son’s character." He added: "The question should
not be why was he suspended from school, it should be why did this man kill
him in cold blood."

Zimmerman shot Martin to death the night of Feb. 26. Martin had been
walking toward his father's girlfriend's house shortly after 7 p.m. and
Zimmerman spotted him and called 911 to report a "suspicious" person.
Zimmerman followed Martin, disregarding a police dispatcher who told him
"we don't need you to do that." Police said early in the investigation that
Martin noticed he was being followed, asked Zimmerman what he wanted, and a
physical encounter ensued.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

In the recently released police reports, Zimmerman told police he got out
of his vehicle to follow Martin, but lost sight of him. As he walked back
to his vehicle, Martin attacked him from behind, punched him in the nose,
knocked him down and began smashing the back of his head into the sidewalk,
police reports say Zimmerman told officers. During the tussle, Zimmerman
pulled the 9 mm handgun he carried and shot Martin in the chest, he told
police.

Lawyers for the Martin family said Zimmerman was the aggressor. The lawyers
said Martin's girlfriend in Miami was on the phone with him just moments
before he was killed. The girlfriend has told ABC News and family lawyers
that Martin told her someone was following him. She said she heard someone
ask Martin something, then what sounded like someone pushing him. The phone
sounded like it was then knocked to the ground and went dead, the girl said.

The funeral director who handled Martin's funeral said there were no cuts
or bruises on the teen's hands that would suggest a violent struggle or
fight.

“I didn’t see any evidence he had been fighting anybody,” Richard Kurtz of
Roy Mizell and Kurtz Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale, told television talk
show host Nancy
Grace<http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/03/28/funeral-director-saw-no-signs-fight-trayvons-hands>
.

Police took Zimmerman into custody after they arrived. He was questioned
and released later that night. He remains free as the Seminole County State
Attorney's Office reviews the police investigation and decides whether to
file charges. The U.S. Justice Department also is investigating.
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