Trayvon’s Dad Asks Fathers To Protest Stand Your Ground Laws In Touching Father’s Day Message

While most Dads will be celebrated by their appreciative sons, daughters, and wives this Sunday, this Father’s Day, Tracy Martin, the father of murdered Florida teen Trayvon, will be celebrating his alone. Even in his grief, though, Martin found has found the strength to send out a Father’s Day message, encouraging families who live in states with Stand Your Ground laws to protest.

RELATED: Zimmerman On The Ropes? Judge Makes His Statements To Police Public

In a video released on Wednesday, Martin discusses the significance of Father’s Day, “I’m Tracy Martin. Becoming a Father is a special gift; it’s a miracle of love and an everyday reminder that life can be beautiful.” Obviously, since his son was murdered in cold blood by self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, Martin will not be able to enjoy the gifts that come along with being a proud Father.

“But this Father’s Day will be the first without my son, Tryavon. I’ll say a prayer for all the Dads across America who share this grief with me. Last year, 30,000 Fathers lost a son or daughter from senseless gun violence.”

With perseverance and determination — highlighting the strength and tenacity the Martins have shown since they lost their child — Martin then asks Fathers everywhere who are affected by Stand Your Ground laws to call their respective governors in protest:

“Dads, we have to come together to protect our children. I’m asking you to consider to send this message to the governor of your state that has a similar Stand Your Ground laws. Ask them to review these dangerous laws. If we do, next year, thousand more Dads will have a happy Father’s Day together with their children and not the toughest one of their life without them.”

When Trayvon was first killed on February 26, it appeared that killer Zimmerman would walk away from the incident scot-free. By invoking Florida’s dubious Stand Your Ground law, Zimmerman was able to dodge being arrested. With Stand Your Ground, an individual can justifiably use deadly force if he or she is in danger.

It would take nearly a month for the news of the senseless murder to break through local media and hit national TV and radio airwaves, galvanizing a nation to its feet. With hoodie marches, town halls, and Skittle mail-ins, Black America rallied around — and continue to do so — the Martin family with the hopes that Zimmerman would be brought to justice for his crimes.

While the next bond hearing for Zimmerman is scheduled for June 29, both Zimmerman and his wife were most recently brought to task for lying at the initial bond hearing. Consequently, Zimmerman’s bail — which was hotly criticized by many — was revoked on June 1, and he is currently sitting in prison. And just this week, wife Shellie was arrested for also lying to the court. She has since been charged with perjury.

As the days and weeks turn into months, many eagerly await Zimmerman being brought to justice for cutting a young man’s life too short    Source

 

In Texas, ‘stand your ground’ case leads to murder conviction

 

HOUSTON — A retired Houston-area firefighter could face life in prison after a jury convicted him Wednesday of murder in the shooting of an unarmed neighbor, rejecting his “stand your ground” defense.

The trial’s punishment phase is scheduled to begin Thursday.

During the trial, Raul Rodriguez, 47, argued that he was protected under Texas’ self-defense law when he killed neighbor Kelly Danaher two years ago.

Rodriguez, angry about a noisy birthday party at Danaher’s home, went over to his neighbor’s house, according to testimony and court documents. He got into an argument with Danaher, a 36-year-old elementary school teacher, and two other men at the party.

Rodriguez’s attorneys did not present any witnesses in his defense. But in a 22-minute video Rodriguez recorded the night of the shooting, he can be heard telling a police dispatcher: “My life is in danger now” and “These people are going to go try and kill me.” He then said, “I’m standing my ground here,” and shot Danaher after somebody appeared to grab his camera.

The case is among the first to test a “stand your ground” defense in the wake of the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. In that case, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who has admitted shooting the unarmed teenager, has cited Florida’s “stand your ground” law in his defense.

But “stand your ground” laws vary from state to state, and Rodriguez’s case was decided under a different type of self-defense law than Florida’s.

Texas’ Castle Doctrine, revised in 2007, allows people to defend not only their homes with deadly force, but their workplaces and vehicles. Under the law, a person using force to defend himself or herself can’t provoke their attacker or be involved in criminal activity.

Prosecutors argued that Rodriguez couldn’t cite the law in his defense because he provoked the confrontation at the party and attacked someone who was unarmed, which is a crime.

Defense attorney Neal Davis said he doesn’t believe his client did anything illegal. He said Rodriguez didn’t wield his gun until he was outside Danaher’s house and his neighbor approached him in the street.

“He was not provoking anybody. He was not engaged in any criminal activity. The law is not only for home invasions. That’s why the law was changed,” Davis said, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors disagreed, arguing that Rodriguez lured and bullied his victim.

“Self-defense was never meant to protect the one who started the fight,” prosecutor Donna Logan told the jury, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Jurors deliberated for about five hours before reaching a verdict Wednesday.

The attorneys involved were in court Thursday and could not be reached for comment   Source

 

Anonymous tipline created for prisoners

Florida’s inmate population is a potential gold mine of information on unsolved crimes, and state officials hope to tap it.

Starting July 1, a new anonymous tipline will give the state’s 100,356 prisoners an opportunity to report information on unsolved crimes and may even have a chance to earn a reward “There is a wealth of information here and we’ve created a mechanism to capture it,” said Ken Tucker, Secretary of the Department of Corrections. “We owe it to the public and the victims to collaborate.”

The Florida Department of Corrections teamed up with CrimeWatch to create the equivalent of the anonymous tipline citizens use to report information on crimes.

In Central Florida, the anonymous tipline Crimeline has helped solve numerous crimes including the April shooting and burning deaths of Winter Park High School students 16-year-old Nicholas Presha and 18-year-old Jeremy Stewart.

State corrections employees will use posters to announce the new tipine and have created a video about the program that all incoming prisoners will be required to watch at the start of his or her prison sentence, Tucker said.

The program will be available in state correctional facilities, but not in county jails, Tucker said.

The new initiative is three-prong and will also include outreach to people who are on probation and the community.

The Department of Corrections has created a top 10 fugitives list that includes five escapees and five people who have skipped out on probation and a new toll-free number for tips. Billboards around the state will have information about the men on the top 10 list.

“This is hugely successful in Texas,” said Crimeline director Barb Bergin. “They are capturing people left and right.”

Bergin hopes Florida will see similar results.

Probation officers around the state will give information about the tipline programs to the felons they supervise. Citizens can also give tips about the fugitives at 1-888-951-2411.

bprieto@tribune.com or 407-420-5620   Source

 

Zimmerman Case Judge: Witness Identities to Remain Sealed

Criminal Justice Center, Seminole County

In a ruling Tuesday Judge Kenneth Lester ordered the release of some of the other information the prosecution asked to be sealed, including statements George Zimmerman made to the police.

The prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda and defense attorney Mark O’Mara had asked for witness names and identities to be protected, saying their release could jeopardise the trial. In his ruling, Judge Lester wrote that if they were identified, “there is a strong probability that previously undisclosed witnesses will become uncooperative.”

The order protects the identities of those witnesses. However, witness statements that have not already been made public will be released.

Judge Lester denied a request to seal statements Zimmerman made to law enforcement, and tests done on Zimmerman.

The ruling also orders the release of emails to the Sanford Police department regarding the case.

Discovery information included in the release order will be made public within 15 days.

Zimmerman, who is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, is in jail awaiting a bond hearing on June 29th.

He was ordered back to jail for not telling the court at his first bond hearing about thousands of dollars raised by donations to a support website.

Zimmerman’s wife Shellie Zimmerman was arrested this week and charged with perjury. The prosecutor said she and Zimmerman spoke in code about the money during phone calls after he was first arrested.

Shellie Zimmerman has been released from jail on $1000 bond  Source

 

Stand Your Ground Panel Starts Works

LONGWOOD — The first public hearing of Gov. Rick Scott’s Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection offered a wide range of opinion on the “stand your ground” law in Seminole County Tuesday, with roughly 100 people turning out to speak.

Among them were hardline supporters of the statute and the bereaved parents and spouses who’d lost loved ones to shooters who were never charged.

Longwood, near Sanford, was chosen for the panels first hearing because it’s near where 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed on Feb. 26.

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the panels chairwoman, said the charge of the task force is not to debate Trayvon Martin’s death or the case of George Zimmerman, who says he shot Martin in self-defense. National outrage over the lack of an arrest in the case prompted Scott to create the task force and to name Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey the special prosecutor in Martin’s case; she charged Zimmerman with second degree murder.

Carroll said the first public hearing was held here to give its community members some “closure” on the shooting death that has roiled the state and nation for months.

The task force’s morning session offered an overview of the law by Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx. Prosecutors, public defenders and law enforcement officials presented as well.

“Reasonable minds will vary,” said Marx and differing opinions were then expressed.

The afternoon session was the public hearing. Among the speakers was state Sen. Chris Smith, incoming Senate Democratic Leader and leader of an independent panel investigating “stand your ground.” He called on the state to start to start keeping statistics on cases affected by the law.

“There are many instances where law enforcement used their discretion not to arrest and state attorneys used their discretion not to charge,” said Smith, “so we dont know of the maybe thousands of times that ‘stand your ground’ was used and nothing ever happened.”

Ronald Vogt, a Seminole County resident who supports the law, said police officers couldn’t be everywhere.

“But there come[s] a point in time where I see a robbery or rape or something going down where I need to intervene, I think there’s a better probability of saving their life than losing my own. The ‘stand your ground’ law is the only way of entering in without my going to jail,” Vogt said. “I’m not afraid of dying the only thing I fear is God.”

“This is a good law,” said B.J. Smith, a retired civil trial lawyer. “Please do not try and fix it.”

Other speakers called for changes or clarifications in “stand your ground,” including Martin’s parents.

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of the unarmed black teen who was shot killed less than four months ago, didn’t necessarily call for the law’s repeal. Fulton pleaded with the panel to at least “look at” the law in light of her son’s death.

Tracy Martin choked up as he said he’d be spending Father’s Day this year at the cemetery. He and Fulton also delivered 375,000 online petitions collected by Second Chance on Shoot First, a national campaign.

Listening to the stories “softened” the stances of panel members, Smith said.

Criminal attorney Mark Seiden, a task force member, said he was disappointed that more local citizens didn’t turn out. But Carroll was upbeat.

“From the comments that we heard from the sponsors of the law and even they came to the forefront and said, ‘from what we heard, we need to make some changes, and I’ll be receptive’I want to listen with an honest and open mind,” Carroll said.

Many of the speakers didn’t want to give up their right to defend themselves, she said, but also want a fair application of the law.

The panel is holding meetings statewide and will make recommendations to Scott and the Legislature about whether the law should be changed.

Carroll said the Smith task force recommendations had been placed on the task force’s web site, along with other resources and the opportunity to comment. The address is CitizenSafety@eog.myflorida.com

Source 

 

Shellie Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s wife, allegedly used small transfers to hide finances

(CBS/AP) ORLANDO, Fla. – The wife of the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin allegedly used money transfers of relatively small amounts to hide the true status of the couple’s finances as they sought his release on bond, authorities allege in court documents.

Shellie Zimmerman, wife to George Zimmerman, was charged Tuesday with perjury, a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. She was released on bond herself.

Records show that in the days before an April bond hearing for her husband, Shellie Zimmerman, 25, transferred $74,000 in eight smaller amounts ranging from $7,500 to $9,990, from her husband’s credit union account to hers, according to an arrest affidavit. It also shows that $47,000 was transferred from George Zimmerman’s account to his sister’s in the days before the bond hearing.

Shellie Zimmerman testified at the hearing that the couple, who married in 2007, had limited funds for bail because she was a full-time student and her husband wasn’t working. As a result, George Zimmerman was released on $150,000 bond.

Four days later, Shellie Zimmerman transferred more than $85,500 from her account into her husband’s account, the affidavit said. The affidavit also said jail call records show that George Zimmerman instructed her to “pay off all the bills,” including an American Express and Sam’s Club card Source

 

George Zimmerman Fears for Wife’s Safety After Mug Shot Publicized

 

George Zimmerman is worried about his wife’s safety now that she has been arrested and her mug shot publicized, his lawyer told ABC News.

Zimmerman and his wife have both been in hiding since the neighborhood watch captain shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla.

Shellie Zimmerman, 25, was arrested this week on perjury charges for allegedly lying to the judge at an April 20 bond hearing about being destitute while her husband’s online defense fund had $135,000 in it.

After her arrest, police released her mug shot, marking the first anyone has seen Mrs. Zimmerman who has been in hiding because of death threats against her and her family. Even when she testified at the bond hearing it was done by speaker phone because she wanted to protect her identity.

“Certainly now that she’s been charged with a crime he’s worried about her, and also worried now that she’s out in the public eye,” Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara told ABC News after visiting his client in jail late Tuesday night. The lawyer said there are “legitimate safety concerns.”

If convicted of the charge, Mrs. Zimmerman could be sentenced to five years in prison.

Seminole County Sheriff’s Office/AP
George, left, and wife Shellie Zimmerman, are… View Full Size

George Zimmerman’s Wife Arrested Watch Video

George Zimmerman Behind Bars Again Watch Video

George Zimmerman Ordered Back to Jail Watch Video

The move by prosecutors upset O’Mara because he says he was not given the professional courtesy of a warning beforehand.

Legal analysts speculate that Mrs. Zimmerman’s arrest could be used as a tactic by the prosecutors to pressure her husband.

“They can always say, look, we won’t prosecute your wife if you decide to plea to some sort of charge,” legal analyst Mark Lippman told “Good Morning America” today. He added, “It seems pretty clear to me that this is not something they would do in a normal case.”

Seminole County sheriffs picked up Mrs. Zimmerman at the home where she was in hiding on Monday, the latest fallout from a series of taped conversations that landed her husband back behind bars a week and a half ago.

On April 9, George Zimmerman had launched the website therealgeorgezimmerman.com and within weeks received more than $200,000 in donations to help with his legal expenses. But during the April 20 bond hearing, Zimmerman’s wife testified that the couple was financially indigent.

During cross examination, Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked her, “In terms of the ability of your husband to make a bond amount, you all had no money, is that correct?” Shellie Zimmerman responded yes.

At a June 1 hearing that was called to discuss what evidence in the case against her husband should be made public, prosecutors presented evidence that included at least four jailhouse phone conversations in which George and Shellie Zimmerman were apparently discussing tiny amounts of money, but were allegedly referring to some of the $200,000 supporters had poured into his PayPal account.

At the time of the recordings, Zimmerman had just been recently arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old.

During one call on April 16, Zimmerman and his wife were taped discussing their bank accounts.

George Zimmerman: “In my account do I have at least $100?”

Shellie Zimmerman: “No.”

George Zimmerman: “How close am I?”

Shellie Zimmerman: “$8. $8.60.”

George Zimmerman: “Really? So total everything how much are we looking at?”

Shellie Zimmerman: “Like $155”

The prosecutor noted that Shellie Zimmerman actually meant $155,000   Source