The latest evidence in the Trayvon Martin case? The “Zoloft defense”. Greater U.S. Involvement in Yemen. Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Peter Rainre to discuss this week’s new films, including Battleship, The Dictator, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Mansome and more. TGI-FilmWeek! High and dizzy with Harold Lloyd.
The latest evidence in the Trayvon Martin case?
New evidence released yesterday in the Trayvon Martin case fills in some of the blanks surrounding the circumstances leading up to the shooting death of Martin by George Zimmerman but the revelations don’t necessarily give us a better picture of what really occurred on the night Martin was killed.
Details of the investigation, including new information about shooter George Zimmerman's injuries and the screaming heard on 911 recordings, were released Thursday, along with pictures of Zimmerman after he was taken into custody. The photos showing injuries to Zimmerman’s face and head bolster his claim that he was beaten by Martin but there is also witness testimony of an onlooker who saw a hooded African American being chased by a man in a red sweat shirt which call into question Zimmerman’s claim that he was attacked by Martin.
How will these new facts play out in Zimmerman’s “Stand Your Ground” defense? Does this additional evidence change your views about the case?
GUEST
Laurie Levenson, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School
Scott Sundby, Criminal Law Professor, University of Miami School of Law; Member of a Florida Task Force that recently examined the "Stand Your Ground" law
Should the 'Zoloft defense' be permissible?
In 2010, former Westminster police officer Anthony Nicholas Orban allegedly abducted a 25-year-old waitress at gunpoint, forced her to drive to a storage facility and then raped her. The trial, which is currently being held in San Bernardino County, has completed the prosecution phase and is preparing for Orban’s defense on Monday.
And the defense that James Blatt, Orban’s lawyer, has planned is by no means a conventional one. On Thursday, a San Bernardino County judge ruled that the defense team can point to evidence that Orban, who was taking the antidepressant Zoloft at the time, was so overwhelmed by the drug that he was not mentally cognizant while the attack was happening.
This “Zoloft defense” could essentially free Orban of all guilt if the jury finds the evidence compelling. Blatt will begin presenting evidence on Monday.
Should this legal tactic be permissible? What separates this defense strategy from that of insanity? Or what about the “Twinkie defense”? How successful are strategies like these? How will the trial proceed from here?
GUESTS
Heidi Rummel, Clinical Law Professor, USC Gould School of Law
Peter Kramer, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Brown University. Also the author of the international bestseller “Listening to Prozac.”
Greater US Involvement in Yemen
The LA Times is reporting that the United States is increasing efforts to combat Al Qaeda in Yemen. U.S intelligence officials contend that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group based in Yemen, sponsored the failed attempt to place a suicide bomber on a jet bound for the U.S.
The CIA and the U.S. military forces are launching a coordinated campaign to aid the Yemeni military in air strikes, drone attacks, eavesdropping and intelligent gathering on targets in Yemen’s southern region where AQAP is most active. This escalation represents more U.S. involvement than has been previously reported.
Last year, when violent protests overthrew Yemen’s leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, the U.S. withdrew special operations, but the Obama administration currently considers Yemen an ally and those operations have been resumed. Is this increased involvement in Yemen against Al Qaeda a positive strategic move or does it risk creating an anti-U.S backlash?
GUEST
Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times reporter
FilmWeek: The Dictator, Battleship, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Mansome and more
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Peter Rainer to discuss this week’s new films, including The Dictator, Battleship, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Mansome and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
The Dictator trailer:
Battleship trailer:
What to Expect When You’re Expecting trailer:
Mansome trailer:
A Bag of Hammers trailer:
Hysteria trailer:
GUESTS
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and The Christian Science Monitor
High and dizzy with Harold Lloyd
One of the iconic faces of the silent film era is that of Harold Lloyd, with his round glasses and straw boater, the everyman who goes to great lengths – and heights – to get the girl.
On May 20th at UCLA’s Royce Hall, silent film lovers will be regaled by two of Lloyd’s seldom-seen masterpieces, The Kid Brother (1927) and High and Dizzy (1920). The films are accompanied by the LA Chamber Orchestra with Carl Davis conducting his own compositions created specifically for the Lloyd films.
Music for The Kid Brother was commissioned by Thames Television for Channel 4 and the newly composed music for High and Dizzy will have its U.S. premiere on that evening.
Get tickets to the UCLA LIve! Harold Lloyd event HERE
The Kid Brother:
GUESTS
Carl Davis, composer and conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He has written music for more than 100 television programs, but is best known for creating music to accompany silent films. In 1980, he started to create scores for silent films beginning with Napoleon and continuing with a series of silent film classics commissioned by Channel Four. In 1981, he collaborated with Barry Humphries on his Last Night of the Poms, revived in 2009. In 1991, Davis collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney on his Liverpool Oratorio commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of Harold Lloyd. When the film icon died in 1971, 19 year- old Suzanne became one of three trustees to his film library. In the 1990’s, Suzanne petitioned the court and became the sole trustee of her grandfather’s legacy. In 2001, the entire library, 85 surviving titles, came under her control. She created Harold Lloyd Entertainment, Inc. to license the films as her grandfather would have wished.