[janmcn]

George Zimmerman's lawyers just announced they are no longer representing him and have been unable to contact him since Sunday. Zimmerman himself contacted the special prosecutors offices and requested a meeting, but was told no because he needs to be represented by an attorney. He also called Sean Hannity and had a conversation with him that has not been disclosed. His lawyers did say in their press conference that Zimmerman is not in Florida.

[manaboutown]

Zimmerman's lawyers also say they believe he is innocent and acted in self defense as they will be able to show if and when they need to come forward with the evidence.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...203437097.html

[manaboutown]

A tidbit, perhaps tangentially related to the instant case, on how the mainstream media, in this case the Washington Post, mislead the public regarding Florida's stand your ground law.
Stand Your Ground | Why the Washington Post is wrong about Stand Your Ground laws | The Daily Caller

[dillywho]

I'll probably catch it for this, but isn't doing things his way instead of how he was instructed to perform his neighborhood watch function what got him into this mess in the first place? Apparently, he doesn't listen to anyone.

[buggyone]

Originally Posted by CMANN

the reason for the castle law and the stand your ground law is to protect an honest citizen who acted in self-defense from being punished by confiscatory legal fees and lawsuits. That takes some of the silliness out of protecting yourself.

It sounds like your solution would be to let the holdup man take my money or let the lawyers take my money. Either way I don't think that I want you for a friend.

As far as I know, CMANN, even if a shooter such as Zimmerman did act in self-defense (which has or has not yet been proved), they are still going to be responsible for their own legal fees. These legal fees can easily hit $50,000 to well over $100,000 - and those are not covered by insurance, Medicare, or Social Security! Those are your out-of-pocket fees.

If I am mistaken in the responsibility for the charged person to pay their own legal fees under the "castle law" or "stand your ground" law, let me know and please show me in the laws where it says a shooter does not have to pay for legal defense. Thank you. Friendship with me has nothing to do with this.

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by RichieLion

The story told is that Martin was slamming Zimmerman's head into the sidewalk. If someone was doing that to me and I was armed; the end result would probably be the same.

So would any person, some just won't admit it!

Originally Posted by manaboutown

Zimmerman's lawyers also say they believe he is innocent and acted in self defense as they will be able to show if and when they need to come forward with the evidence.
George Zimmerman attorneys quit as counsel | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

Any surprise that was omitted?

Originally Posted by dillywho

I'll probably catch it for this, but isn't doing things his way instead of how he was instructed to perform his neighborhood watch function what got him into this mess in the first place? Apparently, he doesn't listen to anyone.

Nothing to catch, but it's not yet factually known what exactly happened afterward - only assumptions and fabrications!

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by buggyone

As far as I know, CMANN, even if a shooter such as Zimmerman did act in self-defense (which has or has not yet been proved), they are still going to be responsible for their own legal fees. These legal fees can easily hit $50,000 to well over $100,000 - and those are not covered by insurance, Medicare, or Social Security! Those are your out-of-pocket fees.

If I am mistaken in the responsibility for the charged person to pay their own legal fees under the "castle law" or "stand your ground" law, let me know and please show me in the laws where it says a shooter does not have to pay for legal defense. Thank you. Friendship with me has nothing to do with this.

You'll find exactly what the law states in Title XLVI - Chapter 776.032 of the 2011 Florida Statutes.

Ref: Statutes

[paulandjean]

If Zimmerman head was being slammed to the concrete,sure did not look like it when he was getting out of the police car. Hospital nope.Could be Trevon Martin was standing his ground when be followed by this guy. Glad Jackson and Sharpton got invovled with this,sounds like Sandford Police would have done nothing. These men brought attention to the lack of action on this case. Do not think just minorities are protesting this from the pictures I have seen on TV.

[buggyone]

Thanks for the link, Skyguy. I think the information says, though, that if someone were sued for wrongful death and it was proven they acted in self-defense, that the reasonable attorney fees would be awarded to them.

I was talking of the attorney fees that a person would have to spend in order to have it proven the death was in self-defense. I don't think those are covered but I am no attorney.

The court shall award reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).

[janmcn]

Special Prosecutor Angela Corey just announced that she will hold a press conference within 72 hours to announce new details.

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by janmcn

George Zimmerman's lawyers just announced they are no longer representing him and have been unable to contact him since Sunday. Zimmerman himself contacted the special prosecutors offices and requested a meeting, but was told no because he needs to be represented by an attorney. He also called Sean Hannity and had a conversation with him that has not been disclosed. His lawyers did say in their press conference that Zimmerman is not in Florida.

A weird turn of events. You couldn't make some of this stuff up.

In any event, dumping lawyers who who would give a crazy news conference like those guys did might not have been a bad move on Zimmerman's part, but doing it before finding replacement lawyers and also talking to Sean Hannity certainly were not the smartest moves.

[CMANN]

Originally Posted by buggyone

As far as I know, CMANN, even if a shooter such as Zimmerman did act in self-defense (which has or has not yet been proved), they are still going to be responsible for their own legal fees. These legal fees can easily hit $50,000 to well over $100,000 - and those are not covered by insurance, Medicare, or Social Security! Those are your out-of-pocket fees.

If I am mistaken in the responsibility for the charged person to pay their own legal fees under the "castle law" or "stand your ground" law, let me know and please show me in the laws where it says a shooter does not have to pay for legal defense. Thank you. Friendship with me has nothing to do with this.

Since, as the evidence in this case seemed to show Zimmerman acted in self-defense. The police evidently believing this took no action. Hence, the legal fees. However Zimmerman could have been subjected to civil lawsuits. Is the civil lawsuits that the law protects against. If there were evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Zimmerman there would be no protection of any kind under the law. What has happened is that the race baiters are now trying to change the playing field for their usual racist reasons.

I in no way believe that Zimmerman got up that morning and said "*********." I do believe that he shot a man in self-defense because of his testimony the supporting evidence and the lack of evidence to the contrary. I just wish that the race baiters leave the poor guy alone. Stop trying to influence the justice system. Let the case be settled.

It's no wonder that the guy is in hiding. A bounty is on his head that apparently our attorney general and his Justice Department don't seem to find the illegal. People want to punish him because he shot a black man.

I stand by letting the case the result without the influence of a clearly prejudiced community.

Those are my thoughts.

P.S. Self-defense is not a crime. It is not the responsibility of Zimmerman to prove his innocents. The burdon of proof is on the state.

[paulandjean]

"Leave the poor guy alone"??? Wow ......"Since the evidence in this case ,Zimmerman acted in self-defense? Not defense you mean offense. Race Baiters? You mean all the photos on TV of all races of people protesting.

[redwitch]

I'm not convinced Trayvon is the innocent boy the news media has made him out to be. At the same time, I'm definitely not convinced he deserved to die. I can easily see a teen being followed and getting the adrenaline going. Then, the person following starts to turn around. Adrenaline, hormones and general male machoness take over. Comments are probably made on both sides. Trayvon may have attacked (probably did) but not enough to do serious damage. Zimmerman goes down. Zimmerman is also macho and no punk is going to knock him to the ground. Out comes the gun and Trayvon is dead.

So, if this scenario is even halfway correct, did Zimmerman commit a crime given Florida's laws? I think so (okay, hope so) but not sure what laws might have been broken. What would have happened if Zimmerman had announced (in a friendly way) that he was Neighborhood Watch and just wanted to know if Trayvon was lost or something rather than following him? Would Trayvon have attacked Zimmerman if Zimmerman had told him that he'd called the police and they were on the way? There are so many things Zimmerman could have done to defuse the situation before it hit the point that he was probably attacked. I doubt Zimmerman wanted to defuse the situation. He wanted to prove he was a man and he did and a boy died.

The reality is that few teenage boys would have acted much differently than Trayvon did. They are at an age that they have to prove they are men and that means you don't follow them without some sort of a confrontation, not if they think they have the upper hand and when someone turns around and starts to leave, they think they're safe. Stupid? Yes. Arrogant? Yes. Murderous? No. Deserving of death? No!!! Zimmerman started this mess. Zimmerman ended this mess. Hopefully, there will be some sort of punishment for the death of this boy.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by redwitch

I'm not convinced Trayvon is the innocent boy the news media has made him out to be. At the same time, I'm definitely not convinced he deserved to die. I can easily see a teen being followed and getting the adrenaline going. Then, the person following starts to turn around. Adrenaline, hormones and general male machoness take over. Comments are probably made on both sides. Trayvon may have attacked (probably did) but not enough to do serious damage. Zimmerman goes down. Zimmerman is also macho and no punk is going to knock him to the ground. Out comes the gun and Trayvon is dead.

So, if this scenario is even halfway correct, did Zimmerman commit a crime given Florida's laws? I think so (okay, hope so) but not sure what laws might have been broken. What would have happened if Zimmerman had announced (in a friendly way) that he was Neighborhood Watch and just wanted to know if Trayvon was lost or something rather than following him? Would Trayvon have attacked Zimmerman if Zimmerman had told him that he'd called the police and they were on the way? There are so many things Zimmerman could have done to defuse the situation before it hit the point that he was probably attacked. I doubt Zimmerman wanted to defuse the situation. He wanted to prove he was a man and he did and a boy died.

The reality is that few teenage boys would have acted much differently than Trayvon did. They are at an age that they have to prove they are men and that means you don't follow them without some sort of a confrontation, not if they think they have the upper hand and when someone turns around and starts to leave, they think they're safe. Stupid? Yes. Arrogant? Yes. Murderous? No. Deserving of death? No!!! Zimmerman started this mess. Zimmerman ended this mess. Hopefully, there will be some sort of punishment for the death of this boy.

That makes a lot of sense. You are trying to reason things out by yourself rather than just following something you heard on TV. Good for you. What you say is very very probable.

As Avogado posted....it gets muddier and muddier. Now George Zimmerman's lawyers quit and have a news conference?

If everyone doesn't calm down we are gonna have a race war.

Because black youth across the country hit the headlines every day being murdered and murdering each other, it makes people pre judge. Because people are frightened they think these gun laws are keeping them safe. I don't know. I just don't know.

This is a very tough call. I think it is gonna get way uglier and I am beginning to fear personally what the outcome will be. I fear widespread violence and people who are innocent witll be harmed big time and killed.

This has to stop escalating.