Are you fucking KIDDING me? "Zimmerman’s lawyer: Donations to website totaled $200,000"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Zimmerman’s lawyer: Donations to website totaled $200,000

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/26/2770539/zimmermans-lawyer-donations-to.html

By Diana Moskovitz
[e-mail]

The defense lawyer for George Zimmerman said Thursday night that his client had received about $200,000 through donations to his website.

Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, near Orlando, fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin of Miami Gardens on Feb. 26, after confronting the teen, whom he believed to be suspicious. Trayvon was not armed.

Sanford police cited Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law in not initially charging Zimmerman with killing Trayvon. Angela Corey, a special prosecutor appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, earlier this month charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder.

Thursday night, Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that at first he had been told that Zimmerman had two accounts: one with $700, another with about $2,000.

[grok]

1. That's actually amazing considering

A. The most badly designed website ever seen. A ten year old child could do better.

B. No explanations besides a few badly chosen quotes and pictures.

C. Subject to severe DDOS attacks day and night.

D. Almost never up. Didn't pay enough for the trouble and traffic.

[Zalatix]

2. It's not surprising, considering how many racists there are in America.

[toddwv]

7. This is true and they all came crawling out when this hit.

It's like a cold splash of water to anyone who was naive or deluded enough to think that racism is a thing of the past.

I deal with these people on a daily basis on a political forum that I frequent. The place is overrun by right-wingers and they constantly use the new racist dogwhistles of "anti-pc" or "anti-diversity".

I have to fight each day not to get myself banned because the majority of the mods are right-wing as well...

[snooper2]

35. That's only 10,000 people giving 20 bucks...

And I'm sure some came in from overseas...

[EFerrari]

3. The lawyer is trying to bully the prosecutor.

"See, we can go as long as you can."

[grok]

4. The publicity has made the legal forces even now.

Isn't it ironic? The overwhelming monetary advantage the prosecution usually has over penniless defendants, not to mention first dibs at evidence, usually makes them give up without a fight. Poor defendants almost never have it fair.

Even more ironic is if the one-drop rule truly applies(as I was so reminded by some in DU) , The racists are paying for the defense of a(in their eyes) black man killing a black child.

[EFerrari]

8. Yes, the ironies abound already

and the trial hasn't even started yet.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Nope, not as much as you think

Seriosly. This coud run into millions.

[grok]

10. Millions? Then it becomes a Kangaroo Court

I say one million tops.

1. Re-question witnesses till they start making errors 5 times. 50k
2. Forensics on gun and residue 5k (no dispute really)
3. Forensics on voice analysis(who screamed) 20k (40k if done twice)
4. Expert opinion on Lie detector 10k (inadmissible but defense will try)
5. Background checks both 20k (2 times)
6 Psychologist 10k
7. Video and photo forensics 10k
8 Other technical forensics(GPS,cell records) 5k
9. Medical forensics 5k

Lets say a cool 200k plus 200k lawyer fees PLUS 100k of stuff I didn't think about.

Most already done and the state paid for it already.

Still only 500 thousand. Double it to a million just to be safe.

Remember the whole incident took only minutes. It's not some vast month long conspiracy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Experts, forensics, counter forensics

That is where it gets pricey.

[grok]

12. I just don't think there is much to fight over

None of the witnesses(that I've heard of) have anything concrete to say about what they've seen. Both for and against Zimmerman. They say they *might* have seen this or that but none so far claimed for SURE. It was just too dark. If any change now, too late. it will appear they are bowing to whatever pressure group moves them. Defense will most assuredly take advantage of that to create doubt, which is all it needs to win. As would the prosecution with Zimmerman's pals.

The key is the young lady who captured the screams with her 911 call. That is the one thing that can absolutely prove Zimmerman to be a liar and a fraud. Neither Martin's mother and or Zimmerman's dad testimony is good enough.

That's where the forensics will REALLY count. And only if the recording is clean enough to compare to Zimmerman's scream. Not sure it is.

Keep in mind Zimmerman has a year to practice duplicating it..

I would.

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. You and I may think othewise

but they will... you and I are NOT qualified to serve in the jury, remember that. We BOTH know far more of this case and are presumed, correctly mind you, by the court to already have made our minds.

Jury selection will include people who know very little to none of the trial and that is possible.

[Bake]

19. $200K to defend a murder charge? That would be a bargain.

I'd say closer to $1 million. Maybe more. Investigators, experts, etc. get pricey.

Bake

[EFerrari]

29. I don't understand what you're disagreeing with.

I made no comment about how much a defense would cost, only that the attorney was trying to spin this information in his favor.

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. I pointed out that this will not be enough

Just pointing this out...not a disagreement, a factual point. Part of the reason for the cost is the explosiveness of the case.

Lawyers and experts are not cheap.

[EFerrari]

33. Right. I didn't claim it would be enough.

You're right. This case is going to be serious money for the defense and serious political liability for the prosecution, I guess.

[cali]

15. The lawyers on Anderson's show both think that

the judge is going to be mightily pissed about this and that Zimmerman could well find himself back in jail.

[renate]

6. the comments on the CNN article about this are absolutely beyond belief

The poor people who monitor the comments must have to take showers to wash all the vomit off themselves before they go home. Right now the comments are coming in faster than my computer can refresh--like, 20 comments every 10 seconds--so there are some incredibly nasty ones that are being allowed through. It's truly sick-making.

[Kablooie]

23. Good god, you're right!

The first one accuses Trayvon of emulating a criminal.
A later one acuses him of being a jewel thief.

A kid walking back to his dad's fiance's house with snacks from the 7 Eleven is criminal?

Several people say they donated and are proud.

How can these people not see that they are being evil?

Evil is gaining a huge toehold in today's society and it's gaining strength daily.

[obamanut2012]

24. One of the lies is that he had a backpack with jewelry and a screwdriver

This is a MAJOR Teabaggertype lie out there.

[pacalo]

9. I watched a clip on Tru-tv showing Zimmerman leaving the jail.

He got into a shiny new white BMW.

/edited to add picture:



That's right...Mr. Zimmerman, Sr., is not legally required to part with his own treasure in his son's defense; the government's not working in his favor, so he's allowing the taxpayers to pay for this travesty against his family. Remember Leona Helmsley's attitude toward the "little people"?

[obamanut2012]

25. A paremt shouldn't have to pay for an adult child's legal fees

I don't begrudge The Parents Zimmerman that. I do, however, think that Zimmerman should have been required to pay his full bond, since he was NOT indigent as his attorney declared.

[Fawke Em]

27. The joke's on him.

BMWs live in the shop and cost a fortune to fix.

[pokerfan]

13. Curious that Camp-Z didn't disclose that at the bail hearing

or not really...

[grok]

16. Remember he was in jail.

You think they gave him web access?? How was he to know?

Probable time line:
4-8-12 therealgeorgezimmerman dot com registered according to WHOIS records

4-9-12 let's say a day to create a stupid website and publicize. Nobody cares. YET.
(meanwhile he is negotiating his imminent surrender)

4-10-12 Everbody knows now and is screaming bloody murder about it. Paypal fixed.
(still negotiating and found good lawyer)

4-11-12 Zimmerman is in jail
(outraged racists start sending in money but Zimmerman can't check)

4-20-12 Bail hearing. Zimmerman doesn't even know if his website still up.

4-22-12 Zimmerman released. goes far away and probably sleeps for a couple days.

4-25-12 All rested, gets access and catches up with email, facebook and paypal. (WOW! Tells lawyer)

4-26-12 Lawyer sees problem and tells everybody. Schedules hearing for Friday.

If O'Mara explains it like I just did, why wouldn't the judge understand?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. You've given this some thought, but I respectfully disagree. Here's why.

He knew he had the Website. (And once again, as a Web Designer, I must point out that he "created" jack SHIT. It's a GoDaddy template where he dropped in some words and pictures. There's a major difference between that and "creating a Website.&quot

He sat there while his attorney told the judge that he was "indigent," and that taxpayers hould shoulder the cost of his trial.

So far, I don't question the attorney's honesty or integrity. I feel that he was given information and acted on it. In the other hand, it WAS public knowledge that Zimmerman had a Website for the express purpose of soliciting money, so he COULD HAVE asked about it.

But at minimum, as Zimmerman sat there and listened to the attorney describe him as "indigent" in the interest of having taxpyers foot the bill...even if he didn't know how much he had...I'm not an attorney, I don;t know about his "legal obligation" to bring up the Website at this point...but he DID know he was sitting on SOME kind of payday, and he sat there, silent.

[naaman fletcher]

21. What's the legal standard for this?

I would imagine the case law varies from state to state, although if they guy has no idea if he got any money in or not, I can't imagine the judge coming down on him.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

22. I have no idea...

...but...whether Zimmerman knew he was sitting on 204K or not, he knew he had something. He knew he'd set up a Website for the express purpose of taking in miney. And while his attorney stood in court and told the judge that Zimmerman was an "indigent" and the taxpayers should pay for his trial, Zimmerman knew he was sitting on some kind of cash. I do not believe we're dealing with "innocence" here. Whether he knew the amount or not, Zimmerman had the option of keeping it quite and playing the poor boy or speaking up, and he made a deliberate choice to keep it quiet. His level of transparancy and "truth telling" should be taken into consideration if this goes to trial,and if the judge doesn;t end his bail and send him back behind bars for this (my guess is that he won't) he should at least be given a reprimand. To just "let it go" and say "he didn't know" is a lie. He may not have known it was $204K. He knew he had something.

[dpibel]

37. There's that little $50K problem

Somehow, despite his ignorance of how much money he had, somebody managed to spend $50K+ of it.

I think the judge may seek some understanding of that.

Amount taken in: $204K

Amount Mara says is left: $150K

[leftynyc]

14. NRA probably put up the lions share

and every small dicked gun owner (I'm not anti gun - anyone can check my record on this subject but some definitely are trying to compensate).

[eShirl]

17. I'm surprised it wasn't more.

considering all the big donors to ALEC, which pushed SYG

[Bake]

20. Hey, all that HATE ain't cheap!

Hate is, in fact, very, very expensive.

Bake

[Spazito]

28. The Judge is NOT happy with this revelation...

Judge wants to know more about Zimmerman finances


A judge is considering whether to raise or revoke the bond for the U.S. man charged with murder in the shooting of an unarmed black teen after the man's lawyer told the judge a website had raised $200,000 US for his defence.

The attorney for George Zimmerman told the judge Friday he didn't know his client had raised the money before a bond hearing last week in which his client was granted $150,000 bond.

snip

Florida Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said Friday he wanted more information about the money and what Zimmerman knew before deciding whether to revoke or raise his bond.

The lawyer for Martin's parents, Benjamin Crump, said Friday he has asked the prosecutor to request that the judge revoke Zimmerman's bail for not disclosing at the original hearing last week how much money he had.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/04/27/zimmerman-defence-fund.html

[Amerigo Vespucci]

30. It's hero or zero time

This judge is supposed to be a tough, no nonsense, by-the-book judge. If he revokes the bail, hero. If not, he can join the Sanford Police Department in Club Zero.

[Spazito]

32. The very least he should do is demand full payment of the bail, the whole...

$150,000.00 as opposed to the 10% required originally. If it can be shown Zimmerman knew at the time bail was set that he knew he was not "indigent" as his lawyer claimed, his bail should be revoked. I have little doubt Zimmerman knew quite well what had been donated through his website at the time, it is just a matter of proving it, imo.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

34. Zimmerman should be required to spend every penny of the $204K he bilked out of the rubes

The purpose was for people to "donate to his legal defense."

They donated. Spend it. Every frigging penny. And pay the appropriate taxes on it, too.

[vaberella]

36. Thank you NRA and some racist White people. n/t