In a message dated 9/23/2005 "Michael Atherton" wrote, > Just for the sake of fairness, before calling for Mr. Hefflefinger's > resignation, shouldn't we ask Mr. Zimmermann to make a public > declaration of his innocence and provide us with his version of > events?
Is it really fair to demand that Dean Zimmermann prove his innocence? Just for the sake of argument, let us say that Dean Zimmermann is innocent, that he is being falsely accused of wrongdoing by the FBI's cooperating witness, and that Mr. Zimmermann's lawyer is competent and believes that his client is innocent. Dean's lawyer will almost certainly advise him to not provide us, and the FBI, with his version of events, because the FBI can use that information to build its case, coach its witnesses, etc. What Dean reportedly told Wizard Marks in an interview concerning a meeting with the cooperating witness can be introduced as evidence in a court of law. According to Marks, Dean said that the FBI's witness accurately quoted him saying "Money, money, money" in response to a question about what he wanted, but the context was a birthday party attended by about 100 people. The FBI's affidavit quoted him out of context. That's an example of how evidence can be fabricated. If the FBI is willing to fabricate evidence to obtain a search warrant from a judge, why wouldn't the FBI fabricate evidence to obtain a conviction from a jury? It is unlikely that the FBI will use an audio-video tape of Dean's birthday party as a part of the evidence it presents to a grand jury or trial jury, if the case ever goes that far. And in any event, I don't expect the FBI will ever produce the tape of the meeting where Dean allegedly tells the FBI's star wi tness that he wants "money, money, money." -Doug Mann, King Field http://educationright.com/blog REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
