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Experts: Zimmerman attorney made smart move
George Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara (left) talks to Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda during Zimmerman's bond hearing in Sanford, Florida, on April 20, 2012. / Gary W. Green/AFP/Getty Images
(AP) SANFORD, Fla. - By questioning a state investigator on the witness stand during a routine bail hearing, George Zimmerman's defense attorney showed some of the weaknesses in prosecutors' claims that the neighborhood watch volunteer committed second-degree murder, legal experts say.
A judge ruled Friday that Zimmerman can be released on $150,000 bail while he awaits trial on murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during a Feb. 26 confrontation in a Sanford, Fla. gated community. Zimmerman apologized to Martin's parents, who were in the courtroom for the bail hearing, in a surprise appearance on the witness stand. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty and claims self-defense.
"I am sorry for the loss of your son," said Zimmerman, marking the first time he has spoken in public about the confrontation with the unarmed black teen. "I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not."
The apology came after Zimmerman's defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, questioned an investigator for the special prosecutor - sentence by sentence - about a probable cause affidavit the investigator signed outlining certain facts in the case.
George Zimmerman's release could be imminent
Judge grants $150K bail for George Zimmerman
Zimmerman to Martin's parents: "I am sorry"
Investigator Dale Gilbreath testified that he does not know whether Martin or Zimmerman threw the first punch and that there is no evidence to disprove Zimmerman's contention he was walking back to his vehicle when confronted by Martin. The affidavit says "Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued."
But Gilbreath also said Zimmerman's claim that Martin was slamming his head against the sidewalk just before he shot the teenager was "not consistent with the evidence we found." He gave no details.
Legal observers said the questioning of Gilbreath was strategically smart for O'Mara since the investigator's statements can be used at a later date to either contradict other testimony or be used to decide how to question other witnesses.
"I thought it was a really great thing to do," said Tom Mesereau, a Los Angeles attorney whose clients have included singer Michael Jackson and actor Robert Blake. "He used the hearing to get information that can only help his defense. What was supposed to be strictly a hearing for bail, he used it as a discovery device, and was able to nail the investigator into making very, very pointed statements about the investigation and about what evidence they have."
The questioning exposed some of the weaknesses in the state's case, said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. Attorney in Miami who is now in private practice.
"There are many miles left in this case but I think O'Mara helped the defense by eliciting those responses," Coffey said. "He is going to look for the chance to cross-examine that same investigator and ask him the same questions. If the investigator changes his story, he is going to lose credibility with the jury."
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda dismissed any notion that the investigator's testimony chipped away at their case.
"You have not heard all of the evidence," de la Rionda said after the hearing. "Please be patient and wait for the trial."
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"Legal orders of the police department"? What are you talking about? The cops have no legal authority to prevent you from patrolling your neighborhood.
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by Notjudgin
They weren't legal orders. It sounded like the operator was fearful that Zimmerman would get hurt if he continued following the suspicious person...
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by kb0063
The 911 Dispatcher did not tell george Not to go after trayvon. even if those where the words used which they were not the 911 dispatcher has No Authority to tell any one that...
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So that's it...right guys?
NO ONE at all had any legal "AUTHORITY" that night except for George Zimmerman...local neighborhood trigger-happy crime-stopper wannabee!
And if he should spot some "suspicious-looking kid wearing a hoodie and being black...and the "suspect" doesn't submit AT ONCE to Zimmerman's self-conferred "authority"...George is "authorized" to pursue him, so that he can then "stand his ground" and shoot him to death...this in order to prevent the "@sshole" from getting away"..."like they always do"
That's one helluva lot of "authority" to be placed in the hands of someone with a multiple criminal arrest record for alcohol-related violence...
Get real Steven...Notjudgin......and kb0063...
George Zimmerman was being a "lion heart" (extreme sarcasm)...a swaggering bully who had no idea what to do if someone resisted him or fought back...(bullies almost never do...having always relied on intimidation to get them over)...and so he panicked and fired because things weren't going as he "planned" when he decided that he wanted to be, "in on the collar" and so would not wait for the police "AS INSTRUCTED"
An innocent young man died to fuel Zimmerman's ego trip!
Couple of things, from a person who loves the second ammendment and cherishes my right to concealed carry.
In the bond hearing Zimmerman stated he did not know if their son 'was armed or not'. While I've been taught in my training to assume everyone is armed, I've also been taught I cannot shoot unless my life, or that of another person is in danger. If you dont know for certain, then you don't shoot.
Second, size does matter. I'm a man of small build. A larger man of substantial weight could do a great amount of damage, even completely unarmed. So if I fear bodily injury, I can still protect myself with a handgun since I cannot possibly do so with my slight build. That said, we have to ask if Zimmerman was ever in danger? There again size can be a factor.
But Zimmerman was told the police did NOT need assistance, and he should wait in his car. Period. Unless he was approached IN HIS VEHICLE, he was out of line. Unless of course he was being chased to his vehicle. But if that were so, then why was his victim on the ground in someone's back yard?
You do not shoot a retreating man. You do not inject yourself in a situation when the police dispatcher tells you not to.
Zimmerman better have some serious head injuries to prove his claim of self defense, and a hospital report to go along with them, or he needs to be hung from the highest tree.
Shame on him for inviting critics of the "stand your ground" laws. Which by the way,have no bearing. He was neither in his house nor his car, and he did have a duty to retreat.
Any time Mick sees someone taking George Zimmerman's side, he injects racism into the equation. Just disregard him.
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Bugger off, Slimy...I notice that you had enough regard for my comments from our previous debate to have them all removed...
Just for pointing out how offensive I thought your habit of denouncing anyone who disagrees with you as, "stupid...logically-challenged...idiotic...obtuse...and my own personal favorite...NOW I AM GONE. YOU ARE NOT EVEN CHALLANGING!"
Please do try to get OVER yourself!
And I am still calling those two macho clown Zimmerman supporters, drleary and DrKKeithKarcher... who both think that making jokes about "bringing a bag of skittles to a gunfight" is funny, and not a sick, mean-spirited thing to say, RACISTS...but not anyone else, and certainly not Mort, in my post
And once again Slime-ball...please do not ever presume to imagine yourself clever enough to put words in my mouth...BECAUSE YOU DEMONSTRATE WITH YOUR EVERY POST THAT YOU ARE NOT! If nothing else...you at least demonstrate that ONE obvious "fact"
But on the other hand, Slime...I most definitely still think that you are an arrogant, egotistical, mean-spirited, posturing, pseudo-intellectual, racist fraud...
Are we clear now?
Let's see how long it takes you to have this latest appraisal of your odious character removed, lion heart...
And grace Scalia ...I'M SURE THAT YOU DO PLENTY OF SCRATCHING OF YOURSELF AS WELL...
"He is absolutely not a violent person" -- Except for the time he attacked a police officer, the time he attacked his girlfriend, and the time he chased down and shot to death an unarmed teenager for walking in his neighborhood. I think maybe his wife doesn't understand what the word "violent" means.
And "I'm sorry for the loss of your son" is not an apology. It's an expression of condolence that we all use, meaning, "I wish you didn't have to go through the pain of losing your son." An apology would be, "I'm sorry I killed your son."
Whatever you're on...it's no good for you!
On his Twitpic page, Martin appears as 6'3" and covered in gang tattoos.
It's my understanding that this page has been removed from this site and then possibly replaced.
His address on this site was/is SLIMM@No-Limit-*****.
A week or so ago; Martin's mother stated she thought the shooting was an accident (this was in the morning).
After being reamed out by her lawyers; she made another statement later in the day recanting her remarks.
The news coverage of this event is the worst since the O. J. Simpson case, and we all know what a farce that was.
The NEWS broadcasts are no longer reliable for true and complete information.
We need NEWS broadcasters like Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings etc. to give us just the facts and who will not slant them in any way.
When I see the picture of Trayvon Martin continually shown on television, I can understand why some people shoot out their television screens.
Casey Anthony all over again.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda lost his temper when questioned by the media after the bond hearing- if he keeps this up the case will be lost as Casy Anthony's was.
Then, I read that the parents were paid to be interviewed on TV. Is that correct?
Then, the mother was reported as saying they wanted an apology from Zimmerman. Zimmerman apologized. NOW, they come out and call his apology dis-ingenuous. Personally, I felt his apology was sincere.
So, why ask for an apology only to come out and refute it. That seems pretty dis-ingenuous itself to me.
So, what's next? Book rights? Oh, that's right. They already have that!
"Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, applied for trademarks for two slogans that have appeared on T-shirts, posters and promotional materials, to prevent anyone from profiting off of and exploiting her slain son and has no plans ever to profit herself from the trademarks, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting."
Several news media have made this worse by "claiming" their experts say George used a racial slur but later experts say he actually used the word "cold." The use of the out of date photos only made it worse. I doubt Pres. Obama would have said that if he had had a son, he would have looked liked Trayvon if he had seen the later photos of a much larger Trayvon with gold teeth and attitude and learned of Trayvon's troubles in school. Like most of us, he believed those first photos and came to a conclusion without all the facts. Did the later photos make Trayvon bad, absolutely not but he did have his problems.
I personally believe George spoke to the special prosecutor that Sunday before his first lawyers quit and wants to make amends as much as he can and head off rioting. I believe he thinks he deserves some kind of accountability but I doubt it's second degree murder but more like a manslaughter charge because he took a life, even if it was an accident. Trayvon had problems in his life just as George but that didn't make either of them bad people or deserving of any of this. What also bothers me is people using this terrible tragedy to inflame society. There was no need for a bounty on George and that's illegal. This is a no win situation for those involved. Trayvon is dead and his parents are barely beginning their grieving process. George has to live with taking a life. That's something that he will live with for the rest of his life and I doubt he takes it lightly.
I know a bit about that because years ago, someone I care about was forced off a dark and deserted road and in reaction, fired a gun at the ground to stop what would have been a car jacking if we had been using that term at the time. Unknown to this person, there were two more people hiding behind bushes with a big knife. The bullet, not fired in any particular direction but toward the ground, richocted a measured 1/4" of a mile and instantly killed the man hiding in the bushes. My friend never knew he was even there. These people had long criminal records while my friend did not have any record. He had been camping and hunting and was on his way home. He plead to involuntary manslaughter because he fired a gun and someone died. He would have taken it back if he could have and he did time. He lives with this every single day, knowing he made a bad choice.
Everything in life is about choices and there are always consequences to those choices. It's never right when someone dies violently and it's much harder to wrap our minds around the death of a 17 year old. I pray for healing for Trayvon's family and peace for George, no matter the outcome, but I hope and pray that we, as a society, do not use this to show our children and the world that we can't come together. There is so much hate and violence being spit out and we all need to do our part to stop it. Whether you believe Trayvon was a totally innocent victim and George the villian or the other way around, or some where in between, all the hatred does no one any good.
Sorry for my long post. I guess I had a lot to say and I hope a few will think about what I've said. I'm sure some will find what I've said offensive but that was not my intent. If they do, that's their choice.
Actually, that isnt the issue at all. If Zimmerman followed Trayvon, and Trayvon ran away. And then Zimmerman headed back to his truck and Trayvon came back and attacked him...then Trayvon got exactly what he should have.
If that is the case above, then Zimmerman should and will be a free man.
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You left out George's pursuit of Trayvon prior to "losing contact" and returning to his vehicle. == But the fight did not occur near his vehicle it occurred in a back yard and on a back porch. Trayvon's final resting place was a mere 70' from the back door of the residence in which he was staying. I few seconds later and George could be claiming he shot Trayvon "breaking into" a residence where he was an invited guest.
And all of this occurred in the one minute that George had hung up os phone. Simply unbelievable.