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I don't give that a whole lot of weight. Some, but not a lot. He was not a judge in Florida.
Actually who can give better advice on the law but a judge? I'm pretty sure that the average citizen is not aware that a felony can be changed into misdameaners so easily. I also realize that judges like lawyers and police officers share a common fraternity and you never know who knows who and what power that they wield
You are correct! It would be a violation of the inmate's rights...Of course, I was referring to personal visits and calls...
Yes, it would violate the inmate's rights in terms of attorney client privilege. Yes, all non-legal visits and phone calls are recorded, which is why attorneys usually advise their clients to NOT discuss their cases with anyone while they are in jail.
Then on a whole different level, there is the issue of snitches in jails. This is often how the state ends up with "information" harmful to the defendant, by getting snitches to "report" conversations they had or supposedly had with the inmate. I'm wondering if Zimmerman was a talkative inmate.
Actually who can give better advice on the law but a judge? I'm pretty sure that the average citizen is not aware that a felony can be changed into misdameaners so easily. I also realize that judges like lawyers and police officers share a common fraternity and you never know who knows who and what power that they wield
Zimmerman's father was not that kind of judge. My thinking is that maybe Zimmerman's father knew some people in the SPD on a personal level. You don't have to be a judge or attorney to have some behind-the-scenes influence.
As for felonies being changed to misdemeanors in cases, it's not such an infrequent thing. That is usually negotiated between the prosecutor and defense counsel, agreed to by the defendant, a plea entered before the judge. When there are plea agreements, and a plea entered, there are a series of questions the Court asks the defendant regarding their state of mind and whether or not they were coerced to take a plea. Those things are pretty well covered because guilty pleas cannot be appealed.
Yes, it would violate the inmate's rights in terms of attorney client privilege. Yes, all non-legal visits and phone calls are recorded, which is why attorneys usually advise their clients to NOT discuss their cases with anyone while they are in jail.
Then on a whole different level, there is the issue of snitches in jails. This is often how the state ends up with "information" harmful to the defendant, by getting snitches to "report" conversations they had or supposedly had with the inmate. I'm wondering if Zimmerman was a talkative inmate.
It always blows me away when inmates ignore the THIS IS RECORDED! signs posted everywhere and blabs on and on and on LOL
Zimmerman was actually in PC, doubt very much he was in contact with other inmates...but you never know...
Thanks Evenstar51, the police reports are sealed right now, these reports will be part of discovery, if it goes through the courts the clerk will upload the docs to the site. If the prosecution only presents a list of evidence/docs through the courts (as FancyFeast5000 explained) the public will not have access...I'll check though...
I think the police reports of the incident will be filed in the court file. Other, more sensitive information, IMO, will just be listed without the actual document. In Florida, there is a standard format which they use for that kind of listing.
Then, of course, I could be wrong about that in this high profile case; maybe they are just going to throw everything they have from their investigation out there in the public via filing everything in the court file.
Zimmerman's father was not that kind of judge. My thinking is that maybe Zimmerman's father knew some people in the SPD on a personal level. You don't have to be a judge or attorney to have some behind-the-scenes influence.
As for felonies being changed to misdemeanors in cases, it's not such an infrequent thing. That is usually negotiated between the prosecutor and defense counsel, agreed to by the defendant, a plea entered before the judge. When there are plea agreements, and a plea entered, there are a series of questions the Court asks the defendant regarding their state of mind and whether or not they were coerced to take a plea. Those things are pretty well covered because guilty pleas cannot be appealed.
Yes I realize that he was a magistrative judge but like I said his connections are really unknown.
Oh crap never mind I was thinking about expungments, thanks for the info
I think the police reports of the incident will be filed in the court file. Other, more sensitive information, IMO, will just be listed without the actual document. In Florida, there is a standard format which they use for that kind of listing.
Then, of course, I could be wrong about that in this high profile case; maybe they are just going to throw everything they have from their investigation out there in the public via filing everything in the court file.
If I remember correctly the Casey Anthony case had quite a few revealing document dumps...
Side Note: FancyFeast, what are your thoughts about GZ's myspace comments regarding his past cases, do you thing the prosecution can show cause|relevancy to utilize the "Williams Rule"?
Sure, it's not against the law to follow someone, but I can list hundreds of stupid things that people do all the time that are inadvisable, and if they do them, they'll have to pay the consequences. When did we need a list of rules to tell u's what we shouldn't be doing as responsible adults?
I remember there was a case in Texas, where a couple guys broke into this guys' neighbors house, and he shot them both. He got cleared of all wrong-doing.
If we take a previous point talking about people chasing after shoplifters, and how it is against company policy. Well why is it against company policy? Is it because it is stupid to chase after shoplifters? If you ran a private business, and someone came in and stole from you, wouldn't you want to chase them?
The reason why its against company policy is actually because, if the employee gets injured or injures someone else, the company could be liable if they didn't have that policy.
If you look at the sheer volume of shoplifting and theft and burglary in this country. And then contrast that with the likelihood of the thieves being caught. You can see that there is simply very little the police can do. And so it is understandable for someone like Zimmerman to feel the need to protect his community himself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FancyFeast5000
Redshadowz, when this case goes to trial, what teh state will have to do is prove the elements of 2nd degree murder. Have you looked up the law pertaining to 2nd degree murder? What the defense will have to do is put on evidence of self defense because they have asserted the affirmative defense of self defense.
Second degree murder is basically a murder that isn't premeditated, and isn't caused by a "heat of passion".
Basically, the state has to prove that Zimmerman was not attacked by Martin, and that Zimmerman had no reasonable level of fear for his life or from serious bodily harm.
The state has to prove that Zimmerman intentionally meant to kill Martin when he fired that shot, and that the shooting was unjustified. And I simply don't see how the state can make that charge stick.
I know a lot of people think that following someone is a form of aggression. But reporters follow celebrities all the time, and what happens when the celebrities attacks the reporter? Or even breaks the reporters camera? The celebrity gets in trouble.
Every piece of evidence that has been available, has basically indicated that Martin attacked Zimmerman. Whether or not you think Zimmerman should be charged with a crime because he shouldn't have been following an innocent kid, really doesn't matter.
Quote:
I can think of possible ways that using hollow point bullets as opposed to regular bullets could be used in pointing to the frame of mind of Zimmerman. It's possible that the neighborhood "responsibility" which Zimmerman took on could be used by him as a reason why he was watching Martin when explaining how he came to be watching him in the first place. (Motive) Different pieces of evidence will ultimately FIT TOGETHER to make a whole. You don't try criminal cases on little fragments alone. So, no, all these thoughts about the various pieces of information which has been revealed to the public is not, quote "bullcrap" unquote.
Hollow points really don't mean anything. First, Hollow points just assist in stopping power. In much the same way a .45 is going to have more stopping power than a .22. If you start arguing that people with hollow points are out to kill people, then you have to argue that anyone carrying around a 44 magnum is out to kill people. And you could make the same argument for shotguns.
My friend loves guns, has a concealed carry permit, goes shooting all the time, loads his gun with hollow points. Has never fired his guns in anger in his life, and hopes he never has to. Trust me, putting hollow points in your gun has nothing to do with anything.
Secondly, Martin died very quickly. There is no evidence right now that can prove that if the gun hadn't been filled full of hollow points, that Martin would still be alive.
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