On Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:07:13 -0400, Oscar wrote:
On 7/6/2012 2:54 PM, X ` Man wrote:
...something JustSnot said he would do...along with lying to the
police... doesn't serve a defendant well.
George Zimmerman, who stands accused of killing unarmed teenager Trayvon
Martin, hasn't done himself any favors with the court during his bond
escapades, the judge overseeing his case made clear this week. And that,
say some legal analysts, could come back to haunt him during the next
major step in his defense: the self-defense hearing.
Related stories
Although Seminole County (Fla.) Judge Kenneth Lester ruled Thursday that
Mr. Zimmerman, who had been returned to jail after first bond was
revoked, could be free on $1 million bail, his order also gave a stiff
assessment of the defendant's actions to date.
George Zimmerman, the judge's summation said, had masterminded a plot
with his wife to manipulate the criminal justice system, may have
planned to use $130,000 in donated money to flee the country before
trial, and whose lawyer improperly portrayed him in court hearings as a
scared young man, when the “only male whose youth is relevant” was
Trayvon Martin.
With Judge Lester’s stern order, it appears that a case that many
experts expected would be difficult for the prosecution to prove has
become more problematic for Zimmerman. His defense team will have to lay
out its version of events leading up to Trayvon's shooting against the
backdrop of Zimmerman's damaged credibility – in front of a judge whose
neutrality about the defendant's honesty has been sorely tested.
“A witness’s credibility is everything, and the judge views everything
Zimmerman says with a suspicious eye,” Mark NeJame, an attorney in
Orlando, Fla., told the Palm Beach Post on Friday.
Zimmerman has said that he simply stood his ground, as permitted under
Florida law, and shot Trayvon in self-defense after the boy attacked
him. The prosecution, which has charged Zimmerman with second-degree
murder, says the defendant profiled Trayvon as a criminal, followed him,
confronted him, and then shot and killed him when Trayvon defended himself.
Under Florida law, anyone claiming a Stand Your Ground defense is
allowed a pretrial hearing before the judge. The defendant gets to make
his case, per a landmark 2005 law, as to why he had no duty to retreat
and how he used reasonable force in self-defense. If the judge agrees,
the defendant is granted immunity from prosecution, and the case is
thrown out.
At that as-yet-unscheduled Stand Your Ground hearing, Zimmerman is
widely expected to take the stand to explain what happened, and also to
be cross-examined by prosecutors, legal experts say.
Lester is the judge who will preside over that hearing.
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http://tinyurl.com/btjbawe
His lawyer should put a zipper on Zimms. mouth
Is there going to be a stand your ground hearing?
Isn't it more like pure self defense, they'll be arguing?
You can't stand your ground when you're lying on your back being pummeled.
I don't envy the judge or any future jury. Expecially not his lawyer.
He armed himself, went looking for trouble, and then shot and killed
an unarmed man. All he had going for him was to have a good enough
story believed. It looks like manslaughter, based on entirely too few
facts. Thats why they have trials and he will be guilty of something
when the judge says so.
Casady