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In my post last night I noted a near shouting match between defense attorney Don West and Judge Debra Nelson over whether text messages on Trayvon Martin’s phone regarding fighting were “authenticated.” Judge Nelson stated that there was no evidence that Trayvon typed the texts even though the messages were on his phone and stored in double-password protected format using phone apps. Judge Nelson read from the bench from what appeared to be a treatise on evidence. The defense countered that its computer forensic expert, who testified, was able to track hundreds if not thousand of text messages on the...

A hearing was held this evening, concluding just before 10 p.m., on the attempt of the defense to introduce expert testimony as to text messages regarding fighting found on Trayvon Martin’s cell phone. The judge previously had ruled that such social media evidence could not be mentioned in jury selection or opening statements. A large group of texts and photos were released in late May, but only some of them are at issue now. [video] The judge expressed concern (full embed below) about admissibility on ground of authentication, that the defense could prove that the texts were to and from...

The Illuminati, a popular clothing brand and activist blog that powers itself on paranoia and conspiracy theories, has called for the murder of George Zimmerman in order to restore “justice.” “The Only Justice for Trayvon Martin is to take the Life of George Zimmerman. #EyeForAnEye #ZimmermanTrial,” the group posted Tuesday morning. With more than a million Twitter followers, the post quickly went viral, gaining more than 600 retweets and 200 favorites at the time of this report....

Given the highly charged racial implications of this homicide case against George Zimmerman, it is important to review the potential intent of both parties since the facts could go either way. This is key in the defense of a “stand your ground” incident. Was George Zimmerman a trigger-happy racist? Was Trayvon Martin a juvenile delinquent looking for trouble? Or, could this be simply a tragedy caused by two young men overreacting? What happened on Feb. 26, 2012, in an Orlando suburb? Could the scenario have gone something like this … Trayvon Martin Imagine that you walked to a nearby convenience...

George Zimmerman's "nose was very disfigured" and blood covered much of his face immediately after his deadly confrontation with Trayvon Martin, a woman who previously lived near him in their Florida subdivision testified Tuesday. Eloise Dilligard, whose testimony was beamed into the courtroom via the web because of an undisclosed health problem, said she said went to the crime scene immediately after the Feb. 26, 2012 incident, and saw several residents of the gated community milling around. She said a police officer came up to her and asked for help identifying "someone who may know the people involved in the...

ItÂ’s George ZimmermanÂ’s defense teamÂ’s turn to put forth their case, and quite frankly, they have a fairly easy path ahead. The wind is at their backs because no real, compelling evidence was brought before the jury by the prosecution in their initiative phase of this kangaroo charade (because none actually exists). Nonetheless, despite the lack of evidence against the accused, rather than issue a judgment of acquittal last Friday, the judge punted the whole matter onward, and eventually toward the jury phase. So now we watch attorneys Mark OÂ’Mara and Don West solidify the fortress of exculpatory factors for...

RAISE YOUR VOICE, NOT YOUR HANDS Date: July 8, 2013 PIO Number: 13-7-9 The Broward Sheriff’s Office, working closely with the Sanford Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies, has coordinated a response plan in anticipation of the verdict. Freedom of expression is a constitutional right. While raising your voice is encouraged, using your hands is not. BSO has created a public service announcement with the help of kids from the Jason Taylor Foundation, H.A.N.D.Y. (Helping Abused, Neglected, Disadvantaged Youth) and basketball star James Jones of the championship Miami Heat team urging young people not to let their emotions...

<p>The shooting of Trayvon Martin has generated a great deal of attention and polarization. Much of this can be chalked up to a controversial group of activists, no small number of whom are quite powerful.</p> <p>Some refer to said group as the “Black Grievance Industry” as most of its members are African-American.</p>

Prosecutors asked a Florida judge on Monday to block the jury in the George Zimmerman trial from seeing an animated re-enactment of the shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, saying the video distorts the events of that fatal encounter. Defense lawyers want to show the video to the six-woman jury that will decide the fate of Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder and has pleaded not guilty, saying he shot Martin in self-defense. State prosecutors argued that the video fails to show the Kel Tec 9mm pistol that Zimmerman, 29, a white and Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, used...

George Zimmerman's trial defense attorney Don West recently reported he received e-mails from people threatening his daughters with rape over a controversial post on Instagram. Rachel West, who was not in the family picture, was in the courtroom Monday. In a response to a July 2nd prosecution's request to investigate the social media post, West said the family photo prompted "threats of violence" that were "vicious." West also said he was distressed that in a request to investigate the post, the prosecution had made "reckless, dangerous and inaccurate allegations." Prosecutors linked the motive for the post to witness Rachel Jeantel,...

Defense lawyers will be permitted to show that Trayvon Martin had marijuana in his system when he and George Zimmerman had their fateful encounter in a gated community in Florida last year, the judge in Zimmerman's murder trial ruled Monday. Judge Debra Nelson denied a motion by prosecutors to keep toxicology results showing THC in Martin's system from the jury, paving the way for Zimmerman's lawyers to argue the drug may have influenced the teen's behavior. Defense attorney Don West noted that in Zimmerman’s statement to the non-emergency 911 dispatcher that it appeared the person he was observing in the...

Well, first of all, my client will never be safe because there are a percentage of the population who are angry, they're upset and they may well take it out on him. So he'll never be safe.

A forensic expert testified Tuesday that Trayvon Martin's gunshot wound indicated that he was likely on top of George Zimmerman when the neighborhood watch volunteer shot him. Forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Di Maio, an expert on gunshot wounds who has written and co-authored several articles and a book on the subject, said the single shot that killed the Florida teen passed through Martin's clothing as it hung 2-4 inches from his skin, indicating that Martin was over Zimmerman and leaning forward. "If you’re lying on your back, the clothing is going to be against your chest," Di Maio testified. "So...

George Zimmerman's attorney said something Monday that is a truly sad statement about our society and the current state of America's media. Appearing on CNN's Piers Morgan Live, Mark O'Mara said that if Zimmerman is acquitted of all charges, "He'll never be safe" (video follows with transcript and commentary): [video] PIERS MORGAN: If George Zimmerman is acquitted, completely acquitted, not found guilty of second-degree murder, no lesser charge of manslaughter, and walks free, having killed somebody we know after the event was an unarmed young teenager, there is a concern that this will create a lot of ill feeling, particularly...

Immediately following the close of the State’s case on Friday, Mark O’Mara, the lawyer leading George Zimmerman’s defense team, stood before Judge Nelson and made his oral motion for a judgment of acquittal for his client (a parallel written motion was also submitted to the Court). c George Zimmerman defense counsel Mark O’Mara The motion was well-reasoned, and strongly founded on Florida’s case law. It was also doomed to fail before a Judge who has consistently denied reasonable defense motions out of hand, while rubber-stamping motions by the State that bear not the slightest relevancy to the facts of this...

On Monday, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office released a video calling on the public not to riot in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict, expected this week or next in Florida. The Sheriff’s Office released a statement explaining that it was “working closely with the Sanford Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies” to coordinate “a response plan in anticipation of the verdict.” The video, titled “Raise Your Voice, Not Your Hands,” focuses on attempting to channel reaction into non-violent response. It depicts two youngsters, one black teenage boy, one Hispanic teenage girl. “Raise your voice!” says the...

Jurors in the George Zimmerman murder trial will be able to hear defense testimony that Trayvon Martin had small amounts of marijuana in his system at the time he was shot to death in February 2012

There were some big wins for the defense today, including several important rulings just before the Court recessed for the day. By far the biggest news, however, is the utter implosion of the State’s “scream” narrative into which they had invested the heart and soul of their theory of the case. There’s a reason that the State’s last witnesses before resting were Trayvon’s mother, Sabryna Fulton, and half-brother, Jaharvis Fulton, both of whom claimed that the screaming voice on the Jenna Lauer 911 recording was that of Trayvon Martin. [photo] Tracey Martin, Trayvon Martin’s fatherThe screamer, the State was essentially...

A buddy of mine texted me a pic of this game. looks pretty ridiculous to me.

So the prosecution has rested in the Zimmerman case. I have long said words to the effect that unless the prosecution produces some surprising evidence I had not heard of before, that Zimmerman should be acquitted. Well, the time for that evidence to be presented has passed, and it hasnÂ’t manifested itself. So my original provisional conclusion is now my near-final conclusion. At this point, it would take nothing less than a confession by Zimmerman to get us to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, or something equally spectacularly surprising. And I donÂ’t think that is very likely. But...