February 26,2012 Trayvon Martin Murdered; Florida town seeks to unite

Florida town seeks to unite a year after Trayvon Martin’s killing

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) – A year after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in this central Florida town, there’s a small memorial, a new police chief and the stirrings of understanding.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was gunned down on February 26, 2012 as he walked to his father’s fiancee’s home in one of Sanford’s gated communities. The man accused of his killing, George Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic on neighborhood watch, is set to be tried on June 10.

Martin’s death drew top-tier civil rights leaders, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who brought a national spotlight to this town just north of Orlando and not far from Disney World.

That spotlight forced the town of 53,000 to confront police work that seemed to be a throwback to the days of separate and resolutely unequal racial sensibilities.

“This situation, with all eyes on Sanford is making them (city leaders) do something about it now,” said Cindy Philemon, 49, who helps run the local black heritage museum and welcome center.

Over the weekend, volunteers in the black community hastily worked to complete a modest memorial of stuffed animals, cards and crosses in time to remember the first anniversary of Martin’s shooting. It has also become a way for Sanford to remember the many other black victims of violence whose stories largely went untold.

The police chief at the time of Martin’s shooting lost his job over criticism that his department and prosecutors chose not to charge or arrest Zimmerman.

The new chief starts his job in April.

“Now, it’s like the police are getting more involved in being with the community. They are starting to do their part in interacting with us,” Philemon said. “They say there is not as many shootings as there once was.”

Another resident, Thelma Holmes, 62, agreed saying, “It is better than what it was before, because we had a lot of killings of young men….The people and the police, they’re both trying.”

Trayvon’s death will not be forgotten.

“It started people to come forward. So his death is not going to be in vain,” said Philemon. “And he will always be remembered.”

Martin’s parents and lawyers will be in New York City, not Sanford, to hold a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night.

Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder, was granted bond and ordered to surrender his passport, agree to be electronically monitored, reside in Seminole County, and observe a night time curfew.

 

Zimmerman attorneys depose witness who told police she saw ‘heavier man on top’

Attorneys for George Zimmerman yesterday deposed a woman who told Sanford police the night Trayvon Martin was shot she saw two figures fighting, “a heavier man on top.”

Zimmerman outweighed the Miami Gardens 17-year-old by 45 pounds, according to prosecution records.

Defense attorneys have begun the long work of taking sworn statements from witnesses in the case. Paperwork released today by defense attorney Mark O’Mara‘s office show that yesterday, they took the deposition of a woman who called 911 the night of the shooting.

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She is identified only by number, “witness 18.” It’s not clear what she told attorneys yesterday but when interviewed by Sanford police Feb. 26, the night of the shooting, she said she heard loud voices outside her window then heard them quiet, but they got loud again.

She could not see clearly, she said, but made out “two men on the ground … a heavier man on top.”

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“Then I heard someone desperately saying, ‘Help, help.’ ” she said and called 911.

She heard “a pop,” she said, “I heard it more than once.”

According to prosecution records, Zimmerman fired once.

After that, the woman said she saw a “larger man” standing over the other, who was still on the ground.

Zimmerman is the 29-year-old Neighborhood Watch volunteer who says he shot Trayvon in self-defense after the teenager floored him with one punch then climbed on top and began hammering his head on a sidewalk.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder.

Several witnesses saw or heard parts of the confrontation between the two that night, but no one saw it begin, according to Sanford police.

One of the key points of dispute is who was on top during what several witnesses have described as a fight or wrestling match between the two.        source

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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

 

State has provided new evidence to GeorgeZimmerman defense, including more FDLE reports & additional TrayvonMartin phone records

 

Trial of George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin Shooting to Begin June 10

Trial in Sanford shooting to begin June 10: Zimmerman Attorneys

The trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin will begin June 10, his attorneys said Wednesday.

Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting Martin, 17, during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford last February. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense.

Zimmerman’s attorneys said there are still several unresolved pretrial matters to complete and another status hearing is set for Dec. 10.

The attorneys also posted on Twitter that a self-defense immunity hearing is likely to be requested for early April or May.

Attorney Mark O’Mara estimated he expects the trial to last three weeks.

They’ll be back in court Friday for what is expected to be a lengthy hearing for arguments on several motions, including the defense asking for more time to interview state witnesses.   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

 

George Zimmerman’s brother’s media tour leads to Twitter tirade in Trayvon case

George Zimmerman’s brother Robert is on a media offensive to clear his family’s name, and is vowing to have Trayvon Martin’s family lawyer disbarred.

Seven months after the killing of unarmed high school junior Trayvon Martin, the killer’s family is on a national media crusade to clear the family’s name.

What began as a series of routine media interviews denying that George Zimmerman is a racist blew up into a Twitter rant Monday night. Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., took to social media after midnight and vowed to make it his life’s work to have one of the Martin family attorneys disbarred. He said he would expose the lawyers and their publicist, “one by one, day by day.”

“I hope GOD grants you a long life so you live to repent for what you have done,” Robert Zimmerman Jr. wrote in a tweet directed to Natalie Jackson, one of the lawyers for the slain teen’s family.

In another, he wrote: “My Life’s work = you WILL be held accountable for your words/actions. You AINT seen NOTHIN’ yet… I will see U disbarred.”

The flap underscored the heated rhetoric still visible regarding an incident that polarized the nation, and the extent to which legal advisers in the case were blamed for it. The threats posted online also highlighted the difficulty the Zimmermans have had managing their message, and the defense team’s inability to control the client — or his family.

Defense attorney Mark O’Mara said he cringed when he saw a relative of his client acting out on the web, and said the new media tour was launched with George Zimmerman’s knowledge. His message to Robert Jr: “Be careful with my case.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/09/3042361/george-zimmermans-brothers-media.html#storylink=cpy