Police chief receives vote of no confidence over handling of Trayvon Martin case

[kpete]

Source: MSNBC

Police chief receives vote of no confidence over handling of Trayvon Martin case
By NBCMiami.com

The Sanford City Commission voted 3-2 that it had no confidence in Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. over his handling of the Trayvon Martin shooting Wednesday.

Velma Williams, the city’s only black commissioner, said she spent 15 years trying to bring together the black community and white community, and the Martin episode has taken an emotional toll.

“And now this. It’s a national embarrassment," she said.

Commissioners Patty Mahany and Randy Jones supported the police chief, who came on the job last May.

Read more: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10808864-police-chief-receives-vote-of-no-confidence-over-handling-of-trayvon-martin-case

[ProgressiveATL]

1. George Zimmerman has disappeared

His phone's been disconnected. Think he's still in Florida?

http://coldbitterness.tumblr.com/post/19552299537/george-zimmerman-gone-into-hiding
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/2700249_p3/shooter-of-trayvon-martin-a-habitual.html

[qanda]

2. He and Casey Anthony are probably sharing an apartment

People who have gotten away with murder should have a lot in common.

[TahitiNut]

13. +100

[Selatius]

5. He likely went into hiding. Not all who are searching for him wish him well at this point.

I'd be in hiding if I were in his shoes.

[slackmaster]

3. Let the butt-covering begin

So transparent.

[yardwork]

4. btw, the police chief cited the Stand Your Ground law as his reason for not pressing charges.

I've seen a bunch of posts on DU saying that this case has nothing to do with Florida's Stand Your Ground law. Well, apparently the police chief and DA think differently.

The police chief is quoted in the news article linked in the OP as saying:

In his explanation, [Sanford chief of police Bill] Lee referred to the “stand your ground” provisions of state law. They say that Floridians have the right “to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force" if they feel threatened. Lee pointed to a part of the statute that says “the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.”

[X_Digger]

6. Probable cause is *always* required before arrest and charging a person.

It's a stupid redundancy in the law, yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probable_cause

[div class='excerpt']In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the standard to which a grand jury believes that a crime has been committed.

[yardwork]

7. So why did the police chief specifically cite the "stand your ground" law?

[X_Digger]

8. Because he's looking for any cover for his ass?

At least that's the simplest conclusion.

[yardwork]

11. If it's an after the fact CYA, why didn't they press charges in the first place?

Any way you look at it, particularly using their own words justifying their actions, they felt that the "stand your ground" law justified Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin.

[X_Digger]

12. Officially? They felt they didn't have probable cause. Unofficially..

Given the history of the department (the ex-chief's son beating a homeless black man gets swept under the rug, etc), there's obviously some institutional racism at work.

[qanda]

9. I have a question, maybe it's a stupid one but...

Shouldn't there be an investigation before that determination is made? By all accounts, there was little to no investigative work done and they pretty much just took Zimmerman's account of the events. They didn't even call the person Trayvon was on the phone with to find out any information. I just find it so troubling that they cite the "Stand Your Ground" law as their reasoning without all the facts.

[X_Digger]

10. We don't have the major crimes report, but they did investigate (poorly, it seems)..

Here are some links from the PD site:

http://www.sanfordfl.gov/investigation/docs/Twin%20Lakes%20Shooting%20Initial%20Report.pdf
http://www.sanfordfl.gov/investigation/docs/TwinLakesTownhomesShootingUpDate2.pdf

Apparently they took Zimmerman into custody after the SFD Rescue treated his wounds. We don't know the details of what happened at the station, but the second link above says that they canvassed the neighborhood.

eta: Here's the list of documents the PD has provided: http://sanfordfl.gov/investigation/trayvon_martin.html

[TahitiNut]

14. Bizarre. If instead Trayvon had been armed and shot Zimmerman for assaulting him,

I doubt VERY much that such a far more consistent scenario would have garnered the Police Chief's "Stand Your Ground" hall pass in the slightest.

The HYPOCRISY is so fucking thick it oozes out of every pronouncement from the bigots in Sanford.

Sandord = Stepford ?? the perversion is quite equivalent