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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Crime Police Report Says Zimmerman Had Two Opportunities to Defuse the Situation with Trayvon Martin

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 3:59 PM

MSNBC has the roundup of a police report in which a detective finds "that [George] Zimmerman's actions were 'inconsistent' with someone who was afraid of [Trayvon] Martin," and that Zimmerman could have defused the situation on at least two occasions during their encounter:

"Investigative findings show that George Michael Zimmerman had at least two opportunities to speak with Trayvon Benjamin Martin in order to defuse the circumstances surrounding their encounter. On at least two occasions, George Martin Zimmerman failed to identify himself as a concerned resident or a neighborhood watch member to Trayvon Benjamin Martin. Investigative findings show the physical dimension of Trayvon Benjamin Martin, and that of George Michael Zimmerman, coupled with the absence of any specialized training in hand to hand combat between either combatant, did not place George Michael Zimmerman in an extraordinary or exceptional disadvantage of apparent physical ability or defensive capacity.

"Investigative findings show the physical injuries displayed by George Michael Zimmerman are marginally consistent with a life-threatening violent episode as described by him, during which neither a deadly weapon nor deadly force was deployed by Trayvon Martin."

Find much more, including a copy of Zimmerman's neighborhood watch training manual, right here.

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Comments (13) RSS

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"The report shows that Zimmerman passed a "lie detector" test, called a computer voice stress analyzer, showing no deception in his statements."

That seems like the real news here...

Posted by You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me on June 26, 2012 at 5:31 PM

If you mean that it will be EVEN harder to seat an unbiased jury, then yeah, that's news alright.

However, voice stress analyzers are poor at detecting deception.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35534…

Posted by Sandiai on June 26, 2012 at 8:12 PM

there is not a copy of his neighborhood watch training manual, just one page. i wish they put up the whole thing.

Posted by BallardBoy on June 26, 2012 at 8:28 PM

@You_Gotta_Be_Kidding_Me
Lie detector pass just means he's convinced what he's saying is true. Meaning he was convinced the scary black kid was going to kill him. Because he is an idiot.

Posted by ryry on June 26, 2012 at 11:01 PM

The one thing I never quite understood is why Martin did not just go home if he was scared of Zimmerman. The timeline of the whole event (911 call, call from Martin to girlfriend) gives Martin more than enough time to get home after he realized Zimmerman was following him.

But he apparently chose to confront Zimmerman, which was of course within his rights, until he got violent. Also, why does it say on the report that his injuries were "marginally consistent" with life-threatening injuries, and then say right below it they were not consistant at all?

I am not saying Zimmerman is innocent, or was within his rights to shoot Martin, but I think it is clear that both had ample time to defuse the situation, but neither chose to.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on June 27, 2012 at 5:13 AM

@5 Interesting point. Agree that doesn't exculpate Zimmerman. But, it does shed light on the whole tragic affair.

Posted by lark on June 27, 2012 at 8:26 AM

His Neighborhood Watch manual was all in Comic Sans? I didn't realize we needed more evidence that he's an idiot.

Posted by jhops on June 27, 2012 at 9:49 AM

@5: "The one thing I never quite understood is why Zimmerman did not just go home if he was scared of Martin."

FTFY.

Posted by Backyard Bombardier on June 27, 2012 at 9:53 AM

@8: Oh don't worry, I typed it correctly the first time.

Both are decent questions, but ignoring simple fact is something that people do when they want to make reality fit their preferred worldview, not the other way around.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on June 27, 2012 at 10:46 AM

Ignoring simple fact, like the fact that an armed man stalked and killed an unarmed man?

The question "Why didn't Martin just go home" blames the victim. Martin had every right to be where he was. Maybe he was just "standing his ground" as Florida law apparently allows... at least, allows to armed white men.

Posted by Backyard Bombardier on June 27, 2012 at 10:55 AM

@10: See, this is exactly what I mean. For some reason, you need to believe that narrative. I do not know why so many people need to believe that Zimmerman stalked the suburbs looking for black kids to kill.

The simple fact is, Martin went out looking for Zimmerman in order to confront him after he noticed Zimmerman was following him. Not that this is unacceptable, or that Martin was not within his rights, but it contradicts with the above narrative that you need to be true, that Martin was terrified and fleeing Zimmerman.

I am not blaming him for what happened, but he was clearly not scared or fleeing. He chose to confront Zimmerman instead of going home. This does not mean Zimmerman had a right to shoot him, or that Martin is to blame. I just do not see the point of choosing to believe a lie.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on June 27, 2012 at 11:33 AM

@11
"The simple fact is, Martin went out looking for Zimmerman in order to confront him after he noticed Zimmerman was following him."

You have nothing to support that claim of "fact" other than Zimmerman's statement.

So no, it isn't a "simple fact".

"I am not blaming him for what happened, but he was clearly not scared or fleeing."

Martin apparently tried to lose Zimmerman.
And such was stated by Martin's girlfriend (to whom Martin was speaking during the encounter).
Even Zimmerman's statement to the police said that Zimmerman had lost Martin.

How Zimmerman and Martin encountered each other again is unknown.

Posted by fairly.unbalanced on June 27, 2012 at 12:17 PM

@11,

I do not know why so many people need to believe that Zimmerman stalked the suburbs looking for black kids to kill.

Maybe because Zimmerman obsessively called 911 to report non-events, largely involving anyone with skin darker than his own.

Maybe because Zimmerman carried a firearm while on duty as neighborhood patrol, which violates neighborhood watch guidelines.

Posted by keshmeshi on June 27, 2012 at 1:20 PM