Trayvon Case Investigation

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George Zimmerman evidence: Media attorneys due in court in Zimmerman case - Orlando Sentinel
SANFORD – A judge in the George Zimmerman case said this morning he wants more information about the $200,000 donors sent to the defendant's PayPal accounts.

Meanwhile, an attorney for the family of slain teen Trayvon Martin expressed outrage about Zimmerman's money, saying the court should revoke his bond immediately. That didn't happen at today's hearing in Sanford.

"They tried to portray themselves as indigent that they did not have any money," Trayvon family attorney Benjamin Crump told CNN.

Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, said he has taken control of the money and was not aware of the donations during the April 20 bond hearing.

About $5,000 of the donor money was used to post Zimmerman's bond, O'Mara said.

At the bond hearing, Zimmerman had access to the funds and heard his wife say they had no savings.

O'Mara said he believed it was an oversight — not intentional deception — that his client didn't disclose the money during the bond hearing.

O'Mara said he found out about the money four days after the bond hearing when he asked his client to shut down his website. Zimmerman then asked him then what to do with all the PayPal donations.

O'Mara said there was about $150,000 left when he took control. The family also used the money on living expenses and on setting up somewhere secure for him to stay.

O'Mara said he did not foresee the judge increasing his client's bond because of the donations.

"150,000 dollars is a high bond," he said.

He said there was not one or two huge Internet donors but many people, some who gave hundreds of dollars.

He said he'd do everything in his power to keep their names private, including possibly risking a contempt ruling by keeping them secret if the judge orders him or Special Prosecutor Angela Corey to release them.

The money has since been deposited in trust accounts managed exclusively by O'Mara, he told Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester, Jr.

O'Mara asked the judge if he could disclose a donor list and information about who had authority over the accounts in a private meeting to avoid publicly exposing contributors to "ridicule and danger."

He also said he will file a motion soon, asking the judge to protect from release the names of witnesses.

"We have to do it," he said, "in a way that protects the sanctity of the witnesses."

Earlier in the courtroom, he said he fears that witnesses will refuse to cooperate out of fear of harassment.

He has not seen the state's evidence against his client and is eager to, he said. Although today is the deadline for him to get it, he said he wants a delay of several days or a couple of weeks to make sure news organizations and others do not get it.

That means there'll likely be another hearing at which media lawyers will request full disclosure.

O'Mara also said that with the Internet gifts, he now expects to be paid. He bills $400 an hour, he said, and predicted this is a 1,000-hour case. He's already spent 130 hours on it, he said.

When asked about Crump's comments, criticizing his failure to earlier disclose the Internet gifts, O'Mara pointed out that the family also is accepting donations via a website.

"Everyone is seeking donations in this case, including the Trayvon Martin family," O'Mara said.

He noted that he set up a new website for his client, Home.

At today's hearing, Lester rejected the prosecution's request to raise Zimmerman's bond, as well as Angela Corey's request for a gag order on O'Mara.

He said he would not hear arguments about a gag order and he praised both Corey's office and O'Mara for tamping down emotions in this case.

O'Mara said he was concerned about a gag order, noting that he's been very careful, except in one incidence, not to discuss the facts of the case in media interviews.

He also noted that this is the most "significant media event" in the country right now and "handlers" for others involved in the case are frequently commenting in the media.

Also this morning, attorneys for the Orlando Sentinel, WFTV-Channel 9, NBC, CNN, The New York Times and other media companies gathered in court to fight for access to records in the Zimmerman case.

Some of what they're demanding was released Monday, a week after they made their requests.

Those are the records in Zimmerman's court file, such things as his written plea of not guilty and a request by his lawyer that an earlier judge step aside because of a potential conflict of interest.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Trayvon, an unarmed black 17-year-old to death in Sanford Feb. 26.

Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer, said he fired in self defense.
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George Zimmerman Trayvon Martin: George Zimmerman's website collected $200,000 before shutdown, lawyer says - Orlando Sentinel
The attorney for George Zimmerman today discussed the $200,000 in donations his client received online.

At a hearing in Sanford, Attorney Mark O'Mara said none of the money was used for Zimmerman's bond and he's taken control of all of the Paypal accounts.

O'Mara will provide more information about the accounts to Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester, Jr.

told CNN Thursday night that Zimmerman's website had raised more than $200,000 before it was taken down this week.

O'Mara, speaking on the"Anderson Cooper 360"show, said Zimmerman mentioned the money casually to him, and O'Mara didn't know about it April 20 when a judge set Zimmerman's bail at $150,000.

O'Mara will bring it up during a 9 a.m. hearing today to discuss requests from news outlets to unseal certain records in Zimmerman's second-degree murder case.

Zimmerman, 28, shot Trayvon, a high-school student from Miami Gardens, Feb. 26 while Trayvon was walking through Zimmerman's Sanford neighborhood. Zimmerman has said he killed the teen in self-defense.

The shooting provoked nationwide demonstrations demanding Zimmerman's arrest.

O'Mara has placed the $200,000 in donations, sent through PayPal, into a secure account, he said on the program. He also said he intends to open a legal-defense fund.

On the CNN show, O'Mara said up to 50 people had sent checks for Zimmerman's defense.

O'Mara estimated that it would cost between $500,000 and $1 million to defend Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

O'Mara said his normal fee is $400 per hour and that he already has put more than 100 hours into the case.

Earlier this week, O'Mara said two accounts started by friends of Zimmerman had raised a total of about $2,700.
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George Zimmerman: Zimmerman evidence to be released soon. What will it show? - Orlando Sentinel
What evidence does Special Prosecutor Angela Corey have that prompted her to charge George Zimmerman with murdering Trayvon Martin? So far, she has refused to say.

Before long, though, she will be required by law to release the evidence — which fills several boxes. What will it show?


"It'll be like little bits and pieces that will have to be strung together," said Adam Pollack, an Orlando criminal-trial attorney. "Almost a bunch of little dots. Initially, the little dots don't make much sense, but if you step back, you see a bigger picture."

The public could get access in the next few days — although there may be delays — because prosecutors are legally required to share evidence with the defense and, once that happens, the information becomes public through a process called discovery. The most compelling evidence should fall into these categories:

Crime-scene evidence

That includes anything found at the scene where the two came into contact and the sidewalk where Zimmerman, a Sanford Neighborhood Watch volunteer, fatally shot the unarmed black teenager Feb. 26. He's charged with second-degree murder.

Local lawyers say some of the evidence they're most eager to see are photos or anything else that documents Zimmerman's injuries or their absence. He called Sanford police, describing Trayvon as suspicious and then began following the Miami Gardens teenager on foot.

Zimmerman said he shot Trayvon in self-defense after the teen punched him, knocked him to the ground and then began pounding his head on a sidewalk.

"I definitely want to know what injuries the defendant suffered, what type of injuries and to what extent they were documented," said Pollack.

Sanford police took photos of the defendant that night. They should be in the evidence soon to be released.

A security-camera video, shot from long range at Sanford's police headquarters, showed Zimmerman with no obvious signs of injury, but when ABC News enhanced it, there appeared to be a gash on the back of his head.

Other important pieces of evidence in this category include the bullet casing from the fatal shot and any markings from the grass or sidewalk that might hint at how violent the fight was and who had the upper hand.

Witness statements

The most important witness in the case may be Zimmerman. According to prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, the defendant gave five statements to authorities. Police described one as a re-enactment.

"I want to know," said former Seminole County prosecutor Donna Goerner, "exactly what did he say."

"If his statements have a lot of inconsistencies in them," said Orlando criminal-defense attorney David Fussell, "then that can be problematic for the defense."


However, he also cautioned that it's not unusual for people in traumatic situations to alter their stories slightly over time, whether intentionally or not.

Investigators also interviewed a Miami teenager, thought to be Trayvon's 16-year-old girlfriend, who told them she was on the cellphone with Trayvon just before the shooting and he told her he was frightened because a stranger was following him, according to court records.

Also key to the case will be eye-witness statements. Several neighbors saw and heard Trayvon and Zimmerman fighting. If they saw Zimmerman on top, that would damage his self-defense claim.

Autopsy results

Trayvon died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, but the results of his autopsy should reveal how close the gun was when it went off and the bullet's trajectory, lawyers said.

Dale Gilbreath, a prosecution investigator, testified there was "stippling" around the entry wound, tiny gunpowder burns that Fussell said can be found only when the muzzle of a gun is close to the victim, usually an arm's length or less.

By plotting the bullet's trajectory, experts should be able to estimate the gun's relative position when it was fired, he said.

More important, said Goerner, are other marks on Trayvon's body, "signs of a struggle … signs of bruising."

If Zimmerman is telling the truth and Trayvon had him pinned to the ground and was beating him, the teenager's body should have cuts or bruises consistent with that, she said.

The funeral director who prepared Trayvon's body, Richard Kurtz, told the Orlando Sentinel he saw no such signs of a fight.

Crime-lab results

Police gathered Trayvon's and Zimmerman's clothes, and they have likely been analyzed for dirt, grass, blood and DNA by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The presence of any of those things would lend credence to Zimmerman's account that there had been a fight and the pair wound up on the ground, said Pollack.

If Zimmerman told the truth and Trayvon was on top, there's a strong likelihood that the teenager's blood and DNA would be on Zimmerman's clothes.

Likewise, if Zimmerman were bleeding and Trayvon kept punching him, the teenager may have had Zimmerman's blood and DNA on his clothing or skin.

"There's only two people who truly know," said Pollack. "Unfortunately, one of them is not able to testify."
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George Zimmerman evidence Casey Anthony: Casey Anthony case shows scope of evidence possible in George Zimmerman case - Orlando Sentinel
Why is discovery in court cases important? Because it gives defense attorneys — and the public — a peek inside the prosecution's case.

The state's most high-profile recent case showed the kind — and quantity — of evidence that's possible when discovery is released.


In the two years preceding the murder trial of Casey Anthony, prosecutors released thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation: emails, lab reports, photos, phone records.

FBI lab reports documented negative tests for drugs in hair samples from Anthony's daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie. Transcripts detailed Anthony's conversations with detectives and her interactions with family. Photos showed Anthony partying with friends during the time she said her daughter was missing.

Photos and lists documented everything found near Caylee's body in a wooded area off Suburban Drive, near the Anthony family home. Pictures of the child while she was still alive were also disclosed.

Witness statements previewed the testimony that would later captivate the nation. Interviews of Anthony's parents, George and Cindy, foreshadowed the pivotal role they played at trial.

The records revealed, for example, that Anthony wanted to give up her daughter for adoption, but those plans were nixed by her mother, Cindy, who insisted she keep the baby.

Issues that would later become important at trial — such as the "Bella Vita" tattoo Anthony got on her shoulder after her daughter's disappearance and the tow-lot manager who said the trunk of her car smelled like death — were revealed to the public through the discovery process.

The nuggets of vital information were often buried in piles of mundane documentation and superfluous details, such as emails between investigators and crime labs, records of investigative tactics that failed to bear fruit and hundreds of letters sent to Anthony by strangers while she was in jail.

As the case against George Zimmerman progresses, the case against Anthony shows there should be a lot of new information forthcoming about the Feb. 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin. Anthony, 26, was acquitted in July on all major charges in the death of her daughter.
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Jiro said:
a threat to public? how does a person who is presumed innocent until proven guilty a threat to public?
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Presumed innocent of the current charge. That person could still be a threat to survivors' family members (such as in the Hudson family murders), or to witnesses, for example.
 
Jiro said:
just want to make sure - that means a family took out a mortgage for $10,000?
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It was a second mortgage on equity. They've only live there a few years, so they might not have much equity built up yet, especially since the housing crash. Some people who bought their houses in recent years are actually upside-down in their mortgages.
 
CrazyPaul said:
WTF are you talking about? The prosecuter announced that he is charged for 2nd degree murder and that he turns himself in within 24 hours so he did. Nobody knew the outcome of the investigation until the announcement. What's wrong with you? Can you try to stop twisting the story?

On the other hand, you keep saying that GZ lied about money, I couldn't find evidence related to that and then I found out that Trayvon's family lawyer, Crump put words in your mouth obviously. Anything Crump says about GZ is not a fact.
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Yeah, charges announced, told to turn himself in within 24 hours. If he hadn't turned himself in, what do you think would have happened? They would have come after him. Not that hard to understand.

Nope, Crupmp didn't put words in my mouth. I am going off the facts as Zimmerman's lawyer told them in court and to Anderson Cooper the day before court.
 
Steinhauer said:
Ummm ... that is standard when someone is out on bail ... you know that right?

And generally, people do not get out on bail when considered to be a threat to the public
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Ankle monitoring devices and house arrest type restrictions are not standard anytime someone is out on bail. None of the other restrictions he is under either, like reporting to the court every 3 days. Those are conditions of community control.
 
Steinhauer said:
Geez, this whole Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman incident has really brought out the race whores. I can only imagine their dismay when they found out that GZ was hispanic .... I mean, the exploitation value becomes nullified when the shooter isn't actually ..... white. It seems the best they could do was call him a 'white hispanic'.


I guess that means Obama is an African cracker? :dunno:
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:shock: If you are trying to not look like a racist, you should be a lot more careful about what you post.:shock:
 
CrazyPaul said:
I missed the beginning of the bond hearing on TV. Did the judge or prosecutor ask him about his financial status during the hearing? If no, then that's why he didn't disclose it (because nobody asked him). If you are going to say that he didn't disclose it on the sworn statement before the hearing, prove it to me. If you can't, oh, well...:hmm:
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Yes, he was asked. And his lawyer very clearly stated that George had no money and was indigent. Who do you think the lawyer is speaking for? George.

Study something about what happens when you go to court and claim to be indigent. You have to sign a statement to the court. George's lawyer was even asking the taxpayers to pick up the cost of his defense because he was indigent.

George's own lawyer is admitting that George should have told both the court and him about the money and didn't. His own lawyer admits it, but a few people keep saying he didn't do anything wrong.:laugh2:
 
and..... it is said that O'Mara is a very seasoned lawyer who has a great deal of experience with high-profile cases... and he was "clueless"?

and therealgeorgezimmerman.com with donation button has been up for quite a while before Zimmerman was arrested.... and he was "clueless"?

either it is very suspicious or O'Mara is really that clueless
 
Jiro said:
yes you missed quite a deal. do you understand how bond is set? the prosecutor will recommend a certain amount to judge and the defense lawyer will argue about client's financial status.

Zimmerman's lawyer stated that Zimmerman was indignent at bond hearing.
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And the prosecutor did not want Zimmerman out on bond. Now he is ... so yes, that would be why the prosecutor wants to paint Zimmerman as a liar (since the prosecutor is lying).

Alan Dershowitz even claimed the prosecutor should be charged with perjury on April 12. That would be another reason why the prosecutor would attempt to claim Zimmerman is a liar.

Gotta protect that reputation amongst her peers ...
 
Steinhauer said:
And the prosecutor did not want Zimmerman out on bond. Now he is ... so yes, that would be why the prosecutor wants to paint Zimmerman as a liar (since the prosecutor is lying).

Alan Dershowitz even claimed the prosecutor should be charged with perjury on April 12. That would be another reason why the prosecutor would attempt to claim Zimmerman is a liar.

Gotta protect that reputation amongst her peers ...
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It wasn't the prosecutor that brought it all out about the money. It was the defense.:D George's own lawyer.

Pfft. Where did Alan Dershowitz say that? He sure did not say anything like that on the Glen Beck Show.
 
Jiro said:
and..... it is said that O'Mara is a very seasoned lawyer who has a great deal of experience with high-profile cases... and he was "clueless"?

and therealgeorgezimmerman.com with donation button has been up for quite a while before Zimmerman was arrested.... and he was "clueless"?

either it is very suspicious or O'Mara is really that clueless
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Actually, it was up for a little longer than 24 hours before his arrest. His prior attorneys helped him set it up - NOT O'Mara - so yes, you are clueless.

He also did not have access to the internet during his time in jail - just another clue for you since you apparently don't have any ATM.
 
Waterboy said:
It wasn't the prosecutor that brought it all out about the money. It was the defense.:D George's own lawyer.

Pfft. Where did Alan Dershowitz say that?
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To quote you from earlier pre-ban posts "Do your own research".

I did mine:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/lib...secutors-affidavit-in-zimmerman-case-a-crime/

“This affidavit,” he said, “submitted by the prosecutor in the Florida case is a crime. It’s a crime. If she in fact knew about ABC News’ pictures of the bloody head of Zimmerman and failed to include that in the affidavit, this affidavit is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”[...]

The prosecution’s goal, Dershowitz explained, is to present all the details and evidence of the case in order to pursue justice, not merely to seek justice solely for one side of the case. And “you don’t indite based on false information,” he told Kelly.

“Now, one of the problems,” he continued, “is because they’ve indited for second degree murder — and there’s nothing in this affidavit that suggests second degree murder, the elements of second degree murder aren’t here — the expectations have been reduced. There’s an article today in one of the… the Daily Beast saying “there’ll be riots in the street if there’s an acquittal.” If there are riots, it’s the prosecutor’s fault. Because she over-charged, raised expectations. No reasonable jury is going to convict based on the evidence I know of second degree murder. So this prosecutor not only may have suborned perjury, she may be responsible if there are going to be riots here for raising expectations to unreasonable levels.”
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