Mere Oversight?
Friday, April 27, 2012 at 9:52AM
Several days ago, George Zimmerman’s attorney told the media that his client had nothing to do with any Websites bearing his name. That turned out to be untrue, but at the time, Mark O’Mara didn’t know that. He must have found out soon afterward because one site in particular, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman, did, in fact, belong to George. It was just taken down, but not before Ol’ Georgie Boy amassed a small fortune of $204,000. Oh my. At last week’s bond hearing, O’Mara declared him indigent. I understand that, to someone like Donald Trump, $204,000 is not much money, but to you, me and most people, including George, that’s a nice chunk of change. Granted, this is going to be an expensive run, but still…
My problem is two-fold. Did George keep the Website quiet by not disclosing its ownership until it became a bone of contention? In other words, was he deceitful about the site the moment O’Mara came on board? While that’s an issue, there’s something else that concerns me more; one that may shed light on George Zimmerman’s honesty. On CNN last night, O’Mara said he had no idea about the money at the time of the bond hearing, when he declared his client indigent. While it’s true that we, the public, have no idea how much money was in George’s PayPal account at that precise moment, it’s clear that O’Mara had no idea the account existed, let alone how much money was in it.
If George was harboring information from his attorney, how much can we believe? In my opinion, he’s already changed his story about the fatal incident on February 26. Now this misrepresentation. He sat in court, sitting on a nest egg, while his attorney argued his indigence. I humbly ask you, can we trust anything that George says? Did George even know he had that money while he sat in court?
Trayvon’s parents’ attorney, Benjamin Crump, wants the bond revoked. I don’t think it will be. What do you think?
Dave Knechel | in Benjamin Crump, Dave Knechel, David B. Knechel, David Knechel, George Zimmerman, Judge Kenneth R. Lester, Jr., Marinade Dave, Marinade Dave Knechel, Mark O'Mara, Seminole County, Seminole County Courthouse, Slimm v. Zimm, Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin, Zimm v. Slimm, marinadedave | Share Article | 1 Reference 
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Reader Comments (161)
Well it kinda mirrors the "charity site" of George and Ciny in which it is speculated it was a "get rich quick scheme" that was shut down due to these suspicions. When a guilty party claims innocence they will go to the ends of the earth to find a truth that works for them. Defense attorneys are put into a possition in which they will believe any truth as long as there is money. Granted it does not appear that he knew of its existence but I hope that he realizes the gamble he is taking and the possible negativity that will reflect on you as an attorney. I have read that he is a well known person so his reputation will preceed him wherever he goes and this will be just a blemish.
[Actually, the George & Cindy's charity site is back up and running. Also, O'Mara's very good at what he does, and he really does believe his client is innocent. This should be a very interesting case to follow, and in the end, it should not pit one race against another. This is about an action more than bigotry.]
I've read that Mr. Mara has a good reputation. I do not understand why he would take this case,or any case where the accused has told different stories,one who doesn't stay in touch with his lawyers,is determinded to do as he pleases and is a bald faced liar.
[I think what we need to keep in mind is what criminal defense attorneys do for a living. This case, in particular, isn't as cut & dry as Casey's was, or should have been. There's an awful lot of gray area in between what we know and what we don't. This one's a real tough one.]
Sorry Dave...ha! This is FLORIDA where anything goes. Lie in court, tell half truths on a witness stand, kill your children and you won't get your bond revoked!!!! ANYTHING GOES!
[Yes, good ol' Florida, but then again, no one state holds bragging rights, and if we really think about it, Trayvon is a true Floridian. His killer is not.]
Hey Dave! A pox on the lot of them! Did my previous post get through? Maybe we need to exchange e-mails. My own blog is sometimes restricting and believe me, I'll shoot ya some spicy prose and piss off plenty of people. or maybe brownie recipes. Who knows? But I just hacked out a hundred words complete with video and I think it all got lost to the ether. Let me know. tj
[I have your blog address and I went to it when you first commented, but somehow I must have gotten preoccupied. Call it a lot of personal stuff on my plate. Let's connect next week.
As for your lost post, it even happens to me, here on my own blog. That's why I generally type out comments in Notepad so I have a backup for times like what happened to you. There was nothing of yours that was tucked away somewhere, so whatever it was, it's lost for posterity. Sorry about that, tj.]
Tim Joe Comstock, always copy your post before you add them just in case it gets lost. Happened to me millions of times. Yea, it took that long for me to figure that out!
Hey Dave - been giving you much link in at my DK Diaries.
NBC Fires Zimmerman Tape Editor MoJo Provides Transcripts & More
How about you and Mother Jones getting together and doing a story together?
Would love to see a 2 party examination of the facts - together.
[Thanks for the links, Laser. I've been preoccupied lately, but I think things will be settling down soon. I'll get in touch with you and read Mother Jones. Yes, doing a story together would be nice. I've got so much inside my head that should be let out.]
Dave~ ~I would like to know the date that the fund reached over $204,000 and the date of the bond hearing. When the news media announced that Zimmerman was having difficulty raising his bond, I would assume that there was an influx of donations made to the paypal account. I think we should get our facts straight before jumping the gun and saying Zimmerman lied to his attorney. If on the day of the bond hearing, Zimmerman knew that he had a balance of approx $200,000 in his paypal, then yes, he was being dishonest. Did the funds get depositied to his paypay acct after the bond hearing? Mike O'Mara is being honest with the judge and I am sure his client will be the same.
Anyone who did not make donations to Zimmerman anonymously and their names will be exposed due to the Sunshine laws, will they all have to go into hiding too or get death threats? It seems that the court is not running this show but others out there who will see this through to the end.
There was more than one website set up for raising funds for Zimmerman. Of course , a few scammers did their thing too.
[I don't know when the account reached its zenith, but I do know that O'Mara admitted that the money for bond was, in fact, in that account on the day of the hearing, April 20. Of course, he was unaware at the time, but now the issue is whether George knew it or not. $200K is way too much money to ignore, and the fact remains that the text on that Website was written in his own words, not someone else's. In other words, it claimed to be him, not his brother, cousin, wife, or parents.]
Video-Judge denies gag order at this time
Eye doctor appointment... I'll be back later this afternoon.
I do know that O'Mara found out (and said so) that the $150K was available last Friday when bond was set, so George wasn't very forthright.
Dave ~~I would like to see a print out of the pay pal account with deposits and dates before I can make an assessment. I am used to working with facts. As far as the bond, it was set to fit a charge of manslaugher more so than the overcharge of second degree murder. Maybe the judge took this into consideration.
If Mark O'Mara feels that his client is deliberately being dishonest with him, you will see him remove himself from the case....time will tell.
[I think O'Mara wants to see a print out, too, before he can make an assessment, but he is aware that money was in at the time of the bond hearing, only he didn't find that out until a later date,]
We also have to take into consideration that George has had to dip into the funds to cover living expenses in order to survive. By the looks of his weight loss, he has not been spending a fortune on food.
[By his weight loss? That mugshot in the news of him was taken in, what, 2005? From the time of the shooting to his release from jail, I haven't seen any significant weight loss. Actually, he way outspent Casey in the jail junk food department.]
O'Mara did make the court aware of the significant amount of money that was donated to Zimmerman on his website, www.therealgeorgezimmerman.com. The website has since been shut down by O'Mara.
O'Mara told the court he was not aware of the $200,000 when the family spoke April 20. He went on to say that the family also didn't know the money was available to them when they testified about their finances.
"They could easily have made a maneuver to try and get to that money but they didn't," said O'Mara. "That proves they were not holding or hiding anything with this money because they did not use it."
Trayvon Martin's family attorney Benjamin Crump said he intended to ask the judge to revoke Zimmerman's bond after new information surfaced about the Zimmerman's finances.
De la Rionda told Lester the new information about the finances changes Zimmerman's circumstances, and de la Rionda asked Lester to raise Zimmerman's bond.
"Family members represented they had no money," said De la Rionda. "Whether they intentionally did that or not I don't know and I would ask the court to consider possibly raising the bond."
Lester said he would not rule on the bond issue until O'Mara provided information about when the PayPal account was opened, who had control over it, and when the transactions were made.
O'Mara told him the money is now in a trust fund that only he controls and will figure out how to administer the money, but was quick to point out Zimmerman does not have control over it.
Lester told O'Mara to provide the information about the account to the state.
Zimmerman did not attend the hearing.
The next court date is May 8, but O'Mara said he nor Zimmerman would attend. Lester said the date is to set up for trial.
Source
Someone could always put together a Super Pac for him....
Well it's been said that the brother of GZ is the one who started the website and who was miraculously not present at the bond hearing? The brother. The judge is going to wait til he gets all the names and facts surrounding the account before deciding because if it was GZ's brother who started up the website then I gather that falls outside of the jurisdiction of the judge, because it's George Zimmerman who's before him, not his brother. I have heard on the tv today during one of the shows that 5000 of the money was removed but it's not clear if it was for living expenses or to be used as part of his bond. I also heard it wasn't his account but an account set up for him without his knowledge. Now, I know for a fact my own brothers wouldn't do that for me without letting me know "hey I did this for you". So I think GZ did know it existed, but he may not have known just how much was in the account because he was in jail. Like someone said.. one contributor could have donated a large check.
I hope this judge does at least raise his bail due to the money being in the possession of THE FAMILY itself. They also told the judge they couldn't afford the bail remember? Someone somewhere was lying.
Btw Mark O'Mara said he started up 2 new websites for his client. One is for legal fees. I wonder how much Casey Anthony's lawyers would have raised doing that. To me it seems a little unethical, but these lawyers have a way to do everything.
Lets just say that his brother did set up the website. Last Friday the mother, father, Zimmernans wife and Zimmerman all stated that not did they not have money but they had all exhausted all means to seek additional funds. To now learn that the most vocal and public member of that family had control over 200 k, makes this family look beyond shady.
Snoopy I know that you are stating that you are simply trying to be objective but some of your posts concern me. You suggest that George has lost weight because he has no money ( despite having the resources to fly around the country, buy expensive suits and have family members appear on the networks). But there is a very obvious reason why he may be losing weight. Because he is facing some serious jail time and is worried?
Porky3100~~ahhh don't be concerned about the old Snoop. Someone has to look at both sides and it seems I have put myself in a position and will not win any popularity contests. I guess that if I had to stay in hiding because there was a bounty on my head, I would lose weight too. My comment about not spending a fortune on food was my way of adding a bit of sarcasm.
As far as Zimmerman buying expensive suits, you did not expect him to appear in court in his underwear did you? He had to look presentable and I am not sure that polka dot boxers would have fit the bill. I thought his suit was modest and did not look like the ones Sharpton and Jackson seem to sport.
All I want is to do is present both sides of this case and look at things objectively. Bear with me Porky, here's a big hug....lol
Dave et al....food for thought such as it is....
Zimmerman lauched his website, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com, on April 10th... the bond hearing was April 20th... O'Mara learned of the website on April 25th....the site has been dismantled and the funds in the acct are in Mark's control. The question is, what was the balance of the paypal acct as of April 20th and how much was donated from the 20th to and including April 25th.
O'Mara is working to restructure the fund.
"We are currently going through the Division of Consumer Service for an authorized fund. We will likely put up another website for donations, but it will be done so through my office," O'Mara says.
A friend of Zimmerman had helped launch the site, but several fake imitation websites and Twitter accounts have popped up in recent weeks. O'Mara said he is trying to clear the Internet of fake sites and set up a defense fund that meets all legal requirements.
“I’m trying to scrub through all of them and take action to have them taken down,” he told FoxNews.com. “We are currently going through the Division of Consumer Service for an authorized fund. We will likely put up another website for donations, but it will be done so through my office.”
The above excerpt was taken from a source....somewhere in my travels... I just had a verdict come in re one of my trials and am working on 3 other trials and cases ... a mult-tasker is not one of my talents...
Dave had his eyes dialated and is sitting in a sub shop somewhere... The sub must look bigger than his belly... I hope he don't take too big of a bite all at once...
Bye for now....
Ah Snoopy I needed a big hug because it is a long day at work lol. But do you see my point about the representations that the Zimmerman family made last week? Recall they said they had exhausted ALL possibilities for raising additional money
Porky3100~ ~ When Zimmerman's family said last week they had exhausted all possibilities for raising additional money, they would have meant ...how much money they could raise by remortgaging their home etc. Depending on how much equity they had in their homes or other assets, that may not have totalled more than a hill of beans. They may not have known how much money was in this website fund. The question is, whose name was on the paypal account and what was the balance in that account as at April 20th? The judge wants to know this info before rendering his decision.
A website soliciting funds cannot be taken as collateral as it is not tangible. Am I confusing you yet?
Snoopy,
You are not confusing me, I am calling BS! As far as i know there are 5 family members here. I will list them. Zimmerman, his parents, his wife and his brother. Four testified at the hearing and the one who had control over the money was conveniently absent. But the family testified and gave the impression that as a family UNIT they had exhausted all possibilities for raising additional money and Zimmerman was presented as indigent. CLEARLY that was a misrepresentation no?
You comment about collateral makes no sense because the issue s here are 1. how much money does the defendant have to contribute to bail. Surely Zimmerman would have access to a fund collected specifically on his behalf and set up by a family member. But as to collateral, this was not a collateral issue not to determine the amount of money that the family has access to
I am stunned that so much money was raised through the website. I knew about the website and that donations were being solicited. It was well covered in the news. It never occurred to me that anything more than minimal amounts of money would be donated. I'm surprised that O'Mara did not know about the fundraising website because the old lawyers talked about it during their press conference. Maybe he did know but did not imagine that large sums would be raised.
I wonder who the donors are, and if the $200k was raised mainly from a single large donation or from many small donations.
O'Mara said that, of the $205k that was donated, $150k is left. What was the $50k+ spent on?
Maybe most of the money came in after Zimmerman was charged and jailed. He may not have been able to track the website from jail and perhaps he didn't know how much money was there until after he was released.
Porky3100~~ it is breaking my heart but I have to agree with you that there are discrepancies. Where was this brother on the day of the bond hearing? The family was hooked up by phone so why not the brother too?
Now I am wondering if O'Mara will stay on as Zimmerman's attorney. I do not think Mark would stand for any deception...
The following is of interest....
For your information....
STATEMENT FROM MARK O'MARA REGARDING THE FUNDS RAISED BY GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S WEBSITE
Molly K~ ~ the $50,000 went towards paying the 10% of the $150,000 bond. Zimmerman had to depostit $15,000 . There was also living expenses and transportation fees used from the fund.
No one person contributed the total $200,000 but there were sizable contributions and then many smaller ones that all added up.
Snoopy
Also check this out. Omara was in court on Friday the 20th but did not shut the website down until Wednesday the 24th. now 50 k has already been spent. That leaves 2 very damming possibilities, both highly deceptive. 1. The 50k was spent prior to that hearing which would make it highly suspect that the brother who controlled the fund was not present OR the 50k was spent between the hearing and the 25th-- again very shady. Either way, I highly doubt that Zimmerman was unaware of this--which leaves us with a possibly shady person as the only living witness to a crime and we are expected to buy his story which conveniently exonerates him.
But Snoopy if $15,000.00 went towards paying the bond and the remaining went to his living expenses are you saying that George had no duty to disclose this to the court? I do not see how you can see any other possibility other than deception here.
It appears that Zimmerman himself had access to the funds from this site! To quote his Attorney "Mr. Zimmerman’s former website and the PayPal attached to it raised approximately $200,000.00 over the period of time that it was up and running. Mr. Zimmerman was using this money, as mentioned on his website, for his ongoing living expenses and other necessary expenses based upon the charge and eventual arrest." Come on now Snoopy
I read that $5k of this fund went to the $15k bond and the other $10k was raised by mortgaging a house. How could someone possibly spend $50k on living expenses in a few weeks? If Zimmerman were paying legal expenses then I could understand how so much could have been spent, but he wasn't.
Porky3100 ~~it must be time for you to take a lunch break, right? You are trying to give me a hard time aren't you? lol I may have to sue you for pain, suffering and carpal tunnel.
MollyK~~ you are correct...I did hear that $5K went towards the deposit...
Dave~ ~I sure will be glad when you get in here.....save me!! !
Ready to go home actually Snoopy. But it it our end of month period so all has to be perfect by closing on Monday! But not trying to give you a hard time at all. Are you going to address my points? :)
Porky3100~ ~ my water pistol is filled with H2O and I am ready to squirt... I will address you alright, if not, you may get undressed...who knows?
I think you will see a separate investigation made re this website and who set up the account and had access to dispersing the funds. It will mean issuing a subpoena to Z's brother. The judge may have to order this hearing. You never know, we may see some perjury charges handed out if any of the family were lying under oath.
As far as living expenses chewing up a lot of money. The Z's had to move to a different residence which would entail moving costs, renting an apartment plus damage deposit... for security reasons, I doubt if Mrs Z is employed so they have no income... they may have owed creditors before all this went down... I can see $50K as just being a pittance...
Have Trayvon's parents returned to their employment? I don't believe they have a bounty on their heads. I cannot see anything wrong with Zimmerman's lawyer setting up a website to raise funds for his defense. I always thought that everyone in America had the right to a fair trial, if charged with a crime, and remained innocent until a jury of their peers deemed them otherwise.
As I read the blogs, not just this one, Zimmerman has been tried and proven guilty. Why bother to have a court system and laws enacted when we can do the job? Just take George out in the middle of the street in Sanford and shoot him? I expect some to belly ache that he did not breathe his last fast enough to suit them.
It would be a damn shame if we had to close the door and get on with our lives and let the courts handle this.
I am watching NeJame on Vinny's show...at least he is making sense and said he would want to see some figures re the fund before making judgement calls. We must remember Z was in jail when most of those donations may have come in. All calls from the jail are recorded... so was Z told of the balance in the fund.
Great Read Snoopy but I think you missed my point. We have a shooting of an unarmed teen that occurred under very specious circumstances. The police placed great emphasis om Zimmerman's statements at the scene of the shooting. *If* is turns out that Zimmerman knowingly concealed this money, it presents a huge creditability issue here. Agree?
Bring your pistols on, it is 89 here and I could use the cool mist.
If on the other hand it is the family who made false statements-- then that calls ALL of what they have told the court in question as well.
Porky3100~ ~ did Dave put you up to punishing me? Please go home and watch a good movie.
How am I going to explain this? It is just logic that most of the contributions went into Z's fund once he was arrested and a bond hearing was being discussed. Okay, how did Z have control of his account without internet access in the jail? Z was incarcerated for a week and then went into hiding and did not have contact with O'Mara for another week. BTW, it cost $2,000 to arrange and set up a hiding place for Z. I didn't just make that up...O'Mara just told Jane Velez Mitchell that info.
The fund was set up for legal and living expenses. I think that Z may have been confused that this was not to be used as bond security.
Does this shed any light on Z's credibility? Not at all. The events that took place on the evening of Feb 26th is a totally different issue.
Now to the family....even Z's grandmother was trying to raise money for the bond and Z's parents had remortgaged their home. Where did that money go?
One lie, if Z did willfully lie, does not make a pathological liar. If that were the case, none of us should be trusted.
Does anyone know who told O'Mara of this site/fund? TIA~
Sorry if it has been mentioned but I've not had a chance to read the latest on the case.
Snoopy,
First we are asked to believe that a teen with no history of violence whatsoever decided to kill a man with a gun. But wait,
Then we are asked to fully believe that the man who could face criminal charges for shooting said teen is telling us the whole truth, But wait
Now we are asked to believe that Zimmerman and or his family had 200 k but had no clue that they had it
I think that some poop is starting to pile up in here and it;s not from the cow on Daves front page
Porky3100~~are you here to entertain me or cause me more grief? I do not see any poop coming out of Dave's cow. That is udder nonsense
Does one have to have a history of violence to decide to tackle someone? There has to be a beginning somewhere. Babies who rip off their pampers do not necessarily turn out to be criminals. Right?
Do we know if Zimmerman told us the real truth? Nope. Right?
I can believe that Zimmerman nor his family had a clue how much money was in that fund at the time of the bond hearing. Until I find out the true balance of that account on the date Zimmerman was arrested and incarcerated, I will withhold judgement as I would be just speculating without that information. Right?
I do not know how often Z's brother checked the paypal account so cannot say that he knew the balance as at April 20th. Right?
Are you suggesting that I should sell the gun I have been shooting the cow chit with in here? You better be wrong, Porky!!
Porky3100~~will you do me a favor and answer Sherry's question? I do not have the answer because I am too busy loading my gun.
I believe there were three different accounts set up to raise funds for Zimmerman. Two did not have very large balances and were set up by friends of Z. O'Mara wanted to close off any connections that Z had on the internet and asked him about the accounts, facebook, MySpace etc. I believe this is when Mark learned of the $204K balance in the big account. I am unsure if he knew about the two smaller accounts. That is all the info I could garner from O'Mara when he spoke with JVM tonite.
Oh, and BTW, when O'Mara asked Z about the accounts, he readily gave him all the information. Does that sound like someone who wanted to hide his nest egg?
"Does one have to have a history of violence to decide to tackle someone? There has to be a beginning somewhere. Babies who rip off their pampers do not necessarily turn out to be criminals. Right?"
No I do not believe that these violent tendencies sat dormant in Travon until half time of the All Star game.
I really want to respect your posts but when you write things like this, I just can't. Sorry.
Porky3100 ~~no need to apologize at all. It seems nothing else is working so I just tried a bit of psychology. Would you like to see my credentials?
Dang, Porky3100, you've certainly added a wonderful new energy to this place! (I hate your handle though- lol, unless you're really a fan of the cartoon porcine creature). Anyway, here's a thought, just to throw in the mix- it takes a few business days to clear all this PayPal stuff through the banks, so give 'em 3 days or so (maybe throwing in a weekend free). And anyone who has a site/blog knows you can't keep up with it every day (granted, GZ had precious little to do BUT, up until a few days ago!) So, let's give 'em a week, before they knew what was up, benefit of the doubt. OK, STILL....
Two things come right to mind- this is an Election year (Presidential one yet!)- you just KNOW that factors in. Secondly, a lot of this money will have come virtually directly from NRA coffers (they've been signalling as much), and, Boy, do they ever have big coffers. It won't be stated as such but will go through various interested intermediaries, but that's the situation. They are HUGE stakeholders in this- so many of these SYG and similar laws were WRITTEN by NRA lawyers and have their imprimatur, and they intend to deliver success to their "constituency" who have very high expectations indeed.
Karen C~~thank you so much! How can one be serious when dealing with a farm animal? It is bad enough to have Dave's bovine staring me down when I log in. Porky3100 has sure livened up this blog and is to be commended. Don't tell him I said that. Okay?
I will bet my bottom dollar that the majority of the funds, the large amounts, came from the NRA. If you recall, before Zimmerman was arrest the NRA in Texas pledged $10K... it sure is an election year and it can tend to make the tap water murky.
I found it rather odd that O'Mara said neither he nor Zimmerman would be attending the next hearing to set a trial date. I hope that is not a sign that one of them may depart .....
Karen,
There is a story about my handle from my younger days a story for another day. Two things of note from you keen post. First if anyone owns a business paypal account you know that an email alert is sent each time a transaction is made. I then find it inconceivable that 200 k could have landed in that account unnoticed for days. Now here is where it gets dicey. According to Omara, George himself set up the "therealgeorgezimmerman.com account.
As it turns out, you can always check out the manner which a website is set up by doing a "whois seach." http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp. Indeed a whois search of that domain reveals a proxy firm out of Arizona who handling the registration.
George and his pals are no dummies. Just because sly George was in jail does not mean that someone di not apprise him of the blossoming website and I would venture to say that the brother was instrumental in setting up the site and monitoring the funds, which explains his convenient absence from the bond hearing.
Zimmerman seems to have habit of blindsiding his lawyers. The old set of lawyers were upset when he contacted both the prosecutor and TV personality on his own initiative. Now O'Mara has been surprised by the existence of a large fund. I think that he may also have been surprised by Zimmerman's statement in the courtroom that at the time of the shooting he thought Trayvon was a little younger than he is. Surely O'Mara would have listened to the 911 tapes and heard Zimmerman's description of Trayvon as a teenager, and I can't believe that he would have allowed Zimmerman to contradict himself.
Molly K~~Zimmerman told the 911 dispatcher that he thought Trayvon was a teenager. We do not know how far away T was at that time. Z could always attest to the fact that once he got tackled, he realized that T was not as young as he had thought at first glance. There is always a way that lawyers can get around these faux pas... they are like good carparenters covering up their mistakes.
I like how folks are trying hard to reason on behalf of Zimmerman. In most civilized societies, this is an open and shut case. One perp stalked, initiated contact and killed an unarmed innocent little boy. In this so called advanced society which goes around the world preaching liberty, freedom and democracy there is actually a debate on the matter and 200K plus is collected in less than two weeks for the perp. Go figure.
I am bumping my post from Dave's previous article as I did not realize this article was up - oops.
How is the Martin family going to feel about this? Moreover, the elephant in the room is how is the black community going to look at this? How can anyone possibly look the black community in the eye and convince them that this isn't about racism and expect them to believe that?
A teenage boy is shot down while walking home for nothing more than looking suspicious to a wanna-be-cop and the citizens of the US donate $200k in 14 days during the worst economic times since the depression in order to defend the creep that pulled the trigger? This is an outrage. Something is wrong with our country. I don't care if these donators through ignorance think that by defending GZ they are somehow going to protect their gun rights or save the SYG law -- That's not what it looks like to the black community. If anything, this donation of funds to defend a murderer will set the civil rights movement back 30 years. The best thing GZ could do is donate the money to the civil rights movement because when and if he is ever set free, he will never be able to walk the streets again. But that is the least of my concerns, I feel for the Martins and the black community as a whole on how this looks. In fact, I am disgusted.
***
I realize that MOM has a great reputation, but he was aware of the website from the first day that he took on to represent GZ. If he didn't check the balances before the bail hearing, it was because he didn't want to know how much had been collected. It is not at all unusual for an attorney to tell their client, "I don't want to know, don't tell me" so that they can claim ignorance and I have no doubt this is what occurred in this instance. It is just too convenient that GZ's brother, the only one who had knowledge of the balance in the website account, was the only relative not present via telephone at the bail hearing to attest to GZ's indigency. MOM has already come out and admitted that GZ and his wife used 50k of the 200k for "living expenses" such as rent, etc., so what remains is 150k. 5k of the 50k went towards the bail, they still owe 10k to the bail bondsman per their agreement. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nati ... 5645.story You cannot convince me that at the bail hearing, GZ was not aware of the funds that had been collected through his website account.
This just goes further to GZ's credibility. He changes his stories to fit what is convenient at the time. He stated in the 911 tape that Trayvon was a "teen" and referred to him as a "kid" but when offering his nonapology to the Martin family in court, he stated he thought Trayvon was just a couple years younger than himself (28 yrs). If he will change his story on minor issues such as this, what part of his story about how this killing went down did he change to fit his purpose?
I doubt that the Judge will do anything about this new revelation of funds - he may admonish GZ - but that will be the extent of it. I do hope that the prosecution points out the discrepancies if for no other reason than to show that GZ will change stories to serve himself.
As for the morality of people donating funds to support an admitted murderer, I hope that those who have donated are not allowed secrecy and that the Sunshine laws of Florida allow their identities to be known so that I can boycott them if they are an entity.
Cherokee Nation, You would be surprised at how many blacks do not consider this a racist issue and are quite angry with it having become so. Trust me, the black community does not need this case to validate themselves with nor to prove that racism is still in existance. A few days after Zimmerman's arrest, a lovely black couple smiled at my husband and I and wished us a good afternoon. They didn't seem angry with us white folks. When this case first became national I listened to a liberal radio station talking about this case and the black callers were angry! At the NBP and Sharpton and Jackson!
I saw a sign that showed what the NW will do if they spot anyone suspicious in their community-report ALL of it to the Sanford PD. I repeat, report ALL of it to the Sanford PD. Perhaps the "cop wanna-be" was merely doing his job. Does anyone know the reason why Zimmerman was packing heat? Hmmm. Look it up. In any case, Zimmerman was not "on watch" that night else he wouldn't have been leaving the complex to go to the store. So, for those who think he was doing wrong while "on patrol" by having the gun on him-not the case.
Has anyone asked themselves why GZ would want to start a fight with Trayvon if he knew the police were on their way? Seems like a silly thing to do unless he was wanting to be arrested for assault.
It seems commentors here have painted GZ as an evil creature when not all of the facts are in.
Ms. Piggy, thanks for answering my question for Snoopy's sake! It was quite easy to find and Snoopy could have answered it. I didn't see the link in her post prior to my asking it as I was reading from my email-it was in the O'Mara statement link about those funds. George was upfront with O'Mara about it and that is how he found out it was for real. Like Snoopy said, it hardly figures that George was being sneaky about it.
Interesting that this is an election year so it means gun toting ,bible hugging, right wing fundies are vying for votes by having the NRA help Zimmerman with his defense. Nevermind that it fairs better for Obama in this swing state of Florida where the black and youth vote matters (because they are the ones who sit out the elections moreso than the middle-agers and elderly) to make it a race issue. Why else would Obama speak out about such a case? Of all the similar cases that have happened in other states, this is the one he chose. For good reason-to garner votes! This case doesn't help Romney one bit. It matters nothing to him as far as vote getting goes. Yes, I'm a racist because I won't vote for this commie 1/2 white, 1/4 African-English, 1/4 Arab, Alinskyite disciple for a second term. He truly dissappointed this conservative Independant voter.
Here are a couple of YT Videos that you may find interesting:
Getting the story on the man accused of killing Trayvon Martin - Reuters Investigates
Attention Race Baiters - Trayvon's mom says 'shooting was accident
Oh, I know the liberals here will call that young black man in the video an Uncle Tom (which really isn't an insult if one would care to find out WHY Uncle Tom wouldn't leave the plantation). Why is that not a racist remark in itself? He, like other black conservatives (and Tea partyers, at that!) don't like seeing their race being used as tools and useful idiots by the liberal left. As Dr. Thomas Sowell said, its white liberal America who thought affirmative action was a great idea. Its actually an insult to black America.
Anyhoo, this is my last post here on this case since its overrun with emotionalism and not logic or facts (save for Snoopy's responses, which she gets badgered and insulted for). I'll read the posts because i like how Dave writes and explains things, but the comment line is a waste of time for me to read. I want the facts and the speculations from them.
BTW, blacks aren't fooled by the whites who pander to them and their causes. They would rather you be honest about your assessments of this case. For most blacks, character over skin color does matter.
[Just remember, it's not easy for a white person to think like a black, any more than it is for a black to think like a white on matters like this. Also, keep in mind that, while MSNBC and FOX NEWS are on opposite sides of the spectrum, that does not mean that any one side is right. We cannot read into something what may not be there. And if you really consider things, the majority of blacks are not siding with Zimmerman. There's a lot more to this incident than what political pundits have to say.]
Cherokee Native~~I quote you...I realize that MOM has a great reputation, but he was aware of the website from the first day that he took on to represent GZ. If he didn't check the balances before the bail hearing, it was because he didn't want to know how much had been collected. It is not at all unusual for an attorney to tell their client, "I don't want to know, don't tell me" so that they can claim ignorance and I have no doubt this is what occurred in this instance.
You stated the above as factual. Would you please tell me how you know this as a fact as you did not say it was your opinion. Why do you think all attorneys are dishonest? I take umbrage that you are insinuating that Mark O'Mara was willfully deceiving the judge at the bond hearing.
If Mark along with his client wanted to deceive the judge, why did O'Mara inform the judge of the $204K balance in the fund, first thing, at the hearing on Friday? Mark knew that the judge, upon learning this, had the authority to rebuke or increase Z's bond. IMO, this shows Mark was being honest!!
A little more logic and less emotion in some of these comments will eliminate the bias that is taking place in here.
Think of the comments on a blog as passengers on a ship. Unless you weigh both sides, all the passengers will end up on one side of the ship and it will begin to list and then sink. Let's be fair and stop looking for all the negatives to boost the side you are rooting for and give both sides a fair shake.
Now the above is a combo of my opinion with a bit of logic thrown in.
Dave~~I have been reading and catching up on the responses you made to different people upthread. You said that Trayvon was a true Floridian and Zimmerman was not. What did you mean by making that remark?
Does that make one of them better than the other? What does it take to become a true Floridian? Do you consider yourself a true Floridian as you are really an import from New Jersey? I am confused by what you meant so maybe you can enlighten me.
[Relax, Snoopy. When shyloh wrote about Florida, the state where anything goes, it was tongue-in-cheek. So was my response. Think about it. Even Casey was born out-of-state. We cannot put the onus on Florida any more than we can place it on someone's home state.]
Sherry,
That you spoke to ONE black couple means means nothing in terms of how the general population feels about this incident. To more accurately assess the pulse of our community, I suggest that you attend some of the allies or simply visit some of the black churches or speak to some of our community leaders. You can also check out radio programs such as the Tom Joyner morning show, or web publications such as blackamerican.com. I would go so far as saying that the incident and perceived reaction to it is creating a significant anger towards white America right now.
Most blacks observe the lacy of compassion for a killed unarmed teen, a smear campaign and now a willingness to pump in significant monies to support Zimmerman, It many ways, it told us what we already knew but had hoped had gone away.