Judge delays ruling on gag order in Zimmerman case

George Zimmerman, left, walks into court with attorney Mark O'Mara, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012 in Sanford, Fla. / Pool,AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, George Skene

SANFORD, Fla. The prosecutor in the case of a former neighborhood watch leader accused of shooting an unarmed black teenager in central Florida called the conduct of the defense lawyer "a slippery slope" in pleading with the judge Friday to impose a gag order on all attorneys.

Assistant state attorney Bernie de la Rionda wants the order imposed because he believes George Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, has been using a website and both social and news media to influence potential jurors in the racially charged case.

He questioned O'Mara's motives and ethics in publicly questioning the credibility of potential witnesses in the high-profile case.

"My concern is if we are going to be able to pick a jury in Seminole County or anywhere else in the state of Florida?" De la Rionda told the judge. "Commenting on the credibility of witnesses? Why do we have an ethical rule about that?"

After hearing more than an hour-and-a-half of arguments, Circuit Judge Debra Nelson delayed issuing a written ruling until at least Monday.

The 29-year-old Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting last February of Trayvon Martin, 17.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty and claims the shooting was self-defense under the state's "stand your ground" law. Zimmerman and Martin got into an altercation inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

O'Mara denied that he had crossed any ethical lines, but said he's sought to combat what he believes are attempts by attorneys for Martin's parents to paint Zimmerman as a "racist murderer."

"We had to do something to deal with the enormity of information flowing in the case," O'Mara said. " ... And we did it in a way we thought was principally presented."

O'Mara launched a website, as well as Twitter and Facebook accounts, earlier this year. He cited a need to diffuse fraudulent Internet entities that claimed to come from Zimmerman. O'Mara contends he didn't discuss any specific evidence and has complied with all bar rules.

The judge ruled on several other motions Friday, including setting a date for a hearing on the "stand your ground" self-defense immunity for 45 days before trial. Nelson previously scheduled Zimmerman's murder trial for June 10. A status hearing is set for mid-December.

In addition, Nelson gave the prosecution redacted copies of Zimmerman's medical records from his doctor visits in the weeks following the Feb. 26 shooting. The state had requested more records than it previously had been provided.

She took out only information she said was not pertinent to the Martin case specifically. Zimmerman has claimed that the reason she shot the teen was because he feared for his life after Martin began to slam his head against the ground during a fight.

Nelson also will allow the defense to seek copies of any additional materials that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement may have collected in the case that may have not been previously provided.

She also denied a defense request to have several Sanford police officials sequestered before giving depositions to the defense.

The prosecution had its first motion for a gag order denied in April by the previous judge in the case, Kenneth Lester.

An appeals court forced Lester to step down from the case in August after it overturned his decision not to withdraw. O'Mara alleged that the judge made disparaging remarks about Zimmerman's character and advocated for additional charges against him in setting his $1 million bond in July. The judge had revoked Zimmerman's first bond, saying he had lied to the court about how much money his website had raised.

Friday was the first time that Nelson has been presented with the gag order request since taking over the case.

De la Rionda argued in court filings that since Lester's denial of the gag order in April, O'Mara had "continued to have an inordinate amount of media coverage" with both Zimmerman and his attorney appearing on national television to talk about the case.

O'Mara in turn called the attorneys for Martin's parents- Benjamin Crump and Natalie Jackson — "state surrogates" for what he said have been their public attacks on Zimmerman by accusing him of profiling Martin.

"Crump and Natalie Jackson decided they would go to make this a national case because sometimes there's a pot of gold at the end of these cases," O'Mara said. " ... I'm not saying they are in a conspiracy, but they are in effect presenting the state's case."

Crump issued a statement in response late Friday.

"The motion for the gag order did not come from the family of Trayvon Martin; it came from the State of Florida," the statement said. "We will continue to represent our clients in a professional manner and push for them to have their day in court. All that Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin have ever asked for from day one is for a jury to weigh all of the relevant evidence and render a fair and unbiased verdict in this case."

[ThereAreNoNamesLeft]

Randy, it isn't illegal to follow someone in your car (or truck). In fact, it's exactly what I want a member of my local "Crime Watch" to do. Assault, on the other hand, is illegal. To suggest that Zimmerman "provokes the guy into a fight by following him in his car" tells us an awful lot about you. Perhaps more than you really wanted to share.

".. lets TM take him to the ground and break his nose so Zimmerman can shoot him." Seriously? This constitutes an acknowledgement that poor baby Twayvon was large enough and powerful enough to knock Zimmerman down and break his nose. That changes poor baby Twayvon into Mr. Martin, engaged in the assault of Mr. Zimmerman. Not to worry. I agree. Mr. Martin was an adult engaged in assault.

".. premeditated murder of a teen ager"? What about Mr. Martin's premeditated assault of Mr. Zimmerman? Why doesn't Mr. Zimmerman have a right to defend himself from imminent danger from assault?

The "Knock-out game" is becoming popular in cities across the nation. This July in Chicago Delfino Mora was killed by 16 year old Malik Jones. One of Jones' friends took a cell-phone video of the assault, which Jones posted on Facebook. Mr. Jones, even at 16, was no longer a child. He was able to murder Mr. Mora, and as far as I'm concerned, an adult.

Mr. Mora was unarmed. Mr. Zimmerman was not unarmed. Seems to me that was a good choice by Mr. Zimmerman. Had Mr. Zimmerman been unarmed he may very well have wound up a dead guy on the lawn. Mr. Mora, on the other hand, lived in the Gun Free Zone known as Chicago, and as such was unable to defend himself from a violent predator.

Mr. Martin engaged in thuggish behavior that cost him his life. Your sophomoric rationalizations not withstanding, good for Mr. Zimmerman. He did the right thing by removing some trash from the streets of our Nation. The State of Florida has caved to racists who seem to think their spawn should be able to assault people at will. Shame on Florida. Shame on the Prosecutor. Shame on Mr. Martin's apologists.

For the record, I live in Indiana and I am armed. You behave and so will I. You attempt to assault me because you were wandering through my neighborhood and I followed you with my car, I will most certainly put the green dot center of mass and fire. I will not apologize to you or your parents. I would rather sit beside Mr. Zimmerman than lay beside Mr. Mora.

[rwsmith29456]

If Martin was beating Zimmerman's head on the ground, Zimmerman was most likely OUT of his car and not following Martin in his car at the point when the altercation started. Even if Martin was 'trash', as you state, he was not involved in a crime when the shooting happened. By your 'reasoning' I can patrol the streets of my neighborhood and shoot people that I think are 'trash'. I'm anything but a bleeding heart and I have guns, too, but I think you have your mind made up without benefit of a trial.

[djseavy]

Whether or not O'Mara has crossed any lines makes for good debate, but the prosecutor and media are miles a head of him in that respect, even if he has. One would have to hold the trial on the farthest planet in the solar system to fine anyone who hasn't heard the entire mantra, since the radio/tv waves haven't traveled that far yet, and WiFi is out of range. All one needs to do is read just about every commentary on all the news and opinion sites, and it becomes clear that there is little middle ground on opinions. The division is sharp and palpable; each side making valid points. Cases that have been played out in the media make it all but impossible to seat a truly impartial jury. I'd go so far as to say this: even without media hype, impartiality is somewhat of a myth in criminal trials. Depending on the crime and the emotional implications, I strongly suspect many jurors make their mind up as soon as they find out what case it is they're dealing with. Murder and sex cases tend to hit the core of many jurors' emotions, and often common sense and impartiality go right out the window.

[ugacrew]

The article states: "claims the shooting was self-defense under the state's "stand your ground" law. Zimmerman and Martin got into an altercation inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.".............what does Zimmerman's parent's race have to do with it?

[ugacrew]

Chuck766,

.....Al Sharpton didn't write this article.

[sweetlife007]

Georgie certainly isn't missing any meals! Setting up that website was a great idea!

[ugacrew]

He never missed any in the first place. They initially hid him for 30 days after the crime was committed, and probably suppressed his appetite knowing he needed to appear weaker in order to support his statement of feeling helpless. Unfortunately, they would not be able to sustain this falsehood.
The truth will always surface. It is irrepressible.

[randysanders]

1. Is it standard practice of neighborhood watch groups to carry guns like in the vigilantes mentality of the 1800's.

2. If a cop or police dispatcher tells Zimmerman to quit following TM by saying, "Are you following him." Zimmerman, "yes". Dispatcher, " Okay, we don't need you to do that." Then Zimmerman provokes the guy into a fight by following him in his car. Zimmerman then lets TM take him to the ground and break his nose so Zimmerman can shoot him. Zimmerman then claims the stand your ground law as a defense for premeditated murder of a teen ager.

3. My attorney, a republican from his voting record, then creates a website to find potential republican jurors that would vote in favor of Zimmermans Stand your ground law defense for premeditated murder.

4. The jury selection list is then preselcted with republican loyalist who are prepared to answer jury selection questions which are known ahead of time by both lawyers.

5. The republican judge then states that a gag order is in effect for the attorneys to not persuade too many jurors, because to try Zimmerman in the jurisdiction of the shooting wouldn't be a fair trial for a dead TM.

6. Premediatation was too hard to prove because of the stipulations in the stand your ground law which was already passed in Florida.

7. The precedent is set for picking fights with people you hate. Letting them tackle you to the ground. Letting them break your nose so you can shoot them dead.

8. If the Stand your ground law becomes legal precedent for deadly force outside your home, then there will be a lot of justifiable homosides in the name of vigilante justice.

9. Republicans have always usurped power one way or another.

[shenboe]

Sanders rewrites the story of this case and then hallucinates in a Democrat rant. The press crucified Zimmermann before the true facts came to light. Demo-NBC edited the tapes to make Zimmermann look like a rascist. The press plastered the waves with outdated baby-faced portraits of Martin when Martin was actually older and also taller and heavier than Zimmermann. It was these forces that poisoned the waters for the trial. The Martin family and national celebrities further publically pounded on Zimmermann. If I were representing Zimmermann, I would certainly want to get his side in the public eye to counteract the damage done, which Sanders would choose to ignore.

[ugacrew]

...or have kyour "cop friends" break your nose for you so as to create evidence to match your story.

[Mick_from_Amsterdam]

The Zimmerman camp strategy is clear...

If he's found guilty, they'll just demand another new judge and a do-over...

It's worked twice before...

Along with O'Mara's racist websites panhandling for money...

Zimmerman not only wants to get off for his crime...HE WANTS TO BE PAID FOR KILLING TRAYVON MARTIN!

[one4gipper]

Throughout our history, has it not always been the right of the accused to herald his innocence through the community?

[BWB2020]

Heralding innocence is not achieved by, nor is it the same as disparaging the character of potential witnesses, especially when the witnesses are not allowed the same forum to defend their character.