George Zimmerman’s defense team [ both of them 😉 ] filed a reply to Benjamin Crump’s response regarding deposition. (pdf available here) Essentially outlining the initial claims in the first motion for reconsideration – with clarification that ‘protected work product’ inquiry is a standard that cannot be met in advance of the question(s) being asked.
Still no word on why the Judge delayed the next hearing, or how the Orlando Sentinel (Rene Stutzman) became aware of the postponement.
Going back through all the knows, unknowns, and recent new-knowns, surrounding Witness #8 it really is lining up to be two different people. At the very least two totally differing stories presenting two different people.
Mike McDaniel updates his considerations: […] We also know that de la Rionda knew of two exculpatory lies by Dee Dee as early as April 2, 2012, but despite being asked about this multiple times in the intervening months, did not disclose the information to O’Mara until March, 4, 2013, a total of 336 days–nearly a year. De la Rionda disclosed that information not because he recognized his legal, ethical duty to disclose it, but because he would be forced to do so in open court the next day.
Remember that during the nearly one year that he was concealing information that he knew would utterly destroy the credibility of his “star” witness, and with her credibility, his case, he had multiple opportunities to do the right thing, opportunities when he was all but asked highly specific questions, yet he kept that information hidden. From the production of the transcript of his interview of Dee Dee, he opted, instead, for a cover up, redacting any mention of her true age. Update 11 shows the number of redactions, particularly in the early portion of the interview where she apparently provided that information. There can be only a single reasonable explanation: knowing how damaging the revelation of these two lies would be, he plotted to stonewall and obfuscate in the hope no one would find out.
Remember too that even in court, de la Rionda repeatedly claimed that he was doing nothing to impede the defense. He even blamed the defense for what he knew were his own deceptions and delaying tactics. In short, he lied, repeatedly, to the court.
Throughout this case, many have written that the prosecution wouldn’t be so stupid as to do X, Y or Z. We now know they would be exactly that stupid. How anyone could possibly believe that kind of information would remain hidden is almost impossible to fathom. Perhaps it’s a function of a certain warped political mindset, arrogance, power madness, an unthinking belief in the narrative that surpasses reason, all of these or more.
The bottom line is O’Mara has caught de la Rionda in blatant violations of the law and of his obligations as an officer of the court. There is no question that if he has done as O’Mara alleges–and his own actions and statements indicate that he has–that he is culpable for many violations of legal ethics, and possibly, multiple crimes.
Particularly deranged is de la Rionda’s behavior on March 13. His bizarre obstruction of Dee Dee’s deposition is all but inexplicable. Confronted with the law, which plainly showed O’Mara was acting fully within the law, he continued to obstruct and delay.
What competent prosecutor wants to prevent his star witness from telling the truth? This is all the more bizarre when one realizes that the law is clear, and de la Rionda must have known all he could do was delay, never halt the deposition, which was indeed the case. Why did he do it? Dee Dee’s lies about her age and about going to the hospital had already been exposed; what else did he fear? It’s possible his behavior could have been inspired by arrogance and malice, but more likely, he feared that Dee Dee would actually tell the whole truth. (read more)
More Stuff: Robert Zimmerman Jr. is reportedly going to be on Piers Morgan tonight to discuss the controversy he created with his tweet picture:
(CBS) – Two days after he tweeted a controversial image comparing Trayvon Martin to an alleged baby-killer, Robert Zimmerman, the brother of the man facing murder charges in Martin’s death, told CBS News’ Crimesider that the tweet was meant to “provoke discussion” about the difference between how Martin portrayed himself online, and the way he has been portrayed in the media.
[…] On Sunday, Robert Zimmerman Jr. tweeted an image of Martin holding up two middle fingers, beside an image of De’Marquise Kareem Elkins, the Georgia teen accused of fatally shooting a 1-year-old in his stroller last week. Elkins also appears to be flipping off the camera.
[…] On Wednesday, Zimmerman tweeted an apology: “I’m sincerely sorry my tweet offended many – I made a serious error in judgment abt the way it wld convey & understand why it is offensive” (continue reading)
