Posted on 07/13/2012 1:21:19 PM PDT by abb
SANFORD --
George Zimmerman's attorneys want to disqualify the judge who is presiding over his second-degree murder trial.
The motion filed Friday says Zimmerman "has a reasonable fear that he cannot get a fair trial or a fair stand your ground hearing by this court."
The motion specifically mentions the new bail Judge Kenneth Lester set for George Zimmerman earlier this month. The motion says Lester made disparaging remarks about Zimmerman's character, says he should be "prosecuted for additional crimes," and is holding the threat of future contempt proceedings over Zimmerman's head.
The judge revoked Zimmerman's first $150,000 bond, and had him rearrested after he allegedly misled the court as to how much money he had available in a fund for his defense.
The motion also says the court is not weighing any evidence of Zimmerman's innocence in the case when determining bond, other than to say "the only issue is the viability of the defendant's self-defense/Stand Your Ground claim" but they also accuse the judge of not discussing that issue either.
The motion also says:
"The court departed from its role as an impartial, objective minister of justice when it stated on two occasions in its order that in the court's personal opinion there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed a violation of Florida Statute 903.035(3), a third degree felony punishable by five years in prison. This is tantamount to instructing the state that Mr. Zimmerman should be prosecuted for this offense."
George Zimmerman is on trial for second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin last February.
Lester is obviously a biased POS.
Was the judge ever one of Reno’s cronies in the alleged child abuse debacle cases back in the 90’s ?
Exactly.
This charade needs to be ended. NOW.
I agree whole heartedly. The judge is NO GOOD!!!
THEN, charges should be brought against those who issued a "bounty". Since when does stuff like that get a pass.
Whoops.....forgot...Tray is Obama's son.
Could this motion be a preliminary to asking for a Change of Venue? It seems a bit unfair the judge can simply deny the motion and declare himself unbiased. There should be some kind of recourse, but I know the courts are sometimes very unfair.
In the PDF of the motion linked above in post #2, there are a number of direct quotes from the judge that were produced from the actual transcripts of the bond hearings. He was pretty blatant.
Lester, the zimmerman molester, and the DA are playing a tag team bout with Zimmerman from the get go. The DA grossly overcharged the case and Lester is doing everything he can do to extract some kind of plea from him.
Regarding a change of venue, well, depends...surely not to Brevard County. The DA is from Jacksonville, that sounds like a reasonable venue for the case.
When this is all done and a non political jury finds him innocent, there is going to be all hell to pay for this fiasco. Even if they force him into a plea to a lessor charge, the supercharged Obama minions are going to take this as a message to riot big time. OJ may have been found not guilty and the OJ crowd was estatic while the rest of the US was not resulting in no riots BUT that will not the the result when things go the other way. So, stand at the ready at personal defcon 2
What is your opinion of O Mara’s saying he sees no purpose in the Stand Your Ground law?
Does this pose a potential issue of whether a full and complete defense will be made by an attorney who doesn’t like a law which is crucial to his client’s defense?
What of the issue that by allowing a Zimmerman conviction, the lawyer’s could effectively help weaken the Stand Your Ground Law which he is not in favor of?
Bring the case to Pinellas County Courthouse in Clearwater. Recent case comes to mind...
Im not sure bias is a basis for recusal or change of venue. But a good lawyer can lay the groundwork to initiate these actions based on other factors. O’mara needs to make a phone call to Barry Cohen. He needs a team, not a one man team. O’mara is qualified, but he needs another brain or two. This case is predudicial against the defendant.
Of course it should.
This motion is signed by Mara and Donald R. West, Esq. so that’s two so far. I hear you. However, this judge has seen to it Zimmerman now has only about half of the money donated for his legal defense, so if he has no pro bono assistance I don’t see how he can get a team together.
My biggest hope is that Zimmerman can withstand the pressure to sign off on lesser charges.
How can the judge take away a defendant’s money? Doesn’t that deprive him of his right to counsel?
Stand your ground not applicable here. Pure case of self defense. There is no doubt that Z was attacked.
Doesn’t a Stand Your Ground defense imply that Zimmerman wasn’t pinned to the ground when he shot Martin?
I’ll have to confess ignorance and ask a question. In the document you linked to, it is stated that Trayvon Martin was straddled over Zimmerman and “beating him MMA style.” What does “MMA style” mean? I hope I don’t feel TOO stupid when I get the answer. Anyhow, thanks in advance.
Yes, he can, however, you put the judge on notice and the defense may have grounds for appeal if he does not play it straight. You ever watch a baseball game when a manager argues a call? The manager knows he has little chance in changing the umpire's mind but the manager's intent in win the next close call. The same type of psychology is going on here. The Obots do it all the time but there's mostly coercion and they are usually in the wrong in their arguments but they do it anyways.
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