If convicted of second-degree murder, Zimmerman faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. The trial may reignite a national debate on gun control and race issues as members of the jury will have to decide if the Florida neighborhood watch coordinator was justified in fatally shooting the teen on the night of February 26, 2012. The trial will take place in the Seminole County courthouse, 15 months after Martin’s death and 6 miles from the incident. But because of heated emotions revolving around the case, it is expected to be difficult to find fair and impartial jurors. “Both sides are going to have to be careful in juror selection because the race issues in this case are highly charged,” Randy Reep, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor in Jacksonville, Fla., told USA TODAY. “If I was the prosecutor in this case, I would be desiring to have black people or other minorities who have had bad experiences based solely on their ‘profileable’ characteristics.” Circuit Judge Debra Nelson on Monday described the jury selection process and prohibited the use of inflammatory words during the interview process. The first 100 jurors will be individually questioned, but the words ‘profiled’, ‘vigilante’, ‘wannabe cop’ and ‘self-appointed neighborhood watch captain’ would be prohibited during the questioning. Since 17-year-old Martin was shot over a year ago, Zimmerman has received death threats and Americans have hotly debated the issues of self-defense, gun laws and race. When Zimmerman walked free for 44 days after the shooting, nationwide protests erupted calling for his arrest. About 2.3 million people also signed an online Change.org petition demanding “Justice for Trayvon Martin.” Zimmerman is expected to plead not guilty by way of Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground law, arguing that Martin was a considerable threat and that the only way to save his own life was to use deadly force. The neighborhood watch coordinator fatally shot Martin in the chest with his 9-mm. handgun as the teen was walking home after purchasing a bag of candy from a convenience store in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman had a concealed weapon permit and admitted to shooting the boy. The defense argues that the 17-year-old attacked Zimmerman, who was 28 at the time, and posed a significant threat. Defense attorneys claim that he acted in self-defense, and that the Hispanic-American neighborhood watch coordinator did not profile Martin. Zimmerman claims that Martin grabbed his gun from him during the conflict. Defense attorney Mark O’Mara is representing Zimmerman throughout the trial. “O’Mara’s challenge is to show Trayvon wasn’t profiled, that Zimmerman either saw something that looked suspicious or something else that caused him to make contact with Trayvon,” Randy McClean, a Florida defense attorney, told Fox News. The prosecution is pushing second-degree murder charges against Zimmerman, arguing that the neighborhood watch coordinator racially profiled the unarmed teen, assuming that Martin was a criminal when he saw him walking through a gated community in Sanford. They claim that Zimmerman tracked the boy down and started the fight that led to the shooting. The lead prosecutor for the state of Florida is Bernie de la Rionde. “The state’s narrative is going to be… Zimmerman was a powerful neighborhood watchman, a wannabe officer who liked to use his authority,” McClean said. In April, George Zimmerman gave up his right to a pretrial Stand-Your-Ground hearing, which could have potentially led to his acquittal before the trial. Some attorneys believe the decision to forego the hearing will allow the defense to approach this month’s trial with full force and make strong arguments that the prosecution is not prepared for. “The defense doesn’t want to give the prosecution a preview of its defense should they lose on the ‘Stand Your Ground’ hearing when it comes trial time,” Jose Baez, an Orlando defense attorney, told the Orlando Sentinel in April. “Obviously, a prosecutor would be much better prepared after he’s had his shot to cross examine Mr. Zimmerman. He can only get better at it the more he does it.” And as the trial begins, the court is trying to find a six-person jury with no opinion on the case. “They’re going to have a tough time picking a jury. At this point, who doesn’t know who Trayvon Martin is and who Goerge Zimmerman is?” David Weinstein, a former state prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer, told Reuters. More than 200 journalists have signed up to report on the trial. Judge Nelson said she will not release the names of the jurors once they are chosen, due to the high-profile status of this case. … Read More
Cop fired for using Trayvon Martin images in target practice
Sgt. Ron King of the Florida’s Port Canaveral Police Department allegedly offered paper shooting targets emblazoned with Martin’s image to two other officers, an internal review revealed. He was dismissed on Friday for possessing a number of such shooting targets. “Port Canaveral Police Department considers that behavior unacceptable,” John Walsh, CEO of the Port Canaveral Authority said. King reportedly acquired the paper targets online and brought them to a firearms training session. Martin, 17, was gunned down by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in February 2012 in Sanford, about 50 miles northwest of Port Canaveral. Zimmerman claims that he shot the teenager in self-defense, and will stand trial for second-degree murder in June. The Martin family says that Martin was unarmed when Zimmerman shot him, and had left his father’s house in the neighborhood to go to a convenience store.”It is absolutely reprehensible that a high-ranking member of the Port Canaveral Police, sworn to protect and serve Floridians, would use the image of a dead child as target practice,” attorney Ben Crump said in a statement. “Such a deliberate and depraved indifference to this grieving family is unacceptable.” In an unexpected move, Zimmerman waived his right to a ‘stand-your-ground’ in March of this year, relinquishing the opportunity to convince the judge pre-trial that he had acted in self-defense. Had he succeeded, his actions would have been deemed self-defense and the murder charges would have been dropped. The stand-your-ground law allows Florida citizens to defend themselves with deadly force in public if they believe they are being threatened. Martin’s death sparked a wave of protest against the controversial law demanding that it be overturned. Under this legislation, Zimmerman initially managed to evade arrest. … Read More
Google fighting back on unconstitutional National Security Letters
Court documents revealed by Bloomberg show that the company is resisting after receiving a National Security Letter (NSL), a government tactic that privacy experts say gives the federal government unprecedented intelligence gathering power.The letters, which have secretly been sent to business owners since 2000, demand that the recipient turn over transaction records, phone numbers, email addresses, and other otherwise confidential, personal information. They are often sent without explanation – and include a gag order, making it illegal for the recipient to discuss the demand in any way.One of the most important concerns levied by critics is that the NSLs are issued without a warrant and, other than a signature from a Special Agent in Charge of the given issuing FBI office, they are subject to little in the way of legal oversight.To force companies to release extensive information, the FBI only needs to prove – to itself – that the information sought is “relevant” to an investigation into nefarious intelligence activity or terrorism. NSLs did not require court approval to access a customer’s online browsing history, financial records, or any of the aforementioned information.Google’s legal challenge comes only weeks after a federal court ruled that NSLs are unconstitutional, although that ruling was given a stay of 90 days in the event of a government appeal.Fewer than ten of the 300,000 NSL recipients since 2000 have come forward, according to attorney Matt Zimmerman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet and government transparency advocacy group.“The people who are in the best position to challenge the practice are people like Google,” Zimmerman told Bloomberg.“So far no one has really stood up for their users,” he said of the other major technology companies.In early March, after negotiating with the FBI, Google tried to be more transparent about the government’s requests. In each year between 2009 and 2012 the search giant received, it says, between zero and 999 NSLs.“You’ll notice that we’re reporting numerical ranges rather than exact numbers,” Richard Salgado, a legal director for Google, wrote in a blog post. “This is to address concerns raised by the FBI, Justice Department and other agencies that releasing exact numbers might reveal information about investigations. We plan to update these figures annually.”NSLs have been a government methods of choice for decades, but saw their frequency immediately increase upon the law’s expansion with 2001’s PATRIOT Act under the George W. Bush administration.“The FBI has the authority to prohibit companies from talking about these requests,” Salgado wrote in the same blog post.“But we’ve been trying to find a way to provide more information about the NSLs we get – particularly as people have voiced concerns about the increase in their use since 9/11.” … Read More
Zimmerman’s brother tries to justify comparing Trayvon Martin to alleged baby killer
Appearing Wednesday night on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live,” the brother of George Zimmerman repeatedly tried to justify comparing Trayvon Martin, the black teen Zimmerman claims he killed in self defense, to a teen recently accused of shooting a baby boy in the face. Robert Zimmerman…
CNN analyst on Zimmerman brother’s racist rant: Two sides to every story
CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin on Wednesday offered a rationale for racist messages sent by George Zimmerman’s brother, saying there were “two sides to this story.” “I spoke to him for about 45 minutes,” she said. “And anyone that knows Robert Zimmerman and has…
George Zimmerman’s brother compares Trayvon Martin to infant murder suspect
Robert Zimmerman, whose brother George is awaiting trial on murder charges, compared the 17-year-old victim in the case to a Georgia teenager accused of murdering a 13-month-old boy. According to Think Progress, Robert Zimmerman made the link between Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by…
National Security Letters Are Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
A federal district court judge in San Francisco has ruled that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law violate the Constitution. … Read More
