"The sensationalized, fact-deficient coverage of this case has achieved the desired results. The networks got their ratings. The politicians got their talking points. And if it means innocent people get caught in the middle of the racial enmity they’ve fomented, obviously it’s considered acceptable collateral damage." Jim Treacher, The DC Trawler
UPDATE 8/1/2012: Ben Crump's interview with Dee Dee on the phone before FDLE. I was not able to translate it - no one could: Benjamin Crump and Dee Dee Witness 8
We've seen months of media coverage (mostly biased), of the witnesses in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Now that the documented interviews have been released to the public, via Florida's sunshine law, we have an objective side to a few of the statements - we have the truth. It is not so much that the newly revealed statements tell the truth about what happened the night Trayvon was shot and killed, it is more that they exposed the blatant agendas that drove the witness appearances on all the major networks for the past three months.
Dee Dee, Trayvon's (Girl)friend
Alleged Ear Witness, "Dee Dee". Claims to have been on the phone with Trayvon before and during the altercation that led to Trayvon's death. INTERVIEW HERE
Three weeks after Trayvon was shot to death by George Zimmerman, Benjamin Crump, the Martin family attorney, held a press conference to introduce the witness testimony of "Dee Dee", the 15 year old "girlfriend" of Trayvon Martin. But first, a bit of background information on the weekend prior to this press conference.
Three weeks after Trayvon was shot to death by George Zimmerman, Benjamin Crump, the Martin family attorney, held a press conference to introduce the witness testimony of "Dee Dee", the 15 year old "girlfriend" of Trayvon Martin. But first, a bit of background information on the weekend prior to this press conference.
3/16 - The Martin's and Crump visit the SPD to persuade part time Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett to release the 911 tapes for the night of 2/26/2012, including the 911 call George Zimmerman made reporting Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person. Triplett gave copies of those tapes to the family and to Crump that night.
3/16 - Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett released 911 tapes to media and Martin Lawyers
3/18 - Tracy Martin comes across phone number for Dee Dee and calls her
3/20 - Press conference is held to announce the miraculous discovery that, according to Crump, proves the shooting by George Zimmerman was not in self defense.
Crump's press conference 3/20:
Crump: "Mr. Martin, on Sunday evening, was working with his cell phone account, trying to figure out Trayvon's password. And he looked on it, and he saw who the last person was that Trayvon Martin talked to while he was alive. He called me late Sunday night and told me that he had called the young lady, and he told me, and I was just utterly shocked when he told me the time that they talked."
Of course Natalie Jackson and Crump failed to get their stories straight. She had to embellish while appearing on Democracy Now the same day of Crump's press conference.
Natalie Jackson: " But we had to go out and investigate this case. We hired an investigator that got the phone records. And once we saw Trayvon’s phone record, because he was on the—he had his phone with him, and we saw that he was on the phone when this incident purportedly happened. We contacted the person he was on the phone with. It was a young girl. And she told us that she heard Zimmerman approach Trayvon."
What the heck, right? I thought it was Tracy Martin who found the girl on Trayvon's phone records and called her. Did Natalie Jackson LIE or did Benjamin Crump and Tracy Martin LIE - or was the "Investigator" giving them the information one Chris Serino (recently demoted from Homicide Investigator to Patrol on the midnight shift? Anyway, more of the press conference:
Crump: "This young lady details it completely, the tone of the conversation and the nature of the conversation, and what was happening the last minutes of his life. I will ask you -- her parents does (ph) not in any way want to reveal her identity. She is a minor. Her parents are very worried about her. She is traumatized over this. This was her really, really close personal friend. They were dating. And so it's a situation where to know that you were the last person to talk to the young man who you thought was one of the most special people in the world to you, and know that he got killed moments after he was talking to you, is just riveting to this young lady.
Actually, not so much. The young girl was texting away on 2/27/2012 on Twitter, and only paused a moment to post a comment about Trayvon's death, then she went back to her regularly scheduled, teenage life:
More press conference:
Crump: And we all were teenagers, so we can imagine how that is when you think somebody's really special, and you call it puppy love or whatever you want to call it. Then suddenly and tragically, this is taken away and you have, unfortunately, a first-hand account of it.
Again, not seeing this in her tweets, at all. I think they were really good friends, but nothing more. In Dee Dee's account to special prosecutor, when asked if Trayvon was a good friend, Dee Dee replied, "yeah, he was a'right".
Point by point comparison Crump Presser on 3/20 with Dee Dee's interview with Prosecutor De la Rionda (DLR) on 4/2:
Crump: He is talking to the young lady, as he walks to the store. The phone records show -- you get copies of these phone records, they will show you the times the calls were made and how long he was on the phone. And it is without any doubt that he's on the phone the entire time during the day. especially when he is going to that store and coming back.
When asked by De la Rionda about speaking to Trayvon on the day of 2/26, Dee Dee answered she had spoken to him in the morning - De la Rionda presses her and she finally says "during the day".
Crump: "She relays how he went to the store. When he came out from the store, he said it was starting to rain, he was going to try to make it home before it rained. Then he tells her it starts raining hard. He runs into the apartment complex and runs to the first building he sees to try to get out of the rain. He was trying to get shelter. So he tries to get out of the rain. "
With the help of De la Rionda, Dee Dee relates the same as above:
GIRLFRIEND: It started raining.
DLR: It started raining, and did he go somewhere?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, he ran to the, um, mail thing.
DLR: Like, I’m sorry, what?
GIRLFRIEND: Like a mail, like a shed.
DLR: Like a mail—like a shed, like a mail area?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, yeah.
DLR: Like a covered area, because it was raining?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. DLR: So did he tell you he was already inside, like, the gated place?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. He ran in there.
Crump: "And unbeknownst to him, he is being watched. He is a kid trying to get home from the store and get out of the rain. That's it. Nothing else. So, he stands under that apartment building for a few minutes, the rain kind of dies down. He then goes, and he has his hoodie on because it's raining and he goes back to walking."
GIRLFRIEND: That’s when the phone hung up.
DLR: OK. I’m sorry.
GIRLFRIEND: The phone hung up, and I called him back again.
DLR: And what else did Trayvon tell you?
GIRLFRIEND: And like—
DLR: And I know this is difficult for you, but just take your time and tell us what you remember happened.
GIRLFRIEND: A couple minutes later, like, he come and tell me this man is watching him.
DLR: OK. Did he describe the man that was watching him?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, he said white. DLR: OK. Did he say whether the man was standing, sitting, or—
GIRLFRIEND: He was in a car.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: And what did he say about the man that was watching him under the—
GIRLFRIEND: He was on the phone. DLR: He was on the phone?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK. And what did Trayvon say after that?
GIRLFRIEND: He was telling me that, like, this man was watching him, so he, like, started walking. DLR: He, Trayvon, started walking?
GIRLFRIEND: He gonna start walking.
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: And then the phone hung up, and then I called him back again (6:54). And then, I said, "What are you doing?" He said he’s walking, and he said this man is still following him, behind the car. He put his hoodie on.
DLR: He, Trayvon, put his hoodie on?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. DLR: OK.
Crump Presser: And he goes back to talking to her again. You'll see the phone calls when it came in at 6:54. He then says, I think this dude is following me. And she talks about how he kind of slows down and he's trying to look in the car like, I think this dude is following me. And she tells him, baby, be careful, just run home. She tells him that.
And you remember from the 911 tape, Zimmerman tells the police, oh, he's coming at me, he's looking at me, he's checking me out. He had no idea who this man was who was following him. So he starts to run (7:12), and then what do we know from Zimmerman's 911 call that you heard the recording, Zimmerman gets out of his car and pursues him.
GIRLFRIEND: So I said, "What's going on?" He said this man is still watching him, like in a car. So he about to run from the back. So I told him, go to his dad’s house. Run to his dad’s house.
DLR: Go to what?
GIRLFRIEND: Run to his dad’s house.
DLR: To his dad’s house, OK.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. So he said he was about to run from the back. So, next thing I hear, he just
run. And I can hear that the wind blowing.
DLR: So you could tell he was running at that time?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, yeah.
DLR: OK. Then what happened?
GIRLFRIEND: And then he said he lost him.
DLR: He lost what, the man?
DLR: So was Trayvon—at that time, you could tell he was, like, out of breath, like excited? (Note: notice this leading question and how many times Dee Dee repeats how "out of breath" Trayvon is).
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: Like—right?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK. Take your time, I know this is difficult for you.
GIRLFRIEND: So he lost him. He was breathing hard. And by the sound of his voice, his voice kind of changed.
DLR: Who, Trayvon’s?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK. What do you mean by that? His voice changed?
GIRLFRIEND: I know he was scared.
DLR: I’m sorry?
GIRLFRIEND: I know he was scared.
DLR: How—and I know what you’re trying to tell me, but if you could describe to me how you could tell he was scared.
GIRLFRIEND: His voice was getting kind of low, a little bit low. He was running hard.
DLR: OK. So you could tell he was emotional, like somebody who was, like, in fear?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. He said he lost—
DLR: OK. He was breathing hard? OK. (Note: again with the breathing hard)
GIRLFRIEND: He said he had lost him. He was breathing hard, and—and I told him, "Keep
running."
DLR: So Trayvon said he started walking because he thought he had lost the guy? (Note: did she say he started walking?)
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: I said, "Keep running."
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: He said he ain’t gonna run, 'cause he said he's right by his father’s house."
Note: From the mailboxes to the house where Trayvon was staying is less than 100 yards. After all the running and breathing hard, not to mention the fear, Trayvon should have been inside his house with the doors locked in the two minutes since he "lost" Zimmerman.
Continuing with interview:
GIRLFRIEND: So, and in a couple minutes (note: Crump making timeline fit), he said the man’s following him again, he’s behind him. I said, "Run! You going to run?" He said he’s not going to run. I could know he’s not going to run, because he out of breath. Then, he told me [inaudible] the guy getting close to him. I told him, "Run!" And then I told him, "Keep running!" He not going to run. And then he said—I told him, "Why are you not running?" He said, "I’m not running," because he’s tired, because I know he’s tired.
DLR: I’m sorry, Trayvon said he’s not running because—he’s not going to run, he said, because you could tell he was tired?
For fu^^s sake! How out of shape is this seventeen year old that he ran for two minutes and got nowhere and was too tired to run anymore???
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: How could you tell he was tired?
GIRLFRIEND: He was breathing hard.
DLR: OK. Real hard?
GIRLFRIEND: Real hard.
What I think happened here is confusion for poor Dee Dee, between DR and Crump, she didn't know who the hell was supposed to be breathing hard, so she just kept repeating it, unaware of how ludicrous she was sounding.
Crump: One thing the dispatcher says, are you chasing him (note: he actually said, "are you following him"), and he says yes, and we hear him breathing hard. And they said we don't need you to do that. And Zimmerman says OK.
GIRLFRIEND: And then he told me this guy was getting close. Like, he told me the guy was getting real close to him. Next thing I hear: "Why are you following me for?"
Crump presser: She says that Trayvon says he's going to try to lose him. He's running trying to lose him. He tells her, I think I lost him. So, he's walking and then she says that he says very simply, oh, he's right behind me. He's right behind me again.
And so she says "run." He says, I'm not going to run. I'm going to walk fast. At that point, she says Trayvon -- she hears Trayvon say, why are you following me. She hears the other boy say, what
DLR: OK. So let me make sure I understand this. So, Trayvon tells you that the guy is getting closer to him.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: And then you hear Trayvon saying something.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
Crump Presser:she hears Trayvon say, why are you following me. She hears the other boy say, what are you doing around here. And again, Trayvon says, why are you following me. And that's when she says again he said, what are you doing around here. Trayvon is pushed. The reason she concludes, because his voice changes like something interrupted his speech. Then the other thing, she believes the earplug fell out of his ear. She can hear faint noises but no longer has the contact. She hears an altercation going and she says, then suddenly, somebody must have hit the phone and it went out because that's the last she hears.
DLR: And what do you hear Trayvon saying?
GIRLFRIEND: "Why are you following me for?"
DLR: "Why are you following me for?"
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: And then what happened?
GIRLFRIEND: I heard this man, like an old man—
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: —say, "What are you doing around here?"
DLR: OK, so you definitely could tell another voice that was not Trayvon.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, yeah.
DLR: And you heard this other voice say what?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. "What are you doing around here?"
DLR: "What are you doing around here?" OK.
GIRLFRIEND: And I called, "Trayvon, Trayon, what’s going on? What’s going on?"
DLR: This is you saying that?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: Then, I’m calling him. He didn’t answer.
DLR: No answer from Trayvon?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah. I hear something like bump. You could hear that Trayvon—somebody bumped
Trayvon. I could hear the grass.
DLR: OK. So you could hear there was something going on.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: Like something hitting something?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK.
GIRLFRIEND: You can hear—I can hear the grass thing.
DLR: Out of the—
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: I guess, out of the—
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: OK, and then what happened?
GIRLFRIEND: And then, I was still screaming, I was saying, "Trayvon! Trayvon!"
DLR: And there was no response?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, and then next thing—and next thing, the phone just shut off.
DLR: The phone shut off?
GIRLFRIEND: It just shut off.
This is where the presser ends the phone call, it just "shut off". The prosecutor didn't end it there though, he went on with a few more questions...leading at times. After one question, about George getting out of the car, she seems confused, hesitates, and asks, "you want that too?".
DLR: When you heard that noise of something hitting somebody, did you hear anything else, did you
hear the man say anything? Did you hear any kind of screaming or anything like that?
GIRLFRIEND: No
DLR: Did you hear any kind of shot?
GIRLFRIEND: No
DLR: When the phone shut off, did you ever call him back?
GIRLFRIEND: I call him back two or three times.
DLR: Did you ever get an answer?
GIRLFRIEND: No, he didn't text me back.
DLR: So the last thing you heard was something like somebody hitting somebody?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah
DLR: And ummm, when you heard that noise, somebody hitting somebody, did you hear the man
say anything, or did you hear Trayvon say anything?
GIRLFRIEND: I could hear a little bit
DLR: Ok, what could you hear?
GIRLFRIEND: Like the headphone, like the headphone got off
DLR: What did you hear?
GIRLFRIEND: Like a little bit get off
DLR: Like "get off"
GIRLFRIEND: Like a little get off
DLR: Could you tell who was saying that?
GIRLFRIEND: I couldn't tell it was Trayvon. I could (something) Trayvon
DLR: Let me make sure I understand you, it was trayvon saying that?
GIRLFRIEND: I could hear Trayvon that's why I was calling his name.
DLR: He was saying what now?
GIRLFRIEND: "get off"
DLR: get off?
DLR: Were you clearly hearing that, or do you think you heard that?
GIRLFRIEND: I could hear it a little bit, "get off" and then the phone just hung up.
<snip>
DLR: Ok, now let me go back, you say Trayvon told you he was in some kind of car, on the phone?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah
DLR: Did Trayvon ever expand on that, did he ever tell you whether the guy had gotten out of the
car? Did he say the guy's out of the car (raises voice), "the guy's out of the car", did he ever say the
guy got out of the car?
GIRLFRIEND: If you want that too?
DLR: I want the truth, did he say that or not?
<snip>
DLR: Did Trayvon ever say he was going to hit the guy?
GIRLFRIEND: (Quiet) Nah
DLR: Did Trayvon ever say the guy was going to hit him?
GIRLFRIEND: (hesitant) You could say that.
DLR: No, I don't want you to guess, did he say that or not?
GIRLFRIEND: How he said it? (Asking for his lead?)
DLR: Nah, do you understand, did he say it or not?
GIRLFRIEND: He...
DLR: If he didn't say it, that's alright...
GIRLFRIEND: He say the man got problems
DLR: Travon told you that?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, the man looking crazy.
DLR: When did Trayvon tell you that?
GIRLFRIEND: When he was walking
DLR: You didn't mention it earlier, that's why I asked you that.
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, walking home to his daddy house when he say he's gonna run.
DLR: So he says the guy looks crazy?
GIRLFRIEND: And creepy.
DLR: Did you ask him what did he mean by that?
GIRLFRIEND: Cuz he said this dude was like watching him, and watching.
DLR: So you were previously called by Mr. Crump, by some lawyers?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: And did you attempt, as best you could, tell them the truth too?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
DLR: About what happened. Do you remember talking to them at all?
DLR: Did they make you any promises or trick you in any way?
GIRLFRIEND: No (not with a lot of confidence)
DLR: I'm not saying that they did, just want to make the record clear on that.
Crump (press conference): In fact, she couldn't even go to his wake she was so sick. Her mother had to take her to the hospital. She spent the night in the hospital. She is traumatized beyond anything you could imagine."
DLR: Ummm, you obviously found out about what happened to Trayvon, right?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah
DLR: At some point you ended up knowing he was killed, right but you didn't go to the wake...why?
GIRLFRIEND: I didn't feel good.
DLR: Did you go to the hospital or somewhere?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
GIRLFRIEND: Umm blood pressure.
The wake was 3/3/2012 - Here are Dee Dee's tweets for that day
The wake was 3/3/2012 - Here are Dee Dee's tweets for that day
You get the idea, there's many more located HERE with authentication information
DLR: Did you ever text Trayvon on the 26th
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah, when the phone hung up.
DLR: Did he text you that day.
GIRLFRIEND: No.
DLR: When he was at the store, he said he got some candy right? And iced tea?
GIRLFRIEND: Yeah.
Note: There is still another minute to the interview but my gag reflex is not strong enough to transcribe it. Feel free to listen - LINK - scroll down left sidebar.
Dee Dee is the State's smoking gun. She is Crump's "connect the dots" girl. The State will never put this poor child on the stand. This interview was a disaster and the prosecutor questioning her should be fired....in my opinion. At the very least he should go back and re-take "Interviewing a Witness 101".
