O'Mara will be happy to stand up for any defense witnesses who are the right color.

I think Chip is correct. I think the only way Nelson might agree to rule on the merits of a motion for immunity is in the event of a hung jury. That would convert the immunity motion back to a pre-trial motion: pre the retrial. Easy work for Nelson, she denies the JOA motion and the immunity motion at the same time, no need for another evidentiary immunity hearing.

The initial description of an "Immunity Hearing" being done early on... was (in part) to avoid the time, trouble and COST of a full trial.....

... what happened to that?

Also....... what happened to the use of Grand Jury...... it seems like a GREAT feature of American Justice....

How can political shenanigans just do away with it... resulting in this sort of mess.

This case is a farce...... oops I think I said that already about a year ago

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

A judge demanding a defendant to waive a right on the record just had me stumped! Chip's comment, along with various records filed at the court, sure leaves me thinking there is only one reason Nelson did that.

It's like the writing is on the wall. Bernie even noted in his filing he does not approve of an immunity hearing merged with or post trial. Then Nelson forced GZ to testify, after the date of her order had passed, that he was fully aware of the status:

April 26, 2013
"Any Self-Defense Immunity ...motion shall be filed ...on or before

April 30, 2013
Judge: “Is it your decision to not have a pretrial immunity hearing …freely and voluntarily and knowingly made?”

Zimmerman: “Yes, your honor.”

O'Mara has been hinting to the press that he may use that law later (merge...). Why didn't O'Mara note he reserved the right to an immunity hearing on some date after the Ordered date had expired in any of the motions or responses he has filed?

I had a totally different take on that. I thought when West looked confused, he was expressing "What the he$$ are you talking about?" and it made Bernie's questioning look stupid.

Exactly what I was thinking. Well, not exactly, your words are muuuch better.

Not to argue with you at all. But, when I read this I had a thought. Maybe MOM and West did exactly what they intended to do. If MOM had been objecting he might have been interferring with West making Bernie look bad, which I think he did. They probably both figured that West could hold his own. I think it was good that West made Bernie clarify what he was actually asking.

It bears repeating.

I think Richard Hornsby had a good article that backed up my feelings why MOM/West/George did in court Tuesday.

http://blog.richardhornsby.com/2013/05/ ... d-defense/

That's a good one to share here, thanks!

While not Hornsby's biggest fan, I agree with what he has reasoned here and thanks for sharing!

GZ doesn't stand a snowball's chance in Orlando of being granted ANYTHING by this judge. With this in mind, it rightfully turns into weighing pros vs cons and I believe the CONS rule. MOM/West did the right thing.

Zimmerman attorneys depose Trayvon Martin's stepmother, cousin

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel
1:31 p.m. EDT, May 2, 2013

Attorneys in the George Zimmerman second-degree murder case have deposed Trayvon Martin's stepmother and cousin, according to records made public today.

Tomorrow several of the defendant's neighbors from the Sanford subdivision where Trayvon was shot are to be deposed, one has reported.

Attorneys for both sides continue to question potential witnesses about the case, which is set for trial June 10 in Sanford.

Paperwork made public today shows that attorneys for the prosecution and defense were in Miami Thursday and Friday and deposed 12 people, including Trayvon's step-mother and cousin.

The names of all but one – Trayvon's cousin – were not in the deposition notice.

It's not clear who the others are or what they told attorneys.

But in court Tuesday, Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda referred to the sworn testimony of a Miami-Dade schools official.

[...] Trayvon was a junior at Dr. Michael Krops High School in Miami-Dade and was on suspension at the time because school officials found an empty marijuana baggie in his backpack.

On Oct. 19, over opposition from the state and Trayvon’s family, Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson ordered the Miami-Dade school system to surrender Trayvon’s school records to defense attorneys.

On Tuesday, the judge signed a new order, requiring the school district to surrender all records and evidence related to a specific school incident in 2011. Her order, however, does not spell out the details of that incident, only its case number.

Trayvon’s family attorney, Benjamin Crump, did not respond to a phone call about the new order. Neither did defense attorney Mark O’Mara.

In the past Crump has called Trayvon’s school records irrelevant to the second-degree murder case.

....more at link
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-georg ... 6608.story

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

From CTH......

GZ CASE: Ongoing Thoughts…… The M-DSPD In The Courtroom (Perplexing)…
Posted on May 2, 2013 by sundance

The tangled web is getting bigger and more sticky by the day…….

Something is really bothering me about the representative from Miami-Dade School Police Department being in Orlando at the last State V. Zimmerman hearing. It just doesn’t sit right.

[...]Perhaps a simple explanation, but the actual attendance of a representative of M-DSPD opens up a line of inquiry. Why were they there?

[...]But that still does not answer why someone representing M-DSPD, in such a capacity they would be afforded presentation of the court order itself, would drive 150 miles to attend a hearing on the order.

...more at link (comments)
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/201 ... erplexing/

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I haven't read over at CTH in a while now but I believe that the evidence that was photographed and cataloged by the Defense is that of the home burglary a couple of blocks away.

I would think that the MDSPD wouldn't let that jewelry and screw driver come up here via FED-EX, like the Prosecution did to his phone. They sent an emissary with it and keep the chain of custody without issue.

Just my speculation!

Good thinking Deb.

I appreciate this M-DSPD is not stuff likely to be admissible as evidence...
BUT
What the Traybots fail to grasp is that it is EVIDENCE none the less... evidence that TM was not the innocent that The Scheme Team fed them the false narrative on.... they should at least revisit their initial thoughts about the case.. perhaps even be pissed off that they were fed BS. But NO.... instead their only concern is these particular facts are NOT ALLOWED into evidence at trial. They MISS the point completely *sigh*

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

DebFrmHell, Excellent Theory! One that never entered my itty-bitty mind---but is so obviously one that makes the most sense of any others that I have read. Thanks!

I have never thought that any of this would come up in court, but it has definitely changed the opinion of what happened that night for a lot of people.

You have someone who was in a downward spiral for the last six months of his life (with an escalation with each event) intersecting with someone who seemed to have straightened out and not had any incident within the last seven years. It doesn't take too much imagination to figure out what the precipitating factor was.

Maybe addicted to sizzurp and supporting the habit with burglaries. Codeine cough syrup is expensive w/o a script.

Must we assume the jewelry has not been ID'd as stolen property, since it evidently was just stored away?

Correct, to avoid writing the theft of the jewelry up as a crime, the M-DSPD wrote it up as "found property" as if it was left sitting on a bench and someone stumbled upon it. As a result, it went to the evidence locker with no one looking for an owner. If it had been a crime, I believe it would have had to been turned over to Miami-Dade, who had an open burglary a few blocks from Krop in which very similar items were taken.