According to two witnesses who spoke directly to me by phone today told me that FDLE investigators used strong armed tactics to get witnesses to change testimony.
It’s a investigator tactic. During my time it these kinds of tactics occurred a lot. In the vernacular it’s called “guidance”. Witnesses told me that investigators used such guidance and in one case actually threatened the witness with charges for “obstruction” if they didn’t “cooperate fully” with the investigation.
Yes witnesses change their minds sometimes after time, but not in large groups. When you see this happen it almost always means that witnesses tampering took place.“I really felt that no matter what I told them I saw and heard, they had a story in mind that they wanted me to articulate, not what I witnessed”
Of course, MacRanger has previously provided “inside” information about this case that later turned out to be bogus.
1984, close...
Posted by: kawokmali | May 24, 2012 at 12:45 PM
So this guy has been proven wrong before and you keep going to him...why exactly?
OT, but will you comment on the Steve Wilkos Show? There's trashy TV, but this show is beyond anything I've ever seen. It starts at 10 in the morning, so you know most of the people who are probably going to be watching at that hour. They bring on parents who accuse each other of molesting their children. Then they do a lie detector test, find out everyone's a molester, and then the host yells at them to get off stage. Today, the guest was a black woman who liked to make her son sleep in garbage. It's incredible and makes the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich guests look high class.
Posted by: Richard | May 24, 2012 at 01:06 PM
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-22/news/os-george-zimmerman-key-witnesses-20120522_1_witnesses-change-shooting-fdle-agent
One witness explicitly states that the media coverage influenced her "memory" of what happened:
"I know after seeing the TV of what's happening, comparing their sizes, I think Zimmerman was definitely on top because of his size," she said.
Posted by: DPG | May 24, 2012 at 01:26 PM
Sure the guy has been wrong before, but
"“I really felt that no matter what I told them I saw and heard, they had a story in mind that they wanted me to articulate, not what I witnessed”"
That is pretty fucking believable.
If not correct in the exact detail, what he's saying is obviously truthful. There are powerful people who are trying to influence what these witnesses saw.
However, the scary thing to me is how blatantly the burden of proof is being turned upside down. If the witnesses are all unclear and fuzzy, then there is reasonable doubt, and Zimmerman is not guilty. But the liberals' argument here seems to be that since the witnesses aren't sure, he is guilty.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 24, 2012 at 01:53 PM
I don't suppose he can back up his story with anything other than a say-so...
Posted by: Inkraven | May 24, 2012 at 01:54 PM
You can find similar speculation about this elsewhere. If it makes you feel any better about it.
Perhaps this statement is noteworthy:
Yes witnesses change their minds sometimes after time, but not in large groups.
Posted by: eah | May 24, 2012 at 02:53 PM
Who is MacRanger? Is he in the Orlando area? I take it he's a conservative talk radio guy?
It would be interesting to know it John was one of the two who reported FDLE pressure or "guidance".
He's Zimmerman's most important witness.
Posted by: Doug1 | May 24, 2012 at 03:57 PM
Apologies if point to another blog is poor form, but the guys at The Conservative Tree House have been doing amazing work on this case. Their latest piece shows Martin was very likely a cough syrup abuser, also known as poor man's PCP. The typical recipe is cough syrup, Arizona Watermelon Tea, and Skittles.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/05/24/update-26-part-2-trayvon-martin-shooting-a-year-of-drug-use-culminates-in-predictable-violence/
Posted by: AllanF | May 24, 2012 at 04:03 PM
AllanF,
I agree that the conservative treehouse has been a great place for further information. Much better than McRanger. They broke the information about TM's 'girlfriend', and TM's Youtube account.
Posted by: Half Canadian | May 24, 2012 at 04:32 PM
MacRanger has previously provided “inside” information about this case that later turned out to be bogus.
Then this whole post is pointless. I could do better by flying to Orlando and interviewing some hobo under a newspaper. At least the newspaper might have some state news in it.
Posted by: Zimriel | May 24, 2012 at 07:51 PM
MacRanger is lying. Ok so if a witness is pressured to change testimony, the first person they are going to contact is a no-name internet radio host with little credibility? And he doesn't say anything about it until the day after a news article breaks about the witness testimony changing (even though it's already been known that a few of them changed their stories before the Orlando Sentinel article came out.) The fact that the witnesses changed details in their stories doesn't mean witness coercion, especially in a case with such biased media coverage.
Here is the audio from John's interviews.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6GS61UCxQ&feature=plcp
I think it's pretty clear that the FDLE interview was fair and at least somewhat thorough. Couldn't we do without baseless accusations against law enforcement agencies? If you listen to the interview with DeeDee by DeLaRionda, you could argue that that particular interview was biased, but he is not with the FDLE.
Posted by: rjarnold | May 25, 2012 at 01:17 AM
How about you stop posting stuff from a guy who's been proven wrong before? Thanks Siggy
Posted by: Aurence Lauster | May 25, 2012 at 11:49 AM
"Apologies if point to another blog is poor form, but the guys at The Conservative Tree House have been doing amazing work on this case. Their latest piece shows Martin was very likely a cough syrup abuser, also known as poor man's PCP. The typical recipe is cough syrup, Arizona Watermelon Tea, and Skittles.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/05/24/update-26-part-2-trayvon-martin-shooting-a-year-of-drug-use-culminates-in-predictable-violence/"
The guy in the link has no idea what he's talking about.
DXM is nothing like PCP besides being a dissociative. It does not cause agitation or violence. At low dosages DXM causes opiate-like euphoria and in high doses it brings on extreme dissociative tripping similar to Ketamine. At high dosages it's very unlikely he would able to walk around.
Posted by: Zenex | May 25, 2012 at 04:06 PM
“DXM is nothing like PCP besides being a dissociative. It does not cause agitation or violence.”
UpToDate lists the significant adverse reactions as “confusion, excitement, irritability, nervousness, serotonin syndrome.” The major contraindication is MAO inhibitors. Being black or smoking tobacco also inhibits MAO. Black people are 2 times more likely to have MAOA-3R than whites and 10 times more likely to have MAOA-2R than whites. MAOA-3R is the “warrior gene” and MAOA-2R is twice as bad as MAOA-3R. Those alleles are like taking an MAO inhibitor, especially MAOA-2R. Less MAO activity leads to higher brain neurotransmitter levels and greater risk of violent behavior, as demonstrated by Brunner syndrome.
http://theunsilencedscience.blogspot.com/2011/03/racial-controversy-of-violent-gene.html
Posted by: nooffensebut | May 26, 2012 at 01:57 PM