Tag: George Zimmerman (page 10)

Is a motion by George Zimmerman's lawyers for a gag order on trial witnesses on the horizon?

George Zimmerman's friends, Mark and Sondra Osterman, thought they would help George out by writing a book about his good qualities. The book is scheduled to be released shortly, and the Ostermans are going to be on Dr. Phil the week of September 10 discussing it.

Mark Osterman has been listed as a potential state witness. He accompanied Shellie Zimmerman to the police station the night of the shooting of Trayvon Martin to pick George up when the police were done questioning him. He also drove George to the site of the shooting the next day where police filmed George doing a video re-enactment of his encounter with Trayvon. Osterman, a federal air marshal who used to be a Seminole County deputy sheriff, is featured in the promos for the Dr. Phil appearance as Zimmerman's best friend. [More...]

Here is today's opinion by the 5th District Court of Appeals in Florida granting George Zimmerman's Writ of Prohibition and removing Judge Kenneth Lester from the case.

"A motion is legally sufficient if it alleges facts that would create in a reasonably prudent person a wellfounded fear of not receiving a fair and impartial trial."

Although many of the allegations in Zimmerman's motion, standing alone, do not meet the legal sufficiency test,1 and while this is admittedly a close call, upon careful review we find that the allegations, taken together, meet the threshold test of legal sufficiency. Accordingly, we direct the trial judge to enter an order of disqualification which requests the chief circuit judge to appoint a successor judge.

This is good news for George Zimmerman. And, in my view, the right decision. But who will be the new judge? Do they call retired judges in to serve in Florida?

Bmaz at Empty Wheel has more.

The state has filed its response (available here) in the 5th District Court of Appeals to George Zimmerman's request for a Writ of Prohibition seeking to have Judge Lester removed from the case.

Shorter version: The judge gave Zimmerman a well-deserved tongue lashing, but his fear he won't get a fair trial from the judge is not objectively reasonable, and thus his motion to recuse was not legally sufficient and Lester was right to deny it.

None of the comments by the trial court rise to the level of being legally sufficient to establish an objectively reasonable fear by Petitioner that he will not receive a fair trial by the judge. Instead, the judge was simply giving Petitioner a well deserved tongue lashing for allowing others to mislead the court about his passport and his financial situation.

The test is whether a reasonable person in George Zimmerman's position would fear not getting a fair trial from this judge. [More...]

Mark O'Mara announced today on GZLegalCase he is shuttering the Facebook page the legal team created in April. In part, it's served its purpose. In other respects, the discussion in comments on the FB page have been a hindrance.

One of our published goals is Discouraging Speculation, and Facebook, by its nature, does not help us with this goal. Every post made on Facebook becomes an open thread where anyone on the site can comment, and comments inevitably lead to conversations about evidence and speculation about guilt or innocence. This type of conversation is a natural part of discourse, and there are plenty of places on the Internet where it is appropriate for this to happen, but it need not happen on a page hosted by the defense.

[More...]

Mark O'Mara has posted the Petition for Writ of Prohibition and all Appendices filed in the 5th Circuit DCA on the GZlegalcase website. The index as to what is in the Appendices is here. The Petition for Writ of Prohibition (concerning the recusal of Judge Kenneth Lester) is here.

The Appendices have transcripts of the April 20, April 27, June 1 and June 29 hearings. They also have transcripts of Investigator Singleton and Serion's interview of Zimmerman the night of the shooting and Investigator Serino's telephone call with George on 3/25/12. There's also a transcript of witness 6 ("John")'s interview with FDLE on March 20, 2012. He is the witness who saw the struggle between Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin and says Trayvon was on top and Zimmerman was struggling to get up. [More...]

Bump and Update: Mark O'Mara said at a press conference today he will appeal Judge Kenneth Lester's denial of his recusal motion. When asked about his announcement last week his client will file a Stand Your Ground motion, he said:

He told reporters today that he believes the facts of the case show his client didn't have any option to retreat rather than shoot.

"I think the facts suggest in this case that what probably happened was that my client was reacting to having his nose broken" while lying on his back being pummeled, O'Mara said.

I agree. But he had no duty to retreat under Stand Your Ground. If O'Mara is discussing a "duty to retreat", I would think he's not talking Stand Your Ground, but traditional self-defense. (I didn't hear the press conference, but the media is reporting he said he's not proceeding under SYG but self-defense, and intends to argue it at a pre-trial hearing.) Earlier post below:[More...]

Link.

Converse civilly please.

Update (TL): I wrote the following last night forgot to post it: [More...]

Judge Kenneth Lester has denied George Zimmerman's motion that he recuse himself from the case.

In an order entered today, Judge Lester stated Zimmerman's motion was "legally insufficient." He did not explain why. The rule on judicial disqualifications is here.

Details of Zimmerman's motion to recuse are here. As I opined then:

Put yourself in Zimmerman's shoes: The issue is how he feels, and whether his feelings are reasonable. Would you, if you were George Zimmerman, fear not getting a fair trial before Judge Lester?

I believe Zimmerman can request a writ of prohibition preventing the case from going forward while the appeals court reviews the issue.

The State's Attorney yesterday filed its 5th Supplemental Discovery notice, stating that pursuant to an earlier court order, it was releasing the names of five witnesses whose statements had previously been provided in redacted form. These are witnesses who appeared in the media and identified themselves. They include Brandy Green, Mary Cutcher and her roommate Selma Mora, Cheryl Brown and her son Austin McClendon, and Cynthia Wibker, former Homeowner Association Treasurer.

Today the state re-released 30 pages of witness statements with the witnesses names filled in. I have uploaded them here. Other witnesses are identified besides the 5 named above.

I think the state misidentified Cutcher and Mora's house number. The notice says it is 2031 Retreat View Circle instead of 2831 Retreat View Circle. 2031 RVC isn't in the first block of houses that back up to the shared path between houses where Trayvon Martin's body was found. I assume it's a typo. (Added: Or else they have moved, but the only address relevant to the case is the one they lived at on 2/26 and that is 2831 Retreat View Circle.)

I think the state should also have released the names of Chad, who has been interviewed with his mother Brandy Green on Fox News, and Witness 18, the "Teacher," who made numerous TV appearances with her attorney. Even though the Teacher didn't use her name, she told her story on TV and the Court's disclosure order isn't limited to those who used their real name.

During his interview of George Zimmerman last night, Sean Hannity asked George Zimmerman "What do you say to Al Sharpton and those who rushed to judgment?" MSNBC today released a statement to Politico:

MSNBC would like to set the record straight following some misinformation presented by Fox News during the interview with George Zimmerman last night," MSNBC wrote in a statement sent to POLITICO. "Reverend Al Sharpton never 'rushed to judgment,' as stated by Mr. Hannity. Reverend Sharpton repeatedly called for calm and for a more thorough investigation in the wake of the tragic events. Ultimately, the authorities agreed an arrest was warranted."

I guess MSNBC forgot about this March 19, 2012 Al Sharpton show. (video here.) Or this Sharpton appearance on the March 21 Joe Scarborough show and this press conference (especially around the 4 minute mark) on the day of his arrest. Sharpton's comments speak for themselves. To say he merely called for calm and a thorough investigation is laughable. [More...]

Thanks to Big Tent Democrat for putting up a thread on George Zimmerman's interview on Sean Hannity's show tonight. I just got back to Denver and am watching now. (I missed the beginning.)

I listened to his jail calls for all 7 hours of the drive back from Telluride -- I didn't finish. But, listening in sequence for so many hours, I got a sense of his personality (as well as that of Shellie, his sister Grace aka Susie, his mother (who talked in Spanish), Ken, and some male cousins.)

I think he was genuine on Hannity. Some highlights below: [More...]

Just Zimmerman here.

Update: Please familiarize yourself with TalkLeft's commenting rules on this case before commenting.

Update: (Jeralyn): I extended my trip for a few days. I'm now in Telluride and have not been online -- not even to read email. This morning I opened my e-mail and there was one from the State's Attorney saying the Witness 9 calls and jail calls were available and additional money had to be in their office by Weds. Since I was not expecting another payment so soon, I did not bring either my fedex account info or a business check with me. Nonetheless, I made it to a bank to get a money order (they don't take personal checks) and to Fedex.

I listened to 2 minutes of the cousin's calls (added: and having previously heard her 2/28 interview) didn't believe a word she said. She was tentative and her tears sounded phoney. That of course, is just my opinion. I'm pretty surprised Judge Lester ordered their release.[More]