The Court has acknowledged that Mr. Zimmerman’s statements are to be made public. As these are the statements of our client, we are filing a Notice of Reciprocal Discovery. Below is a copy of our Notice of Reciprocal Discovery and the associated files Source
Daily Archives: June 21, 2012
Marco Rubio’s super-cautious response to Obama on immigration
Sen. Marco Rubio could not have been more careful in responding to President Barack Obama’s aggressive new immigration move on Friday.
In one part of his statement he praised the general idea behind Obama’s policy directive to stop deporting some children of illegal immigrants:
“There is broad support for the idea that we should figure out a way to help kids who are undocumented through no fault of their own, but there is also broad consensus that it should be done in a way that does not encourage illegal immigration in the future,” said Rubio, who called the policy move “welcome news” for undocumented children and teenagers in legal limbo.
But he also criticized Obama’s unilateral move to bypass Congress: “By once again ignoring the Constitution and going around Congress, this short term policy will make it harder to find a balanced and responsible long term one.”
And Rubio isn’t sure Obama’s move – while it may please Hispanic voters in the short run – is a long term solution.
“This is a difficult balance to strike, one that this new policy … will make harder to achieve in the long run.”
His cautious, parsed statement shows just how important Rubio is to Republicans when it comes to the immigration debate.
He not only is a top contender to join Mitt Romney on the national GOP ticket in an election year where both parties are courting the Latino vote, the high-profile freshman senator has been working quietly to build a coalition among both Democrats and Republicans to draft a compromise version of the DREAM Act that would stop short of full citizenship for young illegal immigrants. A text of the bill hasn’t been released, but Rubio recently said the Congressional Budget Office was examining his proposal.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has pushed for the DREAM Act for more than a decade, speculated that Friday’s announcement could aid Rubio’s efforts to forge a compromise.
“If he can produce Republican votes to get this done, I’m going to stand with him,” he told POLITICO, later adding that “he has a tough assignment and I think he genuinely supports the DREAM Act and I want to give him the time.”
“What the president did is what [Rubio] asked for in the bill, that’s the way [Rubio] described it to us,” Durbin added.
Other congressional conservatives took a much harder line against Obama’s announcement.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) also criticized Obama for circumventing Congress and said he would immediately begin investigating whether the policy change would lead to selective enforcement by Border Patrol agents.
“President Obama’s decision to grant amnesty to potentially millions of illegal immigrants is a breach of faith with the American people,” added House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). “It also blatantly ignores the rule of law that is the foundation of our democracy.” Source
Florida police chief embroiled in Trayvon Martin scandal fired
(Reuters) – The Florida police chief whose department failed to arrest neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the February shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was fired on Wednesday, the city of Sanford said.
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee had been on paid leave since March 22 amid outrage over his handling of the racially charged case in the central Florida city of 50,000.
“I have come to this decision in light of the escalating divisiveness that has taken hold of the city,” Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte said in a statement. “The police chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community.”
After Martin’s shooting, Sanford police, under Lee’s command, declined to arrest Zimmerman based on his claim of self-defense. That led to a wave of civil rights protests around the country and a media firestorm.
Lee contended that Zimmerman was protected under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows shooters who feel threatened wide latitude to fire rather than retreat.
However, police documents released later showed that the lead investigator in the Sanford Police Department believed there was enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman for manslaughter. The investigator wrote in his summary that Martin was not involved in any criminal activity, and that Zimmerman could have avoided the encounter.
The case was transferred by Governor Rick Scott to a special prosecutor who subsequently charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder.
Lee will receive a severance of three months and one week of salary, plus payment for any earned time off, the city said.
The city has already begun a nationwide search for a new chief, according to Bonaparte. Richard Myers is serving as acting police chief.
Lee previously offered to resign under a separation agreement negotiated with Bonaparte, but that offer was rejected by a 3-2 vote of the city commission on April 23.
The city did not comment on why Wednesday’s action did not require a commission vote. Source
Texas Dems push to decriminalize pot
Spokeswman says party not condoning usage
AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Texas Democratic party is calling for the decriminalization of marijuana, but insists that the move does not suggests it condones usage of the controlled substance.
“The Texas Democratic Party does not condone the use of marijuana,” said party spokeswoman Rebecca Acuna. “Our platform simply recognizes that laws currently in place do nothing to promote public safety or fiscal responsibility. We are calling for policies that are smart on crime and will transition non-violent individuals from jail and into treatment.”
At their state convention this month in Houston, Democrats adopted a plank in their platform urging “the President, the Attorney General and the Congress to support the passage of legislation to decriminalize the possession of marijuana and regulate its use, production, and sale as is done with tobacco and alcohol.”
The Texas Republican Party platform, adopted this month at the convention in Fort Worth, makes no specific mention of marijuana. The document does, however, contain a plank opposing the “legalization of illicit drugs. Source
Two Arrested In Alleged Bath Salts Scheme Involving EBT Cards
Police in Lexington said they have arrested two people in a scheme in which people were selling EBT cards for bath salts.
Outside Six Brothers Market on West Sixth Street, undercover police arrested Mohamad Kadah. Police say his family runs the store and another around the corner where customers line up before business hours to buy synthetic meth, marketed as bath salts. Investigators say the salts, which are illegal and dangerous, are selling like crazy in businesses like these because of the cocaine methamphetamine like “high” they give people.
And, as it turns out, taxpayers are paying for the alleged scheme. During a raid of Six Brothers, police found 32 EBT cards, which are food stamp cards with pin numbers belonging to 32 different people. Police suspect some of the cards were traded for bath salts or sold to the merchant for fast cash.
Another man, Bahjat Amira, a clerk, was arrested and charged with welfare fraud and selling the illegal bath salts.
Police say it is a growing problem, merchants paying cash for a fraction of the card’s value then using the welfare recipient’s pin number to buy hundreds of dollars of supplies for their store Source
Morgan Freeman: Republicans ‘scare me’
Actor Morgan Freeman is crossing his fingers that President Obama wins another term.
“I think that we did a really good thing when we elected Barack Obama,” Freeman said on “Tavis Smiley” on Tuesday. “…He is absolutely and totally qualified for the job. He has proven himself to be not only qualified for the job, but very good at it. The things that he’s managed to get accomplished in the face of so much pushback is amazing.”
“The Shawshank Redemption” star added, “And I think — this is Morgan Freeman’s personal thought — we’re going to be in a lot of trouble if we don’t re-elect him because people on the other side of the fence scare me.”
Freeman was also asked about getting into “hot water” last year for suggesting that the tea party is motivated by racism.
“I don’t care,” he said. “…I don’t have anybody telling me what to say.” Source
2012 NBA Finals: Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat Game 5 – Fan’s Preview
The Miami Heat overcame a 33-16 first-quarter deficit, a 43-point game from Russell Westbrook and LeBron James’ fourth-quarter cramps to earn a 104-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals. After giving up 33 points in the first quarter, the Heat held Oklahoma City scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter and scored 13 points of their own to cut the lead to one, 33-32, with 8:30 remaining in the first half.
Miami never trailed by more than five points for the remainder of the game and regained the lead, 50-49, early in the third. There were eight lead changes in the third quarter before the Heat settled into a four-point, 79-75, lead heading into the fourth.
Four players (Mario Chalmers- 12, LeBron James- 6, Dwyane Wade- 5 and Chris Bosh- 2) scored for the Heat during the final 12 minutes of play. Russell Westbrook (17) and Kevin Durant (6) combined to score all of Oklahoma City’s fourth-quarter points. When it counted most, Miami got more production from its supporting cast than the Thunder did.
The Miami Heat and their All-Star Trio are now just one win away from the franchise’s second NBA championship. One win away from possibly starting the dynasty that they envisioned when Bosh and James joined Wade in South Beach. And they will have an opportunity to get that win in front of their home crowd in Game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
2012 NBA Finals Schedule
Game 1: Tuesday, June 12, Miami Heat 94 at Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Thunder lead series 1-0
Game 2: Thursday, June 14, Miami Heat 100 at Oklahoma City Thunder 96, Series tied 1-1
Game 3: Sunday, June 17, Oklahoma City Thunder 85 at Miami Heat 91, Heat lead series 2-1
Game 4: Tuesday, June 19, Oklahoma City Thunder 98 at Miami Heat 104, Heat lead series 3-1
Game 5: Thursday, June 21, Oklahoma City Thunder at Miami Heat, 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC
Game 6: Sunday, June 24, Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC (if necessary)
Game 7: Tuesday, June 26, Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:00 p.m. ET on ABC (if necessary)
The Oklahoma City Thunder are facing elimination for the first time this postseason. If the Thunder want to extend their season and play another game in front of their home crowd, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook must get more support from their teammates.
Sixth Man of the Year James Harden was supposed to be the Oklahoma City player to provide Durant and Westbrook the complementary support the Thunder need to help offset Miami’s All-Star Trio. But so far in the Finals, notwithstanding his 21-point Game 2 performance (which actually kept Oklahoma City within striking distance in that game), Harden’s play has fallen well short of expectations. He is shooting an abysmal 35.1 percent from the field and an equally disappointing 28.6 percent behind the three-point arc. Except for his performance in Game 2, Harden has not provided the Thunder with the offensive firepower that they need from him in this series.
For Oklahoma City to extend this series to a sixth game, James Harden either has to step up and play better or Scott Brooks has to find someone-or a group of someones-that will get the job done. Basically, if Harden isn’t going to be effective offensively, Brooks will need to go with a bigger, more defensive-minded lineup and have Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins on the floor more often to protect the rim.
Each game of the Finals has been won by the team that controlled the paint. Miami has scored more points in the paint and grabbed more rebounds than the Thunder in every game except for Game 1. Oklahoma City will have a great chance at extending this series if it can reverse that trend and win the battle in the paint in Game 5.
Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James and the Miami Heat are just one win away from an NBA championship. To get that win, all they have to do is take advantage of playing Game 5 in front of their home crowd. However, since the NBA adopted the 2-3-2 format for the Finals back in 1985, only one team (the 2004 Detroit Pistons) has ever won the championship on their home floor by winning all three of the middle games at home. That history, along with the fact that Oklahoma City has not lost four games in a row since the 2008-2009 season, suggests that the task of winning Game 5 will be anything but simple.
Closing out the NBA Finals will be a challenge like no other Miami has faced this season. Similarly, finding a way to extend this series and avoid elimination is the first challenge of its kind for Oklahoma City. One team is moments away from a glorious triumph. The other team is moments away from disappointment and embarrassment. The team that wins this game will be the team that plays with more energy, more desperation and more urgency–the team that simply does more. The Thunder have more at stake, and they will find a way to do more and send this series back to Oklahoma City for Game 6 Source
George Zimmerman Jail Calls: Trayvon Martin Shooter Tells Wife How To Move Around Money
In a half dozen phone calls between a locked-up George Zimmerman and his wife, the couple talk about their love for each other, buying bulletproof vests and how to move a flood of donations into their personal accounts, recordings released Monday reveal.
Prosecutors allege the six phone calls prove that Shellie Zimmerman lied when she told a judge that the couple was broke before her husband was granted bail in April.
The recordings show that from his jail cell, Zimmerman gave his wife step-by-step instructions on how to change a password and clear security questions so she could move money, gave her orders to withdraw specific amounts and directed her to pay the bills.
Prosecutors allege the couple was moving money out of an Internet PayPal account that was awash with donations for Zimmerman, who’s charged with second-degree murder in one of the most racially-charged criminal cases in the country. He shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford Feb. 26.
The couple spoke in code, according to prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda. In the calls Zimmerman makes repeated reference to “Peter Pan,” an apparent reference to PayPal.
And neither Zimmerman or his wife ever refer to more than $100,000, talking instead about amounts generally totaling “10 dollars” and “20 dollars.” Prosecutors say those were references to $10,000 and $20,000.
Prosecutors allege the couple had access to at least $130,000 in mid-April, just before Zimmerman was freed from the Seminole County Jail on $150,000 bond.
Prosecutors also released the couple’s bank statements Monday. They show numerous transfers between the PayPal account, George Zimmerman’s bank account and his wife’s.
On April 16 — the same time prosecutors say the Zimmermans were talking in code on the phone about money transfers — records show several transfers out of Zimmerman’s account.
Defense attorney Mark O’Mara did not return calls and email seeking comment Monday. Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon’s family, said it was clear in the calls that George Zimmerman was “coaching others” in “a scheme to hide money.”
“It is George Zimmerman’s credibility that is the issue,” he said.
‘You’re going to…have a great life’
The calls also reveal a softer side of Zimmerman, and a few details about his life, temperament and marriage.
Neither he nor his wife say anything angry, ugly or racist. They make no direct reference to Trayvon Martin or to the criminal charge Zimmerman faces. He also does not complain about being in jail or its conditions.
In a call April 12, the day after his arrest, Zimmerman says he is thrilled by all the money and support his website has generated.
“Oh, man, that feels good,” he tells his wife, “… that there are people in America that care.”
“Yeah they do,” she answers. So many tried to log onto his website the day of his arrest, she says, it kept crashing.
A few moments later, she says, “After all this is over, you’re going to be able to have a great life.”
“We will,” he corrects her.
In a call April 16, Shellie Zimmerman told her husband he is a “special and amazing role model to people,” to which he replied, “I wish, I wish I were.”
The couple also talks about their safety. They make references to a “safety counsel,” someone who’s apparently giving them advice on how to stay hidden and safe.
They also discuss how to get Zimmerman safely out of jail. Shellie says one possibility is having someone drive him to an airport parking garage.
“We could have two cars, we could have two rented cars,” George Zimmerman replies.
As for hiding him inside the vehicle, “Well, I have my hoodie,” he chortled, a possible reference to the hooded sweatshirt Trayvon wore the night Zimmerman shot him.
During one conversation, Zimmerman asks his wife to get a vest for him, herself and O’Mara, a likely reference to bullet-proof vests.
Will other calls be released?
In the past two weeks prosecutors released a good bit of information about the jailhouse calls and the money transfers. That’s because they used them to charge Shellie Zimmerman with perjury and to convince Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to lock Zimmerman back in jail.
Lawyers in the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey allege that Shellie Zimmerman knew she and her husband had access to more than $130,000. But when she was asked about it April 20 at his bond hearing, she said the couple was broke.
On Friday, Corey’s office announced it would release 151 Zimmerman calls, but after O’Mara complained, they slashed the number to six.
O’Mara filed paperwork Monday asking the judge to prohibit the release of most of those other calls. They’re not public records, O’Mara wrote.
If they’re not going to be used at trial, in a hearing or have evidentiary value, the public has no business knowing about them, he contends.
The judge scheduled a hearing on that June 29, the same day Zimmerman will have another bond hearing.
Source: (c)2012 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee fired in wake of Trayvon Martin case
Sanford’s city manager ended Police Chief Bill Lee’s employment, citing the adverse impact the chief’s handling of the Trayvon Martin case has had on the city.
The Sanford police chief who failed to arrest George Zimmerman immediately after the fatal shooting of Miami-Dade teen Trayvon Martin four months ago — and brought national attention and derision to the Central Florida city — has been terminated.
The announcement was made late Wednesday night by Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte, who said in a news release that Police Chief Bill Lee “has been relieved of his duties” effective immediately. The chief had been on paid leave.
Bonaparte implied the firing stemmed from the impact of Lee’s handling of the Trayvon Martin on the city of Sanford.
“I have come to this decision in light of the escalating divisiveness that has taken hold of the city,” the manager said in the statement. The decision was made after a meeting earlier in the day.
The shooting of the 17-year-old that has sparked national outrage also has painted Sanford in an unfavorable light across the country.
“After much thoughtful discussion and deep consideration for the issues facing the city of Sanford, I have determined the police chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community,” Bonaparte said in the statement. “We need to move forward with a police chief that all the citizens of Sanford can support.”
A nationwide search will begin for a replacement.
According to Lee’s employment agreement, he will receive a severance of three months and one week’s salary, in addition to any earned time off.
“I wish Chief Lee all the best in his future endeavors,” Bonaparte said.
In a text message to The Miami Herald late Wednesday, Ben Crump, attorney for the Martin family, commented on Lee’s firing.
“It’s our understanding that Sanford’s elected leadership felt that it was in the best interest to discharge Chief Lee in order to move on and rebuild community trust. We agree and stand by that decision and will do whatever we can to cooperate with any pending internal investigations of the PD and in helping the city of Sanford through this purging and healing process,’’ Crump wrote.
Richard Myers, former police chief of Colorado Springs, assumed the duties of interim police chief in May after Lee stepped aside temporarily. Lee had taken the $102,000-a-year job after a 27-year career at the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.
In the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting, Lee became a lightning rod for the anger that spread across the country after the incident on Feb. 26.
Trayvon, of Miami Gardens, was visiting his father’s girlfriend in Sanford while on a 10-day suspension from a Miami-Dade high school.
Zimmerman was ultimately charged by a special prosecutor and faces a charge of second-degree murder.
Lee’s 10-month tenure as police chief of Sanford’s 140-officer department looked like it was near an end when he submitted his resignation in March because of the backlash over the lack of an arrest.
Activists, students and ardent supporters across Florida and the country held rallies and marches to push for Zimmerman’s arrest, They included more than 1,000 Miami-Dade high school students. In protest, they wore hoodies and carried Skittles candy, as Trayvon had in his final moments. The Rev. Al Sharpton held a rally with thousands of supporters in Sanford.
In a press conference in March after Lee agreed to remove himself, he said:
“While I stand by the Sanford Police Department, its personnel and the investigation that was conducted in regards to the Trayvon Martin case, it is apparent that my involvement in this matter is overshadowing the process,” Lee said . “I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to the city, which has been in turmoil for several weeks.”
Pressure for his resignation also had come from within the Sanford government. The Sanford City Commission issued a 3-2 vote of no confidence against Lee in March, and Bonaparte said at the time that Lee needed to be let go in order to let the city “move forward.”
But his resignation was refused in April by the Sanford City Commission, which said Lee’s spotless record showed there needed to be further review to determine if he failed in his duties. The key message of the meeting was that the commission wanted to wait for an outside agency to review the situation. Source
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