1 Times and TrayvonThe police unit that responded to the Trayvon Martin killing did not do a thorough inspection. They did not even know that Zimmerman’s car was there until his wife attempted to move it. They did not thoroughly canvas the neighborhood and knock and doors—otherwise they would have probably learned that Trayvon was a guest there at his father’s girlfriend’s place. The unit did not even have a homicide division because there were so few murders in the region. For that reason, it may be understood that there were gaps in the procedural work: they were simply inexperienced and not staffed for such an investigation. Would the case have ended up differently had the police been more thorough in their investigation? It is difficult to say: the trial quickly became politicized, which means a lot of talking heads were less interested in facts than in race war. As this article shows, however, there was a lot of reason for doubt as to what happened because it basically ended up being Zimmerman’s word against the deceased and the police seemed to accept his word from the get-go without doing much to see if there were any facts that...

The defense lawyers clearly have a good case on their side (which is no doubt why the first trial ended in a mistrial). The prosecution’s side is weak and does not explain motive or the evidence that the defense says was left at the home—such as the missing hair, the bent fireplace tools, and the gashes in the wall. The defense also has offered a motive that seems plausible whereas the prosecution attests that the defendant attacked the victim for no reason. That is not a very good argument and the defense’s position makes more logical sense: the two began fighting because the defendant refused to give the victim a car ride home. The victim assaulted the defendant first in anger and the defendant defended himself with the knife. Since the two had been drinking, this could very well be the case. I expect the likely outcome is another mistrial or even acquittal.
3 Times Kidnapping…