One sentence I always said to my clients: “A shut mouth can bottle up a barrel of sin.”

One more of them is, to quote Steven Seagal, “One day your mouth is going to get the rest of you in trouble.”

Man, I can’t tell you how many times my clients were home free until they opened up their fat yaps.

Ari Mendelson on June 1, 2012 at 3:26 pm

Without re-reading all your posts, this seems to be the third time you have changed your view of Zimmerman. First you were for him, then against, then for again, now against again. A question of judgement perhaps?

CJW: No, I only questioned why he took the stand in a bond hearing, which was one other post. I think he’s still innocent. But not smart and not behaving the way a smart client, who wants to be acquitted and lets the lawyer do his job, behaves. DS

C J Walters on June 1, 2012 at 3:28 pm

“Martin’s bond was just revoked…”

You mean Zimmerman’s?

ebayer on June 1, 2012 at 3:35 pm

George Zimmerman is trash too. I’m on neither sides of the issue!!!!

Matthew on June 1, 2012 at 3:49 pm

No, Zimmerman is a flawed character with quite a few problems. He and his wife were fools to do this. However, that does not make him a murderer. Zimmerman was a man who had financial problems before all of this happened, and the Trayvon Martin shooting simply aggravated that situation. He probably became giddy about the sums raised, and did not think about the consequences of not being forthcoming. That in no way excuses such behavior, but it would serve as an explanation for it. Also, George Zimmerman, as Debbie has noted, opened himself up to having his character impeached by the prosecutors by doing what he did. In addition, as Debbie has also noted, this sort of cute behavior really sours a judge against a defendant. There is really no basis, from what has been presented so far, for prosecuting George Zimmerman on second degree murder charges. However, it is now less likely that manslaughter charges could be successfully contested by the defense, since their client’s judgment and ethics are in doubt.

Worry01 on June 1, 2012 at 3:58 pm

Foolish of Zimmerman to lie but understandable. He knows he’ll need a quality defense team, i.e.expensive, to present his case. Didn’t want to risk those funds raised for his defense to be an influencing factor for the judge’s setting of bond.
I’d be down on my knees begging D.S. to be at my side to face the “Trayvesty” of justice he’s challenged with.

lee, of the lower case "l" on June 1, 2012 at 3:59 pm

Zimmerman collected donations of $200,000, (at least his lawyer said so), right after his client was bond for $150,000. Zimmerman cried a river, that he is poor and have no money, but his site collected $200,000 before the bond hearing, and still collect $1000 per day. And everyone and their mother blamed martins mother for earning money on her son’s death. And what you call Zimmermans way to earn money? You just need to kill unarmed black teenager, and you will got $1000 per day on your support site. Great business skills.

Rina on June 1, 2012 at 4:16 pm

Maybe the Zimmermans figured that donated money wasn’t theirs to spend?

After all, it was donated for a specific purpose, right?

This really does look like nothing more than a kangaroo court lynching – – – , and, for what?

John Robert Mallernee on June 1, 2012 at 4:17 pm

The mission of the prosecution is convict Zim and outlaw stand your ground in Florida. DS has pointed this out in a previous article on the Martin-Zimmerman case.

I live in Florida. We are a pro-gun state thanks to Marion Hammer, the NRA, our lawmakers and others. Stand your ground, Castle Doctrine, concealed carry, guns in the trunk at work, etc. The downstate liberals and the Feds want to chip away at these laws.

We are not dealing with smart guys in the case of Zim. Did he know how much $ he had? Why was he trying to cover this up? Does it have any bearing on his guilt or not?

I get that once you lie to a judge your toast, but was it really a lie, or the prosecution stretching it into one to try to get a leg up on the defeat of stand your ground?

Panhandle on June 1, 2012 at 4:27 pm

I knew about the money that was being raised for Zimmerman. I knew this before the bond hearing as I shared the link with the information with a woman I work with. She said that the hispanic community was behind Zimmerman (they say he is Mexican, btw). I cannot understand why Zimmerman’s lawyer wouldn’t have known about the money. And I agree with the statement that was made earlier, perhaps it was Zimmerman’s understanding that the money was not his yet. Another thing I’m concerned with is the fact that Bob and Nancy Strait, an elderly white couple here in Tulsa, was killed by approximately 2 -5 black men. Why have appeals to the press to report THIS story gone unnoticed? Is it okay, or not news, to kill white elderly people?

Kristy on June 1, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Lying to a judge hurts you – I think he’s innocent here but I have to change my mind about George Zimmerman being a decent human being.

There no reason to lie about the money he raised for his defense to the judge or the prosecution. And like Debbie said, it can be used to impeach his character in the event he takes the stand to explain what happened.

Never lie to a court about anything – if you want people to think you’re someone who can be trusted. All of this makes people want to convict Zimmerman, not necessarily on the facts but just to teach him a lesson about dealing forthrightly with others.

NormanF on June 1, 2012 at 5:00 pm

It’s pretty clear that the court is crooked (it is Florida after all, and he is being tried because Jesse Jackson demanded it, not for any judicial reason, and money does buy you love in Florida.)

So he’s not an ideal client and his first set of lawyers fired him. But it is clear that he was being beaten. Is he then going to have to go to jail for seven years because the 10% of the maximum bond the court could charge him wasn’t enough?

Who’s doing wrong here? A man is in jail for a non-crime because a bunch of Race-Baiters demand it, and Bail is set so high that nobody expected him to be able to make it, and now it turns out that the astronomically high bail wasn’t high enough to satisfy the Race-Baiter’s and the Judge’s desires because the Judge wants to punish him whether he is guilty of a crime or not.

dave on June 1, 2012 at 7:31 pm

Zimmerman just give it up. You murdered that boy. Self defense my butt. You had no right to approach him. You’re not a police. You can fool these gullible people that believe you, but you can’t fool God.

Jennifer on June 1, 2012 at 7:33 pm

I don’t see why anyone would think he is innocent here. How can you approach someone because they look suspicious especially after you were told not to follow him. Any man would fight to defend himself if another man is walking up on you and they’re not in a cop uniform. Yes I feel that Trayvon did beat the crap out of Zimmerm, but he had every right to protect himself from this stranger approaching him. Zimmerman probably got mad because some little 17 beat him up and he took out his gun and shot him. This wasn’t a race crime. It was a hate crime.

Jennifer on June 1, 2012 at 7:47 pm

Sean R.:

For the millionth time, no one denies that Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman. The prosecutor in this case hasn’t denied it. Zimmerman defenders are shadowboxing, tilting at windmills, building straw-men, etc. when they keep raising that point. The same with Martin’s being a recreational drug user prone to putting filthy stuff on his social media site. Pardon me, but the falsely accused guys in Duke lacrosse case did the same and worse, as do any number of frat boys at the nearby University of Florida and USF. And it certainly is no worse than Zimmerman’s own arrests for assault, including against a police officer, that we are going to hear plenty about during the trial (which Zimmerman defenders are going to claim is “character assassination”).

The fact is that Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman because he thought that George Zimmerman was a criminal. It is a fact. We know this because Martin ran away from Zimmerman. We know this because of the terrified phone call that Zimmerman made to his girlfriend. The Zimmerman defenders never acknowledge this, because they refuse to countenance the idea that a young black male can fear being a crime victim, unless the criminal assailant he fears is another black male. That is why folks claim “Zimmerman had the right to confront Martin.” Meaning that Zimmerman had the right to view Martin as a criminal and act accordingly, but Martin didn’t have the same right. That is dehumanization, plain and simple. As young black males are viewed as predators, the position is “how dare you suggest that MARTIN had the right to be afraid of ZIMMERMAN … that MARTIN had the same right to defend himself as ZIMMERMAN did?” And it is also why Martin’s personal history is entirely relevant, but Zimmerman’s own past history of bad judgment and unstable behavior (which I have mentioned time and time again and it only gets ignored) is supposedly irrelevant.

I respect Ms. Schlussel as a lawyer, activist, conservative thinker and movie critic, but I disagree with her opinion that Martin didn’t have the same right to self-defense that Zimmerman did, and what was more, Martin had more of a reason to believe that his life was in danger than Zimmerman did. I am not the only one who feels this way. The right wing conservative Republican prosecutor in this case feels the same way. Here’s the irony: Jacksonville area civil rights and black leaders despise this prosecutor, because they claim that she is too zealous when it comes to putting black males in jail, and that she seeks excessive sentences. That’s the biggest irony of this whole thing: the very prosecutor that conservatives have now arrayed themselves against was deemed a racist out to put black men in jail by the civil rights crowd. If that isn’t evidence that the Zimmerman defenders are more motivated by politics than the law, then what is?

I have a hard time believing that a jury is going to buy the idea that a black person is obligated to risk being victimized by a nonblack potential criminal assailant just because just because blacks are “supposed” to be criminals and nonblacks aren’t. FBI crime statistics don’t mean squat when some guy with a gun is chasing you down in the middle of the night.

Gerald on June 1, 2012 at 7:58 pm

Am not an american neither do i live in america but with what i can gather from ur press it looks like zimmerman has been lying alot right from the day one, from his statment to the police to his finacial details. I think you need a nuetra mind for you to know more lies are still coming up.

Seun on June 1, 2012 at 8:00 pm

I see as George Zimmerman as a fool at worst and incompetent at the least. However the “get Zimmerman” can not bring themselves to say that Zimmerman had no choice but shoot Trayvon if Zimmean felt his life was under threat. The “Get Zimmerman” crowd is attacking Zimmerman at all angles seeing where there is a weak spot to further exploit, Such hatred displayed the trolls who venture here makes the point tha they are willing to throw their own moms under the bus just to make a point.

Mario on June 1, 2012 at 8:56 pm

He should’ve drove to California and took up residence in Tijuana. He’s in a bad place that just got worse. Being stupid cost him big time.

samurai on June 1, 2012 at 9:20 pm

“Talking code,” is usually prosecution hype. With a shaky case they need to make up as much crap as they can to nail the guy. Everyone knew about the Pay Pal account before the bail hearing; Zimmerman’s wife was QUESTIONED about it for God’s sake. Was the judge asleep during that part or being a “plotted plant,” himself?

Neither Zimmerman nor his wife were at this revocation hearing so until they are heard from, it’s just a matter of a desperate prosecution and a senile judge.

Ken on June 2, 2012 at 1:59 am

I do not see the relevance of the pay pal account to help pay for his defense. What a schmuck he must be to lie about it which is perjury in any book.
Frankly,this neanderthal needs a kick in the ass for refusing to follow directions since the day he was born. As a kid he probably ran with scissors.
This still does not make him a murderer. The incident was a clash of macho morons and the bullet won over the fist as it always does, period.

Ronald Wolf aka "Columbo" on June 2, 2012 at 11:39 am

I thought that Zimmerman had mentioned the Paypal account to the Judge, but they did not have an accurate figure yet. Somehow I heard mention of about $70,000, but the money was not his. Zimmerman should have sued Martins parents.

Dansmith1954 on June 2, 2012 at 11:56 am

I still think he’s a good American. Him and his wife weren’t even at the latest hearing, so I think this is a real nontroversy.

Jim on June 2, 2012 at 2:56 pm

This post leaves out the scam Zimmerman and his wife tried to pull with his passport. His original passport was reported lost, so he got a replacement. Later he recovered the original. When the court ordered him to hand in his passport, he told his wife to keep the valid passport in a safety deposit box, but to hand in the original, which was no longer valid.

I can’t think of a single reason why someone who isn’t a flight risk would need to trick the court into thinking they didn’t have a passport.

And this is all on tape. Their dealings with the bank where they moved the money into a different account was recorded.

roark on June 2, 2012 at 6:46 pm

I think they were under pressure to find an excuse to lock Zimmerman up again, from the NBPP or similar type groups.

I don’t think it is clear that he knew how much money was in the defense fund, and that was earmarked for defense, not bond. It was not his money. Attorneys will end up with all of it anyway.

Bond should only be set high for flight risk, not iffy Paypal accounts that really aren’t their money for personal use, even bond.

If Zimmerman is murdered by “inmates” in prison, many believe that we are going to see a groundswell of political change of one description or another to the far right like we’ve never seen before. Some people on the right seem to want this to happen, and they could care less about the political pawn George Zimmerman.

There is a full assault on the First and Second Amendment going on, as we can see with both Breitbart, who brought down several left wing sacred cows, and died under suspicious circumstances and timing, and the Zimmerman case, which seeks gun control and to criminalize self defense, at least against one political class.

Also the attacks against Rush Limbaugh and other talk show hosts are a clear attack on the First Amendment.

Observer on June 4, 2012 at 2:17 pm

Zimmerman has done more to set back Second Amendment civil rights than the entire Brady Bunch. Gun grabbers have been waiting over 25 years for a case like this with a defendant like Zimmerman to come along. I believe he is innocent but I also question his judgement and/or his intellect. That being said, there’s been a national conspiracy to deny him due process. As a result I contributed to his legal defense fund. I’m not familiar with Florida state law but bond under federal law is set based on flight risk not financial status. I agree with DS, the bond was already set too high for a low flight risk.

Bonzer Wolf on June 4, 2012 at 5:35 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaboration_with_the_Axis_Powers_during_World_War_II#Poland

Unlike in most European countries occupied by Nazi Germany — where the Germans sought and found true collaborators among the locals — in occupied Poland there was no official collaboration either at the political or at the economic level.[43][44] Poland also never officially surrendered to the Germans.[45] Under German occupation, the Polish army continued to fight underground, as Armia Krajowa and forest partisans – Le?ni. The Polish resistance movement in World War II in German-occupied Poland was the largest resistance movement in all of occupied Europe.[46] As a result, Polish citizens were unlikely to be given positions of any significant authority.[43][44] The vast majority of the pre-war citizenry collaborating with the Nazis was the German minority in Poland which was offered one of several possible grades of the German citizenship.[47] In 1939, before the German invasion of Poland, 800,000 people declared themselves as members of the German minority in Poland mostly in Pomerania and Western Silesia. During the war there were about 3 million former Polish citizens of German origin who signed the official list of Volksdeutsche.[44] People who became Volksdeutsche were treated by Poles with special contempt, and the fact of them having signed the Volksliste constituted high treason according to the Polish underground law.

There is a general consensus among historians that there was very little collaboration with the Nazis among the Polish nation as a whole, compared to other German-occupied countries.[43][44][48] Depending on a definition of collaboration (and of a Polish citizen, based on ethnicity and minority status), scholars estimate number of “Polish collaborators” at around several thousand in a population of about 35 million (that number is supported by the Israeli War Crimes Commission).[49] The estimate is based primarily on the number of death sentences for treason by the Special Courts of the Polish Underground State. Some estimates are higher, counting in all members of the German minority in Poland and any former Polish citizens declaring their German ethnicity (Volksdeutsche), as well as conscripted members of the Blue Police, low-ranking Polish bureaucrats employed in German occupational administration, and even workers in forced labor camps (ex. Zivilarbeiter and Baudienst). Most of the Blue Police were forcibly drafted into service; nevertheless, a significant number acted as spies for Polish resistance movement Armia Krajowa.[48] John Connelly quoted a Polish historian (Leszek Gondek) calling the phenomenon of Polish collaboration “marginal” and wrote that “only relatively small percentage of Polish population engaged in activities that may be described as collaboration when seen against the backdrop of European and world history”.[48]

The anti-Jewish actions of szmalcownicy were very harmful to the Polish Jews as well as the gentile Poles aiding them. Anti-Jewish collaboration of Poles was particularly widespread and effective in the rural areas.[citation needed] It is estimated that some 200 thousand hiding Jews died in 1942-1945 in direct result of this collaboration.[citation needed] The collaboration by some Polish Jews, who belonged to ?agiew, was also harmful to both Jewish and ethnic Polish Underground.

The Polish Secret State considered szmalcownictwo an act of collaboration with the German occupiers. The Armia Krajowa (Home Army) punished it with the death sentence as a criminal act of treason.[3] Blackmailers had been sentenced to death by the Special Courts of the Polish Underground for crimes against Polish citizens. The Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego (Polish Committee of National Liberation) by its decree of August 31, 1944 also condemned this act as collaboration with Nazi Germany. This decree is still a valid law in Poland, and any person who committed an act of szmalcownictwo during the war faces life imprisonment. After the war, there were very few trials as most witnesses had already died or left the country.

Zibi on June 6, 2012 at 1:56 pm

George Zimmerman is his own worst enemy. On top of foolishly ignoring the dispatcher’s advice that it was not necessary to follow Trayvon Martin, and therefore causing this kid’s death, he has a history of doing stupid things. What’s worse is that he shows no remorse whatsoever, if his words that this was part of “God’s plan” are to be taken at face value. He is also a consummate liar who has given a number of self-serving accounts of that night which contradict even each other. Whatever injuries he suffered were not consistent with all that he claims Trayvon did to him, not only because the latter would have needed several pairs of arms but also because he declined any medical assistance. He placed himself in the position he finds himself in today, because he was an overzealous vigilante who is incapable of listening.

Anne on February 27, 2013 at 3:10 am