by Alex Newman
The
New American
The prosecution’s
“star witness” against former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman,
accused of murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, endured
an embarrassing grilling both inside the Florida courtroom and in
the national media. From potentially incriminating social-media
posts publicized by reporters to major gaffes during her testimony,
Rachel Jeantel, 19 (shown), has sparked even more criticism of what
legal experts say appears to be an overzealous bid to convict Zimmerman
regardless of the
evidence supporting his claims of self-defense.
First, reporters uncovered
a Twitter account used by Jeantel, who was on the phone with Martin
shortly before he was killed and has been repeatedly described as
prosecutors’ “star” witness in the case. While dozens of the expletive-laced
and potentially incriminating messages were deleted or “scrubbed”
in recent days, the controversial posts were captured by journalists
before being taken down. Jeantel tweeted about everything from “getting
high” and drug use to underage drinking and apparent drunk driving.
Inside the courtroom, matters went even worse for prosecutors. Among
other controversies, the key witness was forced to admit in cross-examination
that she could not understand the handwriting in a letter that she
supposedly “wrote” about the killing. “I don’t read cursive,” she
responded when Zimmerman’s defense attorney asked Jeantel if she
could read the document. The witness claimed that a friend had helped
her write it, but media accounts said
the explosive revelation sent a “hush” through the courtroom.
Jeantel’s testimony also revealed other major holes in the prosecution’s
case. For example, while the establishment media and race-profiteers
have been fiendishly trying to paint Zimmerman, who is Hispanic,
as a racist, Jeantel said that Martin had in fact made a racist
comment about Zimmerman over the phone. According to the witness,
Martin told her there was a “creepy-a** cracker” following him.
Cracker, of course, is generally considered a racist
term used to describe whites.
There were also some apparent contradictions in Jeantel’s story
– major ones. During her testimony, for instance, she claimed
that shortly before the shooting, she heard Martin ask Zimmerman
“why are you following me?” After that, Jeantel claimed she heard
Martin tell Zimmerman to “get off!” Under cross-examination by the
defense, however, Jeantel alleged that she had not mentioned the
supposed remarks in earlier statements because she did not think
they were important. In a taped interview with prosecutors before
the trial, Jeantel had also said she “couldn’t hear” Martin tell
Zimmerman to get off.
While on the witness stand, Jeantel even admitted to telling several
lies under
oath. Defense attorney Don West pointed out that the witness,
who had known Martin since elementary school, lied to Martin’s mother
about her age, claiming she was 16 when she was in fact two years
older than that. Jeantel also told Martin’s mother that she did
not attend the funeral due to hospitalization, which was untrue
as well. The witness claimed the lies were told because of how she
felt.
Unsurprisingly, defense attorneys seized on the testimony to argue
that Jeantel was an unreliable witness. West, co-counsel for Zimmerman,
also suggested that Jeantel did not call the police after hearing
the confrontation “because Trayvon Martin started the fight, and
you knew that.” Jeantel responded by denying the accusation and
saying she did not know what West was talking about. Eventually,
Jeantel was finally forced to admit under oath that she did not
know who started the fight.
In the court of public opinion, meanwhile, the “star” witness was
being grilled as well. The Smoking Gun, an online service that publicizes
“exclusive documents,” managed to track down Jeantel’s profiles
on social media services. In a series
of explosive
reports, the site exposed numerous Twitter posts by the witness
that were embarrassing at the very least – and incriminating
at worst. The account was promptly scrubbed, but the damage was
done.
“Party time let get high,” one of the posts read. Another said:
“Omg everybody high” followed by “Lol we going to hell for smoke
on Sunday I need some more drink.” Separate tweets apparently referring
to driving while under the influence were also deleted. “I hope
I dnt hit no one tonight lord plz watch my driving,” Jeantel reportedly
wrote. “Just got home thank u lord good night,” she added later.
Numerous pictures and expletive-filled comments were deleted as
well.
June
29, 2013
Copyright
© 2013 The New American
Republished with permission from:: Lew Rockwell