Monday, July 15, 2013

TX forensic commission chair among dueling experts in Zimmerman trial

Grits intentionally boycotted (to the extent humanly possible) press coverage of the George Zimmerman trial and so had not realized that Dr. Vincent Di Maio, the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, was a key witness for the defense among the dueling experts presenting evidence at trial, contradicting many of the findings of  Flordia medical examiners testifying for the state. Find below the jump an excerpt from the Business Insider identifying key elements of Di Maio's testimony:
Di Maio, a renowned expert on gunshot wounds, told jurors Tuesday he saw evidence of at least six impacts on Zimmerman's head. He also said those blows were likely the result of severe force, backing up Zimmerman's claims he killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense.

That testimony contradicted testimony from Valerie Rao, a Florida medical examiner who testified for the state that Zimmerman's head injuries were "so minor" and were likely the result of a single impact.

But Di Maio said Tuesday, "You can have severe head trauma without any marks on the head."

Di Maio's account also conflicted with that of Shipping Bao, the medical examiner who autopsied Martin and testified that Zimmerman's gun made contact with the teenager's body.

Based on powder residue and the gun's trajectory, however, Di Maio said the gun was 2 to 4 inches from Martin's body, touching his shirt. Since Martin's shirt was away from his body, this also suggests that Martin was on top of Zimmerman, leaning over him, Di Maio said.
Based on these contradictions, we can say for sure that erroneous forensic testimony by one or more medical examiners was entered into evidence in this case. It's just impossible to say from a distance which side introduced it.

How this tragic local case with no significant public-policy implications transformed into a national obsession says more about the MSM and its atrocious crime coverage than it tells us anything probative about self defense claims, Florida's "stand your ground" law, or racial inequities in the justice system. Grits finds repulsive the cynicism exhibited by news outlets like CNN that hyped the story incessantly for profit while giving short shrift to far more important legal news (e.g., a slew of important, recent Supreme Court rulings that didn't receive nearly as much play). The grotesque circus surrounding the Zimmerman trial to me exemplified all that's wrong with MSM crime coverage in the 21st century.

16 comments:

  1. You're right. SYG has been in place for nearly a decade. Why the outrage now, when it's been used by drug dealers to get off, a jealous spouse to get off and more? Unfortunately, too many liberals bought "the story line," without asking how much, or how little, they really knew about either Zimmerman or Martin. http://socraticgadfly.blogspot.com/2013/07/some-not-so-black-and-white-thoughts-on.html

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  2. And, the first juror has announced a book deal, speaking of "follow the money." That said, while the media deserves plenty of blame, "shock me" that said juror's husband is ...

    Wait for it ....

    An attorney! http://www.salon.com/2013/07/15/zimmerman_trial_juror_to_write_book/

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  3. All my friends can talk about is this case and how there is no justice for the Black man. Thanks to Al Sharpton and MSNBC for keeping this story alive all these months non stop. He can always be counted on to be where the action is and to call for action.

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  4. My question is how someone, against a directive from a police agent, initiates a confrontation by stalking while armed, can successfully claim self-defense.

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  5. Because someone tried to kill him.

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  6. Criminal action, attempted murder, trumps stupid action.

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  7. Because "the evidence" Mr. Attorney did not show the defendant "initiated a confrontation." Don't by into the race baiting false narrative.

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  8. For me, the part that told all was when Zimmerman made the statement to detectives that Martin said "you gonna die tonight" as he was sitting on him and punching him. I been in an awful lot of fistfights, and know this is BS. Out of breath and fighting for your life, trash talk happens before and after the fight. I believe Zimmerman was setting up his self defense from the very beginning, just as Raul Rodriguez tried to do a couple years ago. Had Raul Rodriguez confronted a group of black, he would have walked too: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/raul-rodriguez-stand-your-ground-texas-shooting_n_1631066.html

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  9. Al sharpton "keeps it slive" so he can continue to make a financial living by using racism as a polarizing tool indstead of trying to unite people. He is so honorable....NOT.

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  10. Damn it. Now, its on GFB. It being the race card pissin matches in response to a post about an expert that just happens to be from Texas.

    Please go back to boycotting it & being original.

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  11. Sorry, 1:03. For my own purposes, I needed to catalog the Di Maio reference.

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  12. What I got from this trial was how people listen to that blowhard Al Sharpton and take his seriously. He has jumped into and muddied the waters of every race case he could find.

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  13. Not just Sharpton, 2:33. Worse was CNN wall to wall. FTM, who didn't jump the shark among the MSM on this one? This fiasco made their behavior during the Casey Anthony trial seem respectable by comparison. It's now become absurd.

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  14. Grits, I knew you had too. It's cool.

    You are spot on about the media especially CNN and the constant race baiting that fails to mention the race of the defendant. For months everyone thought he was white thanks to CNN and those that re-reported it. On top of that, those of us that changed channels to find the weather, traffic or comedy sadly found ABC, NBC, CBS and of all places Comedy Central acting like CNN that was acting like Court TV 24/7.

    We have placed parental blocks on all of the Court TV wannabes as a way of preventing us from participating in their 24/7 race to the bottom. Just wish we'd done it a month ago. No more Court TV in this house, ever again.

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  15. Mr. Attorney, you may want to look up the stalking statute. It does not apply to the facts of the Zimmerman case. Also following someone is not the equivalent of confronting someone. Even if it was confronting,doing so in a non violent manner does not justify being struck by the confronted. If you have to misrepresent the meaning of words to make your point maybe you are not making a good point. The girl on the phone with Martin confirmed that Martin first addressed Zimmerman as she heard the exchange until being disconnected. The dispatcher issued no directive. She said,"we don't need you to do that" to which he replied, "OK". Pay attention and quit spinning to get people to accept your inaccurate depiction.

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  16. When are we going to start marching about the bloodbath that is going on in Chicago and all our cities. Oh, I forgot--we're not supposed to talk about that.

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