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George Zimmerman Wants a New Judge—Again

Says current judge's remark showed bias

By the Associated Press

Posted Jul 14, 2012 2:34 PM CDT

(AP) – The ex-neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin asked for a new judge yesterday, claiming the current one is biased because he said George Zimmerman had "flaunted the system." Zimmerman said in a motion he feared he would be unable to get a fair "stand your ground" hearing or a fair trial with Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester presiding over the case. Lester was appointed in April after Zimmerman claimed a potential conflict of interest with the original judge.

Earlier this month, Lester said in an order granting Zimmerman bond that Zimmerman had "under any definition ... flaunted the system" by failing to disclose at an April bond hearing that he had raised $135,000 from donations for his legal defense. Lester at the time allowed Zimmerman to be released on a $150,000 bond. The judge revoked the bond after prosecutors presented jailhouse recordings of Zimmerman instructing his wife on how to transfer funds raised from a website to different bank accounts.
In this Friday, June 29, 2012 file photo, George Zimmerman enters the courtroom in Sanford, Fla.
In this Friday, June 29, 2012 file photo, George Zimmerman enters the courtroom in Sanford, Fla.   (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 31 comments
Salmon
Jul 16, 2012 4:11 AM CDT
I think the judge meant to say, "...flouted the system." Or did Newser make an error? From Oxford dictionary: "usage: Flaunt and flout may sound similar but they have different meanings. Flaunt means ‘display ostentatiously,’ as in tourists who liked to flaunt their wealth, while flout means ‘openly disregard (a rule or convention),’ as in new recruits growing their hair and flouting convention. It is a common error, recorded since around the 1940s, to use flaunt when flout is intended, as in the young woman had been flaunting the rules and regulations."
Reading
Jul 16, 2012 12:00 AM CDT
To irrefutably lie about the money in a bail hearing (not to mention hiding a passport) certainly does damage to one's credibility.  How is anyone expected to believe him when he knowingly tried to lie and get away with it before the court? So far his track record before the judge is not good. He has himself to blame for affecting the judge's views. 
Kookey90
Jul 15, 2012 10:55 PM CDT
This sounds like a job for Judge Judy! She'll cut through all the BS and have the case resolved in fifteen minutes flat.  Case Closed - Next!

Copyright 2013 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.

 
judge • Trayvon Martin • George Zimmerman trial

 
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