Media Thread - NO DISCUSSION

[daisy7]

Zimmerman’s friend: Trayvon grabbed gun

A new book written by George Zimmerman’s best friend offers a sharply different account of the night Trayvon Martin died.

Trayvon Martin grabbed his killer’s gun just moments before he died and uttered a profanity-laced threat. In a desperate life-or-death struggle, George Zimmerman clutched Trayvon’s wrist, broke his grip on the semi-automatic firearm and shot him once in the chest.

That account appears in a new book written by Zimmerman’s best friend and confidante.

There’s just one problem: Zimmerman never said that to the police.

Now the book, Defending Our Friend: The Most Hated Man in America, and author Mark Osterman’s two TV interviews have landed on the prosecution evidence list, as more versions of Zimmerman’s story emerge. A man who wrote a book calling Zimmerman “the kindest and most sincere” person will wind up in court — for the prosecution, experts agree.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/20/3012853/zimmermans-friend-trayvon-grabbed.html#storylink=cpy

 

[magnolia]

Zimmerman attorney to speak at national gun-rights convention

2nd Amendment supporters gather in Orlando

In a session billed as "Protecting the Right to Protect," George Zimmerman's lawyer will speak to hundreds of gun-rights activists about self-protection at their national convention in Orlando this weekend.
Orlando attorney Mark O'Mara will address the crowd about his client's use of deadly force and the international attention that followed the Feb. 26 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford.

 

[magnolia]

George Zimmerman judge schedules hearing on Trayvon's school records


3:50 p.m. EST, September 25, 2012|By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

A Sanford judge has set an Oct. 19 hearing so that George Zimmerman's lawyer and prosecutors can argue over what to do about Trayvon Martin's school records.
Trayvon is the unarmed black 17-year-old whom Zimmerman fatally shot Feb. 26 in Sanford.
Earlier this month defense attorney Mark O'Mara issued subpoenas for the school records, making clear that he wants to look at Trayvon's disciplinary records, attendance, test scores and other information.

 

[magnolia]

George Zimmerman's lawyer: Plight of young black men isn't the issue


By Hal Boedeker, Staff writer
7:32 p.m. EST, September 29, 2012

Mark O'Mara, the attorney for George Zimmerman, talked to me for a story on media coverage of the Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin story.
We spoke Wednesday at his offices in downtown Orlando. We talked about the case, the coverage and his client, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martin.
O'Mara became familiar to many in Central Florida for his analysis of the Casey Anthony case for WKMG-Channel 6. Here's an edited version of our conversation:


http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...-anthony-case-george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin

 

[magnolia]

George Zimmerman's lawyers begin depositions, interview FDLE analysts


11:43 a.m. EST, September 28, 2012|By Jeff Weiner and Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

George Zimmerman's defense attorneys have begun the process of deposing prosecution witnesses in the second-degree murder case he faces in the February shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
In a court notice filed in Seminole County on Thursday, Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara indicated that he had conducted depositions with several members of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement the previous day.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...-anthony-case-george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin
​

 

[daisy7]

An iconic photograph of a young Trayvon Martin in his Bulldogs football uniform, staring stone-faced into the camera, has been published in print and online around the world.

The Optimist Club team photographer, Lucricia Woodside of North Miami, owns the copyright to the picture and never authorized its use. Now she is a member of a growing number of entrepreneurs, artists and even some opportunists who have found ways to cash in on a new cottage industry.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/01/3029918/businesses-cash-in-on-trayvon.html#storylink=cpy

 

[princesspjs]

George Zimmerman considers defamation lawsuit against NBC

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1878465258001/

 

[daisy7]

WINTER PARK, Fla. —

George Zimmerman's mother is standing behind her son.

Gladys Zimmerman spoke out last night on CNN's Piers Morgan show. She said despite the bad publicity surrounding her son, she believes there will be justice.

The interview was the the first time Gladys Zimmerman has spoken publicly about her son's case. She did not show her face, but she had plenty to say about the public's perception of her son.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-fl...6910714/-/10k46yqz/-/index.html#ixzz28qIQ2y00

 

[daisy7]

Seven months after the killing of unarmed high school junior Trayvon Martin, the killer’s family is on a national media crusade to clear the family’s name.

What began as a series of routine media interviews denying that George Zimmerman is a racist blew up into a Twitter rant Monday night. Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., took to social media after midnight and vowed to make it his life’s work to have one of the Martin family attorneys disbarred. He said he would expose the lawyers and their publicist, “one by one, day by day.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/09/3042361/george-zimmermans-brothers-media.html#storylink=cpy

 

[daisy7]

The Duval County State Attorney has a message for George Zimmerman’s defense attorney: Zip it.

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda filed papers Thursday in Seminole County Circuit Court asking a judge to muzzle defense attorney Mark O’Mara, whom the prosecutor accuses of taking to the Internet to try his case in the media.

“Unless Defense Counsel stops talking to the media about the case, in person or by use of Defendant’s website, it will [be] more difficult to find jurors who have not been influenced by the media accounts of the case,” de la Rionda said. “...An impartial jury could never be seated.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/18/3056605/prosecutors-want-george-zimmermans.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Reader]

New motions expected in Trayvon Martin case; defense to ask for more witness interview time

SANFORD, Fla. – Attorneys for former neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman will argue for the right to subpoena the social media accounts of Trayvon Martin and also ask for more time to interview state witnesses in the high-profile murder case.

Judge Debra S. Nelson will hear arguments on the several new pretrial motions Friday. It comes two days after she set a tentative start date for Zimmerman's trial in the February fatal shooting death of the unarmed 17-year-old.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/1...efense-to-ask-for-more-witness/#ixzz29l89nKsy

 

[Reader]

Will George Zimmerman's trial — like Casey Anthony's — be media circus?


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...an-murder-trial-date-20121017,0,7260362.story

A judge Wednesday set June 10 as the date for the biggest murder trial in Seminole County history – Florida v. George Zimmerman.

The case, which became a cause célèbre and launched civil rights rallies across the nation, promises to be a major media event.

Courthouse personnel have been working for months on logistics............

Richard Hornsby, an Orlando lawyer who does legal analysis for WESH-Channel 2, predicted public interest would be lower than the Anthony trial, in part because there'll be a "stand your ground" hearing a few weeks earlier, a trial-like hearing at which evidence will come flooding into public view, including a cross-examination of Zimmerman.

O'Mara on Wednesday predicted that hearing, which the defense team insists on calling a "self-defense immunity hearing," would likely take place in April or May.

At it, the judge will listen to the evidence then decide whether Zimmerman had a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily injury when he shot Trayvon.

If she says yes, the case is over and Zimmerman will be free. If she says no, he'll return to court and be tried by a jury.................

 

[Reader]

George Zimmerman hearing: Trayvon Martin's parents decry school records request

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...yvon-records-hearing-20121019,0,7396929.story

[with video]

SANFORD – Hours before George Zimmerman will return to court for a hearing on his request for Trayvon Martin's school records, the teen's parents accused Zimmerman of needlessly attacking their slain son's character.

"I feel that Trayvon's school records are not relevant in this case," Trayvon's father Tracy Martin said this morning, adding that Zimmerman's medical records, also a pending issue for today's hearing, "are very relevant in the case."

"It is wrong to subpoena his records on so many levels," said Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, who called the defense request "the old classic method of attacking the victim."............

On Thursday, they called for a "Trayvon Martin amendment" to that [stand your ground] law, which would specify, Crump said, that those claiming self-defense "cannot be the aggressor."................

De la Rionda also filed a response to a recent defense motion which alleged that prosecutors had been "haphazard and cavalier" in their approach to turning over evidence to Zimmerman's defense.

De la Rionda writes that he has gone above and beyond his obligations in providing prosecution records, and it's O'Mara, not the state, that has slowed the proceedings by conducting media interviews rather than focusing on the case................

The judge will also hear arguments from an attorney for more than a dozen news organizations – including The New York Times, CBS News, CNN and the Orlando Sentinel - who are fighting an attempt by prosecutors to seal defense subpoenas and the evidence they produce................more at link....

 

[daisy7]

George Zimmerman's attorneys can subpoena Trayvon Martin's schools for his discipline records, a judge ruled today, but must keep anything they obtain private.

"I think that you're entitled to those records," Circuit Judge Debra Nelson said at a hearing this afternoon at the Seminole County Courthouse. The wide-ranging hearing ended about 3 p.m. after about an hour and a half of argument. Another hearing was set for next week.

The judge also granted Zimmerman's request to subpoena Trayvon's social media records, as well as those of a girl who says she was on the phone with him before the shooting.

(snip)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...yvon-records-hearing-20121019,0,7396929.story

 

[daisy7]

George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer is a familiar face on cable TV news programs, holds the occasional press conference, gives interviews to newspapers like this one, and keeps the public posted on the goings-on in the case via a controversial website.

The murder case has its own Twitter account and had a Facebook page, but defense attorney Mark O’Mara shut it down after unwieldy streams of comments.

On Friday, a Seminole County Circuit Court judge in Sanford will decide whether O’Mara’s open-door policy for social and traditional media amounts to unfair spin and should be slammed shut. A hearing will be held to debate the prosecutor’s request to gag all lawyers, their employees and law enforcement involved in the case.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/25/3067603/sanford-court-hearing-set-on-gag.html#storylink=cpy

 

[daisy7]

SANFORD – After more than two hours of argument, the judge in the second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman said she will not rule today on the state's request for a gag order.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson said she hopes to rule by Monday. The hearing began just after 1:30 p.m., and the gag order was the primary issue at hand.

(snip)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...-zimmerman-gag-order-20121026,0,1541759.story

 

[Reader]

Judge in Trayvon Martin Case Denies Request for Silence

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/us/judge-in-trayvon-martin-case-denies-request-for-silence.html

Published: October 29, 2012

MIAMI — The judge in the Trayvon Martin murder case on Monday denied a prosecution request to bar lawyers for George Zimmerman from using a Web site about legal issues, as well as social and traditional news media, to comment about the case.

“There has not been an overriding pattern of prejudicial commentary that will overcome reasonable efforts to select a fair and impartial jury,” Judge Debra S. Nelson of Seminole County Circuit Court said in her ruling.

More at link.....

 

[Reader]

Trayvon Martin's Parents Turn Pain into Power

http://washingtoninformer.com/index...-trayvon-martins-parents-turn-pain-into-power

When Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, spoke at the Children's Defense Fund's recent national conference, she shared some details about her son that reminded the audience both how special Trayvon was to his family and at the same time how much the happy, social high school student was like any mother's child...............

"We have decided to turn the hurt and the pain into power," she said. "Trust me. It hurts. It hurts. But what we need to do is we need to get the message out to you, and that's why it's important for us to speak out. And that's why it's important for us to talk to you now, so that there is not another statistic like Trayvon Martin."

Trayvon's parents and Benjamin Crump, the family's attorney, spoke at CDF's National and Racial Healing Town Hall. They joined other parents who also have lost children to violence and decided to turn their pain into positive action. The Martins and Attorney Crump spoke about their commitment to justice for Trayvon in order to make sure his death was not in vain—and why justice for Trayvon matters not just for the Martins' child, but for all of our children.

More at link.....

 

[JBean]

Jose Baez representing Sanford officer in George Zimmerman case

Kissimmee criminal defense attorney Jose Baez, best known for representing Casey Anthony in her high-profile murder trial, is now representing the lead police investigator in the George Zimmerman case.

Baez told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday that he will represent Sanford police officer Chris Serino "throughout depositions and trial ..."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...ose-baez-george-zimmerman-case-trayvon-martin

 

[iluvmua]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-trayvon-cell-phone-20121125,0,542835.story

The phone is registered to Trayvon's father. According to police records, on March 1, an analyst with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office told Sanford police he needed the security code to unlock the data on the phone.

Sanford police Detective Doris Singleton contacted the carrier, T-Mobile, asking for the code. The company told her they could get to the information if they had the PIN to the account. On March 5, Sanford police Sgt. Joe Santiago asked Tracy Martin for the PIN, according to a police report. Tracy Martin said he'd check with his attorney.

Martin never got back with police. At a March 8 news conference in Orlando, Tracy Martin told reporters he would not help police download information from the phone.

When questioned last month about Tracy Martin's decision to withhold the phone's PIN from authorities, family attorney Benjamin Crump said, "I don't know anything about that. We're going to do anything prosecutors say we should."