Star witness for the Zimmerman prosecution…
Egad. Talk about Perry Mason moments:
A teenage friend of Trayvon Martin was forced to admit today in the George Zimmerman murder trial that she did not write a letter that was sent to Martin’s mother describing what she allegedly heard on a phone call with Martin moments before he was shot.
In a painfully embarassing moment, Rachel Jeantel was asked to read the letter out loud in court.
“Are you able to read that at all?” defense attorney Don West asked.
Jeantel, head bowed, eyes averted whispered into the court microphone, “Some but not all. I don’t read cursive.”
It sent a hush through the packed courtroom.
Note that the above article appeared at ABC News, not exactly likely to be favoring Zimmerman. It must have been quite a moment.
Much much more here.
[Hat tip: Ace.]
[ADDENDUM: And this sounds like a Zen koan: what is the sound of wet grass?]
UPDATE 2:25 PM: According to some links at Legal Insurrection (see tweets about the trial, here), Jeantel said she had a friend write the letter for her.
So unless she specifically had said she had written the letter, her testimony would not be considered perjury. But I don’t know (and haven’t seen anything that indicates) what she or the prosecution had previously said about the provenance of the letter and who actually wrote it. I haven’t been watching the trial.
However, if you read the articles at the links, you’ll see that there are many many difficulties with Jeantel’s testimony that come together to create a picture of an audio witness to the crime (she was not there, but instead heard things over the phone) who did not come forward until asked to, has described things she could not possibly have been privy to, and seems to have always had Martin’s family present when being interviewed by the police. And now we have the letter that someone else wrote, and that we can assume she claims she dictated—but that perhaps the prosecution (or Jeantel herself) never before indicated was dictated?
By all reports, Jeantel’s demeanor (particularly yesterday) has been rude and verbally combative as well. It appears safe to say the jury is most likely unimpressed so far by her veracity.
There’s much, much more at the links, including the fact that she testified that Martin said to her that he was being followed by a “creepy ass cracker:
[ADDENDUM II: Glenn Reynolds has some interesting observations about the political underpinnings of the trial.]
[ADDENDUM III: Here’s a description of Jeantel’s testimony from yesterday. Astounding.
Ed Driscoll adds more today, here.]
Another disaster of public education. She will be another Democrat voter. Reading is so yesterday.
If she claims to have written the letter and cannot read it, isn’t that perjury?
Shouldn’t this have been vetted by the Prosecution? They’re either in on it or fools.
She only claimed to not be able to read cursive because it was less humiliating to admit that she can’t really read at all.
Right now you can hear her testify at
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/trayvon-martin/os-george-zimmerman-trial-live-video-chat-20130612,0,7210676.htmlpage
Live stream. Won’t last.
Over now.
To all:
Please read my “UPDATE” at the end of the post.
Lizzy:
The prosecution had no choice. Without her, they have practically no case.
Hmmm. I surprised Zimmerman’s lawyers aren’t asking for the case to be dismissed (but I have no legal expertise).
Well, if creepy ass cracker isn’t racist, isn’t it homophobic?
I’ve been watching the trial. Jeantel is not bolstering the prosecution’s case, flimsy as it was from the start. She comes across as a nervous yet defiant liar. If Zimmerman is convicted it will be a serious blow to the concept of innocent unless proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt.
BTW, any disparaging comment directed at a white hispanic or any other white male is not racist because only white males are racists.
Jeantel is not only a given Democratic voter; she is almost certain to be a leading candidate for the next vacant Cabinet position with this administration. She appears to possess all of those qualities that Obama favors.
kaba,
I think Jeantel is more likely to end up ambassador to Senegal where all the children grow up in a society very similar to Michelle’s childhood.
If I had to hazard a guess, the letter was written by Martin’s mother.
Egad?
Prefix with Harrumph and kaff-kaff, and you’ve got Major Hoople’s Boarding House!
Cappy:
I was going to say “gadzooks” but I thought better of it.
Here’s how the NY Times depicts her demeanor on the stand:
As spectators and jurors looked on rapt, the witness, Rachel Jeantel, 19, a high school senior from Miami and a friend of Mr. Martin’s, told her story quietly, sometimes haltingly, sometimes with irritation, at times dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
Via JustOneMinute
The Times never dissapoints, does it?
*disappoints*
(Must learn to use spell-check.)
She is 19, very obese, surly, ignorant, a liar, and black. In other words, a classic Democrat, whom you will support healthwise (through Obamacare) and otherwise.
Welcome to the future. Happy now? We made it all possible.
in the immortal words of Ronald Reagan
“Well…”
Glenn Reynolds’ observations are indeed interesting, and seem very plausible.
The media has been lying about this case from the beginning, and if Zimmerman’s acquittal leads to riots or attacks on whites, they will literally have blood on their hands.
But hey, riots are good for ratings, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWMgLvbZ0g8
While I agree that there is a low level of racism directed against blacks, for the most part blacks are pogoed… they are their enemy. Sad, sad, sad.
Ed Driscoll is quite wrong and I think he knows he’s wrong. It would be comforting to think that Rome at 200 AD is our template.
Not hardly. Not considering the bloodiest century in history is the century belonging to Utopian dreams. And those dreams/insanity/rebellion animate the current animals seizing control.
No, it won’t be 200 but 1984. Don’t expect fumes, don’t expect a long decline, don’t expect tolerance. The template has been written and the term “apocalypse” seems ever more approrpriate.
I have to admit, the clown circus in Florida and the side-splitting posts and comments from the “Creepy Ass Crackah” Nation have been giving me the best belly laughs I’ve had in a loooong time.
Check out the comment threads at Ace of Spades from yesterday, or Legal Insurrection.
Coca-cola through the nose — it hurts!
Rush Limbaugh had fun with Miz Jeantel today, and signed off as “The Biiiiiig Crackah on the Right!”
Yes, it’s a belly laugh, a belly laugh turned into realization that her exposure changes nothing.
There is power in propaganda, even in a war you cannot win.
Because so long as the Left fights, victory is still possible. It is one of those tenets that you can try and fail, but if you don’t try at all you will always fail.
And the Left, will not choose the option of failing always. They will be relentless, even if they only win 1% of the time and even if only .01% of their cannonfodder troops survive. So long as there is one of them left, they will try again.
That relentless drive is something people who lose all the time, often lack.
“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”- Charles Bukowski