MICHAEL WILLIAMS : What I would urge us all to do, let’s let those fabulous lawyers at the DOJ, and those fantastic FBI agents go do their work. And let them go try to find something. Maybe Mr. Zimmerman said in his Home Owners Association meetings that he didn’t want black folks in the neighborhood. Maybe he’s concerned by too many black folks coming through there. Maybe, maybe there’s evidence of that.
TOM JOYNER: But that didn’t come up in the trial.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : Well, it didn’t come up in the trial maybe because it wasn’t necessary in the state murder case. There was evidence, they didn’t need that in the state verdict case.
ROLAND MARTIN : And also remember the judge also precluded the prosecution from bringing up racial profiling. They could mention profiling, but they couldn’t mention racial profile. And so, Michael, what you’re also saying is that there could be some potential evidence at the Prosecutors State trial did not bring up that could be used against him in a potential federal trial.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : Right. Because it wasn’t necessary in the state case. There are different elements. There is different evidence that’s required. You know, I prosecuted a home burning by a young white supremacist in Louisville, Kentucky. And before he burned down the house he told his buddies, “I don’t want black folks over here.” He told him, the African American mother, with her three kids, moving in, when they left to go get the rest of their stuff, and come back …
TOM JOYNER: That’s pretty clear-cut.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : In the meantime he’s burning it down.
SYBIL WILKES: So would you use Zimmerman saying that they have gotten away with this too often, and those guys never get caught, in reference to black suspects in the home robberies?
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : We got to tie the federal interest. What you just laid out is probably racial motivation. Now you got to tie, let’s say the house, I don’t want them living in my neighborhood.
TOM JOYNER: Or I don’t want you walking from the store to your …
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : Ah-ah, Tom, walking …
TOM JOYNER: That’s too vague, huh?
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : It’s not a federal protected interest to walk on a private street in a gated community. He wasn’t walking on the highway. He wasn’t trying to get to the interstate.
TOM JOYNER: Okay, if you were a betting man what would you bet would be the chances of the Department of Justice.
SYBIL WILKES: Knowing what you know and experienced what you have.
TOM JOYNER: Knowing what you know and the experience that you have, what are the chances of the Department of Justice getting justice for Trayvon.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : The reason, Roland and I had this conversation is because I tweeted yesterday that they have a tall, tall mountain to climb. It’s going to be tough. Based on what I know now, let’s just base it on what I know now. We’ve got the best law enforcement agency in the world.
TOM JOYNER: Wait to see what they have.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : And some of the best prosecutors in the country.
ROLAND MARTIN : They got to uncover something, but …
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : If the evidence can be developed, they will develop it.
TOM JOYNER: Interesting.
ROLAND MARTIN : Michael Williams, Former U.S. Prosecutor.
TOM JOYNER: When are they going to file charges? The Department of Justice.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS : Oh, no, no, the DOJ lawyers take their time. It will be deliberate, they’re going to go down, they’re going to interview everybody in Sanford, Florida to try to make this case. They won’t do it in a hurry.
—
MICHAEL WILLIAMS Explains Why It’s a ‘Tall Mountain to Climb’ to Get Dept. of Justice Charges Filed was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
