Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. George Zimmerman’s lawyers have released copies of text messages and pictures from Trayvon Martin’s cell phone in an attempt to smear his reputation before the trial. The defense previously filed a motion with the Trial Court to allow these same texts messages and images to be admitted as evidence, but just in case the Judge rules against them at the evidentiary hearing scheduled for next week, they are making certain the public sees them before the trial begins anyway:
MIAMI — Intending to draw a fuller, perhaps more negative portrait of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in early 2012, a lawyer for Mr. Zimmerman released new material on Thursday that depicted Mr. Martin as troubled at school and enamored of a “gangsta” culture. […]
Mark O’Mara, Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, appeared to be offering prospective jurors in the Zimmerman case, which is to start in June, another version of Mr. Martin’s life. The evidence would presumably counter any attempt by prosecutors to portray Mr. Martin, who had no criminal record, as a victim with an unblemished personal life. Although gangsta rap and gangsta culture can portray a violent lifestyle, their following is wide and their proponents say they are meant to describe the reality of the streets, not promote it.
Mr. Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder, has said he shot Mr. Martin in self-defense after Mr. Martin attacked him. Mr. Martin was inside a gated community, walking to his father’s girlfriend’s home in Sanford, Fla., when Mr. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, spotted him. He reported Mr. Martin to the police as a suspicious person and got out of the car to follow him, prosecutors said.
The texts include discussions by Trayvon with his peers about guns, his use of marijuana, his expulsion from school, and the admission that he got into a fight with another teen in which he got the crap beat out of him.
A third topic of conversation is organised fighting. One message to a friend refers to an apparent contest with another youth late in 2011, with Martin writing: “he got mo hits cause in da 1st round he had me on da ground an I couldn’t do ntn.”
Obviously, Trayvon cannot speak for himself as to what happened on the night when George Zimmerman, Neighborhood Watch superstar vigilante hero alleged murderer, gunned the teen down after following him on foot in disregard of directions by the police dispatcher to wait for the police to arrive, because, as Zimmerman told the 911 dispatcher, Trayvon looked suspicious, that he looked like he was on drugs, and “these assholes, they always get away.” So Zimmerman’s attorneys are doing what defense attorneys invariably do: blame the victim for getting himself killed by the sole survivor of the conflict – the man charged with second degree murder.
It’s unlikely this “evidence” will be deemed admissible. If the defense attorneys really believed they could get it admitted at trial, they would not release the contents of Trayvon’s cell phone texts to the public in this manner. However, by taking this step, they do accomplish one significant thing – prejudicing the jury pool against the teenager who everyone agrees was killed by their client. As the attorney’s for Trayvon’s parents point out, none of this information is relevant to the issue of whether George Zimmerman legitimately acted in self defense on the night of he used his firearm to shoot an unarmed Trayvon Martin dead.
Attorneys for Martin’s parents said in a statement that the photos and texts were irrelevant to the trial and could pollute the jury pool.
“Is the defense trying to prove Trayvon deserved to be killed by George Zimmerman because (of) the way he looked?” they said. “If so, this stereotypical and closed-minded thinking is the same mindset that caused George Zimmerman to get out of his car and pursue Trayvon, an unarmed kid who he didn’t know.”
“Is the defense trying to prove Trayvon deserved to be killed by George Zimmerman because [insert racial stereotype of young black males here]?” Why yes, yes they are. And standard operating procedure or not, it stinks.
