Here we go.
Florida state special Prosecutor Angela Corey has filed an eight page summary of the materials that form the defense's "discovery," a record of her investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman, who has claimed he is not guilty of the charge of Murder 2 by reason of self-defense.
"67 CDs and a stack of papers" is Defense attorney Mark O'Mara description of what he now holds, and hopes to review and redact before the materials become public. He'll need to petition the judge for a ruling to delay the release, and the judge will need to answer him.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...
Most names were redacted from the witness and evidence document obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, but six civilian witnesses were named: Trayvon's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin; his brother, Jahvarius Fulton; and Zimmerman's neighbor, Frank Taaffe, friend Joe Oliver and father, Robert Zimmerman.
The document listed 18 Sanford police officers as primary witnesses, including lead Investigator Chris Serino. Corey's office also turned over five reports prepared by him, as well as written reports prepared by four other Sanford officers.
The list includes new video evidence from the night of the shooting — both from the 7-Eleven store where Trayvon reportedly purchased Skittles and Arizona iced tea and from a clubhouse in Retreat at Twin Lakes, the townhouse complex where the teen was killed.
There doesn't seem to be an indication from the "table of contents" of any smoking gun or bombshell revelation, but this is just the start of a process where either side may make moves to seal evidence. It was reported that the court may release names of witnesses this afternoon. I'll try to update this diary if there is much interest.
4:11 PM PT: update: the selective leaks begin, even as the motions for gag orders are still not fully known. This one seems to be from the defense camp, who of course has a website but choses instead to use the MSM instead.
Matt Gutman at ABC has a medical report, which corroborates part of Zimmerman's self-defense story but is also lacking an x-ray and claims no concussion. None of this tells us who started the fight.
http://abcnews.go.com/...
It also appears that GZ was on several potent prescription medications known for mood-altering side effects. I'll update more soon.
Stay tuned, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Wed May 16, 2012 at 5:43 PM PT: At least on more selective leak seemingly favorable to the defense has been "reported," but I am loathe to link to it because the level of journalistic standards exhibited i so low.
The story was carried by a local tv station, abc affiliate i think and claims that the medical examiner says that Trayvon Martin had injuries on his knuckles. The story is not even attributed to "a little bird told me" or "annonymous source" and so doesn't rise to the level of mush except unsubstantiated rumor.
This same station ran another 100% unattributed story claiming the FBI was about to charge George Zimmerman with a hate crime. Not one shred of proof, or even attribution to a source is used in either report.
On a more interesting note, there is a .pdf floating around that shows all 8 pages of the inventory of discovery materials.
here is one link to this
http://www.talkleft.com/...
I don't know who leaked this yet.
Wed May 16, 2012 at 7:47 PM PT: major NYT story on overall case appears
Probably worthy of a new diary, candid but anonymous sources likely include likely members of Sanford PD, city gov't, and possibly investigators for the prosecution, generally characterizing the innitial police work as "sloppy."
http://www.nytimes.com/...
"In interviews over several weeks, law enforcement authorities, witnesses and local elected officials identified problems with the initial investigation:" (bullet points follow)
Thu May 17, 2012 at 6:36 PM PT: Looks like 183 pages of discovery documents have been released
document dump here:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/...
So far, I can't seem to find GZ's statements to the Sanford Investigators.
much to consider
Thu May 17, 2012 at 8:48 PM PT: many new photos released to media:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/...
Orlando Sentinel posts photos, including ones that establish where the body was found, which I find significant when combined with newly released witness testimony.
Thu May 17, 2012 at 9:09 PM PT: George ZImmerman's statements to the Sanford Police are not going to be released to the public under Florida law, due to the fact that they are classified as a confession.
This is of course a major piece of the entire puzzle, and until these statements are presented at trial it's impossible to judge how a jury might rule.
Anyone who says this case can be decided by what is in these discovery documents is not playing with a full deck. The case will have to go to trial before the public can make the same call a jury will make.