The story of Ben Kruidbos (pronounced “Cried-Boss”) is a story of what happens when a man of integrity stands up against a legal authority built on corruption and political self-interest.

Yesterday a Florida Judge delivered a ruling, with extreme prejudice, against his former boss, State Attorney Angela Corey – thereby allowing a lawsuit filed by Ben to continue.

Those of you who followed the trial of George Zimmerman may remember Ben; those of you who are not familiar with the specifics might find a parallel to the current headlines of what is happening in Baltimore Maryland in the office of State Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Ben Kruidbos was the Information Technology Director, the technology expert, within the office of the Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey ~Full Backstory~.  In his position he was charged with retrieving and reviewing the phone data contained in the cell phone of Trayvon Martin.

The office of Angela Corey held a vested interest in the content of Trayvon’s cell phone because, as we would later discover, the content therein showed how Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, and his father, Tracy Martin, lied to state investigators about the details surrounding Trayvon’s activities prior to his encounter with George Zimmerman. (more…)

As a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y expected, Judge Debra Nelson agrees with defendant (NBC) motion and dismisses the lawsuit by George Zimmerman against NBC for slander/defamation.

There really was no other way this court was going to rule.   Judge Debra Nelson was the same judge from the original criminal trial.   Two things were brutally obvious:

Firstly,  she is horridly inept in legal analysis and opinion.    Nelson relies heavily on her judicial clerks to form and write her decisions.   Subsequently,  in the higher profile Zimmerman case, her staff level decision making was exposed and she was twice reversed in pre-trial rulings by the 5th Florida DCA.
Those ruling reversals were before the Zimmerman trial formerly started – and there were at least 4 or 5 more pre-trial decisions the defense team could have easily appealed and won, but just chose not to.   Including the actual start date of the trial itself which she refused to delay even after the 5th DCA reversed her deposition rulings -in favor of defense- 3 days before trial start was scheduled.
Secondly, Nelson’s actual trial rulings were generally flawed; and most legal analysts would agree she was/is legally weak-minded.   However, worse than the absence of legal acumen was her visible bias against the defendant, Zimmerman, and his defense. (more…)

This expose’ goes deep in the woods on the Zimmerman case back- story of malicious prosecution.

However, in order to understand what’s going on, as well as what’s at stake, here is a not-so-brief summary and then full outline.

Summary: During the pre-trial events leading up to the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman an intentional manipulation of evidence was discovered.

In essence Trayvon Martin’s cell phone contained information which was not given to the defense team, a clear Brady violation surrounding the rules of open trial discovery. Some of the data on the phone was very damaging to the false presentation of Trayvon Martin’s background.

The data included text conversations between Trayvon and his Dad, Tracy (aka “Fruit”), about buying guns. Some data included pictures of Trayvon Martin smoking marijuana and posing with handguns.

There were many pictures on the phone which the State of Florida did not want the defense team to know, and, more importantly for their claims, they did not want to public to witness.  All of the data was in opposition to the narrative of the State and the Martin family, around Trayvon; and much of it was viewed by them as a risk. Consequently the State of Florida wanted the information hidden from the defense.

However, a man named Ben Kruidbos (pronounced “cried-boss”) was in charge of Information Technology within the State Attorney’s office. He became aware of the State attorney, Angela Corey, and her prosecutors (pictured below), intentionally keeping the information from the defense team during pre-trial discovery. Fearful for his own position if he did nothing Kruidbos retained outside advice and representation from a former legal colleague, Wes White.

Eventually, through a series of tenuous 3rd party contacts with the defense team, the issue of the State intentionally hiding information came to the court and trial Judge, Debra Nelson.

However, Nelson did not want to deal with the Brady violation and possible judicial sanctions for the behavior before the trial. Nelson wanted the trial to begin quickly.

So Nelson delayed any sanctions hearing until after trial. That post-trial hearing has still not taken place.

As a result of Ben Kruidbos revealing the information the FL State 4th District Attorney, Angela Corey, fired him on the last day of trial – just before closing arguments. Subsequently Kruidbos filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination. That lawsuit is soon to be heard in court. Below is the amended complaint, filed by Kruidbos against Angela Corey, and her latest response.

*It is worth noting in the Corey response she is claiming the information on the Trayvon Martin cell phone was not, according to her, discovery evidence she was required to turn over.

Corey is claiming the pictures and cell phone data were attorney “work product“, and therefore she was under no obligation to divulge it – consequently she is claiming the data is not Brady material. Even a first year law student would admit this “claim” will not pass muster in a sanctions hearing. The state cannot selectively hide information pre-trial just because parts of it would negatively impact their position, the defendant has every right to see all of the evidence in the case – especially evidence which *might* be used in his defense.

First, here is the updated complaint by Kruidbos: (more…)

The defamation suit against NBC was on hold pending criminal trial outcome.  The Zimmerman motion for sanctions, still in limbo, against prosecutors Bernie De La Rionda and Angela Corey are part of the criminal trial.   Subsequently and consequentially the request for the defamation suit to move forward has been denied.

SANFORD — Orlando lawyer Mark O’Mara on Thursday took another step away from his most famous client, George Zimmerman, by bowing out of a defamation suit against NBC Universal Media.

O’Mara was co-counsel for Zimmerman when the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer sued the network broadcaster just over a year ago, accusing it of falsely portraying him as racist in five reports.

[Zimmerman’s] … defamation suit has sat dormant for 11 months. Both sides agreed last February that they’d do nothing until Zimmerman’s criminal case was closed. (more…)

There are 3 Zimmerspects we are still engaged upon.   1.)  The malicious firing of Ben Kruidbos [pronounced like “cried boss”].   2.)  The internal fraud within the 4th SAO; and 3.) The specific and intentional manipulation of evidence through prosecutorial misconduct within the George Zimmerman case.   The latter two will outline the risk within the first.
…. and, oh yeah, she knows this.
ORLANDO, FL – Lawyers for State Attorney Angela Corey say she has “sovereign immunity” and are asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed against her in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case.
Ben Kruidbos, her former information technology director, was fired in June after he testified that prosecutors did not turn over all information to Zimmerman’s defense team in the shooting death of the 17-year-old. Kruidbos said he was a whistleblower and under the law cannot be fired.
The lawsuit says Kruidbos testified in response to a subpoena, and the firing was retaliation for his testimony. (more…)

But interestingly the Public Records Clerk, Jessica Clifton, is not the one responding. Instead, Lisa A. DiFranza, an Assistant State Attorney responds to the follow-up on behalf of Angela Corey.
Y’all know we are patient, very patient, but we are also relentless.

It took almost a year, and a painstaking methodical strategy, to get the Public Records from M-DSPD which revealed the truth behind Trayvon Martin’s history, and the illegal law enforcement diversionary practices which kept him from the Criminal Justice System.
One of the things we have learned (over time) is that when you are requesting these “risk records”, the public officials ‘at risk’ will easily lie.   So, unfortunately, the strategy to actually get the records means you have to anticipate being lied to.   You must  know the truth of the existence of what you are seeking, before you actually request it. (more…)

OCALA, Fla., September 17, 2013 — George Zimmerman’s highly controversial prosecutor, Angela Corey, is now under state investigation for firing Ben Kruidbos, the Jacksonville Times-Union reports.
“Kruidbos received a letter from the Florida Commission on Ethics earlier this week saying the investigation was occurring,” the T-U’s Larry Hannan wrote last week. “Investigator Specialist Kathleen Mann, who sent the letter, declined to comment on the investigation when contacted by the Times-Union on Friday.”
Kruidbos was the information technology director in Corey’s office until earlier this summer. (more…)

In a part of Jack Cashill’s latest book, “If I Had A Son – Race, Guns, and The Railroading of George Zimmerman“, Jack outlined a brief snippet of my encounters with M-DSPD Law Enforcement while seeking to obtain public records.      I can tell you from first-hand experience it is dangerous, literally physically dangerous, and nerve wracking.
Because few, if any, citizens attempt to keep public officials focused on the lawful execution of their role/job; and because few, if any, journalists actually do the boot work to gain first-hand information contained within those records,  government officials feel little to no compulsion to comply with the law.
Most of the officials, clerks, administrators, and compliance persons, associated with facilitation of Public Records have no idea what the laws are which should guide their compliance with lawfully requested record fulfillment.   Those that do have some understanding know how to pressure, leverage, manipulate and delay such requests.

It is the policy of this state [Florida] that all state, county, and municipal records are open for personal inspection and copying by any person. Providing access to public records is a duty of each agency.   (Pam Bondi FL Statute 119.01 Public Records)

It is not a mission for the faint at heart.
Persistence is the key.   But organization, preparation and training yourself to stay in control of your “fight or flight” emotion is an absolute necessity.
Here are some recent video-graphic examples of what can and will be encountered. (more…)

Thanks to Stella I was able to download and read Jack Cashill’s  book about the Zimmerman case this past weekend.   I very much enjoyed his presentation and found the book to be a solid, fact based, presentation.   Perhaps later in the week I’ll get around to writing a review about it – but suffice to say it’s a soup-to-nuts delivery of the entire case.    A very good read – pulling together a very complex dynamic into digestible form.
We talked to Mr. Cashill several times in the lead up to the trial as he was deep in research and filled with inquiry about how we, as a group, discovered so much information.  Mr. Cashill’s initial contact was based on all the prior research assembled here by all of you.  As a consequence he found the research approach fascinating.  Y’all should feel really proud of that.  It seems from the reading he also followed along thereafter.
As noted by some comments, and inquiry over the weekend, there are many aspects of the Zimmerman case -mostly side issues- we are still researching and putting together.   We have roughly 33 questions we are seeking to answer through FOIA submissions both relating to Jacksonville SAO and the prosecution, as well as Miami-Dade. (more…)

Interesting and VERY comprehensive construction of the George Zimmerman story by a South African Journalist –  James Myburgh.   A “mere snippet” reflects:

[…]  In the chapter on “national delusions” in his 1852 work Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles MacKay noted how “In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first. “

The Trayvon Martin story is a case study in how, even in the modern day, an advanced industrialised democracy can completely lose its senses; and how difficult it is for it to then recover them. In this particular matter a whole society seemingly fixed its mind on the one object of having George Zimmerman arrested, convicted and sent to jail for life, in reckless disregard of the evidence and the law. The mainstream media, so-called civil rights organisations, the Democrat President of the US, the US Attorney General, the Republican Governor of Florida and his Attorney General, and State Attorney Angela Corey all combined forces in an effort to destroy a single, isolated individual. (more…)