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Should news of Zimmerman molesting cousin be admitted in Martin case?

 
 
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 05:32 pm
A female cousin alleged that George Zimmerman sexually molested her beginning when she was 6 years old.
Do you think this information should be included in the case or should it have been blocked?
 
Lustig Andrei
 
  3  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 05:33 pm
@nqyringmind,
nqyringmind wrote:

A female cousin alleged that George Zimmerman sexually molested her beginning when she was 6 years old.
Do you think this information should be included in the case or should it have been blocked?


Is it in some way germane to the charge against him? I don't think so.
roger
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 05:48 pm
@Lustig Andrei,
Agree
tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 05:56 pm
@roger,
Ditto on the agreement. He'll likely have his separate day in court with this new charge if its formerly pressed.

And in this hypothetical molestation charge case, his shooting of T. Martin is equally not relevant to the sexual offense case.
0 Replies
 
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 06:00 pm
@Lustig Andrei,
Me either. Plus it may be, or not be, suspect testimony.

Red herring flag re the trial. If there is a case on that situation, that's another matter for other adjudication.

Past that, I can't foresee a court admitting it.
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 06:05 pm
@ossobuco,
Of course, now it is all over worldwide news. Which may be the point, perhaps complicated.
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realjohnboy
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 06:22 pm
I agree that it is not relevant t0 the Treyvon Martin shooting.
0 Replies
 
firefly
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 08:02 pm
@nqyringmind,
The sexual molestation allegation has nothing to do with the case against Zimmerman. It won't be included. And it's not going to result in any other charges being brought against him.

But the same woman also claims that the Zimmerman family was racially biased. And that might come in if the state wants to pursue the idea that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled by Zimmerman--although I really don't think they will do that.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/george-zimmerman_n_1676729.html

I'm not sure the witness statement could have been blocked because of Florida's Sunshine Laws regarding open government records--it was evidence collected by the state, even if it's evidence that won't be used.

Neither the state nor the defense really wanted the evidence in this case released to the public. It was the media who pressed for the release of the evidence, under the Sunshine Laws, and they won.
firefly
 
  1  
Reply Mon 16 Jul, 2012 09:23 pm
@firefly,
I was correct when I surmised that the judge couldn't block release of this evidence because of Florida's Sunshine Laws regarding public records. And it was the media who wanted the evidence released.
Quote:
Arguing that the allegation was irrelevant to the murder charge, O’Mara, appeared at two hearings before Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester in an bid to seal the witness’ statement. Lester twice ruled against him.

O’Mara filed a motion Monday morning to put a stop to the judge’s ruling just minutes before the statement’s scheduled release. Absent an order from the court to hold off, the Duval County state attorney, who has charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder in the killing of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin, released the statement, along with audio of more than 100 telephone calls Zimmerman made from jail.

The judge said in his ruling that nothing in Florida’s public-records law allows for such information to be kept secret. By law, evidence the prosecution turns over to the defense — called “discovery” — is public record. There are exceptions for things such as telecommunications records and confessions.

Lawyers for The Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel and other news media argued for the release of the statement and about 150 of Zimmerman’s recorded jailhouse calls. At a hearing last month, assistant state attorney Bernie de la Rionda said he might call “witness 9” as a rebuttal witness at trial.

“She certainly would be a rebuttal witness very similar to that in the Sandusky trial, showing that he has a history of violence and manipulation,” the attorney for the slain teen’s family, Benjamin Crump, said in reference to the child-molestation case involving former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. “Zimmerman’s mentality is very relevant to this trial.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/16/2897557_p2/zimmerman-defense-attorney-will.html#storylink=cpy


And it seems that the state might use this witness in some way.
0 Replies
 
 

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