Still Free

Yeah, Mr. Smiley. Made it through the entire Trump presidency without being enslaved. Imagine that.

Saturday, June 06, 2020

Ahmaud Preliminary Hearing

I think this is a fair discussion of the case thus far. As I've said repeatedly in my discussion of the matter: it depends on what evidence comes out and certainly the social media, etc. comments (which I have not seen) certainly can go to state of mind.

I still think there are grounds for reasonable doubt and think that if the McMichael's previous comments are going to be fair game in a trial, and there will be a trial, then Ahmaud's past is going to be fair game. Generally I am opposed to bringing in past statements or history of any party unless it is directly related to the events in dispute. For example, the past behavior of Trayvon, which is trotted out every time I see his killing discussed, is irrelevant to me because not only was all of that unknown to Zimmerman but also it had no bearing on the events that occurred that night.

Similarly I've seen people discuss Ahmaud's past run in with police. I haven't posted on it because I think it's irrelevant and if I were on the jury I would dismiss it. The only past behavior of Ahmaud that would interest me is his previous "visits" to the house under construction because that has a direct bearing on the behavior of the defendants.