Sept. 11, 2013
http://newsone.com/2715972/dr-shiping-bao-lawsuit/
In a bombshell allegation, Florida medical examiner Dr. Shiping Bao claims that Florida state prosecutors were biased against Trayvon Martin and purposely threw the case, and he is suing the state for $100 million, reports WFTV.com.
RELATED: Medical Examiner: Trayvon Martin Was ‘In Pain,’ ‘Suffering’ After Shooting [VIDEO]
According to Bao, the medical examiner, state attorney’s office, and Sanford Police Department all felt that Martin “got what he deserved.” Bao also claims that he received the strong, though subtle, message not to speak on certain things:
Trayvon Martin with his dad Tracy Martin.
“He was in essence told to zip his lips. ‘Shut up. Don’t say those things,’” said Bao’s legal counsel, legendary Attorney Willie Gary.
Bao’s allegations come swiftly on the heels of him being fired from his position as associate medical examiner.
Volusia County released a letter on Tuesday, stating that Bao was fired last week. Spokesman Dave Byron declined to give a reason for Bao’s termination, citing “county standard personnel practices,” reports CBS News.
Gary said Dr. Bao was made to be a scapegoat and was wrongfully fired from the medical examiner’s office. He said his client was prepared to offer proof that Martin was not the aggressor.
Attorney WIllie Gary, who represents Dr. Shifing Bao
Gary said prosecutors never asked Dr. Bao a question crucial to their case.
He wanted a question that would have allowed him to explain to the jury with scientific evidence how there was no way Trayvon Martin could have been on top of George Zimmerman, Gary said.
Gary said that question never came.
As previously reported by NewsOne, on July 13th, a jury of George Zimmerman‘s peers found him not guilty of murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed on the night of February 26, 2012, when Zimmerman profiled, followed, and ultimately shot him through the heart.
George Zimmerman
During the trial, Bao offered controversial testimony that conflicted with some of his earlier statements, leaving some in the courtroom shocked:
I believe he was alive for one to 10 minutes after he was shot. His heart was bleeding until there was no blood left,” Bao told prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.
“His brain is still alive?” prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda asked.
“Yes,” Bao replied.
“He can still feel pain in other words?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“He was still in pain,” he continued. “He was still in suffering.”
Bao initially reported last fall that he believed Trayvon Martin died within 3 minutes of Zimmerman’s fatal shot.
“If you have new information, new experiences, you read a new book, you change your opinion,” Bao said to Zimmerman defense attorney Don West during cross-examination. “If someone never changes opinion, you can call them mentally retarded. You never learn, right?”
Though Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara tried to get the case dismissed because there wasn’t a “scintilla” of evidence that supported the charge that his client acted with “ill-will and spite,” prosecutor Rich Mantei disagreed.
“[Zimmerman] had enough in his heart to stop his trip to the grocery store…to get out of his car in the rain, follow him, and then — as the witnesses make clear — pursue him and grab him.”
“There are two people involved here. One of them is dead and one of them is a liar,” the prosecutor said.
As previously reported by NewsOne, juror B29 — known as Maddy — said that she felt Zimmerman was guilty, but prosecutors did not present a strong enough case under Florida law to return a guilty verdict.
Since his highly questionable acquittal, Zimmerman, 29, has been pulled over for speeding at least twice and gone shopping for another firearm at the same manufacturer that made the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin.
RELATED: Zimmerman Visits Factory That Made Gun He Used To Kill Trayvon
Zimmerman has also been placed in handcuffs for pulling a gun on his soon-to-be ex-wife, Shellie Zimmerman, and for assaulting his father-in-law. Shellie, who has filed for divorce from Zimmerman, says that he feels “invincible” since the verdict.
RELATED: Shellie Zimmerman Says George Is ‘Selfish,’ Feels ‘More Invincible’
Now, officially through the impending lawsuit being brought by Bao, the State of Florida will also stand accused of having the blood of Trayvon Martin on its hands.
This story about the Florida Medical Examiner reminds me of the 8/2000 Wayne County Case No. 210140 when Mick Duggan, then Wayne County Prosecutor, had the Wayne County Medical Examiner fired because he would not lie on the witness stand that Malice Green died of a drug overdose, instead of being beaten death by police officers, Budzyn and Nevers. The medical examiner then sued under the Whistle Blowers Act and won $2.3 million settlement.
Yes, exactly. VOD is researching that issue regarding Duggan’s role in Medical Examiner Khalil Jiraki’s firing now, for an upcoming story. We have obtained and read Jiraki’s book, “Medical Examiner Under Fire,” so far and will review his court case, which cites Duggan as a defendant. The book cites the role of Wayne County officials under Ed McNamara but concludes before Jiraki’s actual discharge. The lawsuit itself will tell more re: Duggan.