Zimmerman Case - Ongoing Discovery, Round 3

The state's 3rd round of supplemental discovery is described in this court filing from June 29.

They seem to be re-releases of Zimmerman's statements and some police statements, with different redactions. This was made available to the media last week. I am not finding any news here.

We are still waiting for the bond ruling.

Comments

[NK]

Serious Question-- has the State or any GZ hater pointed to any publicly released compelling evidence that supports the Murder 2 Charge? In the absence of any such evidence, how does Judge Lester not reinstate Bond (albeit at a level commensurate with GZ's financial resources.)

[cboldt]

Loosey goosey Florida courts, pretty much do whatever they want, law notwithstanding. Orders to hold without bail are supposed to issue within 24 hours of the hearing.

I figure it'll be 10 days. It took Lester from June 1 to June 11 to put his previous hold on no bond status into writing.

[NK]

OK cboldt, but what is Lester likely to do at this point? Does he generally cater to prosecutors? does he go with the evidence? is he an egoist who'll stick it to GZ because the Court was lied to at the first Bond hearing?

[cboldt]

Lester's wife is a state attorney (prosecutor), so yes, he caters to at least one of them ;-)

Your predictions have been better than mine as to what he'll do. Most of my insights are based on statutory and case law, and Lester seems unbound by those constraints.

[NK]

Prediction? because there are no new facts, as a complete guess, I'll go with Bond reinstated @ $1M-- restraints reinstated, plus GZ ordered not to discuss the perjury case with his wife. I wouldn't put much stock in this guess -- based on how badly I bollixed the Roberts decision.

[MJW]

Check gzlegalcase. There may be some new evidence there.

[MJW]

Now that I look more carefully, I don't think there's anything that hasn't been released before.

[Tom Maguire]

It does appear that GZim will be cooling his heels in jail during Independence Day. My guess is that Lester will decide he has made his point and will reinstate a higher bail.

[Ignatz]

--It does appear that GZim--

Anyone else read that GZim abbreviation in a rather unsavory way usually or am I just hopelessly messed up?

[Buford Gooch]

Why, no, no one else read it in an unsavory manner (wink, wink, nudge nudge). You're just hopelessly messed up.

[Brian]

plus GZ ordered not to discuss the perjury case with his wife.

Is that legal? Realistic? It's his wife for chrissakes! Isn't there a spousal privilege kind of thing going on? Does that ankle monitor have a microphone attached? Is the state going to be in bed with them, now to? First no drinking and then no sex?

It would be kinda hard to pressure Zim to take a plea deal in exchange for letting his wife walk on a perjury charge if he can't talk to his wife about the case. Or maybe that's the goal, keep him in the dark about her case so he can think the worst.

Would such an order stop him from receiving communications about her case? i.e. Zim being in the room when she's conferring with her lawyer?

[Brian]

crap italic left open! sorry!

[Brian]

grrr

[Brian]

Fixed?

[Gus]

Skittles isn't getting a bond hearing either.

[Donald]

Off topic, I just got chosen to do the AFLAC high school all American baseball game at PETCO park on August 14th!

I immediately started angling for the plate assignment, but got shot down pretty on that.

[Donald]

Pretty quick that should read.

[Jane - we are not above it, we are it.]

Congrats Donald - altho I have no idea what it means to do a baseball game.

[Jim Eagle]

Jane,

Umpiring. But I thought Donald was an Atlanta guy. Petco Park is San Diego?!

[Donald]

I'm an umpire Jane. Since 1985.

[Jane - we are not above it, we are it.]

How fun!

[Danube of Thought]

Ever been to Petco? Nice ballpark.

[Sara]

GZ is sitting in solitary confinement. How fair is that, even if it is rationalized as being for his own safety. Solitary is extra punishment under normal circumstances.

DONALD:

My son was an umpire until he moved over to coaching. A grad of the NY School of Umpiring, which I believe has now closed. His most exciting game was an exhibition game at the old Yankee Stadium. Mostly he did games out of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League

[Stephanie]

Woot! Donald, WTG. Is it gonna be televised?

[Ignatz]

--Off topic, I just got chosen to do the AFLAC high school all American baseball game at PETCO park on August 14th!--

Congrats Donald.
While you're there could you please kill that duck?

[cboldt]

Lester Says He'll Rule on Thursday

So, my 10 day guess was off by a fat margin. Will be more like 5 or 6 days, depending on how you want to count June 29th and July 5th.

[Brian]

So, if he denies bond, if you are O'Mara do you appeal? I believe that that's reviewable, correct?

[Porchlight]

That's awesome, Donald. Umps are so cool.

[centralcal]

Congrats, Donald!

[Janet]

Ol' President 404 hasn't said much about this case lately. Trayvon might have been like his son, but Obama has sure dropped this story.

[Jane - we are not above it, we are it.]

Janet,

Do you have power?

[Jane - we are not above it, we are it.]

Perhaps that is a stupid question given you're here.

[Jim Eagle]

Janet,

Obama dropped Trayvon like Senior dropped him back in the 60's. Nothing new here.

[MJW]

From TheConservativeTreehouse:

Mark NeJame ‏@MarkNeJame RT @renestutzman: #Zimmerman judge: I’ve begun drafting bond order. I’ll file it Thursday. #Trayvon. Looks like we’ll see order on Thursday.

I realize that O'Mara doesn't want to do anything to upset Judge Lester while he's making his decision, but as cboldt mentioned, the judge is blatantly disregarding Florida law, which requires a prompt decision. And that after keeping Zimmerman in jail for a month before holding the bond hearing. If Zimmerman doesn't get a reasonable bond, perhaps O'Mara should move to have Lester taken off the case.

[cboldt]

Denial of bond is reviewable. O'Mara could have brought a habeas petition when bond was revoked on June 1st, as far as I'm concerned. Lester's order imposing no-bond status is unlawful.

[Janet]

Yeah, we have power. We never lost our electricity, just phone service. Most of our neighborhood is still out though. We've run an extension cord over the back fence to our neighbor's house to keep their refrig. going. It is a mess.

[MJW]

It goes without saying that O'Mara should appeal to the DCA if bail is denied. I believe he could have appealed the delay in holding the hearing and the delay in the judge's decision, and he probably would have prevailed. There, however, he had to weigh the advantages against the disadvantage of offending the judge. If Zimmerman is denied a reasonable bail, there's little left to lose by appealing.

[centralcal]

Glad to hear you have electrical power, Janet - makes things so much more pleasant. What a good neighbor you are, too!

[Janet]

Our neighborhood is great about helping each other out.

Anger festers in sweltering mid-Atlantic

[wetmore333]

Lester's delay in issuing his order suggests that he's dedicating a great deal of time not to leave himself vulnerable to being reversed on appeal. Wonder how long it would take to obtain a ruling from the Court of Appeal? Hope Zimmerman has decent air conditioning.

[Carol Herman]

It's POLITICAL!

Forget that Lester is a judge. Realize, instead, that he is in Florida. And, Florida is definitely IN PLAY come November's presidential election.

Right now, it would take something greater than the loonies who sit on Florida's State Court system to fix this mess.

How long can Lester hold an innocent man in jail? As long as he likes.

Ditto for the wife.

Just as in NYC, all the INCOMPETENT DA, Cyrus Vance could do to the "madame" was put her on Rikers Island, KNOWING she couldn't raise the bail money!

Probably also snorkeling he-haws ... as an attorney the madame FIRED ... was the one the judge noticed carrying bail money. (Without noticing that this lawyer was looking to angle into the lady's case!)

How does this happen?

Lady Justice it seems is not only blind, and wearing gauze for a dress ... She carries scales upon which you're supposed to throw your money.

[Jim Eagle]

BS, Carol.

I live in Florida in a county not too far from Sanford.

Lester is more influenced by the Casey Anthony trial, the MSM, and Crump than national politics.

That and the fact that O'Mara is working the polls at that same time is all bad for GZ. Cowards. All of them.

The only election that matters there is the primary where John Mica is primarying Sandy Adams and flooding the airwaves with ads. Too bad to lose Sandy. She is a rock especially on the Judicial Committee where she treats Holder like he is "a person of interest".

I am not a lawyer like cboldt, MJW, NK, Jane, Clarice, MarkO, DoT and others but I am close to the ground here

[Ignatz]

Actually I believe MJW was quite disturbed when I mistook him/her for a lawyer a while back, JiB.

[DrJ]

That's right Ignatz. And MJW is a he.

[Jim Eagle]

Wow! I thought everyone had acknowledged her legal expertise like cboldt? Must have misread that somehow. Hope I didn't embarass him/her by calling them a lawyer:)

[cboldt]

While I'm pretty fussy about who I'll maintain an argument/discussion with, I'm happy to engage anybody who articulates a good argument, and who can be a careful reader. MJW is that, for sure.

FWIW, I have the sheepskin, but don't "practice law" as most people would figure.

[Ignatz]

--Hope I didn't embarass him/her by calling them a lawyer.--

Well there are worse things you could have called him. JiB.
There are, right?

[Donald]

We're like the glue that holds civilization together ms porch. Just kidding yall, but I'm pretty happy.

[xbradtc]

If Donald can call balls and strikes with any consistency, maybe we should give him John Roberts job.

[narciso]

I think they are dissapointed he didn't suffer the fate of Reginald Denny;

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/03/2880246/doctor-george-zimmerman-had-black.html

[MJW]

I'm actually flattered to be mistaken for a lawyer, but embarrassed to confess my lack of qualifications to comment on legal stuff.

[Ignatz]

--but embarrassed to confess my lack of qualifications to comment on legal stuff--

Not to worry. It doesn't stop anybody else, not even the Chief Justice. :)

[DebinNC]

Miami Herald: But the physician’s assistant who treated him determined he neither needed X-rays nor had he suffered head trauma, newly released medical records show.

She could tell that just by looking huh? And to prevent being able to deny it later when GZ keeled over and sued her, she helpfully wrote it in his medical records?

[narciso]

I wondered about that, Deb, it's like an evil Python sketch, this has degenerated into,

[boatbuilder]

Clearly he suffered head trauma, unless the cuts were stigmata.

[centralcal]

MJW: I first encountered you here in the Libby days when I was a nervous newbie. I love your comments and I always feel somewhat buoyed when you are around. I, too, have no clue if you are male/female - gawd knows how often I have mistaken gender by writing style or screen names - but it always feels like "old home week" to me when I see you commenting!

Stay, please.

[Donald]

I have long felt I could administrate the executive branch really.

Y'all are awesome with the nice baseball stuff and anybody who can get to the games are my guests. You will sit with navy super legends and biker dudes.

And see me do my thang, which I totally love.

[narciso]

Btw, Donald did you get any more details on the WD shoot in your neck of the woods.

[xbradtc]

Donald?

http://youtu.be/7igsvOqOYXA

[Jim Eagle]

Donald,

Call em like you see em.

[MJW]

Thank you very much, centralcal. I lurk regularly at JustOneMinute, but since there are many here better at offering opinions and analysis, I prefer to comment mostly on factual issues that happen to strike my fancy. I am a he (though my use of phrases like "strike my fancy" may cause some to be misled).

[Ignatz]

--I am a he (though my use of phrases like "strike my fancy" may cause some to be misled).--

Heh, don't sweat it.
bgates figured I was a switch hitter cause I let loose an old Wodehouse term (boffo) which sounded teh gay evidently.

[jimboster]

GZ is sitting in solitary confinement. How fair is that, even if it is rationalized as being for his own safety. Solitary is extra punishment under normal circumstances.

Only if it's one of those sweatboxes like in Cool Hand Luke

[cboldt]

So, if you know the state is going to publish every word you utter on the phone, what do you talk about?

I think the people at the jail are probably treating Zimmerman okay. I suspect most of them find the prosecution ill taken. The EMF who testified on Friday didn't seem impressed by de la Rionda.

[macphisto]

i don't mean to minimize the issues involved, but to me solitary would be preferable to spending weeks with the general population of a county jail, and i haven't been accused in a racially-charged (in multiple senses) case.

[Donald]

They're shooting a couple of times a week. Its set (town square) as a prison and so far no zombies, all pre Zombies.
My buddy Ed feomonte.com says they're following the comic books.

[DublinDave]

"GZ is sitting in solitary confinement. How fair is that.."

For the large groups of sexualy frustrated men.....deeply unfair.

[boris]

We'll take your word for it duda.

[kave]

duda you are one sick puppy!

[rse]

Happy 4th of July everyone. It is weird to not be at the beach but my future Diva has practices almost daily. My highest calling is to be cook and chauffeur.

My way of celebrating Independence Day was to disclose a bit more about the UN led attempts to take it away.

http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/is-the-global-happiness-and-wellbeing-push-a-means-for-mental-and-emotional-burglary/

And now it is time for my morning cups of tea.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Donald-

They seem to be guidebooks for a lot of people nowadays.

Happy Independence Day!

[DublinDave]

duda you are one sick puppy!

Sick but funny,right?Heh heh..

[peter]

Happy Fourth of July everyone. Looking forward to the parade down main street in Barnstable Mass. had a rollicking political debate with our hosts last night.

[kave]

sick......NOT funny.

[Thomas Collins]

"WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another; and to assume, among the Powers Of The Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security."

Not only a Declaration of Independence, but also a primer on the only legitimate type of government. Happy July 4th!

[Jim Eagle]

Happy 4th to all.

Frederick and I are marching in the Flagler Beach parade today with our Cub Scout pack. I am the Pack Committee Chair so I have to don the uniform and remember my left from right.

[Kate]

After following the Libby case, the recent Supreme Court ruling etc., I no longer expect the rule of law or even common sense to prevail.

Whatever the media wants will happen. Since they clearly want Zimmerman in jail, that's what I expect. Why would a local judge be less prone to media pressure than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Hope I'm wrong.

[wetmore333]

For those who suspect that local demographics might have some influence on this case, I offer the following: Judge Lester labors in the Eighteenth Circuit Court, made up of Seminole and Brevard Counties. I believe he is up for reelection in 2014. As of the 2010 census, the population of Seminole County was about 423,000 and Brevard County (home of the JFK Space Center) about 543,000. Seminole County was less than 9% Black, and Brevard less than 11%. The "Latino" population was about 5% in each county. Seminole County went very narrowly for Obama in 2008. Don't know about Brevard.

[wetmore333]

2008 election: McCain 54.54%, Obama 44.17%.

[DublinDave]

sick......NOT funny.

I guess you have to be sick to find it funny.

Anyway,two tidbits my source just gave me;Pawlenty just got the nod from Rom bot to be his VP-ZZZZZZ. Rom bot made the decision last night.Also,Zimmerman bond is denied.Technically this is not news as he told me this last week but he's a little confused as to why Judge is taking a week to make the announcement.Something's cooking behind the scenes,he's not sure what it is.

[Porchlight]

How interesting, a source who would know both Romney's VP decision and Lester's ruling on bond before he issues it.

I think the reason you call your source deep-ass is because it is located in the depths of your butt.

[DublinDave]

How interesting, a source who would know both Romney's VP decision and Lester's ruling on bond before he issues it.

He's amazing,he really is,he's got his fingers in so many pies.

[woo woo]

Dubs always perks up when discussing being back door violated by another man. Sandusky Jr?

[Some guy]

One of the voices in one's head is not a "source"...

...just say'n.

[Beasts of England]

Dang, Ignatz! My usually twisted mind didn't pick up on that abbreviation until you mentioned it... Maybe I need to re-twist? And I won't be using 'GZim' as his moniker in the future, either!

[glasater]

Clearly he suffered head trauma, unless the cuts were stigmata

It was a lovely and long 4th of July day yesterday. So while I was catching up -- reading Boatbuilder's comment just put me on the floor from laughing.
Although not having gone to bed yet or massively short on sleep may have a bearing...

[cboldt]

Bond ruling came in, set a $1,000,000

Kids and i went into town to watch the fireworks. It's a nice afternoon of hiking, looking at interesting people, eating, etc. We knew when we left the house there was a chance of rain. Got "caught" in a massive downpour - able to keep from getting soaked by standing under an awning, but it rained hard for a good 30 minutes. Fireworks canceled. Another 7 miles or so on the shoes.

Show is on for tonight, but youngest son has a driver's ed class that conflicts. We'll try again next year!

[narciso]

He didn't do the 'Dr. Evil' finger gesture, when he said that.

[cboldt]

In his order, the judge also banned Zimmerman from having or opening a bank account.

Temper tantrum!

[cboldt]

"By any definition, the defendant has flaunted the system," Lester wrote. "It appears to this court that the defendant is manipulating the system for his own benefit."

Corey, on the other hand ....

[cboldt]

Link to Lester's July 5, 2012 Order

[Porchlight]

Anyway,two tidbits my source just gave me;Pawlenty just got the nod from Rom bot to be his VP-ZZZZZZ. Rom bot made the decision last night.Also,Zimmerman bond is denied.Technically this is not news as he told me this last week but he's a little confused as to why Judge is taking a week to make the announcement.Something's cooking behind the scenes,he's not sure what it is.

Duda "source" prediction FAIL