Media wants Zimmerman court docs unsealed

Zimmerman is the one on the right.

"The criminal justice process belongs to the public, and it's supposed to be difficult to seal documents that are part of criminal trials, especially given the number of important public issues raised in this case. The media companies we represent are challenging the fact that these records were sealed without prior notice to the public, and on nothing more than Mr. Zimmerman's attorney asking that they be sealed. The law does not allow that," attorney Scott D. Ponce of the law firm Holland and Knight said in an email."  LA Times

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(Irony alert) I agree. The issues of public policy at stake here are too great for a "star chamber" proceedimg.  No plea bargains!  Release the "discovery" material to the press at the same time it is given to Zimmerman's defense. 

That will make a great case on appeal.  pl

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-trayvon-martin-20120416,0,4796922.story

Comments

[Pirate Laddie]

Love your comment about the photo. In light of Zimmerman's heartfelt desire to be one of the "boys in blue," I'm sure he'd like to have a fine little star just like the gent on his right.

[turcopolier]

PL

Yes, that, but also, which one is more White? pl

[Walrus]

Are there going to be any winners in this theatrical process? I doubt it.

[turcopolier]

walrus

Yes. - the NRA (either way) - the lawyers - the media. pl

[Mark Logan]

I'd prefer a bit of time elapse first. A respite in which the media might be given an opportunity to spot another squirrel.

Then again, the discovery process will surely take long enough for that. Nevermind...

[Morocco Bama]

Zimmerman is the one on the right.

That was a good one!

[Medicine Man]

The whole situation is looking increasingly screwed -- sideways.

Early on I remarked (on this blog) how it was a good thing that these cases are not tried in the court of public opinion. Oops, apparently that is a bug in the process from the media's point of view. Disgraceful.

With this spectacle how much confidence can there be in the accuracy of the outcome, whatever that outcome may be.

[Larry Kart]

Colonel and others -- you might want to take a look at this detailed longish post
(which appeared on a quite liberal blog, no less) about the gross deficiencies of the prosecution's probable cause filing in the Zimmerman-Martin case:

http://www.emptywheel.net/2012/04/14/zimmerman-anatomy-of-an-deficient-probable-cause-affidavit/#more-26370

[Fred]

Marcy is usually very good, but who is BMAZ?

[robt willmann]

This certainly sounds different from Texas criminal procedure. The Los Angeles Times article is hard to decipher, but the statement about a "request to seal the court file and all future discovery is premature and unsupportable" appears to mean that material turned over by the prosecution or the defense as part of the legally authorized pretrial discovery of information would be filed in the "court's file", which should be the file maintained by the clerk's office that contains papers filed in a court case--civil or criminal--and which is open to the public.

In Texas, the turning over of documents, videotapes, test results, and other information by the State to the defense is just done by the prosecutor to the defense attorney, and is not filed in the court's file, even when it is the subject of a contested court hearing over its discovery. Unless the item can be obtained by the open records law, or is specifically said to be public, such as the affidavit supporting a search or arrest warrant, the public has to wait until it is offered into evidence at a hearing or trial. The media also has to wait, unless it can procure a leak of the information.

Another surprising thing about Florida criminal procedure is that apparently some felonies, such as the charge against George Zimmerman, can be filed by a prosecutor directly without first getting a grand jury to approve it. This means that a District Attorney in Florida can slap someone with a felony without going through the grand jury process. But in the still slightly frontier State of Texas, all felonies have to be returned by a grand jury, and some specific misdemeanors as well. A prosecutor can only file misdemeanors unilaterally.

Although grand juries are as a practical matter usually a rubber stamp for what the prosecutor suggests, there is the chance that a charge might not be approved, or "no billed", as it is often called. Thus, had the "special prosecutor" Angela Corey gone to a grand jury with the case, it might have refused to return an indictment. Since it seems that Florida law allows the prosecutor to unilaterally file a felony, she wouldn't have to worry about a grand jury not doing what she wanted, if she desired a felony charge to be filed, which she obviously did.

Sometimes grand juries are used as "cover" for a District Attorney who does not want to prosecute a case for some reason--legal, factual, or political--and the prosecutor will try to persuade the grand jury, behind the closed doors, of course, to not issue a charge. The DA will then somberly tell the public and reporters that the grand jury declined to return an indictment and so the case is closed. Although this technique usually works, since the prosecutor controls the grand jury, there is a twist in Texas in that a State grand jury can choose to operate independently, throw the prosecutor out of the room, conduct is own investigation, issue its own subpoenas, and return the charges it wants. I have seen it happen twice, resulting in a lot of egg on the prosecutor's face and amusing publicity.

[Bill H]

Several rather hyperbolic Internet "places" have headlines quoting Bill Cosby as saying that "the gun caused this tragedy." That isn't what he actually said, it was more along the lines that carrying a gun is seldom a good idea. The best thing he said, though, was to ask, ""What purpose does it serve to call this man a racist? I think that is a very good question, one that has no good answer.

[Larry Kart]

Fred -- Not sure who BMAZ is in real life, but he's a regular contributor there and seems to be an attorney.

[LeaNder]

Larry, this was already posted here, I think. I have problems with paragraph 8. Why didn't he listen to the tapes? It is reported by Zimmerman that Martin runs, and that is why he asked the dispatcher to call him back when the cops arrive, so he can follow the fugitive. The big question is what exactly happened after. The place were the struggle took place, and the spot were he had parked his car, can't be the same.

Then paragraph 8 goes off the edge, veering into some of the most unattributed and nakedly conclusory statements imaginable. It alleges Martin tried to run home, Zimmerman got out of vehicle and pursued, that Zimmerman thought Martin might commit an immediate crime before cops could arrive and that the 911 dispatcher told Zimmerman to wait for the cops but Zimmerman disregarded the advice. Other than maybe being able to assume the dispatcher advice is on the tape, we have no idea who, what, when, where or how the affiants know their wholly conclusory statements. It is simply unsupported tripe. Oh, and there is STILL no evidence of any criminal activity whatsoever. None.

[jonst]

Sharpton

[Morocco Bama]

Take a look at this Anthony Bourdain in Istanbul video, particularly the 17:34 mark and tell me that's not Zimmerman (those freaky eyes). He's Turkish, not American-German-Jewish-Hispanic. The entire Bourdain in Istanbul video is excellent. Istanbul is a beautiful and vibrant city, and the food is fantastic. If you're hungry before viewing this, afterwards you will be so famished, you'll want to eat the ass out of a dead rhino.

http://vimeo.com/38118223

[turcopolier]

jonst

"Sharpton?" What? pl

[Medicine Man]

Well if you cook it right...

I'm told that they make amazing feta cheese in Turkey. I've always wanted to find out.