Tuesday, Zimmerman to ask if he can leave Seminole County and take off his GPS monitor.

SANFORD – 

During a court hearing Tuesday, George Zimmerman may find out whether he can leave Seminole County and take off his GPS monitor.

On Friday, his lawyers filed motions asking a judge to let him leave the county. They said he needs to meet with legal experts and witnesses.

His attorneys said it’s for his own safety because Zimmerman has been threatened in the past.

“Mr. Zimmerman is still at great risk of serious bodily harm, at great risk in his community, and has had to continue to live in seclusion and hiding. An increase in antagonism and threats towards him which is cause for additional concern for his safety and security,” wrote Mark O’Mara, Zimmerman’s defense attorney.

A hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Source

 

The Coverup & The Fix: Ex-Sanford officer in George Zimmerman case hires (Casey Anthony Attorney) Jose Baez

The lead police investigator in the George Zimmerman case has hired attorney Jose Baez, The Miami Herald reports.

Baez recently notified the attorneys representing the city of Sanford that he will represent Chris Serino in upcoming proceedings.

Serino became a controversial figure in the investigation into Trayvon Martin‘s death after evidence showed he filed an arrest affidavit, even though the police chief said publicly there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Zimmerman.

Baez gained notoriety when he represented Casey Anthony during her first-degree murder case.

Read the full report from The Miami Herald here.

Notes:

ORLANDO, Fla. — Casey Anthony’s attorney has sent a letter to the judge in George Zimmerman’s case, saying a prosecutor made some mischaracterizations about him during a hearing last week.

Jose Baez’s letter to Circuit Judge Debra Nelson was made public Wednesday.

Baez says offhand remarks prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda made during a hearing last week were incorrect. The prosecutor was asking for a gag order to limit public remarks attorneys in the Zimmerman case can make.

Baez says he was never disciplined for making statements to the media. He says the only fine he received was for a discovery violation.

Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/state/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-case-update-jose-baez-sends-letter-to-zimmerman-judge#ixzz2CmOoxe00

 

George Zimmerman lawyers to depose first cop on the scene of Trayvon’s shooting

According to new court paperwork, George Zimmerman‘s attorneys plan to depose next Tuesday two key Sanford cops: Tim Smith, the first officer on the scene and the man who handcuffed George Zimmerman, and then-Sgt. Randy Smith, the front-line manager who oversaw the police investigation.

Both men may wind up as key witnesses at Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial.

Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford Feb. 26, setting off weeks of civil rights marches across the country.

In his police report, Tim Smith wrote that when he got to the scene, he saw that Zimmerman’s back was wet and had grass clippings on it. That suggests the defendant had been on the ground, facing up.

Tim Smith also wrote that he saw blood coming from Zimmerman’s nose and the back of his head.

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Zimmerman, he wrote, complied with his requests, put his hands in the air, allowed the officer to snap on handcuffs and to pull Zimmerman’s handgun from his waist.

Zimmerman admitted shooting Trayvon, Smith wrote.

Sanford firefighters cleaned up Zimmerman as he sat in the back of Tim Smith’s patrol car, the officer wrote, and while that was happening, Smith heard him say, ” ‘I was yelling for someone to help me, but no one would help me.’ “

That’s important because someone can be heard screaming for help in the background of a 911 call. Travon’s mother says it was Trayvon. Zimmerman says it was him. FBI audio experts tried but failed to identify the voice, saying the recording was of low quality.

Randy Smith, who has since been promoted to lieutenant, was deeply involved in the investigation. At the time, he was manager of the department’s major crimes section, meaning he was the boss of lead Investigator Chris Serino.

The day after the shooting, Randy Smith accompanied Serino and Zimmerman to the scene, where Zimmerman re-enacted what he said happened.

Serino has not yet been deposed, but several other Sanford officers have, including other who were at the scene that night.

Zimmerman, a former Neighborhood Watch volunteer, says he shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense. Prosecutors allege he spotted a young black man whom he did not recognize, assumed he was about to commit a crime then followed and murdered him.  source

 

George Zimmerman attorneys launch legal maneuver

SANFORD –

The George Zimmerman defense team is launching its latest legal maneuver.

The recent motions filed are asking for consideration in appointing a senior judge that would stand on issues of reciprocal discovery.

Mark O’Mara and his defense team are also seeking a third party to sit in on depositions with witnesses that have strong ties to the case, like Ben Crump and Natalie Jackson.

Along with the recent motions, the defense is alleging that the special prosecutor Angela Corey’s office is not being forthright when it comes to handing over evidence.

Zimmerman has a hearing scheduled for Oct. 19.

 

George Zimmerman’s Mother First Interview

 

Zimmerman’s friend: Trayvon grabbed gun.( DNA reports released Wednesday showed there was no DNA from Trayvon on the gun)

A new book written by George Zimmerman’s best friend offers a sharply different account of the night Trayvon Martin died.

By Frances Robles

frobles@MiamiHerald.com

Trayvon Martin grabbed his killer’s gun just moments before he died and uttered a profanity-laced threat. In a desperate life-or-death struggle, George Zimmerman clutched Trayvon’s wrist, broke his grip on the semi-automatic firearm and shot him once in the chest.

That account appears in a new book written by Zimmerman’s best friend and confidante.

There’s just one problem: Zimmerman never said that to the police.

Now the book, Defending Our Friend: The Most Hated Man in America, and author Mark Osterman’s two television interviews have landed on the prosecution evidence list, as more versions of Zimmerman’s story emerge. A man who wrote a book calling Zimmerman “the kindest and most sincere” person will wind up in court — for the prosecution, experts agree.

“It was emotionally draining for George as he relived that awful moment when he managed to control the gun, then fired out of fear for his life,” Osterman wrote.

Osterman, U.S. air marshal who lives in a Central Florida, was among the first people Zimmerman’s wife called on Feb. 26 when she learned her husband had just shot someone. Osterman rushed to the scene that night, and accompanied his best friend every step of the way through the investigation, including his first three interrogations by Sanford police.

Osterman acknowledges that former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee was his one-time lieutenant in the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department whom he held up as a father figure. Osterman says he was quickly recognized by cops on the scene, but insists he never coached his friend on what to tell them after the death of Trayvon, an unarmed Miami Gardens teenager.

Afraid for the Zimmermans’ safety, Osterman took the couple in from the very first night of the shooting. His 172-page book describes how Zimmerman told the story of the killing over and over again until he was physically drained. When he told it to police, Osterman said, Zimmerman threw up.

But Osterman’s account is a sharp deviation from the versions Zimmerman gave, which experts say will undoubtedly be used to try to impeach the defendant’s credibility and cast doubt on his claim of self-defense if each telling changed or was embellished.

“I desperately got both of my hands around the guy’s one wrist and took his hand off my mouth long enough for me to shout again for help,” Osterman quotes Zimmerman as saying.

“For a brief moment I had control of the wrist, but I knew when he felt the sidearm at my waist with his leg. He took his hand that was covering my nose and went for the gun, saying, “You’re gonna die now, motherf—–.’ Somehow, I broke his grip on the gun where the guy grabbed it between the rear sight and the hammer. I got the gun in my hand, raised it toward the guy’s chest and pulled the trigger.”

DNA reports released Wednesday showed there was no DNA from Trayvon on the gun.

Even as Zimmerman himself offered slight variations of where Trayvon first appeared or from what direction, none of his written or recorded interviews with police suggested a battle over the firearm. He told police that when he wriggled off the concrete onto the grass, his gun was exposed, and Trayvon reached for it.

In the version Zimmerman’s brother Robert told CNN, Trayvon said something like, “You have a piece? You die tonight.”

More To Read Here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/20/3012853/zimmermans-friend-trayvon-grabbed.html#storylink=cpy

 

George Zimmerman defense wants Trayvon Martin school records

George Zimmerman‘s defense team wants educational and disciplinary records for Trayvon Martin, the Miami Gardens teen Zimmerman shot Feb. 26 in Sanford, according to a new post on the defense’s blog.

Zimmerman’s team posted this morning that it has begun its discovery process, issuing several subpoenas aimed at gathering records on Trayvon’s school history dating back to middle school.

The 17-year-old was staying with his father’s girlfriend at the time of the shooting. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie.

In its subpoenas, the neighborhood watch volunteer’s defense requests any “disciplinary notices and reports, suspension notices and reports, attendance records, tardiness records, awards given,” as well as extracurricular activities, class schedules and test scores.

The subpoenas are directed at Miami Carol City High School, Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High, Norland Middle School and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. As the defense team’s blog post notes, such school records are not public.

Though he was never arrested, Trayvon had disciplinary issues before his suspension in February. The Miami Herald reported in March that he had been suspended twice before.

More Here

 

George Zimmerman Seeks ‘Stand Your Ground’ Hearing In Bid To Dismiss Case

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Attorneys for the neighborhood watch volunteer charged in the death of an unarmed teen say they’ll seek a “stand your ground” hearing that could lead to criminal charges being dismissed.

A statement posted Thursday on the website for George Zimmerman’s legal team says evidence released by prosecutors shows “clear support for a strong claim of self-defense.”

Zimmerman says he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February in self-defense under Florida’s so-called “stand your ground” law, which allows people to use deadly force, instead of retreating, if they believe their lives are in danger.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder. If a judge rules the evidence fits the conditions of “stand your ground,” the criminal charges would be dismissed and Zimmerman would be immune from civil action in the shooting.

Zimmerman is free on $1 million bond.

Source

 

George Zimmerman’s Parents Get on the Beggar Bandwagon with New Website

eorge Zimmerman created a website several days ago, complete with a video to prove what a nice guy he is. Oh yeah, and he asked for money. Now, his parents are on hitting up that gravy train, too. They’ve got their own website up with a long, novella of all the great and wonderful deeds their son has done in his life. Pathetic.

The Global Grind reports that Robert&Gladys.com just launched, and its appearance is a predicable Stars and Stripes theme. How patriotic. It’s as if wrapping themselves up in the American flag makes what their son did OK. Oh, and if you’re so inclined to donate, they’ve already got the amount filled in at $50. They don’t want much, do they?

Here’s an excerpt from this farce:

In late 2010, a homeless African American man, Sherman Ware, was knocked unconscious for no reason whatsoever by the son of a Sanford City police officer, George was upset that the son was not arrested and that no one seemed to care about the homeless man. George…rallied support for the homeless gentleman…Eventually, largely due to George’s efforts, the police officer’s son was charged with the assault.

Robert Zimmerman goes on to say in the next paragraph that this mystery man, Sherman Ware, has a sister named Sharon Ware, who was one of the first people to accuse George of racism.

The Zimmermans’ website doesn’t prove anything. It doesn’t give any credible insight into their son. It is nothing more than a money grab, plain and simple, and should not be allowed. After all, aren’t their laws against perpetrators and their families profiting off of their misdeeds? Wouldn’t this qualify as such? After all, If George Zimmerman cannot afford an attorney, he’ll have one appointed.

Of course, his parents don’t want a court-appointed attorney. They want the best. And shouldn’t they want the best? Their son’s story has more holes than a moth-eaten sweater. Military members have independently re-enacted the scenario and found Zimmerman’s story to be impossible. In his interview with Sean Hannity, who was accused of offering financial assistant, George first said he didn’t regret anything he’d done. Then at the end of the interview, he turned to the camera and in his creepiest sincere voice told ‘America’ how sorry he was.

Robert and Gladys Zimmerman have taken their tasteless lack of ethics to new heights in trying to raise money off the back of their son…and from the death of a dead young man. They all will have their supporters who think what Trayvon Martin’s killer did is fine, even a good thing. It’s unfathomable how they believe that killing a 17-year-old kid who was carrying a pack of Skittles and an iced tea was acceptable.

Source

 

 

This morning the prosecution entered Zimmerman tape of the interview into evidence

Lawyers react to George Zimmerman’s interview with Hannity

Central Florida criminal defense lawyers say it was a mistake for George Zimmerman to go on national television last night and do an hour-long interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, discussing what happened the night he killed Trayvon Martin.

“I think George Zimmerman needs to stop talking,” said David Faulkner, a former FBI agent and Winter Park criminal defense attorney.

Special Prosecutor Angela Corey during the noon-hour filed formal notice that she intends to add the interview to the state’s case.

Zimmerman deviated at least twice from his previous versions of what happened the night he shot Trayvon. He told Hannity he walked in Trayvon’s direction because he needed to find a house number to help police find him, but in recorded interviews with Sanford police, he said it was because he had forgotten the street’s name, something detectives challenged him on.

Also, Zimmerman told Hannity that Trayvon “skipped” away from him and did not run in fear after they first spotted each other a minute or two before their fatal face-to-face confrontation.

Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Neighborhood Watch volunteer, shot Trayvon, Feb. 26. The defendant told police that he was acting in self-defense after the Miami Gardens 17-year-old attacked him.

He was not arrested for more than a month, but the special prosecutor charged him with second-degree murder April 11. He is currently free on $1 million bond.

“I don’t think the interview changes anyone’s mind. It just adds more statements that they’re going to have to defend at trial,” said Faulkner.

Zimmerman again apologized to Trayvon’s family but also told Hannity that what happened that night “was all God’s plan.”

Zimmerman should never have brought up God, Faulkner said, and he should stop apologizing.

“He needs to stick with the same theme: ‘I was attacked. This man was beating my head into the pavement.’ It’s got nothing to do with God,” Faulkner said. “It’s got to do with living another day.”

Donna Goerner, a Longwood attorney and former assistant state attorney in Sanford, said the whole idea of putting Zimmerman on national television was “crazy”.

Why? Explained Lyle Mazin, an Orlando defense lawyer, a criminal defendant has “unequivocal advantages” over the state: the right to remain silent, and to have an attorney to become his voice. The Hannity interview, Mazin said, was “a fundamental failure of both of them.”

“The more times a person tells a story, even if telling the absolute truth, the more inconsistence will emerge,” said Mazin, who has been critical of the state’s case. “It’s the human condition of story telling.”

Defense attorneyMark O’Marahas repeatedly complained that too much media attention will make it very difficult for Zimmerman to get a fair trial. Now, he’s contributing to the coverage.

“It’s really baffling what he thought he’d gain from it,” said Richard Hornsby, an Orlando defense lawyer, who added, “I really question who’s in charge of the defense strategy, whether it’s Zimmerman or O’Mara.”

The odd media relations continued Thursday. After rumors Zimmerman would appear on “The View”by phone, host Barbara Walters said he had called, but “If you could not do the interview yesterday, I don’t think we should do a quick one today.”

According to an ABC News spokesman, Walters had trekked to Central Florida Wednesday hoping for an interview but “walked away” after Zimmerman “made a request that we could not, and could never, agree to.” The New York Post has reported Zimmerman requested a lengthy hotel stay.

Zimmerman called Sanford police Feb. 26, saying he saw a suspicious person in his neighborhood. He got out of his truck and when the dispatcher asked if he was following Trayvon, Zimmerman said yes.

“We don’t need you to do that,” the dispatcher said.

Goerner said Zimmerman’s statement about “God’s plan” probably did not come across the way he intended. She had a message for him:

“From my perspective, God sent you a messenger to stay in your truck, and you didn’t listen.”

She, too, advised him to stop talking.

Orlando defense attorney Russ McLatchey stopped short of calling the interview a mistake.

“I’m sure the motivation for this is to present Mr. Zimmerman as a thoughtful and reasonable human being and to try to convince as many people as possible that what he did that night was legally justified,” McLatchey said. “Having said that, I don’t like it.”

“Normally defense attorneys go way out of their way to get their clients to remain silent,” he said. “This guy has not only given his story to law enforcement, but he’s given it to the nation.”

That may create problems for Zimmerman at his trial, should he testify and details of what he tells jurors fail to square up with what he told police and Hannity.