Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News News Judge Confronts Zimmerman in Testy Exchange

Indeed you are wrong, friend. All women.

If so, so what

The judge clearly wants Zimmerman to fry - as do most followers of this nationally sensationalized case.

A bit of knowledge of criminal procedure would come in handy. Pretty much any defendant convicted of a crime of this nature will, at some point in their incarceration, raise the appeal strategy of poor legal advice which led to poor decisions by the defendant which led to the conviction.

Indeed, in this case I would bet that defendant and his attorneys already have explored that option in deciding whether he should or should not testify.

1. don't testify and don't risk being cross-examined; if you are acquited all is great with the world
2. if you don't testify and are convicted, we will appeal on every grounds we can think of and when those are all exhausted, you can fire us and hire a new attorney who will argue we did not properly advise you on this point and you therefore should get a new trial.

the trial judge is pretty sharp and her questions, and insistence on talking directly to the defendant and NOT his attorneys will eliminate or seriously diminsh that appeal strategy. Such inquiries from the trial judge are in fact rather common in court rooms with competent and well informed judges.

Defendant's attorneys are objecting PRECISELY BECAUSE they want to preserve the inadequate advice of counsel claim down the road. The "testiness" is ALL directed on the attorney who keeps asserting the right (non-existant) to tell the judge how to run the trial.

2. if you don't testify and are convicted, we will appeal on every grounds we can think of and when those are all exhausted, you can fire us and hire a new attorney who will argue we did not properly advise you on this point and you therefore should get a new trial.

“Bernie couldn’t be more totally wrong,” said Sliwa.

They don't want to hear anything about GZ being a racist profiling killer.

In an open letter on March 15, 2012, Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman, defended his son against allegations that his actions were racially motivated, stating that Zimmerman was Hispanic, was raised in a multiracial family, and "would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever," saying that the portrayal of his son as a racist "could not be further from the truth." According to his family, some of Zimmerman's relatives are black.[54] Zimmerman's former lawyer Craig Sonner stated that Zimmerman is not a racist, and that he had mentored black youths in the past.[301] Joe Oliver, a former television news reporter who is acquainted with Zimmerman,[302] noted "I'm a black male and all that I know is that George has never given me any reason whatsoever to believe he has anything against people of color."[303]

In early April, an anonymous letter to the NAACP, which was signed "A Concerned Zimmerman Family Member," said Zimmerman had been one of the few to take any action to protest the 2010 beating of Sherman Ware, a black homeless man, by the son of a Sanford police officer. Zimmerman reportedly distributed fliers in the black community trying to get others involved too, and helped organize a January 8, 2011, Sanford City Hall community forum to protest the incident.[304] Zimmerman's father confirmed his son's efforts on Ware's behalf.[305]

In May, the Miami Herald secured an audiotape of the January 8, 2011, Sanford City Hall community forum. On the audiotape, Zimmerman was heard criticizing the conduct of the Sanford Police Department in the Ware case.