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I offered some opinions on the Zimmerman case in response to a post on Brad DeLong’s blog the other day.  My comments were essentially a shorter version of the arguments I offered the other night.  I received some pushback.  For example:

It is a leap, to put it mildly, to assume that [Martin] was running in response to being chased by a stranger, AND that that stranger initiated the violent confrontation.

I disagreed on the first point:

Alternative explanations being Klansmen out for an evening stroll or a pack of wild dogs roaming the area perhaps?

Zimmerman reported to the dispatcher that Martin was running. He also reported that he was following Martin. Can one conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Martin was running from Zimmerman? Absent any other plausible explanations – and I have yet to hear one – I say “Yes.”

Recall yourself as a 17-year-old teenager.  If you were confronted by George Zimmerman while walking home from the store at 3 AM would you run?  I would have.  (That’s a trick question actually.  The only correct answer is to flee.  If you’d have responded to the effect of “Outta my face, m@#$%f*&^#r!” and been sufficiently intimidating in doing so then by FL law he could well have been within his rights to shoot you dead on the spot.  Then again, if he was sufficiently intimidating when he addressed you then you could have shot him first – if you’d had a gun of course.)  I also disagreed on the point about who threw the first punch:

Who threw the first punch is beside the point. If Zimmerman was pursuing Martin then it was Martin, not Zimmerman, who could reasonably claim self-defense.

The pushback continued:

To argue that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that [Zimmerman] “killed [Martin] because he wanted to” kill him is not supported by any hard evidence.

My response:

Again, not the point. Martin is dead as a result of actions initiated by Zimmerman. I’ll leave it to others to decide whether that’s manslaughter, second-degree murder, or other charge is appropriate. Whatever the charge, Zimmerman was responsible for Martin’s death. In a more just world he would have been punished for it.

Those last two sentences capture my motivation for this post and my previous one on the subject.

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The Zimmerman case makes me think of an article by Renata Adler in the August 2000 issue of Harper’s Magazine, A Court of No Appeal.  In her article Adler infers some things about Watergate judge John Sirica based on what he wrote in his book, To Set the Record Straight.  The article is worth a read.  It’s an exercise in how evaluate other people’s statements for plausibility and, when they’re not plausible, inferring what really went on.  Much speculation and there are probably strong counteragruments to Adler’s inferences that haven’t occurred to me, but it’s a memorable for her relentless questioning of the story she’s being fed and her entirely plausible alternative explanations.

George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder for killing Travon Martin.  Based on what I know of the facts and understand of Florida law, I believe the jury got the verdict wrong.  Why?  Because Zimmerman committed a crime, Simple Assault, in engaging Mr. Martin as he did.  That being the case, he had no right to use deadly force.  Shooting Mr. Martin was a continuation of Zimmerman’s assault on him.  Zimmerman should have been convicted of either second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Here’s the portion of Zimmerman’s call to 9-1-1 which indicates that he, not Martin, was the perp:

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Light posting until after Labor Day.  At least that’s my plan.

Former Patriots’ TE Aaron Hernandez was arrested today and charged with first degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd:

Prosecutors said home surveillance videos taken from Hernandez’s house show him in possession of firearms before and after Lloyd was killed, that Hernandez was observed picking Lloyd up at 2:30 a.m. on the night he was killed, that a silver Nissan Altima — the same make of vehicle Hernandez had rented — was seen going to and coming from the site where Lloyd’s body was found and that Hernandez was seen exiting his vehicle with a gun at his home at 3:29 a.m., shortly after authorities say Lloyd had been murdered.

Prosecutors added that .45 caliber shell casings found at the scene matched shell casings found in Hernandez’s rental car.

“The defendant orchestrated the execution,” an assistant district attorney, Bill McCauley, said. Lloyd, he said, was shot five times.

One of Hernandez’s lawyers, Michael Fee, called the case against him “weak” and “circumstantial.”

Circumstantial indeed.  I believe that the technical term for Fee’s spin on the case is “desparately grasping at straws”.

ADDENDA 6/27/2013:

• The story gets worse.
• A brief commentary from Only A Game host Bill Littlefield here.

Tom Tomorrow:

FWIW, I saw the cartoon before learning the back story.  That noted, I believe the sentiment is appropriate with or without it.

(Bonus link)

Last Thursday boston.com had a feature “Dreamtown Finder:  Top 25 places to live in Massachusetts“.   Of course they provided a link to the town search calculator.   It was good entertainment while eating breakfast.   Based on my inputs, the top five rural recommendations were:

• New Ashford
• Savoy
• Hawley
• Cummington
• Monroe

I’ve driven through New Ashford but not the other four.   They’re all in western MA.  I’m more familiar with the southern part of Berkshire county than the northern part but the area around Mt. Greylock is very nice.  (Wife:  “Where the hell are those towns?  I’ve never even heard of them.  What were your criteria?”)    Interestingly, “opportunities for gainful employment” isn’t one of Dreamtown Finder’s selection criteria.  With that in mind, I also put in for “suburban” recommendations.  Continue reading →