I’ve been watching the George Zimmerman trial this morning, and we’ve finally got some testimony from George Zimmerman. He didn’t take the stand, but an audio recording of his initial interview at the police station was played, and his written statement was read aloud. There are some serious problems with both. I will have to do some work with maps to figure it all out, but I will attempt to describe the problem.
Here’s a basic map of the neighborhood.
If you’ve listened to the phone call Zimmerman made to the non-emergency number, you know that he got out of his car (he claims, to find an address to give to the police) and the dispatcher told him that he didn’t need to follow the “suspect.” But that doesn’t correspond to what he said in his initial interview.
If you look at the part of the map at the top where it says “North Gate,” you can see the entrance to The Retreat at Twin Lakes. Now, here’s how Zimmerman told the dispatcher that the police could find him.
Zimmerman: OK. These assholes. They always get away.
When you come to the clubhouse, you come straight in and you go left. Actually, you would go past the clubhouse. [1:39]
911 dispatcher: OK, so it’s on the left hand side of the clubhouse?
Zimmerman: Yeah. You go in straight through the entrance and then you would go left. You go straight in, don’t turn and make a left.
He’s running. [2:08]
911 dispatcher: He’s running? Which way is he running?
Zimmerman: Down toward the other entrance of the neighborhood.
And then a little later in the conversation we hear this:
911 dispatcher: Alright, George, we do have them on the way. Do you want to meet with the officer when they get out there?
Zimmerman: Yeah.
911 dispatcher: Alright, where are you going to meet with them at?
Zimmerman: Um, if they come in through the gate, tell them to go straight past the clubhouse and, uh, straight past the clubhouse and make a left and then go past the mailboxes you’ll see my truck.
Now, if you drive your car through the North Gate and make an immediate left-hand turn, then you will wind up on Retreat View Circle. That is not where Zimmerman was. That’s why he corrected himself and said, “You go straight in, don’t turn and make a left.” To make this even more clear, you need to know that the clubhouse is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Twin Trees Lane and Retreat View Circle, so if you were driving through the North Gate, it would be in front of you on the right. If you followed Zimmerman’s instructions, you would come in the gate, cross over Retreat View Circle, continue on Twin Trees Lane past the clubhouse (and the mailboxes), and then take the elbow turn to the left. That’s where you would see his truck. I hope that is clear.
Yet, Zimmerman claimed that he first made the phone call from a position on Retreat View Circle near the clubhouse. He made this claim by identifying his location on a printout of a Google Map. That would make sense because he was driving to the grocery store on Retreat View Circle (traveling from bottom left to top left) when he first noticed Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman: Um, and this time I was leaving to go to the grocery store and, like I said, I saw him, um, walking in the neighborhood the same, in front of the same house that I had called the police before to come to because this guy leaves his doors unlocked and stuff. And he was walking leisurely and looking at the houses, and, um, so I just pulled my car to the side and I called the non emergency line.
He repeated that his location was on Retreat View Lane near the front of the clubhouse.
Singleton: OK. And then where do you go from there? This is where you start, when do you start calling the police, where are you?
Zimmerman: I pulled in front of the clubhouse.
In any case, there are at least two major problems with his story. The first involves what he claims Trayvon Martin did while he was in his car. On the non-emergency call, he tells the dispatcher “Yeah, now he’s coming toward me. He’s got his hands in his waist band. And he’s a black male,” and “Something’s wrong with him. Yep, he’s coming to check me out. He’s got something in his hands. I don’t know what his deal is.” This corresponds with what Zimmerman says happened while he was parked in front of the clubhouse.
Singleton: OK. And you said this, this….at some point he comes back and circles your car? Has he already done that?
Zimmerman: He looked into my vehicle…
Singleton: OK.
Zimmerman: But he didn’t circle it at that point in time.
When Officer Singleton says “circles the car,” she is referring to Zimmerman’s previous statement:
Zimmerman: Um, I called the non emergency line and I just reported that there was a suspicious person in the neighborhood. Um, the dispatcher, whoever answered the phone asked me where they went and I said I wasn’t sure because I lost visual of him when he went in between houses. And, uh, he said well can you tell me what direction he went. I said not really. Um, and then all of a sudden I see him circling my car. And, and then he goes back into the darkness. So..
So, first Trayvon stared into his car on Retreat View Circle near the front of the clubhouse, and then he circled his car on Twin Trees Lane while Zimmerman was on the phone with the dispatcher. Yet, the description recorded on the non-emergency line says nothing about any circling of the car.
The second problem is that he told Officer Singleton that he had agreed to meet the police at his car and that he was walking back to his car for that reason when he was attacked. But he had actually made a different arrangement with the dispatcher.
Here’s how he left it with the dispatcher.
911 dispatcher: OK, do you just want to meet with them at the mailboxes then? [3:42]
Zimmerman: Yeah, that’s fine. [3:43]
911 dispatcher: Alright, George, I’ll let them know you’ll meet them at …
Zimmerman: Could you have them call me and I’ll tell them where I’m at? [3:49]
911 dispatcher: OK, that’s no problem.
Zimmerman: My number … you’ve got it?
911 dispatcher: Yeah, I’ve got it. 435-2400?
Zimmerman: Yeah, you got it.
911 dispatcher: OK, no problem. I’ll let them know to call you when they’re in the area. [4:02]
Zimmerman: Thanks.
911 dispatcher: You’re welcome.
Zimmerman’s car was parked near the mailboxes, but he rejected that meeting place so he could pursue Trayvon on foot. Here’s what he told Officer Singleton.
Singleton: OK. So you’re just parked here
Zimmerman: I
Singleton: You follow him
Zimmerman: … [unintelligible]
Singleton: …doesn’t matter, thank you so much. So you walk here and when you get here, you realize, OK I’m just gonna go back to my car? Is that what happens, or…
Zimmerman: No. The dispatcher says, um, would you like a police officer to still come out, cause I said I don’t know where he went.
Singleton: OK.
Zimmerman: He’s…cause he asked me for the, what direction they went in
Singleton: OK
Zimmerman: what road, and I said I don’t know where he went. And they said, well, do you still want a pol, uh, officer to meet you, and I said yes. And they said, well where do you want them to meet you, and I said at my car.
Singleton: OK.
Zimmerman: So I start walking back towards my car.
Now, when Officer Singleton says “So you walk here and when you get here, you realize, OK I’m just gonna go back to my car?” she is saying that Zimmerman walked all the way past where the shooting took place to where the sidewalk meets Retreat View Circle on the eastern border of the map. And Zimmerman is claiming the he was on the phone with dispatcher that entire time and that he agreed to meet the police at his car, which is false. As to the timing, we know that Zimmerman was out of his car by 2:26 of the non-emergency call, and that the call ended at 4:07. That would give him 1:41 to walk from his car near the elbow of Twin Trees Lane to the end of the sidewalk on the eastern part of Retreat View Circle. That might be plausible except for something important that you can hear on the non-emergency call. At 2:22 of that YouTube, you can hear the wind in Zimmerman’s phone as he leaves his vehicle. The dispatcher notices immediately and asks if he is following the subject. At 2:29, he tells Zimmerman not to follow him. At 2:45, you can no longer hear any more wind. It’s clear that Zimmerman has gotten back in his car. He was not on the phone with the dispatcher when he walked the ‘T.’
His story is total bullshit.