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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Foolish Defense Motion to have Jury view the crime scene.


O'Mara Motions that jury be allowed to view crime scene by Lonnie Starr

Atty Crump answers yet another attempt to depose him.

Friday, May 10, 2013

States Motion for Shellie to depose

 The Professor covered spousal privilege here:
 =======================================
Text version:  

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUT
IN AND FOR SEMINOLE COUNTY,  FLORIDA

STATE OF FLORIDA
VS
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN              CASE NO. 2012-001083-CFA
                              SA NO:  1712F04573

STATES MOTION REQUESTING COURT TO COMPEL  (pdf link)
SHELLIE ZIMMERMAN TO TESTIFY AT DEPOSITION 

The State of Florida, by and through the undersigned Assistant State

Attorney, persuant to Rule 3.220,  Florida Rules of Crimnal Procedure, 

and Chapter 27,  Florida Statuets, request this Honorable Court compel

shellie Zimmerman to testify at Deposition.

FACTS

1.  On 4/20/2013,  Shellie Zimmerman was listed as a witness in the

State's 14th Supplemental Discovery.

2.  On 4/17/2013,  Defendant filed a Second Amended Witness List

listing specified witnesses including; "Any witness identified through

State's discovery  not otherwise disclosed here".

3.  The State after receiving Defendant's witness list and conferring

with Shellie Zimmerman's attorney,  Kelly Sims,  scheduled Shellie

Zimmmerman for deposition on 5/1/2013,  Shellie Zimmerman appeared for

deposition with her attorney,  Also present were Defendant's attorneys,

 Mark O'Mara and Don West.  After approximately twenty minutes of

questioning by the undersigned Mr. O'Mara asked to take a break and

left 
                    -1-

the room with Mr.  West,  Mr. Sims and Shellie Zimmerman.

5. After a private discussion Mr.  O'Mara,  Mr.  West,  Mr. Sims and

Mrs. Zimmerman returned to the deposition room.

6. Mr. Sims then asked the undersigned whether Shellie Zimmerman was

listed as a witness by Defendant.  I informed Mr. Sims that Shellie

zimmerman was listed as a defense witness and we would like to continue

her scheduled deposition.  Mr. O'Mara and Mr.  West stated Shellie

Zimmerman was not listed as a witness by Defendant.  Mr. Sims then told

the undersigned that since Shellie Zimmerman was not listed as a

defense witness and had a pending case she would assert her 5th

Amendment right and refuse to answer any addtional questions.

7.  The undersigned informed Mr. Sims of the following:

•  The State disagreed with Defendant's attorney and believed Shellie

Zimmerman was listed as a defense witness in George Zimmerman's case.

•  Mrs.  Zimmerman would not be questioned about her pending case and

Mr. Sims could object if he felt any questions dealth with her pending

case.

•  By virtue of being subpeonaed,  any statements (if they were

incriminating) made by Mrs.  Zimmerman in the deposition could not be

used to incriminate her,  except if she committed perjury during the

deposition.  (Mrs.  Zimmerman was also informed of this).

• If Defense Counsel was correct and Mrs.  Zimmerman had not been

listed as a witness by Defendant she would still be subject to appear

and answer any questions under a Chapter 27 subpoena which I would be

glad to prepare and provide.

8.  Mr. Sims informed the undersigned that Mrs. Zimmerman would still

refuse to answer
                  -2-

any additional question and would assert her 5th Amendment rights. 

Mrs. Zimmerman then invoked her 5th Amendment rights and upon advice of

Mr. Sims refused to answer any additional questions.  The state and Mr.

Sims agreed to continue the dieposition and bring this matter before

this Honorable Court to argue the matter and obtain a ruling from the

court.

9.  Later that date the undersigned reviewed Defendant's discovery

--witness list,  and verified Shellie Zimmerman was listed as described

above.  The undersigned informed Mr.  Sims that was the case and told

him a Chapter 27 subpoena was not required since the deposition

subpoena was still valid,  and inquired whether Mrs.  Zimmerman was

available to continue the depostion the next day.

10.  Mr.  Sims informed the undersigned that he would not agree to

continue the deposition until the Court determined whether Mrs.

Zimmerman had to testify.

   LEGAL ARGUMENT

11.  Shellie Zimmerman was listed as a witness by Defendant.

12.  Shellie Zimmerman has pertinent information in this case that is

not priviledge or deals with her pending case.  For instance,  Mrs.

Zimmerman had contact with Defendant and other witnesses befor and

after the murder,  responded to the murder scene,  and was present when

Defendant made statements to witnesses about his contact with and

shooting of Trayvon Martin.

13.  F.R.C.P. 3.220 provides for the depostion of witnesses.

14.  If the Court were to determine that Shellie Zimmerman was not

listed as a defense witness as Defendant's Counsel asserted,  Mrs. 

Zimmerman would still be subject to appear and testify under Chapter

27,  Florida Statues.

WHEREFORE,  the State requests this Honorable Court compel Shellie

Zimmerman to testify at deposition.

             CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
____________________________________________________

I, HERBY CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing has been furnished by

email to Mark O'Mara,  Esq.  Don West, Esq.  and Kelly Sims, Esq,  this

9th day of May, 2013

ANGELA B. COREY
STATE ATTORNEY

BY  SIGNATURE
Bernardo de la Rionda
Bar Number 385841
Assistant State Attorney
==============================================================

SearchingMind says:
May 10, 2013 at 3:39 am

Huge development

From the avalanche of Motions filed recently, the most (and only) significant one is, IMO, the ‘Motion to Compel Shellie Zimmerman to testify at deposition’. The Professor covered spousal privilege here: POST ON FREDERICK LEATHERMAN'S LAW BLOG BUT, there is a new twist, a new factor in the equation: Shellie Zimmerman is asserting her rights under the 5th Amendment – NOT spousal privilege. There is a difference between the two (i.e. 5th Amendment Rights and spousal privilege). And that difference is huge in the present case, IMO. A careful reading of the ‘Motion to Compel’ tells me that Shellie did indeed answer a few questions during the deposition and then asserted the 5th with regard to other questions (unrelated to her current perjury charge). Shellie does NOT want to incriminate herself. That’s ominous. Something is up. What is it?

New Zimmerman motions: Defense wants anonymous jury; state wants to question Shellie

First George Zimmerman 

trial subpoena goes out

The day before the deadline for pre-trial motions in the George Zimmerman case, there was a flurry of filings Thursday.

George Zimmerman's attorneys filed paperwork asking his judge to allow trial jurors to visit the scene of Trayvon Martin's shooting, and also to sequester his jury and keep their identities of a secret.
Meanwhile, prosecutors filed a motion asking Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to order Zimmerman's wife, Shellie, to answer questions in a pre-trial deposition.

The defense argues visiting the shooting scene would allow jurors to better understand the vantage point of individual eye- and ear-witnesses.

That request is unusual but not unprecedented. Typically, when a judge agrees to such an outing, he or she orders a van or bus to transport jurors together.

 In a separate filing, O'Mara asked the judge to keep the names of potential jurors secret. He asked for the jury to be sequestered, citing the intense media focus on the case.

He also referenced the Casey Anthony murder case, in which jurors were sequestered and anonymous during trial. Their names were eventually released after trial.

O'Mara notes the Anthony jurors were the subject of "contempt" after their not-guilty verdict.
READ  MORE

Motion for Jury to inspect the SCENE

FIND THE ORIGINAL PDF FILE HERE

IN THE CIRCUT COURT OF THE
EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUT,  IN AND
FOR SEMINOLE COUNTY,  FLORIDA

STATE OF FLORIDA      CASE NO 2012-001083-CFA
--Plaintiff,

vs.

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN,
--Defendant
_____________________

MOTION TO ALLOW JURY TO INSPECT THE INCIDENT SCENE DURING TRIAL

COMES NOW, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN,  by and through his undersigned counsel,

persuant to florida Statue § 918.05,  and files this Motion to Allow

Jury to Inspect the Incident Scene During Trial,  which is located in

teh Retreat at Twin Lakes Subdivision in Sandford,  Florida, including

retreat View Circle,  Twin Trees Lane and Long Oak Way,  and as ground

therefore states as follows:

1.  the incident in this case,  which occurred on February 26, 2012, 

was located in the Retreat at Twin Lakes Subdivision,  including 

Retreat View Circle,  Twin Trees Lane,  and Long Oak Way.

The prelude to the insicent is documented by Mr. Zimmerman's

non-emercency call,  in which very specific locations are noted at

specifi time markers in the recorded phone call.  The incident itself

was documented by a witness' 911 call,  which recorded the final 42

seconds leading up to the gunshot and the gunshot itself,  which

allowed investigators to determine the exact time and place of the

incident.

Because so much is known about the specific timeline of the events

leading up to and including the incident,  and because so much is known

about the discreet geography of the scene of
Page 1 of 3
---------------------------

the incident,  details of witness testimony related to time and

location will receive extraordinary scrutiny by a jury,  perhaps down

to seconds and inches.

the facts of this case are very setting-specifi as to how the events of

that evening occured,  Specifically, there wre several witnessess who

are "ear witnesses",  in that they heard certain sounds, or voices, in

certain areas where the events unfolded.

There are also some witnesses who viewed certain parts of the event,

though there is no witness who vied the entire event.  All of the

wintesses, both "ear witnesses" and "eye witnesses",  have different

perspectives on the event which happened in a relatively discreet

geographical area,  and over a very discreet, and short, period of

time.

The specific qualities of each vantage point would have affected

witnesses' ability to hear and see the incident,  and a first hand

understanding of the qualities of each vantage point will help a jury

assess the reliability and weight of witness testimony.

2.  Each witness' perspective,  including their ability to hear and

their ability to see what they will be testify to would be best

explained to the jury with a view of the actual scene.  In this way, 

the jury can best decide how reliable each witness' testimony is, and

what weight to give the wintess; ability to see that which the witness

testifies to having seen. and to hear that which the
witness testifies to haviang heard.

3.   Persuant to Florida Statue § 918.05,  a view by the jury is

appropriate when a court determines that it is proper for the jury to

view a place where the event occurred.  The Court may then order that

the jury be brought,  as a whole,  to the location in the custody of a

proper officer.  As atated in § 918.05,  the Court shal admonish the

officer that no person,  including the officer,  shall be allowed to

communicate with the jury about any subject connected with the trial. 

Further, the Statute states that the judge and the defendant shall be

preent,  and that the prosecution attorney and defense counsel may be

present at the view.

4.   Defense counsel requests that they be available for the jury view,

and that they partake
Page 2 of 3
------------------------------------

in the process necessary to properly secure the secen and to protect

the integrity of the jury during the view.

WHEREFORE,  the Defendant respectfully requests this Honorable Court to

allow the jury to inspect the incident scene during trial for the

reasons stated above.

Respectfully submitted this 9th day of May, 2013.

Signature Mark O'Mara Esquire
-----------------------------
Florida Bar No.  359701
O'Mara Law Group
1416 East Concord Street
Orlando,  Florida 32803
Telephone:  (407) 898-5151
Facsimlie:  (407) 898-2468
E-Mail:  Mark@markomaralaw.com
Co-Counsel for Defendant

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
-------------------------
 I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has

been furnished by Facsimilie/E-Mail this 9th day of May,  2013 to

Bernie de la Rionda, Assistant State Attorney and Florida 32202-3429, 

and to Donald R.  West,  Esquire,  636 West Yale Street,  Orlando, 

Florida 32804.

signature Mark M.  O'Mara
____________________________
MARK M. O'MARA,  ESQUIRE
 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

THE SCREAMS


STOP AND FRISK

NY police challenged on illegal stops and searches - USA Today

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-16/nypd...stops.../1
May 16, 2012 – N.Y. police challenged on illegal stops and searches ... of discriminating against blacks and Hispanics with stops and searches without cause. ..... I blame the educational system in this country for pacifying our youth and ...
 

Stop and search: the way forward-conference report - Share research

www.academia.edu/.../Stop_and_search_the_way_forward-conference_r...
I look forward to all of us achieving positive action on stop and search together. ... Unfair disproportionality in stop and search practices amongst Black and Minority .... Following a series of workshops and buffet lunch, Youth and Adult Open ...
 

DISGRACEFUL!! BLACK YOUTH STOPPED "50 TIMES" TO SUE ...

beforeitsnews.com/.../disgraceful-black-youth-stopped-50-times-to-sue-l...
Aug 25, 2012 – The Met police is 11 times more likely to stop and search black people ... I'm trying to move the family to a different area that will be safer for us.
 

Stop And Search Gifts - CartoonStock

www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/stop_and_search_gifts.asp
Stop And Search gifts from the CartoonStock directory - the world's largest on-line collection of ... Black youth asking a policeman about racism in the policeforce ...
 
 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Owen Forensic Services, LLC offers one of the most
sophisticated digital audio and video processing
laboratories presently available. With 35 years
of experience, Thomas J. Owen, an internationally
known forensic expert is the Chairman-Emeritus of the
American Board of Recorded Evidence.

JENNIFER OWENS PRESIDENT

I - Introduction

  The forensic science of voice identification has come a long way from when it was first introduced in the American courts back in the mid 1960's. In the early days of this identification technique there was little research to support the theory that human voices are unique and could be used as a means for identification. There was also no standardization of how an identification was reached, or even training or qualifications necessary to perform the analysis. Voice comparisons were made solely on the pattern analysis of a few commonly used words. Due to the newness of the technique there were only a few people in the world who performed voice identification analysis and were capable of explaining it to a court. Gradually the process became known to other scientists who voiced concerns, not as to the validity of the analysis, but as to the lack of substantial research demonstrating the reliability of the technique. They felt that the technique should not be used in the courtroom without more documentation. Thus the battle lines were drawn over the admissibility of voice identification evidence with proponents claiming a valid, reliable identification process and opponents claiming more research must be completed before the process should be used in courtrooms.

Today voice identification analysis has matured into a sophisticated identification technique, using the latest technology science has to offer. The research, which is still continuing today, demonstrates the validity and reliability of the process when performed by a trained and certified examiner using established, standardized procedures. Voice identification experts are found all over the world. No longer limited to the visual comparison of a few words, the comparison of human voices now focuses on every aspect of the words spoken; the words themselves, the way the words flow together, and the pauses between them. Both aural and spectrographic analysis are combined to form the conclusion about the identity of the voices in question.

The road to admissibility of voice identification evidence in the courts of the United States has not been without its potholes. Many courts have had to rule on this issue without having access to all the facts. Trial strategies and budgets have resulted in incomplete pictures for the courts. To compound the problem, courts have utilized different standards of admission resulting in different opinions as to the admissibility of voice identification evidence. Even those courts which have claimed to use the same standard of admissibility have interpreted it in a variety of ways resulting in a lack of consistency. Although many courts have denied admission to voice identification evidence, none of the courts excluding the spectrographic evidence have found the technique unreliable. Exclusion has always been based on the fact that the evidence presented did not present a clear picture of the technique's acceptance in the scientific community and as such, the court was reluctant to rely on that evidence. The majority of courts hearing the issue have admitted spectrographic voice identification evidence.

II - THE SOUND SPECTROGRAPH

READ MORE

Monday, May 6, 2013

Zimmerman: O’Mara admits he cannot prove defendant utters terrified shriek

FREDRICK LEATHERMAN'S LAW BLOG

SOME MORE PHOTOS OF RATL - 711- SAMS CLUB-COLONIAL VILLAGE- RINEHART ROAD   (click on one photo to enlarge it,  then navigate using your left/right arrow keys)

Cries for help: Is it Zimmerman or Trayvon?

 Trayvon Martin | See all 221 items

 By Amanda Sloane

NEED TO KNOW



Sunday, May 5, 2013

Trayvon Martin Case: Prosecutors didn't violate discovery rules, judge says CBS News‎

Trayvon Martin case: Zimmerman waives 'stand your ground' hearing



Charles Hurley, former chief of Miami-Dade County
Public Schools police, was cleared of sexual
harassment allegations by a district investigator.
Walter Michot / Miami Herald Staf

The search of Trayvon Martin’s backpack in school was unreasonable and unlawful



George Zimmerman gains more than 100 pounds since fatally shooting Trayvon Martin

The murder defendant now tips the scales at more than 300 pounds amid what a spokesman calls ‘an incredibly stressful situation.’ 

Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 2013, 7:41 PM
George Zimmerman has gained 110 pounds since
the shooting, when he described himself as 5 feet, 8
inches tall and 194 pounds. A trial consultant said
weight gain might hinder a defendant facing a
violent crime charge.
[His official weight taken at the station that night
was 207 lbs]
 

 

Murder defendant George Zimmerman, accused of killing Florida teen Trayvon Martin last year, tips the scales at more than 300 pounds, undergoing a substantial weight gain since his April 2012 arrest.
The 29-year-old, facing a second-degree murder charge, has ballooned 110 pounds since the night he fatally shot the 17-year-old Martin, a spokesman for Zimmerman’s attorney told the Daily News.
RELATED: TRAYVON MARTIN'S FAMILY SETTLES CIVIL CASE AGAINST HOUSING COMPLEX FOR $1 MILLION
“I think it’s an incredibly stressful situation for George, and we all handle stress differently,” said Shawn Vincent, a spokesman for Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara. “He does live in hiding, and he’s uncomfortable being out very often. So that contributes to it.”