Dakota Beacon

“Civil rights” seem to be prominent in our thoughts lately.  Indeed, the first minute out of the gate following the acquittal of George Zimmerman on all charges, Eric Holder stated his intention to deploy the federal Department of Justice to “investigate” whether Trayvon Martin’s civil rights had been violated while he was beating the crap out of Zimmerman on the hard pavement.  Of course we want to ensure everyone’s civil rights – even those of street thugs.  So while they’re investigating the possible violation of Martin’s civil rights, let’s demand attention to the civil rights of Zimmerman.  And, in a related matter, the civil rights of a young man named Ben Kruidbos. 

For those who have not followed this case minutely, the name will be unfamiliar.  He was an IT director with Florida’s State Attorney’s Office.  He lost his job over this trial.

When the elected Prosecutor concurred with the report of the Sanford Police Department in that there were no grounds on which to charge Zimmerman with a crime in this matter, the governor took swift action to countermand all of these trusted experts.   He quickly appointed Angela Corey, State Attorney, who boasted one of the worst reputations in the discipline for over-charging.  Without taking recourse to the grand jury system, Corey went directly forward with an affidavit, an affidavit which was lacking any exculpatory information and charging Zimmerman with murder in the 2^nd degree.  Armed with this she forged ahead with her “case”.  It proved to be a real dud, with her prime witness admitting to lying about her age, first, and then demonstrating that she was unable to read a letter she’d written detailing the events of the fateful night – because she couldn’t “read cursive”.  In other words, this was a really stinky case.   The prosecution wasn’t making it.

Somewhere along the line, the prosecution obtained Martin’s cell phone.  In hopes of finding something that would help their faltering case, they assigned Mr. Kruidbos to break the double password barrier and extract what information he could using computer technology that had been purchased by the SAO  ostensibly for just this kind of situation.  Kruidbos, an obviously competent professional, did so.  He was able to retrieve photos, deleted messages and other important information.  It was so damning of Martin and his motivations and habits that Kruidbos wanted to be sure that his own conduct in the matter was above-board.  He asked whether this information, obviously exculpatory of Mr. Zimmerman, would be delivered to the defense.  He was first put off with admonitions that they, the attorneys, would “take care” of that end of the business – his was to stick to deciphering and decoding.  This information was reported to his superiors in the department in “late 2012” or “early 2013” – January at the latest.  

As the case was winding down and the defense had obviously not yet learned of the existence of this information, Kruidbos became increasingly concerned about the possibility that he would become implicated in what would amount to a conspiracy to obstruct justice and withhold evidence – in a very serious crime which could have placed Zimmerman in extreme peril in a prison, even if he were to appeal an adverse verdict.  He did not sell his information to the tabloids, nor did he seek a shock TV or radio program to cash in on this.  He consulted an attorney of his own in order to ensure that he, at least, was not guilty of withholding evidence and his attorney submitted the information to the defense attorneys.

One would think, then, that the case would turn a corner and go into the home stretch with this evidence under full consideration by the jury.  But when the defense, presented with this bombshell six months after its discovery, asked the judge for time to review the information and follow up, it was denied!   In fact the evidence itself was not admitted.  Kruidbos had done all he legally could, and all that should have been expected of a man of morals and principles, who was, in fact, following the law with regard to his own involvement. Although he didn’t ascribe his action to altruism, there remains the fact that a man’s life was being dallied with in a court of law.  That court and that defense team and that defendant had a RIGHT that Kruidbos was protecting in addition to his own position.

The day the case went to the jury Kruidbos was fired.  Not even on a pretext of something else, but for having provided this evidence to the defense team.  In other words, there was never any intention of providing this to the lawyers defending Zimmerman!  The full intention of the prosecutor, Corey, was to continue to withhold this, even if it led to Zimmerman’s conviction and loss of liberty, perhaps for life. And a man convicted of this particular crime thrust into a prison environment rife with convicts serving time for just the sort of things Martin did, mostly of the same racial group, could expect that life sentence to be fairly short.  The state Prosecutor, an officer of the Court, then, was going to hide this evidence at the expense of a man’s life.

Just in case you forgot, the Police Chief and the police investigation found no probable cause to arrest or prosecute Zimmerman in the first place.  They found it to be a case of self-defense.  The Police Chief, also, was fired.  What about his civil rights? 

Now, if we want to talk about “civil rights”, let’s look at the innocent people.  Zimmerman, the intended victim of Trayvon Martin’s fists and the cement against which his head was being slammed and bloodied, will never be a “free” man in America again.  Who will hire this man?  Where can he go without fear from other gangsters?  What about Ben Kruidbos?  He wasn’t charged with any wrongdoing – except to act with responsiblitity in the discharge of his duty to the legal system.  Because he was not willing to become a co-conspirator he lost his job.  I think we can assume he won’t have references for the next one.  Maybe now’s the time for talking with the tabloids and the media.

If there was racism involved in this case it was not on the part of the man who was observing the comings and goings of a stranger in his neighborhood in the context of a series of home break-ins, vandalism and other crimes, it was not the man who did not shoot at anyone until Martin was attempting to crush his skull on the pavement as Zimmerman yelled for help.  Zimmerman, following what we can fairly assume was a thorough, nit-picking investigation, was found to have no history of racism.  On the other hand, we have Martin, whose phone records were so damning that the prosecution tried to hide them (and had Kruidbos not been an honest and courageous man, would have succeeded).  The common expression for men of Zimmerman’s complexion was “creepy-ass cracker”.  That, we were assured, is “just the way we talk”.  Remember, if you were being thusly beaten, you would not know when you would be breathing your last, nor would you care who was trying to kill you.  The most quiet, peaceful person in the world will try to survive such an attack with anything he can reach.  Make no mistake, one of these men was going to die.  If it was not to be Martin in Zimmerman’s act of self preservation, it would surely have been Zimmerman, in Martin’s brutal attack on him.

If we, in America, care about civil rights, let’s start enforcing them across the boards.  Let’s honor people’s privacy in their mail, email and phone calls, let’s stop eavesdropping via “smart” appliances they are lured into putting in their homes.  Let’s call off the dogs of the IRS and let people speak out and peacefully assemble without punishing them.  Let’s quit the data mining.  Enough of that and you can put everyone in a prison camp.  Let’s quit trying to deprive American citizens of the right of self-defense and arms.  If someone attacks us we have a “civil right” to protect our lives.  And if we are to become once again a nation of laws and not of “men”, we need to obey the laws and the procedures of the court.  An officer of the court has NO RIGHT to withhold evidence at trial.  The judge herself was worse than merely sloppy with regard to Zimmerman’s civil rights.  She interrupted the defense improperly to directly question the defendant, who obviously had not had the opportunity to determine whether he would testify.  She absolutely badgered him.  She refused to let evidence come before the jury which might have cleared Zimmerman.  She entered another “bargaining chip” charge when she gave instructions to the jury – a sort of opportunity for them to compromise, just in case they weren’t persuaded by the case the prosecution tried to make.  In the end, the jury – to their credit - wasn’t buying it anyway, but nonetheless, this judge was way out of line and showed contempt for the process of law, just as for the defendant and the defense attorneys.

Civil rights are vital to our civil society, and respect for them paramount if we are to live in peace.  The law and our courts are supposed to be the forum for clearing up disputes and perceived wrongs and punishing the guilty and exonerating the innocent.  If we are to have our Department of Justice under Holder deploying rioters across the nation to try to blackmail juries and police departments, if we are to override the normal process by the police and the state attorney’s office in a community to replace it with an attack dog like Angela Corey, if we are to stand by and watch honest, ethical civil servants punished for acting lawfully and refusing to comply with a breach of law, we are doomed.  Now, in the aftermath of the trial, we are hearing the big debate about whether Zimmerman will now be put in double jeopardy under the guise of a “civil rights” case. 

Before we go there, let’s call for the defrocking of this judge for her abuse of the law in this case and disbarment of those involved in the attempt to hide important evidence in a murder trial.  And don’t say it can’t be done.  Remember who we are?  We are Americans.  This is America.  We can’t accept this level of fraud in our government, nor these repeated civil rights abuses by our government.  And Barack Obama has given us one more reason to impeach him.  He began without a minute’s delay, to try to influence potential jurors with his highly inappropriate comment that “if he had a son he’d look like Trayvon”.  That, at least, might, in fact, be true.  We are certainly seeing thuggery in full flower in our administration.   If we are not to tolerate thugs and bullies on our streets, we likewise should not countenance them in our government.

You can access the testimony of Ben Kruidbos at: http://www.inquisitr.com/846743/george-zimmerman-whistleblower-ben-kruidbos-fired-trayvon-martin-drugs-guns-cell-phone/

Sally Morris is a member of Americans for Constitutional Government and the Valley Tea Party Conservative Coalition and a former member of the North Dakota and Minnesota Republican Party.  Morris is also a regular contributor to The Dakota Beacon, the Conservative voice of the Northern Plains.