After Friday afternoon's court hearing in the Trayvon Martin murder case, Judge Debra Nelson said she will rule on prosecution's gag-order on Monday. Judge Nelson also set a court hearing in which defense George Zimmerman and his legal team will provide the court with evidence for the self-defense argument.
The gag-order was brought about by Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, who argues the defense's excessive interaction with the main stream media as well as social media was interfering with the progress of the case. "Neither party should be commenting about the evidence...That's my concern. Are we going to be able to pick a jury in Seminole County or for that matter the state of Florida?" said Rionda to the LA Times.
According to the gag order filed by Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda in Seminole County Circuit Court, defense "This case has continued to have an inordinate amount of media coverage... Unless defense counsel stops talking to the media about the case, in person or by use of the defendant's website, it will be more difficult to find jurors who have not been influenced by media accounts of the case," as reported by newsmax.com
Various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today have filed a joint petition opposing the gag order, arguing that the prosecutors are trying to violate the First Amendment rights of the press.
The media petition says, "Incredibly, the State seeks this drastic relief without citing or coming forward with any evidence relating to - much less satisfying - the demanding standard governing the issuance of 'gag orders," according to the Orlando Sentinel.
As for the self-defense, Mark O'Mara, attorney of George Zimmerman announced that he will not use the Florida State's "Stand Your Ground" law. O'Mara, who admitted he would use the Florida State's "Stand Your Ground," in a quick change of strategy said he will not use 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.
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. The 28-year-old Zimmerman has maintained the claim to self-defense from the beginning of the case.
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.
Court hearing for trial has been set for June 10.
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