I'm still working through the discovery in the George Zimmerman case. I have a long post I'm writing on Witnesses #6 and #13, who I think may be the most important witnesses to the criminal case.

One thing that stikes me is that police are no better than lay people as eyewitnesses. For example, in describing Trayvon Martin's clothes the night of the shooting:

• Ofc. Ricardo Ayala, Page 14: 2/27/12, 2:28 am: Trayvon is lying in the grass, wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, white/red tennis shoes.
• Officer Joseph Santiago, Page 16: 3/2/12: describing his participation on 2/26: Got to the scene, Trayvon was on his back, had gray sweatshirt, light colored shorts, white tennis shoes.

Trayvon had on a light grey Nike sweatshirt (ME-8) and a dark grey Fruit of the Loom hooded sweatshirt (ME-12.) (Report here. Curiously, the police reports list the sweatshirt as ME-12 and the hoodie as ME-8.) He was wearing tan pants, as is evident in the 7-11 video. [More...]

Our last Zimmerman thread is full. Here's a new one.

One thing I noticed in the discovery is the multiple persons who observed George Zimmeman's injuries at the scene:

Officer Stacie McCoy:

I instructed Officer T Smith to have SFR provide medical care to the subject reference visible blood on his face and to transport the subject to the SPD for everyone’s safety.

Officer Michael Wagner:

I walked to Ofc Smith's car where Zimmerman was sitting and in handcuffs and used my personal iPhone (due to an immediate lack of access to a digital camera) to take a picture of Zimmerman's face. I saw that Zimmerman’s face was bloodied and it appeared to me his nose was broken. I also saw that the back of Zimmerman’s head was bloodied.

I then walked to where Martin lay on the ground and took a photo of Martin’s face as well. I observed no physical injury to Martin

[More...]

Update: No verdict today, the jurors asked for some exhibits and a board to write and markers. Their requests pertained to the Bunny Mellon contributions.

Update: Here are the final instructions given to the jury in the John Edwards trial.

I really want to write something positive today, to give Team Edwards support and let them know that, outside of North Carolina, there are people like me and TalkLeft readers who think John Edwards has gotten the short end of the stick in this trial.

[More]

Update: MSNBC has posted all 183 pages of the documents released today. So has The New York Times here.

The discovery in the George Zimmerman case has been released. It's abundantly clear why Zimmerman was not arrested the night Trayvon Martin was shot. There was no evidence he committed a crime.

There are now plenty of photos like this one showing Zimmerman's injuries to his nose and scalp. Police reports refer to Zimmerman's voice being heard crying out for help multiple times in one of the 911 calls. The only eyewitness who could make an identification as the struggle was ongoing and before the shot (who appears to be John) told police at the scene that the man in the red jacket was on the bottom, crying for help, and the guy on top of him was repeatedly hitting him.

So why did one officer request a capias? It had nothing to do with evidence of a crime. It was because the officer said had Zimmerman stayed in his car, nothing would have happened. [More...]

By now it's hardly a surprise, just a major disappointment, that the Judge in John Edwards' trial continues to restrict his defense and rule against his legal arguments, while giving the Government everything it wants.

The latest: The Judge is going with the Government's position on the meaning of "the" in the statute that prevents candidates from accepting donations over $2,300.00 if they are "for the purpose of influencing the election."

Although Eagles said she tried to balance the wishes of prosecutors and the defense in drafting her instructions, she delivered a clear victory for the government by saying she would tell the jury that money doesn't have to be for "the sole purpose" of influencing an election to be considered a campaign contribution.

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Mark O'Mara says on camera he did not leak Zimmerman's medical report to ABC News. I'd bet he's telling the truth and didn't leak it. Who's suggesting he did? Team Crump, of course.

O'Mara has had this report for weeks. He had it in court with him at the bond hearing and said he hadn't yet turned it over to the prosecution. Zimmerman's father, brother and friends referred to it in interviews weeks ago.

The report was given exclusively to Matt Guttman of ABC News. [More...]

The New York Times reports the results of its reporters' investigation over the last several weeks into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

It includes a lot of unnamed police sources and claims by unnamed witnesses made after the fact. Most of this stuff we've heard before, and I'd caution against assuming the New York Times is reporting facts. It's reporting what unnamed police sources and witnesses told the reporters, which may or may not be accurate. [More...]

John Edwards concluded his defense today. Neither he, his daughter Cate nor Rielle Hunter testified.

The Government apparently did not call rebuttal witnesses. Jury instructions will be argued this afternoon and closing arguments will be tomorrow. The jury will likely begin deliberating Friday.

I think Edwards absolutely made the right decision. He has no burden to prove anything. Had he testified, the Government would have hammered him with his previous lies, over and over. Was he lying then or is he lying now? If he testified and was convicted, the Government would have been able to seek an increase in his sentencing guidelines for obstruction, claiming he testified falsely. He had little to gain and a lot to lose. [More...]

Update: I was able to find a copy of the actual 8 page list of discovery items released by state's Attorney Angela Corey.

ABC news has obtained the 3 page medical report from the doctor who examined George Zimmerman the day after he shot Trayvon Martin. The report was included in the discovery turned over to the defense Monday.

Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury....

The report also shows Zimmerman's upper lip and cheek were bruised and he had lower back pain. The back of his head had two lacerations, one of which was almost an inch in length. [More..]

John Edwards was probably singing the Boomtown Rats, “I don’t like Mondays” to himself yesterday. His bad luck began in the morning when first the Judge got snippy with Abbe Lowell about Lowell deciding to put his expert witness on when she still hasn’t ruled on whether she’ll allow it. " Come back later in the and we’ll discuss it."

Lowell calls his next witness, Lora Haggard, former CFO of his John Edwards for President Campaign. More bad news for John Edwards. The Judge, outside the presence of the jury severely curtailed what she could say. She was not allowed to tell the jury that an FEC audit completed just last month, which knew all about the Indictment and monies from Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon, approved without objection his campaign's financial reports that did not include the Baron/Mellon funds,. [More...]

Mark O'Mara, attorney for George Zimmerman, said Monday he has received discovery from the state prosecutor today:

The discovery package included 67 compact discs and numerous hardcopy documents, including the State’s Discovery Exhibit and Demand for Reciprocal Discovery. The discovery also includes witness statements, 911 calls, non-emergency calls, photos, video, medical records, and more

The Orlando Sentinel has more details of what was turned over, as Corey filed an 8 page document with the Court right before it closed describing what was turned over. [More...]

Update #1: The FEC concluded an audit last month and found the funds from Baron and Mellon were not campaign contributions, but the Judge wouldn't let the witness testify to that.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles refused to allow Haggard to testify that the FEC determined last July that the money from the two donors wasn't campaign contributions. Prosecutor Jeffrey Tsai argued outside of the jury's presence that the stance of one FEC commissioner was irrelevant to the criminal case.

Haggard was allowed to testify that FEC auditors never asked her to amend campaign finance reports to include the money from Mellon and Baron, even after Edwards was indicted last summer. The audit of the campaign, which was required because Edwards accepted federal campaign matching funds, was finally completed last month, she said.

And the judge still hasn't ruled on whether Edwards' expert can testify. [More...]