Zimmerman Needs More Than Help
Monday, August 20, 2012 at 11:18AM 
From very early on, something just didn’t seem right about George Zimmerman and his gun. It wasn’t one thing, either. It was a series of things, but one stuck out like a sore thumb. Zimmerman is left-handed, or so he claimed when handed a pen by an investigator with the Sanford police while being questioned in one of the interrogation rooms. Why, being left-handed, did he reenact the shooting using his right hand? Twice! That’s one puzzle I may be able to answer, but at the same time, it opens another one.
There are also questions about his confrontation with Trayvon Martin and how the gun came into play. Why wasn’t Trayvon’s blood on Zimmerman’s clothing? Why was there no gunshot residue on Zimmerman’s firing hand? Who or what inflicted the injury on the upper right side of his nose?
One of the questions I’ll answer is in response to something posed by ecossie possie on the previous post simply titled, The Kel-Tec PF-9. Could it have been a burn from the shell casing? I responded that I seriously doubt it, but that I would check with someone who knows.
I have a very close relative who is a major in the USAF. He did one tour of duty in Djibouti and two in war-torn Iraq. He is an avid gun collector and his personal “arsenal” is second-to-none. No one would ever question his credentials as an authority on weaponry, including pistols. To emphasize that point, he owns a Kel-Tec, but it is a model that’s a few notches up from Zimmerman’s.
I told him I had never heard of anyone being injured by a shell casing as it ejects out of the chamber. There isn’t enough velocity. He agreed, but before I could ask him if he was aware of anyone being injured, he said he had gotten a nasty burn on his face from one. But it only touches you for a split second, I responded. He said that casings are extremely hot and one only needs to touch you for a split second to burn. So… to ecossie, you are correct, Sir. It can cause a burn, but the odds are very low that it will hit you in the first place.
I asked him if the recoil of the gun or the back movement of the slide when fired could inflict harm, and he said he doubted it. “Only if the gun is very close to the shooter’s face to begin with.” I guess that means it’s possible, but highly improbable. In this case, who knows?
What about blood splatter? Why wasn’t any of Trayvon’s blood on Zimmerman’s clothing? He knew the answer right away. The blood coming out of the wound was quickly absorbed by his clothing. We know that Trayvon was wearing a light grey Nike sweatshirt (ME-8) and a dark grey Fruit of the Loom hooded sweatshirt (ME-12). That’s two barriers that absorbed the blood.
What about the lack of gunshot residue on the hand that fired the gun? Could this mean that someone else was involved? Of course not. In the case of a revolver, the drum holding the bullets revolves each time the gun is fired. The “silo” that holds each bullet is open on both ends. As the bullet fires, the drum rotates to the next bullet and, like a rocket, emits whatever is left out the back end, causing residue on the hand in the form of spent gunpowder, gunpowder that wasn’t ignited, metal flakes and possible burns. In the case of a 9mm like Zimmerman’s, the slide most likely prevented residue from shooting out the back because there was no escape route. Whatever there was got ejected with the spent shell casing, out and up the right side.
My source is familiar with the type of holster Zimmerman had. If you look at the above photograph, you can see the Velcro. What you cannot see is the Velcro on the other side and the metal clip that holds it to his waistband. The clip slides over the waistband and the holster is worn inside the pants, between the pants and underwear. That’s what keeps it from shifting around and, most of all, conceals the gun from view. The following photograph shows Zimmerman’s holster with the clip attached. It would be way too flimsy to wear on the outside waistband because there’s no strap or any other barrier to hold the gun in place; nothing to keep it from falling out of the holster. I realize he’s left-handed, but there’s a good possibility he’s ambidextrous, meaning, he could shoot the gun with his right hand. With this in mind…
In his on-scene reenactment the following day, Zimmerman demonstrates how he pulled the gun out of his waistband and managed to shoot Trayvon, but his explanation is next to impossible to perform. Study the next picture. It looks plausible, but it’s not. At this point, he has the gun pulled and he’s trying to position it to fire. His left arm represents Trayvon’s. He’s showing the investigators how he pinned Trayvon’s arm under his and was able to contort his arm enough to pull the gun out of its holster. In real life, he would have to have bent his elbow, but in his world, he did not. Somehow, he managed to keep Trayvon’s arm locked tight, pull his gun, move his arm into position and fire directly into his victim’s heart. What incredible aim!
Let’s just assume for a second that Zimmerman played The Amazing Rubber Boy at carnival sideshows around the country and this is the truth. OK, downright impossible, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. Wow, maybe he’s a hero after all. Except for one small, but incredibly huge detail. You see, Zimmerman admitted that he wore his holster on his back right hip. The next photo clearly shows where it was as he described it to investigators. It appeared to be above his back right pants pocket.
This is extremely problematic for two reasons.
- He had to partially lift his right backside (that means butt cheek, folks) in order to pull the gun out of its holster. That’s tough to do with someone sitting on you.
- If this is true, as his very own testimony to police demonstrates, there is absolutely no way that Trayvon could have seen that gun if it was holstered, unless he could see through belly fat. This basically proves that Trayvon never spotted the gun to begin with during this ‘so-called’ wrestling match and never went for it, or else it’s the obvious. He did see it because Zimmerman had it drawn all along.
This leads me to one final thought to ponder…
Near the end of his reenactment, Zimmerman tells the investigators that after he shot Trayvon, he continued yelling, “Help me! Help me… I need help,” as he spread the dead boy’s arms out and away from his body.
By now, we know that Trayvon’s arms were beneath him when authorities arrived. Most importantly, we know from listening to the 911 recordings and from witness’s testimony that once the shot was fired, all screaming ceased immediately. There were no more cries for help. It was Trayvon’s cries we heard.
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Reader Comments (117)
Dave et al~~Also today, de la Rionda handed over to O'Mara the most recent batch of state evidence, according to court paperwork.
It includes Trayvon's cell phone records, 217 photos from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, eight photos taken by a private investigator hired by Trayvon's family, Zimmerman's school records from Manassas, Va., and eight Seminole County Sheriff's Office incident reports from the night Trayvon was shot.
Most of those – not including the cell phone records – should become public in the next week or so.
Source
[Can't wait... as if this isn't enough.]
I'm still reading the State response... good stuff. I promise I'll be back to answer comments. If not tonight, then tomorrow.
I'm enthralled...
Dave et al....
Just a few thoughts...
My mind is like the weather in that it keeps changing. After reading the 'Response To Petition For Writ of Prohibition', I don't feel Judge Lester will be going anywhere. The Response was very well presented by Pamella J. Koller and was easy to follow. The conclusion being that George Zimmerman duly got a tongue lashing from Judge Lester and it was deserved. I can only see the appeals court denying the defense motion to have Judge Lester removed from the case. I will confess that when I first read Judge Lester's Order when he revoked Zimmerman's bond, I thought the defense had just cause to have him step down due to bias.
Back to those crazy d(1) and d(2)'s. I did not know until I read the Response that the first judge
disqualified herself pursuant to subsection Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.330(d)(1), rather than (d)(2) I thought that since her husband worked at NeJame's office, it would have been d(2)... If I live to be one hundred, I will never get those d's figured out.
Speaking of d's and aging, someone in our midst will be reaching a milestone on Monday, August 27th.
I am hoping Hurricane/Tropical Storm, Issac, or whatever category it is now will not be stopping in at birthday boy's place for a piece of cake.
There was a short presser today after the hearing and IMO, Mark O'Mara appeared to be frustrated. I realize he is a busy man but I wonder if this Zimmerman case is starting to get to him. Mark came across as being very impatient and I don't think it had anything to do with any decisions made in the courtroom today. Can you imagine what it must be like to have Zimmerman constantly whining and demanding your undivided attention.
That's about it...hope I didn't bore anyone...lol
[I hope Isaac does come near me. I will need it to blow out all the candles on the sugar-free cake with sugar-free icing.
Boy, do I have my work cut out this weekend. Good stuff to read.]
Thanks for the giggles, Tommy's Mom! You said:
Just a note our preacher is dyslexic,and has been preaching >>>the gossip<<< for more than 50 years.
Dave~~your spell check let me spell Isaac wrong. Does Casselberry have its own Fire Dept or should I contact Sanford Fire Dept? Oh well, it is good to have backup. When you age, everything you eat backs up so get used to it.
How about starting a post titled....Post to Roast on Sunday...give us a head start. When a person reaches a milestone, we don't want them half-baked so a good Roasting will be fine. I have no access to the controls in here and I feel like cooking your goose. lol A break from the case for a couple of days may just work wonders.
No Dave you were great. :) I was wondering about the noise, because of his key being at the scene. When he exited the vehicle, the noise was present, until he shut the door. My car has a faster ding for the headlights vs the keys left in the ignition. If his has two different sounds, I would be curious as to which one, we are hearing on the call. If it's the key sound, how did the key end up at the T?
You are so right about him being up to no good. Who leaves the house, heading to the store, with no money or card? He sure didn't leave without that gun though. Where was his wife, that always went to the store with him? After they mentored the kids. This man completely annoys me.
The Attorney General's office pretty much "spanked" the petitioner in their response. I wonder if the circuit court judges will call O'Mara out for his "selective memory" of information contained in his writ or will focus their ruling on the reason for Judge Lester's ruling...that the information contained in the writ is insufficient.
Snoopy, I agree with you, O'Mara does seem a bit stressed. I would assume he had already read the state's response to his writ and was still stinging from the detail with which they countered his claim and the realization he was not afforded the opportunity to "answer their answer".
Not only that, he unwittingly shot himself in the foot with his request that GZ should be able to move out of state when he cited acces to counsel in order to plan their defense as one of the reasons Judge Lester should allow George to leave Seminole County. So, is O'Mara planning to move out of state with GZ? LOL
I find it ironic that GZ resents not feeling safe to leave his home, given the circumstances that led to Trayvon's death. That he would lament the fact that he can't walk around freely without fear is quite something. Also, he is lucky not to be sitting in jail awaiting trial. Judge Lester most certainly could have imposed that consequence for his deception.
Every time I hear O'Mara complain about the living arrangements of George and Shellie it pisses me off. I bet Trayvon's parent would happily live in a tent just to have their son back.
FYI~~ I am sorry this is a tad early. Due to a busy agenda in the next couple of days, I did not want to miss the opportunity to put something together for your friend and mine.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINADE DAVE~AUG 27th
Tropical Storm Isaac
Hurricane Forecast Model
@ Sempre Invictus
“(…). I wonder if the circuit court judges will call O'Mara out for his "selective memory" of information contained in his writ or will focus their ruling on the reason for Judge Lester's ruling...that the information contained in the writ is insufficient (…)”.
I think that the very fact that O’Mara, besides egregious misrepresentation of the facts, was very selective in the presentation of facts exposes O’Mara for what he is: ‘mediocre’ and ‘ordinary’, for the simple reason that – as O’Mara should/must have known – “selective presentation” is a mortal sin for any lawyer (or indeed any academic) who wants to be accepted as credible and reliable. O’Mara knows/must have known/should have known that “selective presentation” is among the easiest but strongest ways to defeat ones opponent and make him look ‘dishonest’. Most judges use ‘misrepresented facts’ and/or ‘omitted facts’ to debunk the arguments of the party guilty of the misrepresentation/omission. Why O’Mara chose to present a ‘rant’ instead of ‘a nuanced, well-argued academic paper wherein he groundly rebuts the factual basis- and/or legal arguments ’ for the findinds of the Judge whose recusal he seeks’ as his Writ, is beyond me. Maybe he could not (i.e. he doesn’t know how), maybe he knew that there were/are no grounds for Disqualification but had to motion for it anyway to satisfy the needs of the donors some of whom are calling for his head on the conservativetreehous website.
“(…). Not only that, he unwittingly shot himself in the foot with his request that GZ should be able to move out of state when he cited acces to counsel in order to plan their defense as one of the reasons Judge Lester should allow George to leave Seminole County (…)”.
This shows again the class of O’Mara. Essentially O’Mara is arguing that, unlike Zimmerman, they who were denied bail and are in jail awaiting trial do not have (adequate) access to counsel and (as such) cannot plan their defense with their counsel. That in itself is quite amazing. Also, it seems to me that O’Mara is concentrating too much time, energy and resources chasing the mouse (i.e. Zimmerman’s comfort)- instead of the elephant in the room (i.e. the mounting evidence against Zimmerman for murder2).
Sherry I think I missed the joke. What gave you the giggles in my comment?
Tommy's Mom~~I think Sherry got the giggles when you said your minister preached the 'gossip' instead of 'gospel'. I remember the time I wrote 'crap' apple jelly instead of crab apple jelly and everyone was laughing. It took me awhile to figure it out. lol
Tommy's Mom, Snoopy is right, it was the "gossip" when you meant "gospel"~
(at least I hope your minister preaches the gospel!)
This is really OT but thought we needed a laugh.
A friend told the blond man: "Christmas is on a Friday this year."
The blond man then said, "Let's hope it's not the 13th."
LOL! Loved it, Tommy's Mom!
Okay now I see gospel not gossip. Dumb keyboard.
Another blond man joke.
Two blond men find three grenades, and they decide to take them to a police station.
One asked: "What if one explodes before we get there?"
The other says: "We'll lie and say we only found two."
I thought it was about time for blond men jokes as those of us who were or are now blond took a beating for years.
Me I'm what most call gray but,I prefer silver blond.
I have to say that I don't know any normal people (with the exception of law enforcement) that carry loaded, holstered guns with them just to go to Target or the grocery store. I can't think of one time when I have asked my husband to go to the store and pick something up and have gotten the response "just wait til I strap on my fully loaded gun and I'll be on my way". I am a white, married Mom with a son the same age as Travon and I can tell you that if some guy that he didn't know started following him in a pick-up truck (that didn't appear to be police, etc) that he would respond the same way Travon did. He would get on his phone and try to speed up to get away from him. Next it would be reasonable for him to look at the guy to see if there is a possible reason for this person to be following him, after that running, hiding... when the guy gets out of his truck and goes after him on foot...at this point he woud even be more afraid..at some point the boy will think he doesn't have any choice but to stand and fight . What else can he do, he is being stalked for no reason that he can detect. It is unbelievable that George would not identify himself as neighborhood watch unless he wanted to escalate the situation. That could have been my son walking home from the store with a sweatshirt hoody on his would have been a baseball one (to keep the rain off) with the same consequences. My son is an honor student -athlete baseball player who has never been in any trouble ever...it wouldn't have mattered to George Zimmerman he didn't know or care who the kid walking in the rain was because he had decided he was guilty of something judge, jury and executioner. When I saw the interview where the journalist asked him if he had any regrets or did he wish he had stayed in the car and he said "no". If I had killed someone for any reason, to save mine or someone elses life, I would still feel horrible and wish that it hadn't happen. He seemed to be proud of what he did. This coming also with the revelation that he lied about ever hearing about the "stand your ground" and then finding out that he had had a class about it...There is no doubt in this Mom's mind. I am a middle aged female with 2 college aged kids. I hope that the jurors who seem to be much like me have basic common sense and he will be convicted.