Martin's lawyer's are playing a logic trick (I hesitate to call it clever, but it will fool lots of people) where they cite conflicting witness accounts, say that creates reasonable doubt, therefore there should be a trial. If that was the standard that police used, then any nutcase can make a fabricated claim, and "create" reasonable doubt. Here, we have witnesses who admit not seeing the altercation, so they create a view, based on sound only, of what they think was going down. That is insufficient basis for reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt is to be based on reason, not on speculation.
Anderson Cooper - March 20, 2012
COOPER: David, appreciate that.
Mary Cutcher and Selma Mora Lamilla live in the gated community where Trayvon Martin was killed. Mary was one of the people who called 911. They both say the police were siding with George Zimmerman from the start. I spoke to Mary and Selma about what they saw and they heard on that day.(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So you heard some sort of whining, some sort of commotion outside?MARY CUTCHER, NEIGHBOR: I was in the kitchen with the window open and the blinds pulled. So we had complete view from outside.
COOPER: What was the first thing you saw?
SELMA LAMILLA, NEIGHBOR: By that time, like shot -- like some other noise.
COOPER: You heard the gunshot?
Lamilla: Yes. And I run away from my backyard, and when I just get into the point of my -- like my screen, it stopped me, I look at that person on his knees on top of a body.
COOPER: So you saw Mr. Zimmerman on top of Trayvon Martin?
LAMILLA: Exactly.
COOPER: When you say on top of, how so?
LAMILLA: He was...
CUTCHER: Straddling him.
LAMILLA: Exactly.
COOPER: His legs were straddling him?
CUTCHER: One on each side, on his knees, with his hands on his back. I immediately thought, OK, maybe -- obviously, if it's the shooter, he would have ran. I thought maybe he's holding the wound, helping the guy, taking a pulse, making sure he's OK. And when she called to him three times, "Everything OK? What's going on?" Each time he looked back, didn't say anything.
And then the third time he finally said, "Call the police."
LAMILLA: But at that time it was so dark. I just saw this person. When she started calling the police, I saw Zimmerman walking with -- touching like his hair, like kind of like confused back and forth to the body. And -- and...
COOPER: So he was sort of pacing back and forth?
LAMILLA: Yes. Like, like -- oh, my God.
CUTCHER: He's pace and go back to the body and just like -- I don't know if he was kind of "Oh, my God, what did I do? What happened?"
LAMILLA: Something like that.
COOPER: So you didn't hear or see any altercation, any struggle?
LAMILLA: No.
COOPER: You only heard the cry, or the whimpering as you describe it, and then the shot?
CUTCHER: Yes.
COOPER: So you believe whatever altercation or tussle or whatever there was, you believe that happened elsewhere, but you didn't witness it?
CUTCHER: I believe that it had -- it had to have started from where the first person that called 911 and said, "There's a fight right outside my porch."
COOPER: How far away is that person?
CUTCHER: It's a couple doors down. And from that point to where his body was, you know, two or three doors down, it's hard for me to believe that -- and at the time that we heard the whining and then the gunshot, we did not hear any wrestling, no punching, fighting, nothing to give -- make it sound like there was a fight.
COOPER: When police now have said -- you gave an interview to a local station. Police have said what you said in that interview, what you're saying now is -- is contradicting what you told them early on. That your initial statement to police actually backs up George Zimmerman's version of events.
CUTCHER: Actually, when that was released I called the PR guy for the chief of police, and I demanded that they retract it and print the truth.
COOPER: They say that when they initially contacted you, that you didn't want to make any kind of a statement.
CUTCHER: They never...
LAMILLA: Can I say something about it? It's because that why I just decided to speak in public. I was the one that I never wanted to...
KUTCHER: She was the one...
COOPER: You didn't want to make a statement?
LAMILLA: Exactly. Well, I did, because she wanted (ph), but I didn't want to be in cameras.
COOPER: Right.
LAMILLA: When she said, we need to help the family, I said no, I don't want to go in the cameras.
COOPER: So when police say that your initial statement backs up Zimmerman's...
CUTCHER: I don't know how it's any different from what I said in the original interview, when I did...
COOPER: So what you're saying now tonight is the same as what you told the police initially?
CUTCHER: Absolutely. I said nothing different. The only thing I can think of that would have any difference whatsoever is they asked me how would you know that it was Trayvon that was whining? And I said, "I don't know. I guess because it stopped when the gun went off." And if it were Zimmerman crying, because he was hurt or something, I think he would have continued. I don't know.
What I heard was a very young voice and it stopped immediately when the gun went off.
COOPER: Based on what you saw -- and again, you didn't see a struggle -- do you believe it was self-defense? On Zimmerman's part?
CUTCHER: I did not.
COOPER: Why?
CUTCHER: Originally, I didn't believe it was self-defense because of what we saw when we walked out on the porch. If it was self-defense, why was he on his -- on Trayvon's back?
COOPER: What was your -- your impression of the police's attitude towards this? Did you form an impression?
CUTCHER: They were siding with him.
COOPER: With Zimmerman?
CUTCHER: Yes.
COOPER: What makes you say that?
CUTCHER: I guess just their nonchalant attitude. Because he's in, you know, classes to be a police officer and, you know, he had a squeaky clean background, which he does not. It has come out what his background is. And let him go.
COOPER: Well, thank you very much for talking. I appreciate it.
CUTCHER: Thank you.
LAMILLA: No problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Anderson Cooper - March 27, 2012
[ANDERSON COOPER] We're also now learning that there are competing narratives from others including the Sanford Police. There's a leaked account of George Zimmerman's statement to police suggesting that Trayvon Martin confronted him, punched him in the face and slammed his head into the -- to the ground. At least two eyewitnesses apparently confirming that account of Trayvon Martin as the aggressor. And one eyewitness saying it was George Zimmerman actually who cried out for help.But another person who heard the scuffle but only saw the aftermath seems to contradict it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY CATCHER (sic), WITNESSED SHOOTING AFTERMATH: Zimmerman was standing over the body with -- basically straddling the body with his hands on Trayvon's back. And it didn't seem to me that he was trying to help him in any way. It didn't seem to me -- I didn't hear any struggle prior to the gun shot. And I feel like it was Trayvon Martin that was crying out because the minute that the gun shot went off, the whining stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Off the subject of witnesses for a moment, from Anderson Cooper - March 26, 2012
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: First decision will be, do we have everything we need and if we do we probably won't need a grand jury.COOPER: And you're hoping to make that decision, you think, within the next couple of days?
COREY: No, no. Probably -- hopefully by the end of the week after next, or -- we need a couple of weeks to continue to do this. Remember, our burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt. That's an extremely high burden especially in light of the "Stand Your Ground" law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Notice the valley talk in transcript, like man, like....WOW.I'm gonna milk these fifteen minute like to sixteen or maybe like to eternity and beyond .
And she expects LeO to take her seriously. Like gee. I mean.
It's still the gap between hanging up from dispatcher and getting punched in face that needs a witness.....This one is like ....ummm ....a fail.