The two porn starlets who caught the attention of former President Bill Clinton at a swanky Monaco soiree — and shared their friendly photo-op via Twitter — told TMZ on Thursday that Bubba made a point to meet them.
Brooklyn Lee, an award-winning porn star, said she noticed Clinton eyeing their table at Wednesday’s Nights in Monaco fund-raiser, which was benefitting the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
Lee and fellow skin flick siren Tasha Reign said they were at the event as guests of Marc Bell, the CEO of the company that owns Penthouse magazine.
The women wanted to meet Clinton, but were turned away, they say.
“The Secret Service guy wasn’t having it, but then (Clinton) let us come over,” Lee told TMZ in a phone call from Cannes.
Clinton apparently allowed the two, along with a third woman, to take a picture with him. Their conversation was brief, Lee said.
“I just said he was a great President,” she told TMZ.
“He just kind of winked and smiled and gave us hugs,” she added.
Lee said Clinton may have been let on about who they were — especially if the Secret Service was running interference.
A spokesman for the former President didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
“I hope this doesn’t hurt his re-election or whatever he’s trying to run for,” Reign told TMZ, acknowledging how quickly the picture was spread online.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Million dollar baby
It’s not every day that you come across a young boy in his twenties who is out there to change the world. Don’t mistake him to be a crusader or a fighter. Neither is he a revolutionary. City-boy, Varun Aggarwal is your quintessential boy-next-door. But the twist in Varun’s story is that, within days of the launch, his book, How I braved Anu aunty and co-founded a million dollar company, has sold over a 1,000 copies.
“This book happened because I was down with fever,” is the first thing Varun says when talking about his debut novel. “I started writing blogs after I established my T-shirt producing company. I never thought that readers online would connect instantly with my blog,” says Varun. That’s when someone asked him to send samples of his writing to a publishing house. But Varun started writing when he was unwell and was on a dose of antibiotics. A week of rigorous writing and he was ready with the manuscript.
“The book isn’t meant to be read intently and appreciated. It’s a story that has all the ingredients of what a youngster’s life is today — girlfriends, Facebook stalking, drinking sessions and all the other happenings in a young urbanite’s life. But, between the lines, it’s a story about achieving your dream and living it,” explains Varun, who runs a social media marketing company and is an aspiring filmmaker. “In India people think if you want to be a film maker, you need to make a feature film. But I want to change this notion. A filmmaker can be making corporate films or ad-films and can still be earning his livelihood,” says the youngster. Quiz him about his hobby and Varun says that his work is his hobby. “I love the fact that I am enjoying what I do, it never feels like I am working. We design and produce T-shirts for institutions and work on social media marketing strategies,” he says.
But his favourite time pass is to read biographies and autobiographies. “The Life and Time of Howard Hughes is a book that has inspired me the most. When people who have nothing to loose, achieve, it is the usual. But in Howard’s case, he risked everything that he had inherited and eventually achieved a lot,” says Varun. Ask him about his greatest achievement and Varun says it isn’t the money he has earned. “If I have been able to make a difference to someone’s life, that is an achievement,” says the youngster. At present, Varun is working on his next book on filmmaking.
“This book happened because I was down with fever,” is the first thing Varun says when talking about his debut novel. “I started writing blogs after I established my T-shirt producing company. I never thought that readers online would connect instantly with my blog,” says Varun. That’s when someone asked him to send samples of his writing to a publishing house. But Varun started writing when he was unwell and was on a dose of antibiotics. A week of rigorous writing and he was ready with the manuscript.
“The book isn’t meant to be read intently and appreciated. It’s a story that has all the ingredients of what a youngster’s life is today — girlfriends, Facebook stalking, drinking sessions and all the other happenings in a young urbanite’s life. But, between the lines, it’s a story about achieving your dream and living it,” explains Varun, who runs a social media marketing company and is an aspiring filmmaker. “In India people think if you want to be a film maker, you need to make a feature film. But I want to change this notion. A filmmaker can be making corporate films or ad-films and can still be earning his livelihood,” says the youngster. Quiz him about his hobby and Varun says that his work is his hobby. “I love the fact that I am enjoying what I do, it never feels like I am working. We design and produce T-shirts for institutions and work on social media marketing strategies,” he says.
But his favourite time pass is to read biographies and autobiographies. “The Life and Time of Howard Hughes is a book that has inspired me the most. When people who have nothing to loose, achieve, it is the usual. But in Howard’s case, he risked everything that he had inherited and eventually achieved a lot,” says Varun. Ask him about his greatest achievement and Varun says it isn’t the money he has earned. “If I have been able to make a difference to someone’s life, that is an achievement,” says the youngster. At present, Varun is working on his next book on filmmaking.
N.J. man arrested in 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz
The timing couldn't have been more symbolic: On the eve of National Missing Children's Day, police said they'd at last cracked the case that started it — the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
After decades of inconclusive clues and stalled hopes, a former convenience-store stock clerk was arrested Thursday on a charge of murdering Etan, one of the first missing children ever to appear on a milk carton. He vanished while walking to his school bus stop alone for the first time.
Pedro Hernandez, 51, told investigators this week he lured the little boy into the shop with the promise of a soda, then led him to the basement, choked him and put his body in a bag with some trash about a block away, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Investigators hadn't determined any motive, he said.
Kelly said there is no physical evidence. But authorities say they have a detailed, signed confession, as well as accounts of incriminating remarks Hernandez made to others.
Hernandez didn't yet have a lawyer, police said. An arraignment was expected Friday afternoon.
While the arrest marked only the start of what could be a complex court case, it was a stunning turn in one of the nation's most tortuous and baffling missing-children cases. Police had been aware of Hernandez, as the shop was in Etan's neighborhood, but had never before eyed the married father as a suspect. Another man had long been the prime suspect, and investigators questioned yet a third man as recently as last month.
All the while, Stan and Julie Patz have stayed in same downtown Manhattan apartment, never even changing their phone number in case their vanished son tried to call.
"We can only hope," Kelly said, "that these developments bring some measure of peace to the family."
The Patzes and a lawyer for them didn't immediately return calls Thursday.
At Hernandez' home in Maple Shade, N.J., no one answered the door Thursday night. Neighbors said they were surprised at his arrest.
"I knew the guy. He was not a problem. His family was great people," said Dan Wollick, 71, who rents an apartment in Hernandez' home. "He didn't bother anybody."
The arrest — the first ever in the case — was a long-sought grail for authorities, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who announced he was renewing the investigation shortly after he took office in 2010.
His office, which declined to comment Thursday, will now move on to the work of prosecuting a 33-year-old case in which no body has ever been found. Prosecutors will likely look to amass witness statements or other evidence to support Hernandez' account.
Etan vanished on May 25, 1979, in New York's busy SoHo neighborhood, which was edgier then than the swath of chic boutiques it is now.
Police conducted an exhaustive search amid a crush of media attention. Thousands of fliers of the sandy-haired boy with the toothy grin were plastered around the city. Buildings were canvassed and hundreds of people interviewed.
The disappearance ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised, and President Ronald Reagan designated the anniversary as National Missing Children's Day in 1983.
Detectives are often inundated with hoaxes, false leads and possible sightings around the anniversary. But Kelly said they had probable cause to believe Hernandez's story was true, because of specific details he gave to police.
Hernandez, who had worked at the convenience store for about a month and lived nearby, wasn't questioned at the outset, Kelly said. Days after Etan vanished, Hernandez left that job and moved to New Jersey, where he had relatives, the commissioner said.
Hernandez worked in construction until he suffered a back injury in 1993 and has since received disability payments, Kelly said. He said Hernandez, who has a teenage daughter, had no criminal record.
But he told a relative and others, as far back as 1981, that he had "done something bad" and killed an unnamed child in New York City, according to Kelly. Police learned that only recently, when a tipster — not a relative — pointed police to Hernandez, after a search of a basement near Patz' home last month hurtled the case back into the news, Kelly said.
Police took him into custody Wednesday night, and after several hours of questioning, he provided a signed confession, Kelly said.
"He was remorseful, and I think the detectives thought that it was a feeling of relief on his part," the commissioner said.
Earlier leads had arisen and stalled, at one point taking investigators as far as Israel to track reported sightings of Etan.
For most of the past decade, the investigation focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester now in prison in Pennsylvania. He had been dating Etan's baby sitter.
A civil judge found him to be responsible for the boy's disappearance and presumed death, largely because he refused to answer some questions under oath, but he was never criminally charged. He might be able to get the civil judgment reviewed now.
A few weeks ago, investigators excavated a basement down the street from the Patz apartment but found no human remains. They questioned a handyman who had a workspace in the cellar in 1979. But he was not named as a suspect and denied any involvement in the boy's disappearance.
Finally, on Thursday, police told Patz' parents they had honed in on Hernandez.
"Mr. Patz was taken aback, a little surprised, and I would say overwhelmed, to a degree," Lt. Christopher Zimmerman said. " … He was a little surprised, but I think after everything Mr. Patz has gone through, he handled it very well."
After decades of inconclusive clues and stalled hopes, a former convenience-store stock clerk was arrested Thursday on a charge of murdering Etan, one of the first missing children ever to appear on a milk carton. He vanished while walking to his school bus stop alone for the first time.
Pedro Hernandez, 51, told investigators this week he lured the little boy into the shop with the promise of a soda, then led him to the basement, choked him and put his body in a bag with some trash about a block away, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Investigators hadn't determined any motive, he said.
Kelly said there is no physical evidence. But authorities say they have a detailed, signed confession, as well as accounts of incriminating remarks Hernandez made to others.
Hernandez didn't yet have a lawyer, police said. An arraignment was expected Friday afternoon.
While the arrest marked only the start of what could be a complex court case, it was a stunning turn in one of the nation's most tortuous and baffling missing-children cases. Police had been aware of Hernandez, as the shop was in Etan's neighborhood, but had never before eyed the married father as a suspect. Another man had long been the prime suspect, and investigators questioned yet a third man as recently as last month.
All the while, Stan and Julie Patz have stayed in same downtown Manhattan apartment, never even changing their phone number in case their vanished son tried to call.
"We can only hope," Kelly said, "that these developments bring some measure of peace to the family."
The Patzes and a lawyer for them didn't immediately return calls Thursday.
At Hernandez' home in Maple Shade, N.J., no one answered the door Thursday night. Neighbors said they were surprised at his arrest.
"I knew the guy. He was not a problem. His family was great people," said Dan Wollick, 71, who rents an apartment in Hernandez' home. "He didn't bother anybody."
The arrest — the first ever in the case — was a long-sought grail for authorities, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who announced he was renewing the investigation shortly after he took office in 2010.
His office, which declined to comment Thursday, will now move on to the work of prosecuting a 33-year-old case in which no body has ever been found. Prosecutors will likely look to amass witness statements or other evidence to support Hernandez' account.
Etan vanished on May 25, 1979, in New York's busy SoHo neighborhood, which was edgier then than the swath of chic boutiques it is now.
Police conducted an exhaustive search amid a crush of media attention. Thousands of fliers of the sandy-haired boy with the toothy grin were plastered around the city. Buildings were canvassed and hundreds of people interviewed.
The disappearance ushered in an era of anxiety about leaving children unsupervised, and President Ronald Reagan designated the anniversary as National Missing Children's Day in 1983.
Detectives are often inundated with hoaxes, false leads and possible sightings around the anniversary. But Kelly said they had probable cause to believe Hernandez's story was true, because of specific details he gave to police.
Hernandez, who had worked at the convenience store for about a month and lived nearby, wasn't questioned at the outset, Kelly said. Days after Etan vanished, Hernandez left that job and moved to New Jersey, where he had relatives, the commissioner said.
Hernandez worked in construction until he suffered a back injury in 1993 and has since received disability payments, Kelly said. He said Hernandez, who has a teenage daughter, had no criminal record.
But he told a relative and others, as far back as 1981, that he had "done something bad" and killed an unnamed child in New York City, according to Kelly. Police learned that only recently, when a tipster — not a relative — pointed police to Hernandez, after a search of a basement near Patz' home last month hurtled the case back into the news, Kelly said.
Police took him into custody Wednesday night, and after several hours of questioning, he provided a signed confession, Kelly said.
"He was remorseful, and I think the detectives thought that it was a feeling of relief on his part," the commissioner said.
Earlier leads had arisen and stalled, at one point taking investigators as far as Israel to track reported sightings of Etan.
For most of the past decade, the investigation focused on Jose Ramos, a convicted child molester now in prison in Pennsylvania. He had been dating Etan's baby sitter.
A civil judge found him to be responsible for the boy's disappearance and presumed death, largely because he refused to answer some questions under oath, but he was never criminally charged. He might be able to get the civil judgment reviewed now.
A few weeks ago, investigators excavated a basement down the street from the Patz apartment but found no human remains. They questioned a handyman who had a workspace in the cellar in 1979. But he was not named as a suspect and denied any involvement in the boy's disappearance.
Finally, on Thursday, police told Patz' parents they had honed in on Hernandez.
"Mr. Patz was taken aback, a little surprised, and I would say overwhelmed, to a degree," Lt. Christopher Zimmerman said. " … He was a little surprised, but I think after everything Mr. Patz has gone through, he handled it very well."
Zimmerman, prosecutors want evidence private in Trayvon Martin case
Both sides in the Trayvon Martin murder case want some evidence kept private until trial.
Prosecutors and George Zimmerman's attorneys in motions Thursday asked a judge to keep statements Zimmerman gave detectives and the names and addresses of witnesses from being publicly released. Both items normally would be part of the public record under Florida law.
Prosecutors said some of Zimmerman's statements were inconsistent with physical evidence and statements from other witnesses.
"Defendant has provided law enforcement with numerous statements, some of which are contradictory ..." the prosecution's motion said.
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara also wants to keep private text messages, emails and journal entries the defendant made, at least until he can review them.
O'Mara said releasing the information would "adversely affect the proper administration of justice in this case, and may make it impossible to find an appropriate jury unaffected by this information."
Prosecutors asked that Martin's cellphone records and crime scene photos of the teen's body not be released publicly.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting the 17-year-old Martin during a confrontation in February at a gated community near Orlando.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims self-defense. The lack of an arrest in the case for 44 days spurred an international outcry and protests nationwide.
Prosecutors and George Zimmerman's attorneys in motions Thursday asked a judge to keep statements Zimmerman gave detectives and the names and addresses of witnesses from being publicly released. Both items normally would be part of the public record under Florida law.
Prosecutors said some of Zimmerman's statements were inconsistent with physical evidence and statements from other witnesses.
"Defendant has provided law enforcement with numerous statements, some of which are contradictory ..." the prosecution's motion said.
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara also wants to keep private text messages, emails and journal entries the defendant made, at least until he can review them.
O'Mara said releasing the information would "adversely affect the proper administration of justice in this case, and may make it impossible to find an appropriate jury unaffected by this information."
Prosecutors asked that Martin's cellphone records and crime scene photos of the teen's body not be released publicly.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting the 17-year-old Martin during a confrontation in February at a gated community near Orlando.
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims self-defense. The lack of an arrest in the case for 44 days spurred an international outcry and protests nationwide.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Will Smith slaps journalist who tried to kiss him
Hollywood star Will Smith has slapped a male television reporter who tried to kiss him before the Moscow premiere of Men in Black III.
The reporter from the Ukrainian television channel 1+1 approached Smith on the red carpet, put his hand on the actor's shoulder and tried to kiss him.
Smith pushed him away and then slapped him lightly across the cheek with the back of his left hand.
It was not clear whether reporter Vitalii Sediuk intended to kiss Smith on the cheek or on the lips.
In any case, Smith appeared shocked by the journalist's behavior at Friday night's premiere in the Russian capital.
The reporter from the Ukrainian television channel 1+1 approached Smith on the red carpet, put his hand on the actor's shoulder and tried to kiss him.
Smith pushed him away and then slapped him lightly across the cheek with the back of his left hand.
It was not clear whether reporter Vitalii Sediuk intended to kiss Smith on the cheek or on the lips.
In any case, Smith appeared shocked by the journalist's behavior at Friday night's premiere in the Russian capital.
documents released in the Trayvon Martin Case
The case against George Zimmerman, the Florida man charged with murder for shooting and killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin,is fraught with uncertainly as newly released police documents show evidence of Zimmerman's bloodied head and early assumptions by police that Zimmerman, not Trayvon, had screamed frantically for help.
Add into the mix Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows a person to use deadly force if they believe they are in danger, and attorneys say prosecutors will face high hurdles to prove their case against Zimmerman.
"Every time they release a photo of this guy's head, his parents saying that's not Trayvon's voice on the audio, —every time that comes out, the case gets weaker and weaker," says Michael Grieco, a former prosecutor in Miami-Dade County. "If there's any evidence (Zimmerman) acted in self-defense or that he was standing his ground, the state is going to be in a tough position."
Evidence released so far, including initial police reports, witness interviews and photographs, show Zimmerman and Trayvon tussled on a grassy courtyard between townhouses in a Sanford, Fla., development, before Zimmerman shot Trayvon at close range in the chest. At least one witness reports seeing Trayvon atop Zimmerman and punching him. Zimmerman emerged from the fight with a bloodied nose, swollen face and a bleeding cut on the back of his head.
Screams for help can be heard on 911 tapes. In an interview with investigators, George Zimmerman's father, Robert, said the person crying for help is his son. A Sanford police report says that Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, said the voice was not Trayvon's. An FBI analysis of audio recordings could not determine who screamed for help.
To counter the evidence that Trayvon at some point injured Zimmerman, prosecutors must show that Zimmerman provoked the confrontation. To do that, they will rely "very heavily on the fact that the guy was angry when he got out of the car, that he'd made previous calls, that the anger and frustration had built up and he'd decided to go after this person," Grieco said.
"His frustration and anger with the crime rate in the neighborhood and his getting out of the car and pursuing him all go into his state of mind for getting out of the car," Grieco said.
In the aftermath of the Feb. 26 shooting, Zimmerman, an active neighborhood watch volunteer who repeatedly called police to report "suspicious people," invoked the "stand your ground" law, which gives wide berth to people who use deadly force, rather than retreat, if they feel threatened in their home or neighborhood. He was not arrested or charged.
A special prosecutor rejected that defense and charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder on April 11. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty. The charge requires prosecutors to prove that Zimmerman acted without regard for human life.
The case provoked national outrage as police and prosecutors in the suburban Florida county waited weeks to charge and arrest Zimmerman. Trayvon's family and civil rights leaders charged that the shooting was not aggressively investigated because Trayvon was black. They also said Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, targeted Trayvon because of his race.
Outsize publicity and threats against Zimmerman may make it challenging to seat an impartial jury within the Florida county, defense attorney Alan Dershowitz said. Jurors may fear an acquittal would incite rioting or other repercussions, he said.
Zimmerman "will almost certainly prevail," Dershowitz said. "The charge should be dropped."
If the case goes to trial, Zimmerman may not need to testify because the evidence, including a bruise on the knuckle of Trayvon's finger and Zimmerman's injuries, tell the story.
"Zimmerman was on the bottom. Trayvon was on top. Zimmerman's head was being banged on the ground," Dershowitz said. "This is one of those rare cases where the forensics tell loudly what happened."
Who provoked the fight determines whether Zimmerman can invoke the "stand your ground" defense, Dershowitz said. Since the state can't prove who started it, Zimmerman is entitled to claim self-defense, he said.
Benjamin Crump,an attorney for the Martin family, said Zimmerman provoked the fight by confronting Trayvon.
"This was avoidable if George Zimmerman had not gotten out of his car and profiled and pursued and shot Trayvon Martin in the heart," Crump said.
Prosecutors will be able to use the evidence, including Zimmerman's repeated calls to 911 about black males in the neighborhood, to establish Zimmerman's state of mind as he confronted Trayvon, Crump said. Police Investigator Christopher Serino wrote in a March 13 police report that the shooting could have been avoided had Zimmerman stayed in his car and waited for police, as a dispatcher asked him to do.
"The objective evidence shows that George Zimmerman made a decision to get out of his car in the rain and pursue Trayvon," Crump said. "We hear him running. We hear him breathing hard."
Defense attorneys will likely try to attack Trayvon's character, as the media has already done by repeatedly mentioning his marijuana use, Crump said. A toxicology report noted trace amounts of THC,a component of marijuana, in Trayvon's blood and urine. Crump said he's heard rumors that someone at Trayvon's high school tried to sell video of Trayvon and other boys fighting at school.
"George Zimmerman was on prescription medication, which is a lot more serious than marijuana. What effect would that have on George Zimmerman's system?" Crump said. "They didn't do a toxicology report on the shooter."
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara did not return a call for comment. On NBC's Today show Friday, he declined to talk about the evidence.
Add into the mix Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law, which allows a person to use deadly force if they believe they are in danger, and attorneys say prosecutors will face high hurdles to prove their case against Zimmerman.
"Every time they release a photo of this guy's head, his parents saying that's not Trayvon's voice on the audio, —every time that comes out, the case gets weaker and weaker," says Michael Grieco, a former prosecutor in Miami-Dade County. "If there's any evidence (Zimmerman) acted in self-defense or that he was standing his ground, the state is going to be in a tough position."
Evidence released so far, including initial police reports, witness interviews and photographs, show Zimmerman and Trayvon tussled on a grassy courtyard between townhouses in a Sanford, Fla., development, before Zimmerman shot Trayvon at close range in the chest. At least one witness reports seeing Trayvon atop Zimmerman and punching him. Zimmerman emerged from the fight with a bloodied nose, swollen face and a bleeding cut on the back of his head.
Screams for help can be heard on 911 tapes. In an interview with investigators, George Zimmerman's father, Robert, said the person crying for help is his son. A Sanford police report says that Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, said the voice was not Trayvon's. An FBI analysis of audio recordings could not determine who screamed for help.
To counter the evidence that Trayvon at some point injured Zimmerman, prosecutors must show that Zimmerman provoked the confrontation. To do that, they will rely "very heavily on the fact that the guy was angry when he got out of the car, that he'd made previous calls, that the anger and frustration had built up and he'd decided to go after this person," Grieco said.
"His frustration and anger with the crime rate in the neighborhood and his getting out of the car and pursuing him all go into his state of mind for getting out of the car," Grieco said.
In the aftermath of the Feb. 26 shooting, Zimmerman, an active neighborhood watch volunteer who repeatedly called police to report "suspicious people," invoked the "stand your ground" law, which gives wide berth to people who use deadly force, rather than retreat, if they feel threatened in their home or neighborhood. He was not arrested or charged.
A special prosecutor rejected that defense and charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder on April 11. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty. The charge requires prosecutors to prove that Zimmerman acted without regard for human life.
The case provoked national outrage as police and prosecutors in the suburban Florida county waited weeks to charge and arrest Zimmerman. Trayvon's family and civil rights leaders charged that the shooting was not aggressively investigated because Trayvon was black. They also said Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, targeted Trayvon because of his race.
Outsize publicity and threats against Zimmerman may make it challenging to seat an impartial jury within the Florida county, defense attorney Alan Dershowitz said. Jurors may fear an acquittal would incite rioting or other repercussions, he said.
Zimmerman "will almost certainly prevail," Dershowitz said. "The charge should be dropped."
If the case goes to trial, Zimmerman may not need to testify because the evidence, including a bruise on the knuckle of Trayvon's finger and Zimmerman's injuries, tell the story.
"Zimmerman was on the bottom. Trayvon was on top. Zimmerman's head was being banged on the ground," Dershowitz said. "This is one of those rare cases where the forensics tell loudly what happened."
Who provoked the fight determines whether Zimmerman can invoke the "stand your ground" defense, Dershowitz said. Since the state can't prove who started it, Zimmerman is entitled to claim self-defense, he said.
Benjamin Crump,an attorney for the Martin family, said Zimmerman provoked the fight by confronting Trayvon.
"This was avoidable if George Zimmerman had not gotten out of his car and profiled and pursued and shot Trayvon Martin in the heart," Crump said.
Prosecutors will be able to use the evidence, including Zimmerman's repeated calls to 911 about black males in the neighborhood, to establish Zimmerman's state of mind as he confronted Trayvon, Crump said. Police Investigator Christopher Serino wrote in a March 13 police report that the shooting could have been avoided had Zimmerman stayed in his car and waited for police, as a dispatcher asked him to do.
"The objective evidence shows that George Zimmerman made a decision to get out of his car in the rain and pursue Trayvon," Crump said. "We hear him running. We hear him breathing hard."
Defense attorneys will likely try to attack Trayvon's character, as the media has already done by repeatedly mentioning his marijuana use, Crump said. A toxicology report noted trace amounts of THC,a component of marijuana, in Trayvon's blood and urine. Crump said he's heard rumors that someone at Trayvon's high school tried to sell video of Trayvon and other boys fighting at school.
"George Zimmerman was on prescription medication, which is a lot more serious than marijuana. What effect would that have on George Zimmerman's system?" Crump said. "They didn't do a toxicology report on the shooter."
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara did not return a call for comment. On NBC's Today show Friday, he declined to talk about the evidence.
Lockerbie victims' relatives: Megrahi death is three years too late
Relatives of the US victims of the Lockerbie bombing spoke of their belief that the man convicted of the 1988 atrocity had been reunited with his Libyan compatriot Muammar Gaddafi.
"I know exactly where he [Megrahi] is, and I know it is quite hot. I'm sure he and Gaddafi are reunited again," said Carole Johnson, who lost her daughter Beth Ann in the 1988 attack.
The reaction in the US was in contrast to many in Scotland who believe that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died three years after being released from jail on compassionate grounds, was merely the fall guy in the terrorist plot.
Speaking from her home in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Johnson said the death of Megrahi provided no closure to her grief, but it did mark the end of a chapter.
Johnson, 68, is one of many victims' relatives in America who woke today to the news that Megrahi had died.
On being told that Megrahi had died, Johnson said: "This is three years too late."
Beth Ann was just 21 when she was killed returning to the US from London, where she was studying.
"When a parent loses a child there is never closure," Mrs Johnson said. "You find a way of coping, but to say closure indicates you are closing the door on what has happened, but it is never over. It is the closure of a chapter in the book – a long overdue chapter."
Johnson said she remains angry at the decision to release Megrahi from his jail in Scotland in 2009.
Frank Duggan, president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, said Megrahi should never be seen as a sympathetic figure.
"He was an unrepentant murderer and now I hope he will finally see justice," Duggan said.
The reaction by US relatives of those killed in the attack differed from the reaction in Scotland, where many relatives believe Megrahi was innocent or merely a player in a larger conspiracy.
David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for the victims of Lockerbie families, said Megrahi's death was something to be "deeply regretted".
He added: "As someone who attended the trial I have never taken the view that Megrahi was guilty."
He added: "Megrahi is the 271st victim of Lockerbie."
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi's death was a "very sad event".
He told Sky News: "I met him last time face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain.
"But he still wanted to talk to me about how information that he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death.
"And I think that's a fairly amazing thing for a man who knows he's dying to do.
Swire added: "Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake – he knew it was too late for him, but for his family's sake – how the verdict against him should be overturned.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
"I know exactly where he [Megrahi] is, and I know it is quite hot. I'm sure he and Gaddafi are reunited again," said Carole Johnson, who lost her daughter Beth Ann in the 1988 attack.
The reaction in the US was in contrast to many in Scotland who believe that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died three years after being released from jail on compassionate grounds, was merely the fall guy in the terrorist plot.
Speaking from her home in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Johnson said the death of Megrahi provided no closure to her grief, but it did mark the end of a chapter.
Johnson, 68, is one of many victims' relatives in America who woke today to the news that Megrahi had died.
On being told that Megrahi had died, Johnson said: "This is three years too late."
Beth Ann was just 21 when she was killed returning to the US from London, where she was studying.
"When a parent loses a child there is never closure," Mrs Johnson said. "You find a way of coping, but to say closure indicates you are closing the door on what has happened, but it is never over. It is the closure of a chapter in the book – a long overdue chapter."
Johnson said she remains angry at the decision to release Megrahi from his jail in Scotland in 2009.
Frank Duggan, president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, said Megrahi should never be seen as a sympathetic figure.
"He was an unrepentant murderer and now I hope he will finally see justice," Duggan said.
The reaction by US relatives of those killed in the attack differed from the reaction in Scotland, where many relatives believe Megrahi was innocent or merely a player in a larger conspiracy.
David Ben-Ayreah, a spokesman for the victims of Lockerbie families, said Megrahi's death was something to be "deeply regretted".
He added: "As someone who attended the trial I have never taken the view that Megrahi was guilty."
He added: "Megrahi is the 271st victim of Lockerbie."
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi's death was a "very sad event".
He told Sky News: "I met him last time face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain.
"But he still wanted to talk to me about how information that he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death.
"And I think that's a fairly amazing thing for a man who knows he's dying to do.
Swire added: "Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake – he knew it was too late for him, but for his family's sake – how the verdict against him should be overturned.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
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