A sign showing support for Trayvon Martin is stuck in the lawn in front of the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center on July 13, 2013 in Sanford, Florida. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Among those taking the streets nationwide in outrage at George Zimmerman being found not guilty in the shooting death of Florida ...
WASHINGTON — Calls for the Justice Department to look in to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin reverberated as soon as George Zimmerman (pictured) was acquitted of state charges in a Florida courtroom, but it may be even tougher to mount a federal case against Zimmerman. The department says it’s reviewing evidence to determine whether criminal civil rights charges are warranted, but legal experts see major barriers to a federal prosecution – including the burden of proving that Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch leader, was motivated by racial animosity – and say Justice officials would likely be saddled with some of the same challenges that complicated the unsuccessful state case. “The Justice Department would face significant challenges in bringing a federal civil rights case against Mr. Zimmerman,” said Alan Vinegrad, the former U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. ...
On Wednesday morning, Judge Debra Nelson ruled that the defense team for George Zimmerman (pictured) would not be allowed to introduce as evidence the text messages and pictures from Trayvon Martin’s cell phone[2] or introduce the computer animation created by a firm that the defense hired. Judge Nelson and both lawyers went late in to the night for a hearing on July 9, 2013, discussing the submission of evidence. In May, the Zimmerman defense team leaked pictures and text messages allegedly ...
In a hearing in the murder trial against George Zimmerman (pictured right), the defense will be allowed to introduce in to evidence the toxicology report from Trayvon Martin. This toxicology report will reportedly show that Martin had low levels of marijuana in his system. To many observers of the trial, this development seems unfair since Zimmerman was never tested for any drugs when he was detained by police. What hasn’t been publicized in the media, though — and is yet to be mentioned in Zimmerman’s trial — is that according to the paramedics’ report, Zimmerman was on prescription drug, Temazepam, when he shot and killed Trayvon. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine[2], the drug is also known to cause “aggressiveness” and “hallucinations,” among other problematic symptoms. From the U.S. Library of Medicine:[3] You should know that your mental health may change in unexpected ways while you are taking this medication. It is hard to tell if ...
Trayvon Martin’s father testified Monday that he never denied it was his son’s voice screaming for help on a 911 call, contradicting police officers’ earlier testimony at George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial. Tracy Martin was the latest in a series of witnesses called by lawyers on both sides who are seeking to convince jurors of who was the aggressor in the confrontation that left Trayvon Martin dead. Later in the day, the judge ruled that defense attorneys may present evidence to the jury that Trayvon Martin had marijuana in his system when he died. The teen’s father testified that he merely told officers he couldn’t tell if it was his son after his first time listening to the call which captured the audio of fight between Martin and Zimmerman. “I never said that wasn’t my son’s voice,” said Tracy Martin, who added that he concluded it was his son after listening to the call as many as 20 times. Before Tracy Martin took the witness stand, the lead ...
