Posted on 04/11/2012 4:43:02 PM PDT by Third Person
ORLANDO, Fla. -
Attorney Mark O'Mara, who was a legal expert for Local 6 in the Casey Anthony murder trial and the ongoing Trayvon Martin death investigation, is now representing George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed the teen in Sanford.
Zimmerman was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in Martin's death.
O'Mara said Zimmerman will plead not guilty.
"I'm expecting a lot of work and hopefully justice in the end," said O'Mara, who added that Zimmerman is OK but concerned about his future. "He's frightened."
O'Mara said he spoke to Zimmerman on the phone earlier in the day.
"He is troubled by everything that has happened, and I can’t imagine living in Geroge Zimmerman's shoes for the past number of weeks, only because he has been the focus of anger, confusion and hatred, and that has to be difficult," O'Mara said.
O'Mara, who's been practicing law for 30 years, said he's tried "stand your ground" cases in the past but added that he has a lot of work to do in this case.
"Quite honestly, I have not been involved in the case very long. I probably know as much as the media does, if not less," he said. "My hope is that the judge will grant a bond and that it is a bond the family can make."
Zimmerman's former attorneys, Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig, announced Tuesday they were stepping down from the case because they had not had any contact with Zimmerman since Sunday.
Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and is typically charged when there is a fight or other confrontation that results in death and where there is no premeditated plan to kill someone.
Watch Local 6 for more on this story.
He could also walk... He had a bounty on his head from an organization that had gotten preferential treatment from our Federal AG... Nothing would be admissible.
Even that doesn’t matter.... How does a broken nose and and eye witness not establish an impenetrable self defense case?
Let the justice system work. Hopefully all the facts will come out, and a right decision will be rendered by a good jury.
I am sorry Zimmerman has to go through this if he is innocent. But a man was killed and it is important to know whether the shooting was justified or not.
He should have retained Jose Baez to be his lawyer. Imagine what that trial would look like.
“. How does a broken nose and and eye witness not establish an impenetrable self defense case?”
If I were on the jury, I’d like to know if Trayvon hitting Zimmerman and banging his head on the sidewalk (assuming the witness states this in the trial) was due to Trayvon defending himself - for instance if Zimmerman had jumped on Trayvon or brandished his gun at him or something.
They’d have to prove the beyond a reasonable doubt for me to convict Zimmerman of anything. But the damage Zimmerman sustained is not PROOF that it was ok for him to shoot him. It does support him, but that’s all.
His lawyer won’t allow that.
“Let the justice system work. Hopefully all the facts will come out, and a right decision will be rendered by a good jury.”
yeah, just like the OJ trial....
There will definitely need to be a change of venue for this trial. Of course the race baiters will want a majority of African Americans on the jury..quite the opposite of the OJ Simpson trial.
How does the prosecution prove that Zimmerman initiated a violent altercation? That’s going to be tough.
Except for the fact that in this case, Zimmerman provided a statement to police acknowledging that he did shoot Martin.
>>Except for the fact that in this case, Zimmerman provided a statement to police acknowledging that he did shoot Martin.<<
I hadn’t heard that. Yes, it changes things.
His previous lawyers also said that Corey flatly refused to speak with him without his lawyers present, and they praised her for that.
“How does the prosecution prove that Zimmerman initiated a violent altercation? That’s going to be tough.”
The only way I can think of is with a credible eyewitness or a video of some kind.
Otherwise, the presumption of innocence has to prevail. We can’t presume him guilty. As a juror, that would be my reasoning. I’d need to have good reason to believe that Zimmerman assaulted Martin first.
“yeah, just like the OJ trial....”
I thought it was looking bad for OJ until those gloves didn’t fit. I think that’s what turned it. But who knows.
Anyway, in that case, a man was acquitted of murder. I think Zimmerman should be, too, unless there is some big evidence we don’t know about.
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