Miles's blog

As new facts emerge in the Trayvon Martin killing, the actions taken by the police the night of the killing make more sense to me, even if the media, and those who choose to advance their agenda on the killing of a teenager, refuse to acknowledge that.  The media is now reporting that the defendant George Zimmerman suffered numerous injuries including a broken nose, black eyes, and cuts on his head.  The victim had only the fatal gunshot and a cut on his knuckle, which is consistent with delivering a blow. In other words, the injuries support that Martin had beaten up Zimmerman.  That alone is reason enough not to make an arrest in light of Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense.

The New York Times, however, is troubled by what they described today as “missteps” on the part of the police.  To me they seem not a reflection of incompetent policing or even a bad investigation, but the kind of second-guessing performed by criminal defense attorneys in an attempt to create doubt.  I am not saying the investigation was perfect, I have not read the reports.  But I screened thousands of cases in my career and I almost never saw one which did not have issues.  Police officers on scene are confronted with a chaotic situation, often spending a long time just figuring out where to start.  In homicides like this, there is only a single witness, and everything else must be circumstantial.  For a police department which does not regularly do homicide investigations handling a murder presents significant issues.

Most second-guessers, whether media, pundit, defense attorney, or appellate judge fail to understand just how confusing a crime scene is.  This is because most of them have never ridden in a police car (although many media members I am sure have taken trips in the back seat.)  Police officers arrive one at a time, usually, each having to be filled in by the previous ones.  Even when there is a homicide, other police work does not stop.  The rest of the city still needs officers to respond to calls, patrol the streets, and work the headquarters. Even big cities have trouble getting enough resources to a homicide scene.  Usually over time the district attorney and other agencies pitch in, but the initial response generally is only a few cops.

Much of the criticism of the Times pertains to the speed of collecting information and not really to the significance.  Of course, this plays into their theory that the cops were racists who just assumed the white guy was justified in killing the black kid.  I have no idea if that was true, but I don’t believe the so-called “missteps” support an inference that the police rushed to a conclusion.  And even if they did, nothing demonstrates such a conclusion was based on racism.  Many times, in my experience, police officers, and others including myself, have reached erroneous conclusions based upon incomplete investigations.  I cannot tell you the number of times I was forced to make a filing decision knowing more information was necessary to fully comprehend the facts, but feeling that utilizing the information I was aware of, and some educated guesswork based upon the my own experience, along with the police officers and other members of my office, I felt we should file charges.  There were times in my career those when charges had to be dismissed after the case was more fully investigated.  That happens, and is the result of the realities of the long time it takes to fully investigate and case and the short deadlines involved in filing charges. 

The prosecutor in Florida at least had a local resident with strong ties who he felt he could risk releasing (a risk fully justified because Zimmerman turned himself in when charged).  We often faced a situation where we would have had to release someone with a long criminal record, who was violent and dangerous, and who had no local ties.  In other words I often faced the choice of filing an admittedly incomplete case or releasing someone into the community who presented an obvious and substantial threat.  Many of those cases included “missteps” worse than described in today’s Times, but police officers are just as prone to mistakes as anyone else.  Cases are not perfect.  That is why the standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and not all possible doubt, which seems to be what the media demands today.

The actual “mistakes” don’t even strike me as anything unusual or serious.

·        No door-to-door canvassing on the night of the murder.  This may or may not have discovered much.  In my experience canvassing, especially in the middle of the night, never leads to much, although certainly we often ask it to be done.  But there is nothing indicating that information was lost.  Those same people can be questioned later and provide the same information.  The Times is all upset about the timing, which seems to be irrelevant as all it could have done perhaps is to show Zimmerman should have been arrested that night.  Since he is now charged and arrested how has this “failure” hurt the case?

·        The police only took one photo of Zimmerman prior to medical attention.  Actually this is one more than normally taken.  When the police respond and find an injured person, their first concern is to get medical attention.  Generally the police do not take photos of injured people while awaiting the paramedics.  Not only is it insensitive, to do so would stop the rest of their investigation.  The more serious the injuries the less likely it is that the police will take pictures before medical attention is secured.  The police are not going to manipulate someone to take photos.  And while pictures right there would be good evidence, generally the paramedics and doctors can describe the injuries using photos taken after treatment so evidence is not lost.  I have not once heard of a juror complaining that photos were not taken prior to medical attention being administered.

·        The police were not able to shield the crime scene from the rain so Zimmerman’s blood washed away.  Seriously?  They believe the police in every case should instantly erect a tent to shield the crime scene?  They watch too much tv.  I don’t know how hard it was raining that night, but it can rain hard in Florida.  Any blood would have been washed away long before they got there.  And what were they supposed to do, have the first responding patrolman ignore the two people he found and erect a tent?  Do they think cops should carry a tent in every patrol car?  This is the kind of stupid criticism that sounds good to people who have never ridden in a police car.

·        The police did not test Zimmerman for drugs or alcohol.  Apparently his constitutional rights are irrelevant.  I have no idea if they had probable cause to test for drugs or alcohol.  I assume not as there seems to be no indication he was under their influence.  They should have asked, and if they failed to ask that was a mistake, but without probable cause there is no reason to think any evidence was lost.  Even if he was under the influence that would be mitigating so any loss here inures to the benefit of the defense.

·        The police could not get the password to the victim’s phone.  All that did was delay finding out who he was talking to.  She came forward and her statement was secured.  No impact on the case ultimately.

Putting all this together I fail to see how the decision not to arrest can be criticized.  The police and prosecutor decided to complete a full investigation of a local resident who ultimately turned himself in when charged.  Whether or not that decision was based on racism I cannot know, maybe it was, but even had he been arrested that night what would have changed? 

I am not suggesting that Zimmerman is innocent, or that the people involved were not racist—I have no idea either way on either issue.  What I am suggesting is that people who are choosing to make accusations either don’t know the facts, don’t understand the law, or don’t care about either.