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The state of FL v. George Zimmerman

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TheL8Elvis said:
Talkleft has an interesting point here:
One other thing: Witness 8 said she texted Trayvon after his phone went dead. The defense provides the phone record showing the text that went unanswered. It was at 7:08:03.
[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/thum_50044519e920408456.jpg[/qimg]
The gunshot wasn't until 7:16:55, almost 9 minutes later.
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Since your quote, Talkleft has edited that post:

[Deleted: photos of last text of W8 at 7:08 pm. The phone records show a 4 minute call at 7:12, so there's no reason to believe his phone went dead before 7:08.]
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BenBurch said:
Totally unlikely to be admissible at appeal. Appeals are not for evidence.
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You can't appeal with new evidence, however you could appeal that evidence that should have been admitted wasn't allowed.
 
I find this so confusing. I was told that evidence of prior bad actions, like George assaulting a police officer, his fiancee, raping his cousin over ten years, boasting about hating Mexicans and getting away with crimes, was irrelevant to what happened that night.

Who knew? Putting the E in JREF!
 
Unabogie said:
I find this so confusing. I was told that evidence of prior bad actions, like George assaulting a police officer, his fiancee, raping his cousin over ten years, boasting about hating Mexicans and getting away with crimes, was irrelevant to what happened that night.

Who knew? Putting the E in JREF!
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I was told that GZ's prior behavior was admissible, but only Trayvon's behavior that day was admissible.

Of course, it was Trayvon's team that held that opinion.

And we couldn't even learn the truth about what he did that day either.
 
My understanding is that it will work like this: Whatever door is opened for evidence admissibility will swing both ways (sorry about the mixed metaphor).

In short, if Martin's past comes in, so does Zimmerman's.

So we'll have the private photos and texts of a teenage boy against the documented incidences of violence and criminal behavior of a grown man.
 
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LTC8K6 said:
I was told that GZ's prior behavior was admissible, but only Trayvon's behavior that day was admissible.

Of course, it was Trayvon's team that held that opinion.

And we couldn't even learn the truth about what he did that day either.
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The only time period that matters with the murder victim in this case is the 20 minutes surrounding his death. The moral character of a victim is not how we determine culpability in a murder.
 
BenBurch said:
The only time period that matters with the murder victim in this case is the 20 minutes surrounding his death. The moral character of a victim is not how we determine culpability in a murder.
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Let's not forget that George gets to explain his past to a jury, while Trayvon cannot possibly explain anything found on his phone. Were they photos taken by him or someone else? Were his text messages jokes? About video games? Meant to impress? Just nonsense? He can't defend himself, can he?
 
Unabogie said:
He can't defend himself, can he?
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The purpose of the trial is to test the evidence that the state asserts - not to defend or impugn Trayvon Martin. The action is styled State v. Zimmerman, not Martin v. Zimmerman for a reason.
 
The attorneys for George Zimmerman will be in court today for hearings on what should be some hotly-contested motions. So far the following issues will be on the docket:

State's Motion in Limine as to Appropriate Penalty or Disregard of Law - The state is seeking to prohibit testimony by witnesses or statements by attorneys regarding the appropriate penalty for Zimmerman or suggesting that the law be disregarded.

State's Motion in Limine Regarding Self Serving Hearsay Statements of Defendant - The state is seeking to limit self-serving hearsay statements without proper foundation (i.e. Zimmerman testifying to them.)

State's Motion in Limine Regarding Defendant's Prior Criminal History - The state is seeking to prohibit testimony regarding Zimmerman's lack of previous felony convictions.

State's Motion to Limit/Exclude Improper Opinion Evidence - The state is seeking to prohibit statements or testimony regarding the propriety of Zimmerman's charges or his guilt by family or law enforcement.

State's Motion in Limine Regarding Trayvon Martin - The state is seeking to prohibit testimony regarding Trayvon Martin being suspended, having ever been in a fight, use of marijuana, any social media names or content, ever wearing fake gold teeth, performance in school, text messages before Feb. 26 and text messages on Feb. 26 that are not relevant.

State's Motion for Protective Order/Order in Limine Regarding Toxicology Reports - The state is seeking to prohibit testimony or statements from witnesses regarding Martin's toxicology report.

State's Motion Asking the Court to Order Defendant to Comply with their Discovery Obligations - The state is complaining that Zimmerman has not released all of the witness materials they have collected.

State's Motion to Compel Shellie Zimmerman to Testify at Deposition - The state is seeking an order from the court limiting Shellie Zimmerman's right to invoke Fifth Amendment protections at deposition, citing the qualified immunity for deposition testimony.

Defendant's Motion for Anonymous Jury - Zimmerman is seeking a sequestered venire and jury, that jurors name remain protected by the court and an order prohibiting media members from photographing or interviewing jurors or revealing any information about their residence or location during trial.

Motion to Allow Jury to Inspect Incident Scene - Zimmerman is asking the court to allow the jury to inspect the area of the shooting during trial.

Motion for Evidentiary Hearing Regarding the Admissibility of Expert Opinion Testimony - Zimmerman is asking for an evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of voice recognition testimony. The state has filed a response asserting that a hearing is not appropriate. Zimmerman has filed motions asking to add expert witnesses to their list for this hearing and to allow these witnesses to testify via video conference.

Motion to Set Reasonable Fee: Zimmerman want the court to set a fee for Owen's deposition.

Defendant's Motion to Continue - Zimmerman is asking to delay the trial in order to investigate Reich's expert claims regarding word identification (as opposed to voice identification) and in light of the recent cell phone data disclosure by the state.

State's Motion for Gag Order - The state is seeking to have the court prohibit attorneys from commenting on this case.

State's Motion in Limine Regarding CVSA Testing - The state is seeking to prohibit testimony regarding Zimmerman's voice stress analysis test performed by SPD on the night of the shooting.

Motion for Sanctions against State Attorney's Office for Discovery Violations and Request for Judicial Inquiry into Violations - Zimmerman asserts that the SAO lied when claiming to the court that they have no reports regarding Martin's phone data. Zimmerman also asserts that the binary data file does not satisfy the state's Brady obligation to inform Zimmerman about the exculpatory information contained on Martin's phone.

The hearing is set to begin at 9:00 AM CDT. It will be carried live by HLN. I like to watch the raw pool feed here.
 
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-jurors-...-143106948.html;_ylt=A2KJ2UhbzaRRASUAsnfQtDMD
Jurors who will consider whether George Zimmerman committed murder when he fatally shot Trayvon Martin will not be able to travel to the crime scene during his trial.
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson on Tuesday nixed the idea from Zimmerman's attorneys and also ruled against a defense request that the pool of jury candidates be sequestered during jury selection.
The judge also said jurors will be referred to by their jury numbers and prohibited their faces from being photographed.
...
Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled Tuesday that Zimmerman's attorney won't be able to mention Trayvon Martin's marijuana use, his suspension from school and his past fighting during opening statements.
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One significant fact that came out of today's hearing concerned Zimmerman's motion for sanctions and inquiry. According to a private attorney representing an IT analyst currently working for the State Attorney's Office, this SAO employee contacted him about evidence that was purposefully withheld by from the defense - the photos and deleted texts released in Defendant's Third Supplemental Discovery. That attorney phoned MOM some weeks ago asking if he had received these items, which O'Mara had not. In response to this disclosure, MOM's co-counsel, Don West, had the court inquire if the state had received any reports. BDLR answered no, which according to this witness is a false statement. The court will hold a hearing on discovery and issue a subpoena to the analyst June 6 or 7 to sort this out.

[ETA: Corrected below by LTC8K6]
 
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Cylinder said:
One significant fact that came out of today's hearing concerned Zimmerman's motion for sanctions and inquiry. According to a private attorney representing an IT analyst currently working for the State Attorney's Office, this SAO employee contacted him about evidence that was purposefully withheld by the defense - the photos and deleted texts released in Defendant's Third Supplemental Discovery. That attorney phoned MOM some weeks ago asking if he had received these items, which O'Mara had not. In response to this disclosure, MOM's co-counsel, Don West, had the court inquire if the state had received any reports. BDLR answered no, which according to this witness is a false statement. The court will hold a hearing on discovery and issue a subpoena to the analyst June 6 or 7 to sort this out.
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"from the defense", correct?
 
Rulings from today:

-Martin's alleged marijuana use will not be mentioned in trial.
-Martin's text messages before his death cannot be used.
-Martin's school records and history of fighting can be mentioned outside of opening statements.
-Shellie Zimmerman can be deposed by the state, but she will be able to invoke her Fifth Amendment right on a question-by-question basis.
-Neither side can mention social media info in opening statements. It must pass authentication to be admissible in court.
-Marijuana in Martin's system can't be allowed in opening statements. Nelson will determine if it can be used in trial.
-The court will not sequester the entire jury pool. Jurors will remain anonymous during the trial.
-The jury will not view the shooting scene in person.
 
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