Some media reports contend that a "reverse Trayvon Martin" case is about to be tried in Phoenix.
The thought is that national media outlets are ignoring the Phoenix case because the shooter, Cordell Jude, is black -- and that doesn't fit some sort of media plot. In reality, there's hardly anything the two cases have in common.
See also:
-Cordell Jude Charged in April "Self Defense" Killing of Daniel Adkins
In this case, a man with a mental handicap named Daniel Adkins was walking his dog on the night of April 3, 2012.
As Jude was pulling out of a Taco Bell drive-through near 51st Avenue and Baseline, he nearly hit Adkins, who was walking on the sidewalk, before Jude slammed on the brakes in time, according to police reports.
Adkins began yelling at Jude, and Jude would tell police that Adkins hit his vehicle with a bat, pipe, or some type of object of similar size. Jude told police that he shot Adkins after he took another swing at him from outside the car.
Somehow, the pipe or bat -- or whatever it was -- apparently either vanished into thin air or Jude made it up, because there was no such object found anywhere near Adkins' body. Police reports note that Jude's car sure didn't look like it had been bashed up by a pipe.
Jude told police that he thought he was in danger but didn't think he was going to be killed, according to the police report. A witness driving in the car behind Jude in the drive-through line told police that he saw Adkins swing at the car, but didn't see Adkins holding anything.
Jude said he didn't just drive away because Adkins' dog was in the way, which is interesting, because police reports indicate the leash was still in Adkins' hand when he died.
To some people, this apparently sounds like the Trayvon Martin case, except the shooter's black in this one:
That gives way too much credit to Jude. No bloody photographs of Jude after the confrontationare going to pop up, and we don't remember George Zimmerman claiming he was being attacked with a deadly weapon that never actually existed.
There was no conversation with police dispatchers before the shooting. Jude wasn't following Adkins around.
The cases are hardly anything alike, except for the fact that an unarmed person was shot and killed.
The theory that this is a "reverse Trayvon Martin case" is pathetic, really.
Jude's second-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin next month.
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
