ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida court ruled in a 2-1 decision that judge Kenneth Lester should be disqualified from the George Zimmerman murder in which Zimmerman is being charged with second degree murder of 17-year-old Travyon Martin.
Mark O'Mara has long been fighting for the removal of Judge Lester claiming that the judge has exhibited on numerous occasions his prejudice towards Zimmerman. His lawyers filed a petition requesting a change of judge specifically after the judge's comments during Zimmerman's bond hearing in April telling the court that Zimmerman "flaunted the system," as reported by the Huffington Post.
In July, O'mara appealed to the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Daytona to remove Judge Lester, citing that the judge had long "departed from its role as an impartial, objective minister of justice," as reported by Good Morning America.
In a statement O'Mara said, "Mr. Zimmerman has lost faith in the objectivity of this Court and has a reasonable, well-founded fear that he will not receive a fair trial by this Court," as reported by Huffington Post.
In the 17-page appeals O'mara states "the court made gratuitous, disparaging remarks about Mr. Zimmerman's character, advocated for Mr. Zimmerman to be prosecuted for additional crimes; offers a personal opinion about the evidence for said prosecution; and continues to hold over Mr. Zimmerman's head the threat of future contempt proceedings," as reported by ABC News.
The Florida Attorney General objected stating that Judge Lester "was simply giving Petitioner a well-deserved tongue lashing for allowing others to mislead the court about his passport and his financial situation," as reported by ABC News.
But appeal court judges C. Alan Lawson and Jay P. Cohen agreed with O'mara and ruled that the evidence was "legally sufficient," to remove Judge Lester from the case. Judge Kerry I. Evander disagreed and casted the dissenting vote.
Judge Lester, who earlier this month refused to step down from the case has no choice but to abide by the court's decision. A new judge will be appointed to case. Currently Zimmerman is out of prison on bail and will make his next court appearance in October.
Zimmerman was charged in February for shooting 17-year-old Travyon Martin while he was a volunteer watch in a gated community in Florida. Zimmerman has always maintained that the shooting occurred as an act of self-defense. His lawyers will be utilizing the self-defense law in the case that is likely to take place next year.
Zimmerman was on duty as volunteer watchman when he shot 17 year old Travyon Martin. He is being charged with the second degree murder in February of this year.
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.
