Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Myth Busters: Did Zimmerman “Chase Down” a Fleeing Martin?

Hey folks,

One of the enduring myths of the falsified public narrative promulgated by the State prosecutors and other anti-Zimmerman zealots has been that George Zimmerman “chased down” a frightened Trayvon Martin who was simply attempting to secure the safety of his destination (his father’s girlfriend’s home in at the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood.

Is that what really happened? Or is George Zimmerman’s recounting more credible and consistent with the facts in evidence?



Take a look at my latest fact-based "myth busters" installment, and decide for yourselves: Myth Busters: Did Zimmerman “Chase Down” a Fleeing Martin?

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Found that very informative.....glad to have someone work it out.

Goal of 40 Prospective Jurors for Full Voir Dire Achieved

Hey folks,

I just posted up the end-of-day wrap-up for day 7 of jury selection in the Zimmerman case, available at Legal Insurrection here: Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Seven Wrap-Up.

The biggest news of the day is that the Court's goal of selecting 40 prospective jurors to go on to the next round of full voir dire has been achieved, and Judge Nelson dismissed the jurors who did not make it through the first round of questioning. The lucky winners are:

B12, B29, B35, B37, B51, B61, B7, B72, B76, B86, E13, E22, E28, E40, E54, E6, E73, G14, G29, G47, G63, G66, G81, H18, H29, H35, H6, H69, H7, H81, H86, I19, I24, I33, I44, K80, K95, M75, P67, I5.

We’ll be posting a compilation of our notes for each of these 40 in post coming soon.

The announcement of the successful candidate jurors having been announced, we saw a relatively rare appearance by Prosecutor Angela Corey, when she stepped to the front of the court room and directed the courthouse personnel in arranging the chairs for the jurors tomorrow morning.

For all the juicy details, click here: Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Seven Wrap-Up.

Tomorrow we'll do another full day of live stream, all-day coverage of day eight of jury selection, the "Full Voir Dire Edition". Be sure to join us.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Zimmerman Trial: Never seen a juror questionnaire before? Here you go . . .
Hey folks,

As we’ve been watching the preliminary voir dire of dozens of prospective jurors over the past week or so, we’ve heard innumerable mentions of a “juror questionnaire.”* This is simply a list of questions, agreed to by both parties and the Court, which the jurors are asked to complete in writing before being questioned in voir dire.* Their answers help the Court and parties quickly identify prospective jurors who must be dismissed as a matter of course–for example, if they are related to or have a business interest with one of the parties.

Their answers can also shed a subtle but discerning light on any prejudices they might bring to the trial that could prevent them from serving as a fair and impartial juror.* Some of these questions often seem completely irrelevant to the case at hand–such as, “Please list your 3 favorite TV shows,” or “Please list the 3 people you admire most/least”–but to a skilled jury consultant the responses to these questions can provide a deep insight into the prospective jurors covert prejudices.

The defense has retained the services of a world-class jury consultant, and I have obtained a sample of a jury questionnaire he used in a previous murder case (a rather bizarre one, actually, State v. Durst).* If you’ve never before had the opportunity to see a juror questionnaire, now's your chance, as the court advances the 40 "winning" jurors into the next round of full voir dire.

[INDENT]Zimmerman Trial: Never seen a juror questionnaire before? Here you go . . .[/INDENT]

Enjoy.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook:* Law of Self Defense

Zimmerman Jury Selection: Day 8--Live streaming, all-day coverage
Hey folks,

Just FYI, Day 8 of jury selection has just kicked into gear.Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

At end-of-day yesterday Judge Nelson announced that the Court had achieved its goal of selecting the "top 40" prospective jurors who are to "advance to the next round". The "lucky winners" are:

[indent=1]B7, B12, B29, B35, B37, B51, B61, B72, B76, B86, E6, E13, E22, E28, E40, E54, E73, G14, G29, G47, G63, G66, G81, H6, H7, H18, H29, H35, H69, H81, H86, I5, I19, I24, I33, I44, K80, K95, M75, P67[/indent]

We've pulled together a compilation of all our notes on the lucky winners over at Legal Insurrection here: Zimmerman Jury Selection Profiles- “Top 40″ Advanced to Next Round.

We'll also be doing our usual end-of-day summary of events.* I'll drop a brief note when that's up, for folks who are interested.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

FDLE Forensic Lab Report on Zimmerman's Gun & Fatal Bullet
Hey folks,

Many of you may have heard bits and pieces about the gun and ammo that George Zimmerman used to save his life from Trayvon Martin's deadly force attack, but we all know that facts and details can become blurry in the re-posting on the internet.

To set the record straight, I've acquired a copy of the official Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Forensic Laboratory Report on Zimmerman's gun and ammo, and I thought I'd share the details of that with you, as well as provide a PDF of the official report itself (available at the bottom of this post).

If you're interested in seeing my blog post on this, and a copy of the original FDLE Forensic Laboratory Report, click here:

FDLE Forensic Report: Zimmerman's Gun & Fatal Bullet

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Day 8 Wrap-Up: State Hints at Theory of the Case
Hey folks,

I just posted up the end-of-day wrap-up for day 7 of jury selection in the Zimmerman case, available at Legal Insurrection here: Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Eight Wrap-Up.

Today the State conducted voir dire of the pool of 40 prospective jurors. (The defense has it's turn tomorrow. Also tomorrow marks the return of State expert witness Tom Owens, at 2PM.)

Most striking about today's voir dire is how large a proportion of the day involve de la Rionda speaking, rather than any of the prospective jurors. His speech was often long, somewhat rambling, and ultimately appeared to be an effort at conditioning the prospective jurors to a particular judgmental and emotional position–for example, participating in Neighborhood Watch is somehow similar to taking the law into your own hands.

Given the (to this New Englander’s eyes) somewhat astonishing responses–35% having been victims of crime, 10% having been victims of violent crime, 25% having Neighborhood Watch programs in their community, 30% owning or having owned personal firearms (the one having owned also having possessed a CCW), and another 30% having family or close friends who own guns–I’m not sure whether de la Rionda’s apparent selling proposition–which seems to be that Zimmerman took the law into his own hands–is being targeted at an amenable market.

The survivability of such a theory of the case seems particularly uncertain given the actual facts in evidence, which overwhelmingly favor the defense. For example, will it really be a credible argument that Zimmerman was seeking to “take the law into his own hands” when it was he who phoned the police, in his role as leader of his Neighborhood Watch Program to report a suspicious person in his neighborhood plagued with robberies?

For all the juicy details, click here: Zimmerman Jury Selection -- Day Eight Wrap-Up.

Tomorrow we'll do another full day of live stream, all-day coverage of day nin of jury selection, the "Full Voir Dire Edition". The defense will have it's chance for voir dire of the 40 prospective jury candidates, and at 2PM we'll welcome Mr. Tom Owens back to the court (probably virtually).

Be sure to join us.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Such complexity, whatever happened to trial by combat or its less amusing cousin trial by ordeal?

Zimmerman Jury Selection: Day 9--Live streaming, all-day coverage

Hey folks,

Just FYI, Day 9 of jury selection has just kicked into gear. Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

Click here for our re-cap of yesterday's State-led voir dire.

Today the defense has it's chance to voir dire the remaining pool of 40 prospective jurors.

Also, at 2PM the State's expert witness Tom Owens is scheduled to re-testify in the still incomplete Frye hearing being held to determine if the Statet's experts will be permitted to testify at trial. Mr. Owens, you will recall, was the State's expert witness who said of the Witness #11 911 audio tape, "this is not really good evidence."

Zimmerman Prosecution's Voice Expert admits: ?This is not really good evidence?

We'll also be doing our usual end-of-day summary of events. I'll drop a brief note when that's up, for folks who are interested.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

O'Mara Delivers Devastating Voir Dire
Hey Folks,

If you're not watching this live, you're missing a tremendous voir dire by O'Mara. Just absolutely devastating to the State's ability to advance their theory of the case given the facts in evidence.

Our live, all-day coverage can be found at Legal Insurrection here, if you're interested in following along.

I'll cover it all in my end-of-day wrap-up, but it's a beauty to behold.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

come back to the surface, Andrew - what's your take on current events???

Zimmerman Trial Day 1: Opening Statements & Theories of the Case

Hey folks,

Today marks the first day of the trial proper, with opening statements. It is with these statements that both the State and the defense will set out their theory of the case. We will, of course, be covering today's trial with all-day live coverage, including video streaming and a running Twitter feed of selected commenters, here: Legal Insurrection Zimmerman Trial LIVE - Day 1 - Opening Statements.

To date, the State's apparent theory has been that Zimmerman "profiled, chased, and killed Martin."

The theory of the defense, in addition to challenging the underlying criminality of Zimmerman's alleged "profiling" and "chasing," is that Zimmerman's killing of Martin was done in necessary and lawful self-defense, as provided under Florida law.

It should be fascinating to see what "facts" the State points to in both supporting the alleged criminal charge (which the State will have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt) and in undermining Zimmerman's claim of self-defense (which the State will have to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt).

P.S. FYI, we've pulled together a compilation of our notes on these six final jurors (and the four alternates) here: Meet the Zimmerman Trial Jurors.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Mid-day analysis of opening statements

Hey Folks,

I just posted up my mid-day analysis of the opening statements so far, you can find it at the bottom of today's live coverage post: http://bit.ly/18aHA5t

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Zimmerman Trial-- Day 1 Wrap-Up: Opening Statements
Hey folks,

I just posted up the wrap-up for day 1 of the Zimmerman Trial. I just cover the opening statements in this wrap-up, including video of the actual statements, as well as my analysis. The State also moved through it's first four (well, 3.5) witnesses later in the afternoon, but I'll cover those in a separate post.

(Note--this post includes both my mid-day analysis, which you might already have read--but I added lots of video, pics, and tweets to the original--as well as the remainder of West's opening after the lunch recess.)

I know much of the mainstream media loved the State's dramatic half-hour opening, and disliked West's lengthy opening and his rather flat delivery (as well as his admittedly lame joke), but in terms of substance West was clearly the dominant player today. His opening may not make for great television news video clips, but he banged on the actual facts in evidence for two hours, whereas the State's minimal opening statement was almost entirely fact free (and many of the "facts" they did cite were either favorable to the defense--such as the sharp spike in recent crime in the neighborhood--or clearly irrelevant to guilt--such as the fact that Zimmerman's gun was properly loaded to capacity.

In any case, if you'd like to read it you can find it here: Zimmerman Trial Day One – Analysis of Opening Statements

We'll do it all again tomorrow, of course, starting at 8:30AM rather than the usual 9AM.

Best,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Zimmerman Trial-- Day 1 Wrap-Up: Video, Analysis of State's First Witnesses

Hey folks,

I just posted up the wrap-up for day 1 of the Zimmerman Trial--this wrap-up includes analysis and video of the first four of the State's witnesses.

Zimmerman Trial Day One – Analysis of State’s First Four Witnesses

Enjoy,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Thanks, Andrew - for all you do.

It's starting to look like the wheels are falling off the prosecution's wagon. At what point will the defense ask the judge to dismiss? I guess we'll all stay tuned and see.

Zimmerman Trial Day 2: Video, Analysis of State's Case & Witnesses

Hey folks,

Today marks the second day of the trial proper, with the State continuing to present it's case and witnesses.

You can find the links to today's coverage including live video streaming and embedded Twitter feed, yesterday's analysis and video of the State's four witnesses, and yesterday's analysis and video of opening statements here:

Zimmerman Trial Day 2: Video, Analysis of State’s Case & Witnesses

Enjoy,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

A very, very bad day for the prosecutors

Well today was a complete and utter disaster for the prosecution. They may need to be put into suicide watch.

Detailed analysis and video to follow.

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense

Zimmerman Trial-- Day 2 Wrap-Up: Video, Analysis of State's First Witnesses

Hey folks,

I just posted up the wrap-up for day 2of the Zimmerman Trial--this wrap-up includes analysis and video of the first four of the State's witnesses. It was a total and complete train wreck for the State.

Zimmerman Trial Day 2 – Analysis of State’s Witnesses

Enjoy,

Andrew
@LawSelfDefense
Facebook: Law of Self Defense