I am getting REALLY sick and tired of Marcy Wheeler.

[TheWraith]

Also known as "Emptywheel" in the blogosphere. More and more I think the "empty" part is her head. Unlike the average blogger one gripes about, I've actually MET Marcy Wheeler, and frankly every time I read something she's written I get closer to defriending her on Facebook. Maybe this will be the deal breaker: her newest screed basically pitches the claim that there's no way George Zimmerman should be under arrest because the prosecutor hasn't shown probable cause for even a manslaughter charge, let alone murder two.

The affidavit goes out of its way to spin innocuous and perfectly legal activity into some nebulous vignette of implied criminality, yet self servingly there is not a single fleeting reference to Zimmerman’s claim of having acted in self defense. To be sure, in charging a case, a prosecutor is going to frame the facts to support her charge. But that does not mean she can blithely ignore patently exculpatory facts known to her and germane to the interests of justice. Angela Corey’s affidavit is thusly not just deficient, but dishonest in a very slimy, even if not unethical way. It is patently offensive in that regard.

The case is also patently overcharged. As stated above, I think it is more than arguable that the probable cause affidavit does not even support manslaughter, but it is not remotely close to supporting second degree murder. This is an embarrassment not only for Angela Corey, but the magistrate who signed off on this bunk. It makes the criminal justice system look horrible.

http://www.emptywheel.net/2012/04/14/zimmerman-anatomy-of-an-deficient-probable-cause-affidavit/

Not that Wheeler doesn't already have a towering level of undeserved arrogance on just about every subject, but the way that she's herein asserting that she knows the law better than both the veteran prosecutor and the judge is pretty damn hilarious when you consider that Wheeler isn't even a lawyer. She has a PhD in Comparative Literature, which last time I checked was NOT on the bar exam.

Even putting that aside, her comments show both a ghastly failure to understand the concept of probable cause, and a refusal to comprehend the basic facts of the case. "Probable cause" is not a standard of PROOF, it's a standard of belief. In other words, probable cause is when one has the reasonable suspicion that a person has committed a crime. For instance, if someone is driving erratically and acts intoxicated, that's probable cause for driving under the influence, even if you can't prove it right there and then. Likewise with a story that has as many holes in it as Zimmerman's, when there isn't even any disagreement about whether he shot Martin, it's not hard to find probable cause that he should be charged. Regardless of what you think Zimmerman did or didn't do, I think any reasonable person would say that there's enough evidence to warrant examination by the court.

And then, just at the end, she throws in a half-assed attempt at CYA, asserting that she's not making a pro-Zimmerman argument, even though it's patently clear that she is when she outright says he shouldn't be under arrest based on the prosecutor's affidavit.

Okay, rant mode off.

[elleng]

1. Thanks, Wraith.

I called an earlier post on this point, earlier today, Empty, and you're not ranting, imo, but speaking truth.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=564162

[Quantess]

2. I'm annoyed by people who use the word "thusly"

Who says "thusly" in 2012?
No way would I waste time reading that blog. I would be too irritated by her writing style.

[dballance]

3. I read her post about the Zimmerman affidavit

And I just couldn't let myself start responding to it or I think I might get banned. It was so devoid of actual reason, fact or logic reading it was like listening to fingernails on a chalk board.

The timeline impeaches Zimmerman's account because there just isn't enough time for everything he says happened to have happened. Audio experts have used sophisticated electronics to match the screams for help on the 911 call with Martin, not Zimmerman. The phone call Martin was on with his girlfriend provides ample evidence Zimmerman pursued Martin despite the police dispatcher telling him not to and to stay in his vehicle.

So what more does she want?


If Zimmerman, apparently a cop wanna-be, had not wanted to play Kojack and had stayed in his vehicle as instructed none of this would have ever happened.

[dkf]

9. They didn't match the screams to Martin. There seem to be no recordings of his voice ever.

Not even a voice mail. Weird.

[CatWoman]

16. I think the MORE important point here is that

they did not match it to Zimmerman.

Was it not Zimmerman and his enabler squad who claims it was Zimmerman yelling for help?

[Luminous Animal]

4. The article was written by bmaz. Who is a lawyer.

[Little Star]

5. Alan Dershowitz is another one who made me want to barf....

Maybe she got her talking points from him.

[leveymg]

6. I think Marcy and bmaz got it badly wrong on this one. But, she's been right on many things.

So, I'll give Marcy the benefit of the doubt.

BTW: law school doesn't automatically make people right or wrong in their legal judgments, and lawyers in contested matters are usually on the losing side at least half the time.

[mmonk]

7. Correct. Justice Thomas is a perfect example of your last sentence (as is John Woo).

[Luminous Animal]

8. I can't figure out why Marcy is being dragged into this to begin with...

she didn't write the piece. Bmaz did and bmaz IS a lawyer.

[leveymg]

10. Does Marcy have a say on content? The piece is so wrong-headed that I would have objected,

if I were her, if indeed she has editorial control.

[Luminous Animal]

11. That would probably be a good question to answer before

criticizing her for writing something she did not write.

[leveymg]

12. AFAIK, bmaz is a guest columnist on emptywheel's site. Marcy is publisher, so she shares the

credit and criticism for what gets posted there. I think a lot of the flak she gets is not so much for this article (which I disagree with and think is wrongheaded), but on account of the fact that she is highly critical of a number of Obama's military, intel and surveillance policies - on that, I think she hits her target more often than some around here are comfortable with.

I will continue reading and supporting Marcy, and thank her for her work.

[msanthrope]

13. Her 'legal expert' was obliterated in the comments..... nt

[Luminous Animal]

14. No, he wasn't

[msanthrope]

15. Yeah...he missed the PC determination in the court proceedings

and is apparently profoundly ignorant of actual Florida practice.

[rusty fender]

17. I've never heard of Marcy Wheeler