41 days with no arrest in the Trayvon Martin case. A grand jury was scheduled to convene this Tuesday, April 10th, but that has been cancelled. One more setback? Or are we about to turn a corner?
FL state attorney Angela Corey
Aggressive Florida prosecutor Angela Corey has taken over the investigation and possible prosecution of George Zimmerman. The first thing she did was kick the much-awaited grand jury to the curb.
Angela Correy's office can make up its own mind about whether to bring charges, she announced. But for some of us, the upcoming grand jury was a bit of reassurance - as the days have dragged on with no arrest, it seemed like at least by Tuesday we would have some movement in the case. And Corey has been a controversial figure in Florida, particularly in racially-charged cases. Her ability to be fair in cases involving young black men has occasionally been questioned. Will she focus on the theory that Martin turned on Zimmerman and engaged him in a fight to the death rather than the critical fact that Zimmerman pursued Martin?
Unlikely. While Corey's reputation is one of complexity, she seems to have a history of being absorbed, more than anything else, with victim's rights. She seems to be somewhat unpopular but respected by defense attorneys who have opposed her. She horrified many last year with a decision in the case of a 12 year-old boy who had pushed his 2 year-old brother against a bookcase and killed him; she charged the 12 year-old with first degree murder and ordered him tried as an adult. Corey is a Republican and long-time supporter of Governor Rick Scott, who has been accused of dragging his feet in appointing a task force to review Florida's Stand Your Ground law.
But Corey is also known to be dogged in her pursuit of prosecutions in cases of gun violence. Her advocacy for victims of all races is legion. She has said, when asked about this case, that it will be important to get to the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Her history does not describe a woman who would have any patience for a defense plea of "I didn't really mean for this to happen," from a man with a gun in his hand, standing over a dead boy.
There remains a greater balance in this case of what we don't know than what we do, and most everyone seems to know that . To repeat what I have observed on other posts: I'm impressed to see that by and large the consensus in the public seems to still be that we just need to understand what happened. Zimmerman's defense attorneys might do well to note that as public frustration grows, impartial jurors will be harder to find. Cooperation with investigators would appear to be in their best interest regardless of what really happened that night.
Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, has said that he draws comfort from the idea that his son's death has put a spotlight on the broader injustices at work in this case. He even said he felt his son was sacrificed for this reason, as a "calling from God." Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton said in an interview two days ago, "I have no time for anger. I don't want to grant it a place in my heart. But my son died and we deserve to know what happened."
Tomorrow morning each of them will wake up to what is forecasted to be a warm and partly-sunny Easter Sunday in Sanford. I don't even want to imagine what those early quiet moments will be like, and have been like each morning of these 41 days. All we can do as fellow citizens around the country is to keep pushing for justice, in hopes that it will offer some small comfort to these two when it finally comes.
sources: The Miami Herald, Reuters, The Tallahassee Democrat, The Palm Beach Post, The Chicago Tribune, Global Grind
Angela Correy's office can make up its own mind about whether to bring charges, she announced. But for some of us, the upcoming grand jury was a bit of reassurance - as the days have dragged on with no arrest, it seemed like at least by Tuesday we would have some movement in the case. And Corey has been a controversial figure in Florida, particularly in racially-charged cases. Her ability to be fair in cases involving young black men has occasionally been questioned. Will she focus on the theory that Martin turned on Zimmerman and engaged him in a fight to the death rather than the critical fact that Zimmerman pursued Martin?
Unlikely. While Corey's reputation is one of complexity, she seems to have a history of being absorbed, more than anything else, with victim's rights. She seems to be somewhat unpopular but respected by defense attorneys who have opposed her. She horrified many last year with a decision in the case of a 12 year-old boy who had pushed his 2 year-old brother against a bookcase and killed him; she charged the 12 year-old with first degree murder and ordered him tried as an adult. Corey is a Republican and long-time supporter of Governor Rick Scott, who has been accused of dragging his feet in appointing a task force to review Florida's Stand Your Ground law.
But Corey is also known to be dogged in her pursuit of prosecutions in cases of gun violence. Her advocacy for victims of all races is legion. She has said, when asked about this case, that it will be important to get to the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Her history does not describe a woman who would have any patience for a defense plea of "I didn't really mean for this to happen," from a man with a gun in his hand, standing over a dead boy.
There remains a greater balance in this case of what we don't know than what we do, and most everyone seems to know that . To repeat what I have observed on other posts: I'm impressed to see that by and large the consensus in the public seems to still be that we just need to understand what happened. Zimmerman's defense attorneys might do well to note that as public frustration grows, impartial jurors will be harder to find. Cooperation with investigators would appear to be in their best interest regardless of what really happened that night.
Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, has said that he draws comfort from the idea that his son's death has put a spotlight on the broader injustices at work in this case. He even said he felt his son was sacrificed for this reason, as a "calling from God." Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton said in an interview two days ago, "I have no time for anger. I don't want to grant it a place in my heart. But my son died and we deserve to know what happened."
Tomorrow morning each of them will wake up to what is forecasted to be a warm and partly-sunny Easter Sunday in Sanford. I don't even want to imagine what those early quiet moments will be like, and have been like each morning of these 41 days. All we can do as fellow citizens around the country is to keep pushing for justice, in hopes that it will offer some small comfort to these two when it finally comes.
sources: The Miami Herald, Reuters, The Tallahassee Democrat, The Palm Beach Post, The Chicago Tribune, Global Grind
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