Or as Dear Sharon would say, “Fire in the Hole”!   😀

The trial of George Zimmerman draws closer, so let me clarify some considerations, with perhaps a sense of urgency.   Some, heck, many, are searching for an agenda where none exists.

This is not a fight the Treehouse chose; This is a fight which chose the Treehouse.

First, The Conservative Treehouse (aka The Treehouse, The Last Refuge, the “nutters” et al) has never had any contact with the George Zimmerman defense. Never. Not Once. Ever. Not Mark O’Mara; Not Don West; Not either of their offices, interested parties, affiliates or representatives.

No, nor have we ever tried to contact them; Again, we repeat, “ever”. (more…)

Recently I received advice, from a person closely following the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman story, to take some researched evidence to the “main stream” media.   So I did, and I’ll outline my experience below.   What follows is the exact reason why the Media is no longer considered a Fourth Estate.

One thing the media never does any longer is ask questions, the “why” questions.  You’ll notice the mainstream media, in a general sense, only reports on stories, and even then only on the stories they view are within the purpose of their editorial agenda;  And stories fed to them from daily newswires, or occasionally consultants, which they are paid to regurgitate.

“It’s a cost vs. benefit analysis”, I was told by a local Orlando media reporter, “we have limited funding for resources, and expenses, and so the editors only want to expend money on stories that will drive income”, they continued.

As I asked whether or not they would be willing to look into information, or even consider information if it were just presented to them, the response was also oddly disjointed when you think of the original purpose of a news gathering and public interest.

“If it pertains to Trayvon Martin’s criminal behavior, or evidence of burglary, we are not interested”, I was told.  “Our editors and editorial board have decided that nothing about that has anything to do with the events in Sanford”.  “Nor does that have anything to do with the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman”. (more…)

The tangled web is getting bigger and more sticky by the day……. 

Something is really bothering me about the a representative from Miami-Dade School Police Department being in Orlando at the last State V. Zimmerman hearing.   It just doesn’t sit right.

First, here is a recap [excerpt]  from Orlando Sentinel’s Rene Stutzman:   […] Paperwork made public today shows that attorneys for the prosecution and defense were in Miami Thursday and Friday and deposed 12 people, including Trayvon’s step-mother and cousin.

The names of all but one – Trayvon’s cousin – were not in the deposition notice.

It’s not clear who the others are or what they told attorneys.

But in court Tuesday, Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda referred to the sworn testimony of a Miami-Dade schools official.

[…]  Trayvon was a junior at Dr. Michael Krops High School in Miami-Dade and was on suspension at the time because school officials found an empty marijuana baggie in his backpack.

On Oct. 19, over opposition from the state and Trayvon’s family, Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson ordered the Miami-Dade school system to surrender Trayvon’s school records to defense attorneys. (more…)

[scribd id=138989725 key=key-2fbqymq5t0g18ibda0jj mode=scroll]

Am I reading this correctly, this was ordered in chambers yesterday after the hearing?

The MDSPD was “in court” and delivered a copy?

What do you guys make of this?

The audio quality improves after about 6 minutes:

It’s been a long time since we saw actual reporting from Gutman about the Zimmerman case.  Today, poof – he’s back… along with a host of other media types who appeared to fill the courtroom much more than before…..  Sharks smelling blood in the water? 

ABC Matt Gutman – A Florida judge questioned George Zimmerman today on his decision to waive a hearing under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which means that he is likely heading for a trial this summer in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.

The pre-trial Stand Your Ground hearing would have given the judge the discretion to free Zimmerman, eliminating the need for a trial. But the validity of a Stand Your Ground defense would be determined solely by a judge. Zimmerman’s defense team has decided to put their case before an entire jury.

“We’d much rather have the jury address the issue of criminal liability or lack thereof,” Zimmerman’s lawyer Mark O’Mara said. (more…)

We’ve been working feverishly behind the scenes today on some rather remarkable new developments from Miami-Dade (more on that later).  In addition we are sourcing the hearing video and will bring it to you asap.  However, the post hearing presser by O’Mara brings a startling revelation.

At the 7:00 minute mark – O’Mara begins to talk about the pre-trial immunity decision.   What he actually says is quite astounding.

O’Mara claims that George Zimmerman himself was the sole decision maker NOT to seek an immunity hearing.    O’Mara claims that George Zimmerman desires to be “released” ONLY by a jury, and not a judge.   O’Mara further claiming that once George made the decision to only want a jury release, the immunity considerations became moot.   He is putting the absence of a pre-trial immunity hearing squarely on the shoulders of George Zimmerman. (more…)

Today, April 30th, the Defense and Prosecution will be back in court to discuss the various motions filed by both the Defense and the Prosecution:

Here are some *possible* Links to the Hearing:

• WFTV https://www.wftv.com/s/news/trayvonmartin/
• Click Orlando https://www.clickorlando.com/news/trayvo … index.html
• Orlando Sentinel (Fox 35 live stream) https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc … on-martin/
• WESH https://www.wesh.com/news/central-florid … index.html
• cfnews https://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cf … artin.html
• MyfoxOrlando https://www.myfoxorlando.com/category/23 … von-martin
• CNN https://edition.cnn.com/US/
• TruTV/InSession link: https://www.superusvoxtv.com/index.php/speciality/tru-tv

Hat Tip Rumpole for the list.

The George Zimmerman Legal Case defense team has filed additional motions in advance of the April 30th scheduled hearing:

• Defense demand for the details regarding the contents of Trayvon Martin’s phone
• Defense demand for the “enhanced audio” claimed to be in existence by Martin Family attorney Benjamin Crump of the 911 call tapes.   Previously Crump claimed a “cleaned up and/or enhanced copy of the calls led to Tracy Martin reversing his original statement about the screams for help NOT being Trayvon Martin.
• Defense notification of additional witness testimony which “might” be used at trial.  An enlarged supplemental witness list of unknown persons.   M-DSPD (?)
• Defense Reply to States response regarding sanctions for discovery violations and a copy of reimbursement expenses demanded.
• Defense amended Notice of Hearing 

Notably absent is any Defense/O’Mara reply to the States response regarding the Writ of Certiorari.   Apparently the hearing will continue forward while the substance of the Writ Request looms as an undetermined Appellate Court Decision [regarding the deposition of Benjamin Crump].