Trayvon Martin | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 2
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Trayvon Martin Tag

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 01, 2014 32 Comments
We wrote yesterday about the "October Surprise/Get Out the Vote" announcement by a flailing Obama administration that the Department of Justice will be holding a Grand Jury hearing next Wednesday regarding possible federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. The only named witness for Wednesday's hearing is Frank Taaffe, a self-declared "friend" for George Zimmerman. Earlier this year Taaffe suddenly announced that he believed Zimmerman had a racial, not merely self-defense, motive in killing Trayvon Martin. This would be more than two years after the shooting occurred. One wonders why Taaffe waited so long to speak to the FBI on this matter. Except that, of course, Taaffe had long ago spoken with the FBI on this matter, way back in May 2012 when he was interviewed by FBI Special Agent Oliver following the shooting. (h/t to Legal Insurrection commenter P4R4L3G4L for the reminder.) At that time he denied any racial discussions with Zimmerman, although he wasn't shy about expressing his own arguably racist sentiments.

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 30, 2014 76 Comments
Note: Title has been updated. The Orlando Sentinel newspaper today reported that the Department of Justice has assembled a Federal Grand jury to meet next week to hear testimony about whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights on the night that Zimmerman ultimately killed Martin in self-defense. It was only last month that the Washington Post reported that unidentified Federal law enforcement officials thought it very unlikely that federal charges would be brought against Zimmerman, due to insufficient evidence.  Indeed, despite having dozens of FBI agents interview scores of people regarding Zimmerman's shooting of Martin, not even a smidgen of racism was uncovered in Zimmerman's past or in the particular events surrounding his self-defense shooting of Martin. Indeed, quite the contrary: what evidence was uncovered with regard to race showed the opposite of racial animus.  For example, Zimmerman and his wife tutored black school children. Zimmerman's elderly black neighbor testified at his trial (by television, due to severe illness) in glowing terms about Zimmerman's kindness towards her.  One of Zimmerman's college professors, a black Naval officer, also spoke glowingly about him, and noted that Zimmerman had told him he'd planned to become a prosecutor someday.  When a local black youth was beaten by the son of a local police official, Zimmerman organized the community to rally in favor of accountability.

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 12, 2014 213 Comments
Well, this is interesting. I came across the University of Miami Law School Summer 2014 edition of their law review, and noted that it had a particular focus on Stand-Your-Ground. Awesome! I dug right into the Foreword, "Stand Your Ground” in Context: Race, Gender, and Politics," by University of Miami School of Law Professor Donna Coker. As you might expect, it was chock full of the race, gender, and political facets of Stand-Your-Ground, none of which is really in my wheelhouse.  It did, of course, talk about several of the recent (and upcoming) self-defense cases, including Zimmerman, Dunn, and Alexander--none of which, of course, actually are Stand-Your-Ground cases, but whatever. Here's a sample of prose to give you a taste of things, for those of you who daren't click on the link above for the entirety of it:
If the phenomenon of violent crime is "classed," surely the social construction of criminality is more so. Professor Jones calls attention to the intersections of gender, race, class, and youth in the popular imagination of the "thug," which he argues is evidenced in George Zimmerman's assessment of Trayvon Martin and is perpetuated by Zimmerman's supporters.  Jones deftly demonstrates that the identity ascribed to young Trayvon Martin by Zimmerman's supporters--and Zimmerman--is an intersectional identity defined by race (black), age (youth), gender (male), and class (poor): "[t]he same moral panic, which once targeted all blacks, has refocused on black males in urban areas with saggy pants and hoodies," images that are "deeply associated with criminals and crime."  The references in the blogosphere to Trayvon as a "thug, vandal, burglar, pothead and/or drug dealer" illustrate this widely held association.
(internal footnote references removed) So, there's 17 pages of that kind of stuff, if you're interested. I have to confess I didn't make it all the way through myself, as I bumped up across an interesting factual claim with regard to the Zimmerman trial.

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 02, 2014 65 Comments
The Washington Post reported yesterday that "The Justice Department is not expected to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin." The reasons why appear in the 10th paragraph of the story:
Mark O’Mara, the lawyer who represented Zimmerman, said that approximately 40 witness statements collected by investigators in 2012 indicated there was no evidence to support a civil rights prosecution. “I was watching the whole case pretty closely for two years, and they didn’t do anything except take those 40 statements,” O’Mara said. The statements “suggested that George acted in very non-racist ways. He took a black girl to the prom. His best buddy was a black guy. He mentored two black kids. He sought justice for a black homeless man beaten up by a white cop’s son.” “To those who have seen civil rights investigations and civil rights violations,” he said, “it looked as though the Department of Justice was just placating pressure that existed by suggesting there was an ongoing investigation.”
[caption id="attachment_69481" align="alignnone" width="500"]George Zimmerman, immediately following the vicious attack upon him by Trayvon Martin (George Zimmerman, immediately following the vicious attack upon him by Trayvon Martin)[/caption]

Posted by Andrew Branca on September 19, 2014 44 Comments
A JD student at the University of Miami School of Law--and a long-time fan of "The Law of Self Defense"--contacted me recently to share a notice he'd received from the school. It seems for the Fall 2014 semester they will be offering a "short course" (good for one credit) with a focus on the Trayvon Martin case, entitled "Legal Advocacy, Media and the Pursuit of Social Justice." The first note of interest is that the course is being "taught" by none other than Jasmine Rand, an attorney with the firm of Crump & Park. Benjamin Crump, of course, was the public legal face of the Martin family, as he is currently the public legal face of the Mike Brown family in the Ferguson shooting. Attorney Rand herself "leads the firm’s Civil Rights Department. Her evolving practice focuses on civil rights, wrongful death, civil rape, and catastrophic personal injury." Ms. Rand is perhaps most memorable for her appearance on the Greta Van Susteren show on Fox News in the aftermath of the George Zimmerman trial. Zimmerman was, of course, unanimously acquitted by the jury of all charges after mere hours of deliberations. In the course of her four minutes or so of air time Ms. Rand expressed her view that the jury in that trial had not delivered "justice." When asked if it was not her duty as a lawyer to accept a duly empaneled jury's verdict, Ms. Rand responded that she has a greater duty than being a lawyer, and that was to be a "social engineer."  Good stuff:

Posted by Andrew Branca on August 19, 2014 121 Comments
The fatal shooting of the Mike Brown by police officer Darren Wilson has raised a hue and cry about a wide variety of social issues, among them the increasingly vitriolic nature of American race relations, the astonishing militarization of the police (or, perhaps more accurately, their equipment), and the curious (to me, at least) degree to which the rioting, looting, and arson that followed the shooting was rationalized as “wrong, but understandable.” [caption id="attachment_96650" align="alignnone" width="450"]Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson[/caption]

A Too-Familiar Misinformation Cascade

This most recent high-profile shooting has also seen the deployment of a too-familiar misinformation cascade in cases where there is a real or perceived racial element.  This misinformation cascade achieves its purpose by taking what few “facts” are typically available in the immediate aftermath of such an event, and passing them through a rhetorical filter to construct two defining narrative elements:

The pure victim: An image of the victim as an innocent, nearly saint-like, young child of such tender years as to suggest that the very notion of him committing an act of malice is preposterous.

The monstrous aggressor: An image of the shooter as an angry, hateful, racist monster with a hunger for shooting young black children dead in circumstances totally absent of legal justification.

The Misinformation Cascade in the Zimmerman/Trayvon Case

In the case of the shooting of Trayvon Martin by the "White Hispanic" George Zimmerman, these dual goals were accomplished in several ways.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 30, 2014 61 Comments
How can we miss her, when she won't go away? Judge Debra Nelson, who presided over the murder trial of George Zimmerman, today issued a ruling dismissing his libel suit against NBC (a copy of that ruling can be found at the bottom of this post). Those of us who followed the Zimmerman murder trial closely will recall Judge Nelson as ruling so consistently in favor of the Prosecution, fairly bending over backwards in her deference to prosecution arguments. Judge-Debra-Nelson-trayvon-martin-case In contrast, her rulings in favor of the defense were few and far between.  It was surely a similar perception by the defense that inhibited them from ever seeking self-defense immunity for Zimmerman, as provided for under Florida statute 776.032 "Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force." That the same judge who so consistently ruled against Zimmerman at his murder trial would be the one chosen to also preside over his libel suit against NBC is eye brow raising, to say the least. Zimmerman's libel suit against NBC was based on NBC's admitted doctoring of the audio of his 911 call to police, apparently done with the intent of making Zimmerman appear to be racist.
Purported evidence of racism on the part of Zimmerman was, at the time, extremely important to the prosecution of the case, for two reasons.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 11, 2014 25 Comments
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is among the most aggressive groups in seeking to limit, if not eliminate, the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear Arms. CSGV also attacks so-called Stand Your Ground laws through misleading accounts of what happened in the Trayvon Martin shooting by George Zimmerman.  This CSGV video released about a month after the Not Guilty verdict, received a lot of attention:
The video was highly misleading as it related to the actual facts of the case.  One of the harshest critics was Andrew Branca, a contributor at Legal Insurrection and author of The Law of Self Defense. Branca, whose extensive coverage of the Zimmerman trial received national attention, wrote a blistering critique of the video, Deceptive Trayvon Martin Shooting Reenactment Video Released (emphasis added):
The video is highly deceptive, and nothing more than a continuation of the propaganda campaign about the case. Had they felt any affinity for the truth, they might have mentioned Martin’s emerging from the darkness to fell Zimmerman with a blow the neighborhood watch volunteer never saw coming, a blow that hit with such force that it broke Zimmerman’s nose, and which he described to police that same night as feeling as if he had been hit by a brick. Had they felt any affinity for the truth, they might have mentioned Zimmerman’s many and numerous injuries about the head and face, especially those caused by Martin striking Zimmerman’s head on a cement sidewalk, with any single blow capable of being the one that turned Zimmerman into a drooling vegetable or simply taking his life. Had they felt any affinity for the truth, they might have mentioned Martin’s long record of school violence, his engagement in street fighting, his apparent drug use, his apparent gun dealing, and his self-expressed desire to beat his victims until they had suffered “enough”. Had they felt any affinity for the truth, they might have mentioned Zimmerman’s long history of affectionate and communal relationship with black neighbors throughout his life, from his childhood to the present day, or indeed Zimmerman’s own mixed-race background. The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence tried for decades, under various guises and name changes, to seize the guns of law-abiding citizens. They failed. They tried to limit the right of the citizenry to carry arms for personal protection, they failed. By demanding a legal duty to retreat from a felonious attacker they weaken the position of the law-abiding armed citizen who sought no fight and strengthen the hand of the felony criminal who possessed all the power to choose when, where, and how to launch his vicious attack, robbery, or rape of his intended victim.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 09, 2014 66 Comments
Andrew Branca was invited by Campbell University Law School to speak on the issue for which he is best known, The Law of Self Defense. Here's part of the press release announcing the visit:
Nationally renowned self-defense expert Andrew Branca will speak at Campbell Law School next Tuesday, April 8 at noon in room 105. Branca, author of “The Law of Self Defense” will speak on how self-defense has become one of the latest hot button issues in gun law politics. He will also address North Carolina’s Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground laws.... One of the foremost experts in the United States in self-defense law across all 50 states, Branca’s expertise has been used by the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, NPR, and numerous other media organizations, as well as many private, state, and federal agencies. A Massachusetts-based attorney, he is an adjunct instructor of the law of self-defense at the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, New Hampshire. He regularly lectures throughout the country on self-defense and the legal consequences thereafter. “Mr. Branca is one of the leading experts nationally on self-defense and the Second Amendment,” said Campbell Law Associate Professor of Law Greg Wallace. “We are fortunate to have him joining us, and I have no doubt that it will be an engaging experience for all in attendance.”
One self-described "Online tech fixer for progressive causes" tweeted:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 25, 2013 75 Comments
The painting above is, or was, available on Ebay, and was catching on after George Zimmerman's famous art success. It portrays George Zimmerman as a hooded Klansman executing Trayvon. At this point, people like that artist are beyond hope. He obviously didn't watch the trial and is unfamiliar with the actual facts of the case.  Or doesn't care about the facts. Via Mediaite, Anti-Zimmerman Artwork Pulled Down by eBay as Zimmerman’s Painting Sells for $100K:
If George Zimmerman can sell his first-ever painting for more than $100,000 on eBay, why shouldn’t another artist be able to sell his anti-Zimmerman piece for a fraction of that price? On the same day that Zimmerman’s auction closed, eBay reportedly yanked a piece by artist Michael D’Antuono .... D’Antuono explained the situation on his blog:
On the same day that George Zimmerman closed his ebay auction of his painting for over $100,000, the online auctioneers removed my anti-racism painting inspired by the Zimmerman case, “A Tale Of Two Hoodies” for being “hateful or discriminatory.” While Zimmerman was allowed to capitalize on his ill-gotten notoriety, I was denied the opportunity to raise funds to help the very foundation named in honor of Zimmerman’s victim.

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 30, 2013 108 Comments
Reuters reports that Sanford, Florida -- the town where George Zimmerman successfully and lawfully defended his life by shooting and killing a vicious attacker, Trayvon Martin -- has passed new rules for how neighborhood watch volunteers may conduct themselves. In particular, it forbids them from being armed with a firearm, as well as from pursuing a suspicious person. Florida city bans guns for neighborhood watch volunteers:
The Florida city where neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin is changing the rules on how civilian patrols can operate to help prevent a recurrence and revive the program's reputation. The new rules, to be released at a community meeting on November 5 in Sanford, Florida, will state explicitly that residents acting under the authority of neighborhood watch may not carry a firearm or pursue someone they deem suspicious.
The Reuters piece, published in the Chicago Tribune, notes that the "prosecution accused [Zimmerman] of racially profiling Martin, a high school student visiting from Miami, and then pursuing, confronting and shooting him." Nowhere in the article -- seriously, nowhere -- do they mention the vicious, life-threatening beating that Martin launched against Zimmerman without any just cause (even Martin's girlfriend, who was on the phone with him at the moment of the attack, testified that it was Martin who initiated the physical conflict). Local News 13 further reports:
Sanford's new police chief, Cecil Smith, said the neighborhood watch program as it was operated while Zimmerman was part of it was dysfunctional and had no accountability. "In this program, it is clearly stated that you will not pursue an individual," Smith explained. "In this new program, it clearly indicates that you will not carry a firearm when performing your duties as a neighborhood watch captain or participant."
I expect Sanford FL will encounter one, or both, of the following two realities in short order:

Posted by Andrew Branca on October 10, 2013 18 Comments
The Orlando Sentinel reports that an ad hoc Florida state Senate panel, drawn together specifically to advocate changes to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, has emerged to announce that there should be changes to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. The key change sought by the panel is to impose limits on the immunity from civil liability for people who lawfully defend themselves against lethal attack.  In other words, civil damage lawsuits even after an acquittal. Ironically, the changes advocated by the “Stand Your Ground” committee do not target Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” statute at all--§776.013(3). Home protection; use of deadly force; presumption of fear of death or great bodily harm—but rather seek to undermine Florida’s self-defense immunity statute—§776.032. Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force. [caption id="attachment_58288" align="alignnone" width="446"](Defense attorney Mark O'Mara during Zimmerman trial) (Defense attorney Mark O'Mara during Zimmerman trial)[/caption] Even a cursory reading of the law reveals that the Stand Your Ground statute has nothing whatever to do with the Self-Defense Immunity statute, other than having been adopted by the same session of the Florida legislature. Indeed, the legislators have simply cloaked their desire to re-impose criminal and civil liability on law-abiding people, who act in genuine self-defense, under the guise of “fighting” Stand Your Ground. In doing so, these feckless legislators  merely reveal the duplicitous nature of their actions. Under current Florida law, an unlawful aggressor who seeks to sue their victims for harm suffered at the hands of the defending victims will be compelled to reimburse the victim if the victim's use of force is judged to have been lawful self-defense.  It is precisely this provision that keeps the lawyers advising the Trayvon Martin family from bringing suit against George Zimmerman.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2013 61 Comments

The deification of Trayvon Martin, with comparisons to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Emmitt Till, is just part of the false narrative of the prosecution of George Zimmerman. We are seeing a mythology grow and become embedded on campuses which misrepresents the factual and legal nature...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2013 51 Comments

Andrew Branca and I gave a lecture on September 12, 2013, at Cornell Law School in an event sponsored by the Cornell 2nd Amendment Club. The topic was the George Zimmerman shooting of Trayvon Martin and subsequent trial. My segment starts at 2:45 and Andrew Branca's at...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 13, 2013 134 Comments

Andrew Branca and I gave our presentation yesterday at Cornell Law School on the Zimmerman case, and the reasons why the jury reached the correct verdict. I'm hopeful the video will be available to post soon. One of the things I talked about was the...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 03, 2013 58 Comments

Umm, let me think on that. I have until September 12 at 4 p.m. to decide. This event sponsored by the Cornell Law School 2nd Amendment Club is open to the public, although good luck finding parking! Update: In response to some reader inquiries, I'm not sure if...