On Apr 4, 11:19*am, "Robert Green" wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote in message

m...





Robert Green wrote:

Maybe. *At least they would have run his criminal record and might
have discovered information material to the case. *A good reason for
not releasing him as quickly as they did was that if he was guilty,
he would have a chance to go back and tamper with the crime scene or
potential witnesses. *I think people who have spent more time in
police custody than Zimmerman did in much less serious circumstances
are irked by how quickly Zimmerman was released. *That may be what
the law demands - now. *But that can and probably will change.

Meanwhile, the "speedy trial" clock starts ticking and the
possibility of retaliatory lawsuits for false arrest start dropping.

What "lawsuits for false arrest?" *They could have held him on a
material witness warrant. *End of story. *No jeopardy attaches, no
chance of tampering with the crime scene or lining up "witnesses,"
etc. *There are damn good reasons for keeping a shooter like
Zimmerman on ice until the facts are confirmed. *The noises so far is
that at least someone in authority had an issue with his release.
But we won't know for sure until weeks or months from now.

Agreed, they could have held him as a "material witness." For about two
hours. The rules for holding a material witness are much the same as
setting
bond: What are the chances the subject will flee the jurisdiction of the
court. In the instant case, Zimmerman had a home, family, job, (evidently)
no criminal record, good standing in the community, and so forth. Any
lawyer
could have sprung him in an instant.

As long as he came up with the MONEY for a "good lawyer." *The ones I know
don't work for free.



There was NOTHING to be gained by the state in arresting Zimmerman.

Disagree. *This whole big snowball might have been avoided if people
thought there was at least some discomfort to Zimmerman to taking a
life. *He engaged in a confrontation he was warned by police agents
NOT to have. *It was a confrontation he provoked by approaching
Martin, at least according to some reports.

Yep, that's true. But the blame for the mob mentality lies with the mob,
not
Zimmerman.

Doesn't matter where the blame lies now that the lion's out of the cage, so
to speak. *That's the problem with these sorts of incidents. *They can take
on a life of their own very quickly. *Zimmerman's in hiding, his gun
confiscated and the New Black Panthers have a bounty on his location and
arrest. *That's not an outcome I would call "good" for Zimmerman.





Jeez, we know how twitchy YOU get when someone comes up to you in the
parking lot of Home Depot with construction material in their hands.
(-: What if you shot that guy with the rebar but an investigation
showed he had just bought it and was doing concrete repair;. *What if
it further showed he was locked out or his car and hoped you would
call AAA for him? *What if the cellphone he was carrying showed he
has dialed AAA just before approaching you but the battery died? *I
can think of a dozen bad outcomes for you had you shot a guy just for
approaching you in the parking lot of a construction supply store
with construction material in his hand.

Guess what? It does't matter what the guy in the parking lot had as his
reasons or motives. It doesn't matter who he called or whether he was a
member of the Salvation Army collecting donations. The ONLY thing that
counts is what I believed and whether that which I believed is the same
thing that a "reasonable person" would also believe.

You say that but my experience is that what happens is someone gets to
decide what your state of mind was. *It could be the State's Attorney, as it
seems to have been here, or it could be the grand jury, a trial jury or a
trial judge. *If you shot a widower with 5 mewling kids at home, no criminal
record and the CCTV cameras in the parking lot record you acting not
frightened looking enough, you could be in a world of hurt. *Just because
you *say* you were in fear for your life doesn't legally excuse you from
proving it, or even worse, being unable to prove it. All a victim's lawyer
need do is assemble a number of your more opinionated posts here and you'd
might find yourself on the defensive trying to prove self-defense.


All your lawyer would have to do is assemble a number of your
posts and you'd have a good insanity or incompetence defense.