A lawyer for Trayvon Martin's family is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to review what he alleges was a meeting the night the 17-year-old was killed between Sanford's police chief and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger.
Benjamin Crump sent a formal request to the federal agency Monday, saying he believes Wolfinger and police Chief Bill Lee Jr. met Feb. 26 and overruled a homicide investigator's recommendation that George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter.
Monday afternoon, Wolfinger said there was no meeting and that the letter was based on "outright lies". He also denounced "those spreading … irresponsible rhetoric".
Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon during a fight that rainy Sunday evening. Zimmerman told police he had followed the teenager but turned back then acted in self-defense when Trayvon knocked him to the ground and began pounding Zimmerman's head on a sidewalk.
Zimmerman has not been arrested, and that has set off marches and rallies across the country by people, saying Trayvon was the victim of racial profiling and Zimmerman is being coddled by police.
The case is being investigated by a special prosecutor, and two weeks ago the U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation.
Some news agencies have reported that Sanford's lead investigator, Chris Serino, wanted Zimmerman charged with manslaughter that night but Wolfinger's office put a stop to it. The city of Sanford issued a statement saying that is not true.
Police did that night prepare an incident report that lists "manslaughter" as the possible crime being investigated, but in every case in which an officer prepares an incident report, he or she fills in that spot with some crime and statute number to allow the agency to properly report crime statistics to the FBI.
Two weeks ago, during an exclusive interview with the Sentinel, Lee disclosed certain details of the investigation and during that session, attended by Serino and others,
Serino said his investigation turned up no reliable evidence that cast doubt on Zimmerman's account – that he had acted in self-defense.
"The best evidence we have is the testimony of George Zimmerman, and he says the decedent was the primary aggressor in the whole event," Serino told the Sentinel March 16. "Everything I have is adding up to what he says."
In his letter Monday to Roy Austin, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Crump wrote, "We look forward to your thorough and comprehensive review of the suspicious circumstances surrounding this meeting, and the decision to disregard the recommendation of the lead homicide investigator, Mr. Serino, who felt compelled to prepare an affidavit memorializing his recommendation to arrest the shooter George Zimmerman."
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-02/news/os-trayvon-martin-federal-review-justice-letter-20120402_1_chief-bill-lee-federal-review-federal-agency
300
300
250
