Reporter's Notebook from the Trial of George Zimmerman—Tuesday 7/9/2013
July 9, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The trial of George Zimmerman is taking place on the fifth floor of the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Florida. Its quiet, well-lit hallways and its solemn paneled courtrooms seem far removed from the lynch mob justice that was not so long ago routinely administered against Black people throughout the U.S. South, certainly including the area of Central Florida around Orlando and Sanford.
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But the courtroom today echoes from the brutal lynchings of the not-so-long-ago past, when not only were Black people killed by savage racist mobs, their remains, and postcards of their mangled bodies were sold as souvenirs. Their murderers were never arrested, and often were regarded as honorable, upstanding citizens of the white community.
I was reminded of this when I was in this courthouse, sitting a row behind Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of the murdered Trayvon Martin. Sybrina and Tracy were only about 20 feet or so from where their son's killer, George Zimmerman, smugly sat, conferring with his attorneys, occasionally laughing at their private jokes. Sybrina and Tracy have been forced to listen, over and over, to sounds of a recording made as Zimmerman was about to murder their son. Several times in this trial, and again on Tuesday, enlarged pictures of Trayvon's wounds and displays of the clothes he was wearing when he was shot in the chest have been put on a large screen in the courtroom and broadcast repeatedly around the world.
The Defense of a Racist Killer
Zimmerman's attorneys continued their defense on Monday and Tuesday this week. On Monday, a procession of people who knew Zimmerman testified. The supposed purpose of this parade of Zimmerman's friends was to testify that Zimmerman is the one heard yelling "help" on the dispatch operator's tape of a phone call from a neighbor.
In having Zimmerman's closest friends testify they could identify his voice, the defense was working to divert the focus of the trial from the basic facts—that Zimmerman defied the instructions of the dispatch operator, stalked, and killed an unarmed teenager minding his own business on his way home from the store.
Beyond that, this progression of witnesses also constituted an attempt to refute that Zimmerman stalked and killed Trayvon Martin with "ill will."
The Mindset of the Culture Around George Zimmerman
One of the men who testified had bonded with Zimmerman as he trained Zimmerman how to use a handgun. Another met Zimmerman at his martial arts studio, which billed itself as the world's best in training for mixed martial arts, and where Zimmerman trained in martial arts for a year. His lawyers and these witnesses all claimed that Zimmerman was a mild-mannered person, not at all violent; not someone filled with malice.
These witnesses established nothing factual about the case. They did nothing to get closer to the question of what happened that night, what made George Zimmerman think he had the right and ability to set off in pursuit of a 17-year-old and shoot a hole in his heart.
The prosecution had these witnesses listen to an actual, verified recording of Zimmerman's voice. This was Zimmerman's call to the police dispatcher. This is the call in which he called the person he was beginning to pursue—Trayvon Martin—one of "these fucking punks… assholes [who] always get away."
It was a damning commentary on the whole mindset and white supremacist culture of Zimmerman's circle of friends and the society that created their mentality that none of them thought this in any way demonstrated any ill will on Zimmerman's part!
In fact, one of Zimmerman's witnesses had to listen to the recording several times, before she would admit that she even heard Zimmerman refer to Trayvon as one of "these fucking punks" and one of the "assholes" who always get away. And when she finally did have to admit she heard this on the tape (and this is someone supposedly testifying that she could clearly identify Zimmerman's voice in the background of a call to a police dispatcher), she dismissed this venom as just ordinary conversation.
What really shined through in all their testimony was that none of these people, beginning with Zimmerman himself and going through all his friends, saw anything at all amiss with him holstering his gun and setting off in pursuit of a Black youth he declared to be "suspicious," a Black youth doing absolutely nothing wrong.
Tracy Martin Testifies Again and Injects Reality
One of the most appalling moments of this entire trial occurred when Zimmerman's lawyers called Tracy Martin to the stand as a defense witness. Earlier, two Sanford detectives who had questioned Tracy Martin said or implied that Tracy's initial reaction to hearing the recording of a voice screaming for help was to say that it wasn't Trayvon.
But Tracy responded to this powerfully. In a hushed courtroom, he said he had told the cops "I can't tell. I never said that's not my son's voice." Remember, this is a man overcome with shock and grief at the horrible murder of his son, responding to hearing his voice a few days after he was gunned down. Tracy said he sat in a room listening to the recording over and over again while everyone else from his family left the room.
Defense attorneys wanted to make it seem as if Tracy did this because he couldn't determine whose voice it was. But in one of the most moving and truthful moments of the entire proceedings, Tracy said he did this because "I was just trying to figure out the night of February 26, 2012. I was trying to figure out why someone got out of their car and shot my son."
More Holes in Zimmerman's Story
Tuesday's testimony featured a forensic pathologist called by the defense, Dr. Vincent Di Maio. He was called by the defense to refute testimony from the prosecution's medical experts that Zimmerman had suffered no serious injuries, and to say that when Trayvon was shot he was on top of Zimmerman.
But this witness wound up undermining Zimmerman's fabrications and how they've been spun in court by his attorneys. Enlarged photos of Zimmerman with a couple of bruises on the back of his head and caked blood on his nose and upper mouth had been flaunted by his lawyers as if they indicated serious trauma.
Everyone in the courtroom knew that no blood or DNA from Zimmerman was found on Trayvon's hands or fingernails. At one point, a state's attorney approached Dr. Di Maio with one of these enlarged photos. He put a hand over the mouth and nose in the photo, and asked Di Maio, "If I put my hand over this, what would you expect my hand to have on it?"
The room became hushed when Di Maio answered, "blood."
Here are some other questions Zimmerman and his lawyers have never answered in any serious way.
Question—If Trayvon was straddling Zimmerman and both punching and pounding his head, how did Trayvon notice a gun behind him?
Question—If Zimmerman's lawyer could demonstrate "ground and pound" mixed martial arts in court, why can't someone show how Zimmerman could possibly retrieve his gun from its holster while Trayvon was straddling him?
Question—If Trayvon was pinching Zimmerman's nose and putting his hand over Zimmerman's mouth to the point he had difficulty breathing, how was he able to supposedly scream for help?
Question—If Trayvon got so far away from Zimmerman that he lost sight of Trayvon, how did Trayvon manage to jump out of bushes (that don't even exist) to attack Zimmerman?
Question—If Zimmerman got on top of Trayvon and spread his arms wide, why was Trayvon's body found with his hand tucked underneath his body?
Question—If Zimmerman didn't think he hit Trayvon when he fired his weapon, why would he stop screaming for help at that exact moment?
Question—Where is the cell phone Zimmerman says he got out just before Trayvon punched him and a scuffle ensued?
Reaching a Crossroads
This trial is nearing an end. Defense attorneys announced late Tuesday afternoon that they will probably close their case on Wednesday. Closing arguments will follow, and the case will go to the jury.
Trayvon did not have to die. He was gunned down by a racist assassin, confident that he had the backing of the police, the legal apparatus, and in fact the whole system. But his murderer has been brought to trial because Trayvon's parents courageously stood up and demanded justice for their son, and because an entire movement of people erupted across the country and reverberated throughout the world.
And the outcome of this trial is not a foregone conclusion, either in the Seminole County Courthouse or broadly in society. There is no question at all that Zimmerman set off to confront Trayvon Martin on that rainy night in Sanford, and moments later shot him dead. But will that be determined to be "legitimate self defense," or will it be determined to be what it in fact is—cold-blooded murder?
As we wrote in Revolution recently, this trial, whatever its outcome, is an outrage. The terms on which it is being decided and evaluated are not in the interests of the people. There needs to be Justice for Trayvon, and it should be fought for as part of building for a day when all the Trayvons of this world can not only walk home with a bag of candy without fear of being shot down, but can fully flourish.
Vigils are being organized by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network after the case goes to the jury, and actions are being planned when the verdict comes in. Join in and help build one if you are in or near a city where one is planned; call for and organize one if there isn't one in your town.
NOTE: At the end of today's testimony, the judge in the case heard arguments for and against showing the jury a major animated, supposed recreation of the death of Trayvon Martin prepared by the defense. Stay tuned to revcom.us for analysis when the ruling comes down.
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