Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food


Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

George Zimmerman's Legal Counsel Announces They're Giving Up on George Zimmerman

Posted by on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 3:59 PM

It's been a busy afternoon:

George Zimmerman's attorneys said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that they will no longer be representing him. The attorneys claim that Zimmerman repeatedly rebuffed their legal advice, and that they have now lost contact with him.

"As of now we are withdrawing as counsel for Mr. Zimmerman," Craig Sonner, one of his attorneys, told reporters outside the Seminole County Courthhouse in Sanford, Fla. "We've lost contact with him. Up to this point, we've had contact with him everyday. He's gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to, but at this point we're withdrawing as counsel. If he wants us to come back as counsel, he will contact us."

I wonder if Zimmerman's terrible, flag-soaked website was the final straw for his lawyers.

 

Comments (30) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Zebes 1
The dude is establishing something of a track record for disregarding sound advice; last time, it ended up with him pursuing someone he was told not to, and shooting them.

What's going to happen this time? Is he going to run into a courthouse and start shooting people there, too? Who knows, he might try it if he feels threatened enough by the possibility of impending legal action against him, and claim it was self defense.
Posted by Zebes http://www.badrap.org/rescue/index.html on April 10, 2012 at 4:06 PM
Vince 2
He's looking for a plea deal.
Posted by Vince on April 10, 2012 at 4:12 PM
3
"The last straw"? Please. These guys covered Zimmermann to fly off to some place that won't extradite him back to the US. Look at their ranty conspiracy-mongering. These are not sober professionals.
Posted by Prettybetsy on April 10, 2012 at 4:17 PM
4
Pro se! Pro se! Pro se!
Posted by Mr. Happy Sunshine on April 10, 2012 at 4:27 PM
5
What kind of person reaches out to Sean Hannity "off the record"?
Posted by fairly.unbalanced on April 10, 2012 at 4:36 PM
6
@5:

What kind of person reaches out to Sean Hannity on the record?
Posted by N in Seattle http://peacetreefarm.org on April 10, 2012 at 4:52 PM
undead ayn rand 7
@1: "The dude is establishing something of a track record for disregarding sound advice"

It comes from having a Judge-daddy who's also willing to warp the truth and disregard reality.
Posted by undead ayn rand on April 10, 2012 at 5:04 PM
8
5 & 6 nailed it. He's seeking council from FOX who want to spin this ordeal against all that's decent in humanity.

Eventually he’ll be working at the same car wash as Joe the Plumber.
Posted by sall on April 10, 2012 at 5:06 PM
undead ayn rand 9
@3: " These are not sober professionals."

What sober person would take on this case, who's not already a white supremacist?
Posted by undead ayn rand on April 10, 2012 at 5:07 PM
monkey 10
The dude is a mess. I don't excuse a single thing he's done and I think he's guilty of reckless homicide or manslaughter or something that, say, a drunk driver might get for running over a baby while blowing a .29 but I kinda feel sorry for him. But if he plans on coming out the other side he needs to talk to someone other than who he's talking to.
Posted by monkey on April 10, 2012 at 5:15 PM
11
@10: I get where you're coming from, and I don't entirely disagree. Zimmerman's life is now completely fucked up, and it's natural to feel some sympathy for that if you imagine something completely turning your own life upside down in an instant.

But Trayvon's life is more than completely fucked up. It doesn't exist any more. That's worse.

And it's completely Zimmerman's fault. He thought, at that moment, the best way to handle this situation is to fire this gun, knowing that it could/likely will kill this person.
Posted by MLM on April 10, 2012 at 5:26 PM
undead ayn rand 12
"I kinda feel sorry for him"

He's been an abusive, violent creep for all of his life, his Judge-daddy was able to make all the charges go away until this one.
Posted by undead ayn rand on April 10, 2012 at 5:27 PM
undead ayn rand 13
It's not like the vector of his life suddenly changed due to an accident. Killing a "dangerous" black youth and getting away with it has been his Walter Mittylike goal for quite some time.

The guy needed a hobby, but he's got a history of violence and sickness. He needed something better to do with his life, but I don't give a fuck about him now.
Posted by undead ayn rand on April 10, 2012 at 5:29 PM
14
@13, yeah, plenty of murderers have sadder backstories, and they're still locked up. Almost everybody knows an overprivileged idiot like this guy growing up, who is just a murder waiting to happen.
Posted by Prettybetsy on April 10, 2012 at 5:49 PM
15
Free Trayvon! ™
Posted by Trayvon Enterprises Inc. on April 10, 2012 at 6:35 PM
balderdash 16
I wonder if he's going to be found competent?

If he's found at all, I mean. What do they mean they've "lost contact"? Why was he not in custody? What the actual fuck?
Posted by balderdash http://introverse.blogspot.com on April 10, 2012 at 6:38 PM
Reverse Polarity 17
He's admitted to shooting Treyvon. He's become a national pariah, and half the country thinks he's a racist shitbag. Going silent and ignoring the advice of attorneys is always a good idea at times like that, I'm sure.
Posted by Reverse Polarity on April 10, 2012 at 7:07 PM
18
The Black Panthers put a fucking bounty on his head. Who wouldn't be hiding.

And, why in 2012, can some group put a bounty on someone and NOT be subject to arrest. If the colors of the people involved were reversed, you'd be seeing the perp walks on 57 channels with the local. state and federal law enforcement fighting over the arrests.
Posted by delbert on April 10, 2012 at 7:31 PM
19
@18 That's it, delbert. You just keep clinging to those Black Panthers.

@16 I know. I realize this is Florida we're talking about, but still, that's some Third World shit.
Posted by Prettybetsy on April 10, 2012 at 7:41 PM
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 20

I used to love when George Zimmerman showed up at Jerry's apartment and would begin griping about everything like his parents and his job.
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com on April 10, 2012 at 9:01 PM
21
"I wonder if he's going to be found competent?"

Of course he's competent. This isn't the movies, people don't pursue the "insanity defense".
Posted by a little ungrounded is an explanation but not a defense on April 10, 2012 at 9:04 PM
22
@19 You don't believe they put a bounty on his head or you don't care because the ends justify the means?

If it's the former, you're an idiot.

If it's the latter, you're a danger to civilization.

Either way I sincerely hope you don't produce offspring.
Posted by delbert on April 10, 2012 at 9:43 PM
23
I want to know how much Geraldo is donating to Zimmerman's site, and why isn't he giving more?
Posted by seatackled on April 10, 2012 at 10:09 PM
24
@22: "If it's the former, you're an idiot."

Nope, "capture and citizens' arrest" is not murder, so apparently you remain the idiot.
Posted by nothing illegal about that on April 10, 2012 at 11:27 PM
25
Good Lord! In what universe does a man who's killed someone reach out to Fox News before his own legal team?
Posted by adamsass on April 11, 2012 at 6:47 AM
Theodore Gorath 26
@9: A lawyer who is getting paid, and knows he is going to get national attention. Most lawyers I would imagine.

@16: He is not in custody because he did not do anything that the state of Florida can prove was illegal. Sad as it is, that is the reality.
Posted by Theodore Gorath on April 11, 2012 at 6:55 AM
27
@9, UAR wrote, "What sober person would take on this case, who's not already a white supremacist?"

A sober person who's not already a white supremacist and who wants to defend the rule of law would take on Zimmerman's case. Good lawyers take difficult cases. Everyone -- even people who seem very likely to be guilty -- deserves a fair trial.

Nancy Hollander, one of the lawyers I hired to represent me after I was wrongfully arrested in 2009, wrote an op-ed, "A Terrorist Lawyer, and Proud of It." It begins:


I am a criminal defense lawyer. Over the past 32 years I have defended people and institutions charged with a myriad of crimes in the United States and I have consulted on criminal cases in Europe.

When I defended someone charged with raping a baby, no one thought I might have raped my own. When I defended someone charged with murder, no one searched my closets for skeletons. When I defended someone charged with a drug crime, no one accused me of using narcotics.

And even when I defended those accused of espionage for attempting to sell America’s nuclear secrets, no one questioned my loyalty to my country.

No longer. Now that I am defending those accused of terrorism, some people assume that I have stepped over an imaginary line and become “soft on terrorism” or worse, that I support terrorism and am providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

So let me say it: I am a terrorist lawyer, if that means I am willing to defend those accused of terrorism. I am currently defending two men imprisoned in Guantánamo and I defend others accused of terrorism.

Contrary to recent attacks by those who claim to be supporters of American justice, my defense of people accused of serious and sometimes horrific crimes is not an endorsement of those crimes. Rather, it is a testament to the strength of my belief in, and commitment to, the American system of justice.

Why? Because in my defense of every client, I am defending the United States Constitution and the laws and treaties to which it is bound, and I am defending the rule of law. If I am a terrorist lawyer, I also am a rule-of-law lawyer, a constitutional lawyer and a treaty lawyer.
More...
Posted by Phil M http://twitter.com/pmocek on April 11, 2012 at 7:31 AM
slade 28
The meat hooks are "premeditated" as if Zimm had numerous run in's with Trayvon and I believe at first there was some talk of this. Manslaughter is the plea but since no real investigation was done and since no real injuries were reported on Zimm and since Zimm pulled a gun on Trayvon and was not in a uniform or able to identify himself as a security guard of any kind we can say Trayvon was trying to not to get shot by wrestling with Zimm. A quick look at "Disney Land laced with Drugs" may shed some lite on why Zimm may have "felt" it necessary to carry a fire arm but still I do not know of any "watch" programs or any gated community's that would allow or support armed patrols unless they were State authorized Security or off duty police.
The focus is on Premeditation and or previous encounters and since Trayvon was "visiting" it seems premeditation is slim but not ruled out. but then again a "slow walker" looking around in a residential area is hardly suspicious and if it were the entire state of New Mexico would be under suspicion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanford,_Fl…
Recent Controversies
In 2010, a CVS pharmacy in Sanford ordered 1.8 million Oxycodone pills, an average of 137,994 pills a month. DEA investigators noted that "approximately every third car that came through the drive-thru lane had prescriptions for oxycodone or hydrocodone." Most of the drugs were prescribed by "pill mill" doctors who became targets of a DEA investigation. At the current time, CVS was ordered to stop dispensing Schedule II narcotics by the DEA, but later appeals courts rulings have either upheld CVS's appeal, or reissued the DEA order. The case continues to be litigated.
More...
Posted by slade http://www.youtube.com/user/guppygator on April 11, 2012 at 8:51 AM
undead ayn rand 29
@27: "who wants to defend the rule of law"

Yeah, but these people weren't so obviously stepping over their legal counsel and trying to prove their righteousness through unhinged public efforts. It's going to be tough to find anyone willing to take on this particular client.
Posted by undead ayn rand on April 11, 2012 at 5:37 PM
30
@29: So are you conceding that helping Zimmerman get a fair trial is not, as you implied @9, an indicator of someone being a white supremacist?
Posted by Phil M http://twitter.com/pmocek on April 12, 2012 at 7:11 AM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

Want great deals and a chance to win tickets to the best shows in Seattle? Join The Stranger Presents email list!


All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy