Mark O'Mara, defense attorney of George Zimmerman who is being charged with second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, came to his clients defense by responding to comments made by the Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump on his client's official website - gzlegalcase.com.
In an interview with Orlando Sentinel, Crump said "race was the elephant in the room." As it is a well known fact that race has been an integral factor surrounding the Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case. And although prosecutors failed to provide evidentiary support to show that Zimmerman had any racial biases, the underlying issue of race never seemed to have left the premise. After Crump admitted that race continued to be an unspoken aspect in the case, ""It shouldn't be about race. But race is the elephant in the room. Nobody believes that if you make Trayvon Martin white [and the Neighborhood Watch volunteer black], there's no way he would not be arrested, and that's the unfortunate and tragic truth of the matter. There is a double standard. That's why race is involved in this case," as shown on gzlegalcase.com.
O'Mara quickly took to his client's defense stating: "The term 'elephant in the room' typically describes something that people won't talk about -- despite how obvious and apparent it is...This term is misapplied in this case."
A preliminary docket-hearing scheduled for Oct.10 was postponed to October 17 by Sanford Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson. It is during the docket-hearing that both parties will stipulate if they are ready for trial.
Judge Nelson has scheduled another hearing for October 19, in which she will decide whether or not to grant Zimmerman's team access to the school records of Travyon Martin, the 17-year-old teenager shot by Zimmerman in February.
Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's lawyer had filed a court subpoena a few weeks ago to gain access to Martin's school records. Prosecutor Assistant State Attornie Bernie De la Rionda said that he has no objection to granting access to the teenager's record so as long as it should not be released to the public. However, O'Mara wants the records released to the public.
It is a well-known fact that the Zimmerman case has sparked discourse over race, De la Rionda says that O'Mara wants to take advantage of the media attention through this petition, which he sees as an attempt to just "chum the waters," according to Hispanicbusiness.com.
Also in another development, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation has re-accredited The Sanford Police Department, which was under severe criticism in the way it handled the Zimmerman case.
Zimmerman at the time of the fatal incident was a volunteer watch-guard of a gated community, when he approached 17-year-old Martin after observing some suspicious behavior. Zimmerman claims that the encounter soon turned into a violent affront. In an act to protect himself, Zimmerman fatally fired at the teenager. When he was arrested in February and charged with the second degree murder of Martin, Zimmerman has maintained his defense of self-protection.
However, O'Mara, Zimmerman's lawyer, who admitted he would use the Florida State's "Stand Your Ground," in a quick change of strategy said that he will not take shelter in the immunity provided by the statue, but instead would present a clear case of self-defense.
According to the "Stand your Ground," law, if a person is in reasonable fear of danger than he/she could use deadly force, without having to evade the situation. This means that even though a person has the opportunity to escape his/her attacker he/she could choose to stand ground and fight back.
But now, Zimmerman's lawyer told the Huffington Post, "I think the facts seem to support that though we have a stand-your-ground immunity hearing, what this really is, is a simple, self-defense immunity hearing."
The basic argument, O'Mara will make is that Zimmerman was being attacked by the unarmed teenager and fired the shots in an act of pure defense without any opportunity to escape the situation.
Last week, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released information that shows that only the DNA of George Zimmerman, who is being charged with second degree murder of Trayvon Martin, was found on the gun used to fire at the 17-year-old. The report reveals that the gun did not have any DNA of Martin.
In July, the Florida judge set Zimmerman's bail for $1 million, after previously revoking a $150,000 bond, for misleading the court about his finances.
He has been released from jail on bond, but under strict conditions including a round the clock GPS monitoring system.
According to Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, the trial is likely to start in a year's time.
Zimmerman was arrested in February for the killing of the 17-year-old, Zimmerman who was armed shot Martin after claiming that he was attacked by the teenager and fired in an act of self-defense. 28-year-old Zimmerman has maintained the claim to self-defense from the beginning of the case.
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