First off, Does anyone know why my earlier thread has been deleted? I had been posting news events as the Zimmerman case progressed 90% or more has vanished. there was a large mount of discussion, and I thought there was group consensus that it was militia related due to the possible acts of violence that could erupt out of it. If that has changed, fine. I'll post about it instead in what ever pigeon hole is proper. Admin, Please advise. It's quite possible that stuff gets deleted when that spam about human growth hormon stuff is dealt with lately.

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New Zimmerman evidence: Serino changed final report four times in five hours

December 12, 2012|By Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

SANFORD – After Chris Serino, the Sanford police detective who led the investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting death, wrote the most important police report in the case, he revised it at least four times.

And he made at least one huge change: He initially said George Zimmerman should be charged with second-degree murder then changed course and recommended a charge of manslaughter, according to a prosecutor and new list of evidence.

Serino made all those revisions to the report summarizing his findings during one five-hour stretch on March 13, according to a newly-released evidence list.

In the first two drafts, according to Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda, Serino wrote that he had probable cause to recommend a second-degree murder charge. Then, over the next hour, he changed the report twice more and in his final version wrote that the evidence supported the lesser charge.

One of Serino's supervisors, Sanford police Capt. Bob O'Connor, said in a July 3 interview that everyone in Serino's chain of command agreed with the investigator's conclusion. Serino's direct supervisor, then-Sgt. Randy Smith, also signed the final version.

Each version was turned over to defense attorneys Tuesday, although they have not yet been made public. That should happen in the next few weeks.

Zimmerman, a former Neighborhood Watch volunteer, is free on $1 million bail, awaiting trial on a charge of second-degree murder. He says he acted in self-defense when he killed the unarmed teen Feb. 26 after calling Sanford police and describing him as suspicious.

Prosecutors say 29-year-old Zimmerman is guilty of profiling a 17-year-old whom he assumed was about to commit a crime, following him and committing murder.

Cop did what he was told

The new evidence list shows that on March 13, the day Sanford police surrendered the case to the Office of Seminole-Brevard State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, Serino went to great lengths to polish and revise the final report.

It was a time of extraordinary pressure on the department. National civil rights leaders were accusing Sanford officers of racism and sloppy police work.

There were rallies and marches in Sanford and across the country, and political leaders were pressuring the department to make an arrest.

But police did not have enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman, they said at the time and have repeated ever since. Former Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. and other senior officers said that would have been a violation of his civil rights, so their solution: Dump it on Wolfinger.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-12-12/news/os-george-zimme...