I contributed the portion of our roundup of Trayvon Martin coverage that focused on what had been reported about the initial police investigation, so I’m chagrined to say I missed this comprehensive tick-tock by Frances Robles that appeared last weekend in The Miami Herald.
Robles’s article is an attempt to sort out truth from rumor on a “minute by minute” basis; it details what is known about the encounter between Martin and George Zimmerman itself, but also devotes a long section to the immediate investigation by the Sanford Police Department.
The story doesn’t attempt to address every question one might have about the investigation. (E.g., did police take photos of Zimmerman’s alleged injuries?) But it very usefully brings a lot of information together in one place. And even if you have been following the case closely, it should advance your understanding of the facts (for example, Robles has Miami police experts saying it’s not unusual that Zimmerman wasn’t tested for drugs and alcohol on the night of the killing—a point I hadn’t seen before.) Definitely worth a read.
On the ALEC stand your ground side of reporting, reuters did a good roundup of the questionable self defense case rise in Florida:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/24/us-usa-florida-shooting-law-idUSBRE82M19V20120324
Worth a gander.
#1 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Fri 13 Apr 2012 at 02:35 PM
In the tick-tock story at the Miami Herald titled "What is known, what isn’t about Trayvon Martin’s death," Frances Robles wrote:
There had been a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood attributed to young black men...
This claim has been picked up and repeated many times as though it were gospel.
Is it fact?
Did the reporter check burglary reports or was someone's word accepted without challenge for this claim?
#2 Posted by Bonnie Britt, CJR on Sat 14 Apr 2012 at 02:01 PM
Many of the stories on the killing of Trayvon Martin would be stronger if the reporters spelled out the exact meaning of a "rash of burglaries." It is a stock phrase that is repeated again and again by many news outlets without any reference to factual evidence.
How many burglaries occurred in that subdivision over what period?
How many police reports identified "young black men" as the burglars?
How exactly did anyone know burglaries were committed by "young black men"? Were there witnesses? In how many cases were there prosecutions?
#3 Posted by Bonnie Britt, CJR on Sat 14 Apr 2012 at 04:01 PM