Fla has a broad standard on public information and while I undertand their concerns, why should this case be an exception? The whole public outrage was about wanting a thorough investigation and a trial. May. 31, 2012 No private evidence in Zimmerman trial The Miami Herald Editorial HeraldEd@MiamiHerald.com Floridas public records law, one of the strongest in the country, guarantees public access to evidence in criminal trials. Yet every time a headline-making criminal case pops up, attorneys routinely attempt to suppress information by asking for a protective order to keep the evidence under wraps and courts routinely turn them back. Seminole County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester should follow suit in the case of George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin in a case that has unleashed a thousand pundits. Because of the racial elements, it has drawn more attention than any comparable case since the trial of O.J. Simpson. Both the defendant and the victim have been the targets of character assassination and wildly false or misleading information. Courts have an obligation to take extra care to preserve the defendants right to fair trial in such instances. But that does not mean that Floridas tradition of openness and decades of court rulings upholding the provisions of the public records law covering criminal cases should be ignored. Unusually, in the Zimmerman case, prosecutors and defense attorneys have joined together to ask the court to keep much of the evidence under protective seal. The court denied an earlier motion to keep the entire record sealed, but that has not deterred attorneys from trying to accomplish much the same end in a more selective motion of breath-taking scope. The motion filed last week by Assistant State Attorney Bernardo de la Rionda asked Judge Lester to suppress a wealth of evidence subject to public disclosure. It encompasses the names, addresses and phone numbers of 22 witnesses, crime scene photos and autopsy photos and any others showing the victims body, the 911 call that captured the shooting (already widely available on the Internet), Mr. Zimmermans statements to police, and cell phone records. (News media organizations have agreed not to take possession of autopsy photographs, but they seek the courts acknowledgement that such photographs are not exempt in criminal cases.) Defense attorney Mark OMara said disclosure would adversely affect the proper administration of justice in this case, and may make it impossible to find an appropriate jury unaffected by thisinformation. If that were the case, however, courts would routinely uphold such requests, but Florida case law requires courts to give greater weight to the right of public disclosure except in limited circumstances. None of the requested exclusions would qualify as exemptions. Confessions are exempt, for example, but Mr. Zimmerman has not confessed to any guilt in this instance. Instead, the prosecution is seeking to exclude statements that are contradictory and inconsistent with the physical elements and statements of witnesses; or statements that could be used against him. Attorneys for the news media rightly said this far exceeds what the law permits to be treated as a confession. Courts in this state have declared that Floridas Public Records Act is construed liberally in favor of openness. Too often, attorneys choose to ignore this rule in pleading for exemptions. Judge Lester, who has scheduled a hearing for Friday, should take extra care to ensure that along with preserving the defendants right to a fair trial he also preserves the right of public access to public records, including evidence in the Zimmerman case. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/...vate-evidence-in-zimmerman.html#storylink=cpy
Well now......with the "New" Black Panther Party out there putting bounties on people's heads.....and Holder's UnJustice Department looking the other way and even encouraging black on white crime....and Spike Lee and Rosie O'donnell texting people's addresses, is it any wonder that attorneys would be attempting to protect folk's identities and addresses, etc. on a "need to know" basis? I'm sure the witnesses that are going to testify on behalf of GZ are frightened as to their futures
Seeing how strong the lynch and hate crowd is, protecting Zimmerman's right to a fair trial should be paramount.
The case ... or scenario ... is pretty clear-cut ... Zimmerman started the engagement by making sure Martin was aware Zimmerman was stalking him via drive-by, then made sure Martin saw him glaring at Martin then escalated it to *menacing eyeball contact* ... then proceeded to continue to follow Martin in his vehicle and at the same time called 911 about a suspicios person ... then after Zimmerman was warned to cease & desist ... Zimmerman said screw-it (these punks, goons etc. always get away to the 911 operator) ... Zimmerman then drove to a place as close as he could to Martin ... exited his vehicle and hunted Martin down on the walkway to his home ... What we don't know, is how and why a struggle ensued ... whereby Zimmerman shot Martin to death ...
I have a problem with that scenario.. I have listened to the 911 tapes.. Did Zim move his car before getting out and following Trayvon on foot?
Both the prosecution and defense have asked that the evidence be sealed to afford Zimmerman a fair trial ... we know the prosecution wants the evidence sealed because Zimmerman has lied about the event ... this is important as they want Zimmerman to be denied any appeals he may file after conviction ...
Excellent post. Another thread by the obsessed, but at least you tossed some common sense in it, so m/b it'll die quickly..... how many threads about M/Z so far? It's ridiculous........ One correction tho .... it was that idiot Roseanne Barr along w/Spike Jones, not O'Donnell, who twitted GZ's parents address.....
So am I to assume from your comment that you would not be concerned about your well-being if you were scheduled to testify on GZ's behalf......if your answer is "no" you are delusional and lying to yourself and this forum....
Quite true... I just can't picture what happened in terms of where Z wa parked whe he was talking to 911 and Trayvon was at the clubhouse.
Pretty much why the prosecution has charged Zimmerman with (2nd Degree) murder ... Zimmerman has lied about what happened ... (evidence not squaring-up with the event)
Was that because you asked if a person accused of alleged sex crimes was a registered sex offender? People don't like it when you do that.
Can you please give us the verbatim statement of the 911 operator that warns Zimmerman to do anything? _
Let's see...we don't know how Zimmerman happened to stalk Martin and get in his face enough to provoke him to hit him first so he could shoot him, Syria is a (*)(*)(*)(*)ing catastrophe, we still have thousands who are jobless, the Euro is struggling to stay alive, and Israel might possibly preemptively strike Iran before the year is out. Yep. This case is totally important and not at all about diverting attention from issues that affect us all.
Not to mention the jurors on this case. Alan Dershowitz said "a reasonable jury would find not guilty and a reasonable judge would throw this case out. But he doubted whether or not Zimmerman would get a fair trial." Isn't it a shame that the justice system is being hijacked.
