Click Orlando: New Twist in Case Trayvon Martin [UPDATE!]

12 Comments

1. 

   Oui on April 10, 2012 at 6:15 pm

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   George Zimmerman’s Lawyers Quit, Say Client Has Been Out of Contact

   In a highly contentious press conference, attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig announced they have withdrawn as counsel for George Zimmerman, who remains under intense scrutiny for the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

   “It’s no so much that we are resigning. It’s that we cannot continue to represent him until he comes forward,” said attorney Craig Sonner.

   Sonner and Uhrig say they have been unable to contact Zimmerman since Sunday, when he stopped returning their phone calls. “He’s not returning my messages not returning my texts not returning my emails. He won’t even give me a collect call,” Sonner said.

   However, both attorneys said they would be willing to resume their representation of Zimmerman if he contacts them directly. “He’s got to reach out to us,” added co-counsel Hal Uhrig.

   Both attorneys repeatedly refused to reveal Zimmerman’s location but insinuated that he is no longer in Florida. “You can stop looking in Florida. Look much further away than that,” Uhrig said.

   George Zimmerman has gone on his own

   It seems in part that Zimmerman’s recent actions have potentially upset the lawyer-client relationship. The website created by Zimmerman to raise funds for his possible legal defense seems to be part of the issue, as well as the fact that Zimmerman is said to have called conservative talk show host Sean Hannity as well as special prosecutor Angela Corey to discuss the case, things Sonner and Uhrig say they would never have advised a client to do.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

2. 

   Oui on April 11, 2012 at 10:50 am

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   The unethical behavior of two lawyers in a press conference

   (Outside The Beltway) – First of all, let’s just make it clear that the fact that these attorneys apparently never received back from Zimmerman a signed copy of a Retainer Agreement does not mean that an attorney-client relationship did not, or still does not, exist.

   It appears that the basis for this entire event dates back all of 48 hours. The attorneys say that they lost contact with Zimmerman, but then say that they haven’t spoken with him since Sunday. (To be honest, the fact that I haven’t spoken with a client in two days when one of those days was a holiday wouldn’t necessarily concern me.) They also mention the fact that he, or someone close to him had apparently set up a website to raise money for a defense fund without their knowledge. This part I can kind of understand, if a client set up a website without my knowledge I’d be pretty annoyed to, especially since the first rule in a criminal case is that the Defendant shouldn’t make any public statements that their attorney hasn’t approved.

   What I don’t understand, and cannot approve of, is the press conference itself.

   There is no reason for these attorneys to hold a press conference to announce that they were no longer representing Zimmerman, although technically they didn’t even say that given that they said they might still represent him if contact was resumed. There was no reason for them to announce that he had contacted the Special Prosecutor on his own for some bizarre reason, or that he had apparently managed to get a phone cal through to Sean Hannity and talk to him (Guess who’s getting a subpoena, Sean?). There’s was even less reason for them to stand in front of national television camera and insinuate that their (ex?) client may or may not be mentally unbalanced.

   Even if everything these two lawyers were saying about their inability to contact Zimmerman, and him apparently going behind their back to the prosecutor, is true, it strikes me as incredibly irresponsible, and potentially unethical, for them to make any of that public. They could have accomplished their withdrawal as his counsel merely by sending a letter to the prosecutor, and a press release to the media, announcing the same. Instead, they chose to become media stars for some bizarre reason and in the process they very well may have not only harmed Zimmerman’s interests but made it even more difficult for the prosecution to try any case they might bring against him.

   Damn, I hate lawyers sometimes.

   CS Monitor: George Zimmerman saga’s bizarre twist: lawyers have ‘lost contact’ with him  

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

3. 

   Arthur Gilroy on April 11, 2012 at 1:40 pm

   Too bad…for everybody…that the cops didn’t do their job well in the first place. This situation probably would never have escalated to the societal cluster-fuck that it has now become. And what blew it up, really? The media and its equation…an accurate equation, on plentiful evidence besides this foolishness…of blood, race and profit.

   Who was “wrong” and who was “right” that night? Most likely somewhere in the middle of that particular equation between two people. But all wrong? First the cops…no, first the society, then the government, then the cops and then the media, followed closely by the roiling assholes on both sides of the question that have called for yet more blood.

   And now we have a story that will have legs well into November, especially if George Zimmerman proves to be the asshole that he is beginning to resemble in his recent actions. I almost expect to see him popping up on some dreary reality show or lame right-wing radio program. It will continue to fester well into the life and death question of who/what will rule this country for the next four years. If Romney is serious about winning…something that I seriously doubt, actually (See my various “fix” posts before whatever is happening to this site stopped me from being able to post articles.)…and Obama doesn’t manage to get on top of this story better than saying Trayvon Martin looked like he could have been his son, Romney could win any number of white votes. They won’t be votes that will come from Obama’s likely tally but rather voters who would not have voted otherwise. And the percentages will begin to lean rightward.

   Watch.

   Obama has about two weeks to get his act together here, and Romney has about two weeks to take a stand that could potentially win him millions of votes. Maybe three.

   Watch.

   AG

   P.S. Was George Zimmerman “wrong” to be carrying a gun? Not unless he was also wrong in being a neighborhood watch kind of guy, which is a question that is itself ripe for debate. But if you grant the necessity for “neighborhood watches” in the first place…and they happen in all kinds of neighborhoods that are not adequately policed in this messed-up society, all-minority neighborhoods just as often if not more so than places like Sanford or totally European-American areas…if you recognize that necessity then you must also recognize the plain fact that anyone who is involved in such an activity and is not carrying a weapon could easily be categorized as suicidally insane. Interfering with the actions of criminals who are almost certainly capable of violence and probably carrying a weapon? Even if said “interference” only means sitting in a car and observing? Hell, if someone were to sit in a car on literally thousands of not particularly busy NYC area side streets for more than about 10 or 15 minutes without getting out..night or day, it would make no difference…that person would be under serious surveillance by the street people.

   Bet on it.

   And if he or she didn’t fit a certain demographic visually…right vehicle, right race, right age, right style…the need for self-defense could appear at any instant. My son, one of my brothers and I all look and dress as if we might be off-duty or undercover cops, and I cannot tell you how many times we have driven down hard streets and watched as the street guys paid us real attention. Walking? Parking for any length of time? Not on your life!!! And this is not a “racial” thing, either. We’re all kinda Celtic-looking and we get the same kind of attention on hard South Boston Irish streets and hard NYC-area Italian neighborhood streets as we do anywhere else. It’s just the way the streets work. Do the work that George Zimmerman appears to have been doing while unarmed? Never happen. Not as far as I am concerned it wouldn’t.

   So there it is.

   Blame the society.

   Blame the government.

   Blame the media.

   Blame the cops.

   Then…and only then…take a look at the products of those various forces.

   Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.

   A fuck-up just waiting to happen. All over America.

   Bet on it.

   • 

     Oui on April 11, 2012 at 3:00 pm

     .
     Great comment AG, putting issue in right perspective.

     As I read between the lines from Zimmerman’s biography and his jobs/education/failures this was a train wreck waiting to happen. Add Trayvon Martin in the mix with his personal issues, aims in life in the same geographic area where George Zimmerman kept watch …

     As I see it, Robert Zimmerman has tried as a parent to give George a second and third chance in life after he screwed up because of anger issues. Hearing the same from his two lawyers that there may be a mental problem, George should have been in protective custody for his personal safety and that of society. There was no racist motive involved!

     Guns and mental problems are a deadly mix, killing sprees are a resultant and the innocent bystander as collateral damage.

     • Sometimes Justice does work – New Orleans: 5 ex-cops convicted in Danziger Bridge police shootings

     "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

   • 

     Oui on April 11, 2012 at 3:18 pm

     .
     Diary updated:

     George Zimmerman to be charged in Trayvon Martin shooting, official says

     The Washington Post reports that the special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin shooting has decided to file criminal charges against George Zimmerman.

     "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

4. 

   Oui on April 11, 2012 at 5:02 pm

   .
   Recently I also lost the TU status, a quick visit and participation in the Froggy Bottom Cafe fixed the problem. In the pond there used to be more cohesion and mojo’s going around. I’m not happy with the present situation, otherwise shoot Booman a line with the request to have him publish your diary. It has been done before.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

5. 

   Oui on April 11, 2012 at 6:53 pm

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   Charging George Zimmerman

   (The New Yorker) – ZImmerman deserves to have a thoroughly fair trial–one that is not a farce. Florida owes it to Trayvon to make sure, finally, that his death is treated with the respect and care that match the value of his life and what was lost. He now has a new lawyer, Mike O’Mara, which was inevitable after thevery strange press conference yesterday during which his old lawyers quit the case. They said then that they didn’t have the foggiest idea and maybe never did: “You can stop looking in Florida…. Look much further away than that.” At any rate, after Corey’s press conference, the rest of the country can now look at Florida with slightly less dismay than before.

   Who Is Mike O’Mara?  

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

6. 

   Arthur Gilroy on April 11, 2012 at 11:43 pm

   See my latest email, please.

   AG

7. 

   Arthur Gilroy on April 11, 2012 at 11:48 pm

   I missed it.

   AG

8. 

   Oui on April 12, 2012 at 9:58 am

   .

   Bloomberg Blasts NRA Over ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws

   (ABC News) – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for the nationwide reform or repeal of  Stand Your Ground laws today at an event in Washington D.C. to announce the Second Chance on Shoot First campaign. The campaign is intended to prevent killings like that of17-year-old  Trayvon Martin and Bloomberg blamed the National Rifle Association for the Florida law that many feel empowered George Zimmerman to shoot the unarmed Martin.

   “In reality the NRA’s leaders weren’t interested in public safety. They were interested in promoting a culture where people take the law into their own hands and face no consequences for it. Let’s call that by its real name, vigilantism,” he said. “The NRA should be ashamed of themselves. This has nothing to do with gun owners rights. It has nothing to do with the second amendment.”

   Bloomberg, who was joined by civil rights leaders and Florida State Sen. Chris Smith, said the laws had undermined the justice system and have done harm to public safety. “They justify civilian gunplay and invite vigilante justice and retribution with disastrous results,” he said.

   • Martin’s Mom Says Fla. Shooting Was an Accident

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

   • 

     Indianadem on April 12, 2012 at 12:35 pm

     NRA sponsors the “Back To The Wild, Wild West” movement. Here, one of their more eloquent spokespersons extols the virtues of the philosophy.

   • 

     Oui on April 12, 2012 at 1:29 pm

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     Introducing “Stand Your Ground” leigislation in Massachusetts

     In Massachusetts, a similar bill was introduced called the “Common Defense” bill, filed on behalf of the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), an affiliate of the NRA.

     Every man’s home is his castle” was the basis for English common law that gave a man the right to defend himself from an intruder in his home even if it involved use of deadly force. “Stand-Your-Ground” extends this right to any public place where an individual feels threatened by another person’s behavior.

     The NRA wrote this legislation in 2005. After lobbying the Florida state legislature to be the first in the nation to pass it, Governor Jeb Bush signed it into law.

     “Later that year,” according to Media Matters for America, “[NRA lobbyist, Marion] Hammer presented Florida’s legislation before a task force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC subsequently adopted Florida’s bill as model legislation, which they promoted throughout the country using their network of conservative state legislators. Twenty-four states currently have “Florida-style” laws with seven others having similar laws that allow expanded self-defense claims in specified locations.”

     ALEC is a group of corporate executives like those from the Walmart chain, state legislators, and wealthy individuals like the Koch brothers. Who profits from their Stand-Your-Ground laws? Members who manufacture guns and retailers like Walmart that sell them.  

     • Coca-Cola, Kraft and accounting-software giant Intuit announced ending their membership in ALEC  

     "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."