George Zimmerman wants ‘inflammatory terms’ banned from trial

[marble falls]

Source: Yahoo News

George Zimmerman wants ‘inflammatory terms’ banned from trial
The Lookout
By Jason Sickles, an arrives for a pretrial hearing on Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Getty)

“Profiled”

“Vigilante”

“Self-appointed Neighborhood Watch Captain”

“Wannabe cop”

Suspected murderer George Zimmerman’s defense team calls the above list “inflammatory terms” and wants them banned from the opening statements of his trial. Jury selection begins on Monday.

“Some of these terms are disparaging, inappropriate, and if used in trial would serve only to unfairly prejudice the jury by eliciting unfounded connotations and unfair emotional responses,” defense attorney Mark O’Mara wrote in a motion to the court.

<snip>

The request also asks that prosecutors be prohibited from using these phrases during opening statements:

“He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.”

“He confronted Trayvon Martin.”

Motions seeking to limit evidence in a trial is not uncommon, but seldom target phrases or characterizations.

<snip>

Judge Debra S. Nelson has not yet ruled on the motion. She recently ruled defense lawyers, in their opening statements, would not be permitted to mention pictures of drugs and guns found on Martin's cell phone.

Zimmerman, 29, faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/george-zimmerman-wants-inflammatory-terms-banned-trial-163405912.html

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I don't think he stands a chance of this.

[hlthe2b]

1. I should certainly hope he has no chance of prevailing...

The prosecutor has every right to present his/her case using the terminology appropriate to the case presented.

[marble falls]

2. Now we know why his lawyer apologized. He's implyng the prosecutor needs to aplogize, too.

[arcane1]

3. Are these the same fools who were parading around phony vids of Martin's friends?

Desperate idiots.

[marble falls]

5. same fools.

[nolabear]

4. Oh c'mon. What are they going to do, speak in sign language? It's their JOB to inflame!

Just as it's the defenders' job to cast doubt and inflame in the other direction. I can see not letting things not relevant to the case in on wither side (like the photos on the cell phone or other things Zimmerman has said or done before) but if it's part of the case, it's part of the case.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Boo fkn hoo. Gimme an effin break.

[reflection]

7. In addition, Zimmerman's lawyers

would like all references to the death of Trayvon Martin, as well as George Zimmerman's name itself, banned from the discourse and stricken from any official records. Also, all jurors must reside in a sensory deprivation chamber for the duration of the trial, where they will not hear, see, or experience anything.

Now, there is a chance that one or more of the jurors could go into Altered States mode, but that's a risk we have to take in order to ensure that justice prevails.

[pacalo]

24. Speaking of altered states, look at Zimmerman's eyes...

This is at today's hearing:

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/iloHs6JTqO8zmFxXyrKrTA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/

George Zimmerman at a pretrial hearing Thursday. (Joe Burbank/Getty Images)

[bullwinkle428]

8. I want a house overlooking the coastline at Big Sur, and a Lamborghini!

Hopefully, I have a better chance of getting what I want than he does.

[marble falls]

9. Hopefuly you do and I hope you get your wish. Can I have a ride in your Lambo if it happens?

[LuckyLib]

10. George, you killed a human being. Inflammatory language in

front of a thinking jury should be the least of your worries.

[marble falls]

11. An when he accepts a plea bargain and has to elocute,theseare the words he will have say ...

about himself.

[SoapBox]

12. Terms like MURDERER...KILLER...Armed Animal.

Fuck you Zimmerman...you were out to kill anyone of color.

[NV Whino]

13. You mean like beat and kill?

[JustAnotherGen]

14. You gotta be kidding me

He smells dirtier and dirtier every day.

[JDPriestly]

15. Most of that language expresses opinions. None of it is racist or sexist

or discriminatory. Those are words of assessment. The jury can judge whether to agree with them or reject them. This will be interesting. The only one that might suggest a fact is “He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.” The one about "confronting" Trayvon Martin could get the prosecutor in trouble should the defense be able to show that somehow Zimmerman did not confront Martin. So the prosecutor might prefer not to use some of that language.

[frylock]

16. they also want gun, shot, dead, unarmed, black, and..

kid stricken from the record.

[wordpix]

17. Wants to ban, "“He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.” Whaa ???

I guess he wants to ban all evidence and his movements that night, then.

Next he'll want to ban, "He saw Trayvon Martin walking."

[grok]

18. So i guess "went Gangsta on me" is NOT out of the question eh?

It should be in my opinion even though Trayvon used it to describe himself in a text.

Frankly using inflamatory language to put somebody down tells more about the describer than the described.

Either way i think it's best they jury come to their own conclusions without it.

No real need for it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/us/zimmermans-lawyers-release-text-messages-of-trayvon-martin.html?_r=0

[Tom Ripley]

19. "If we can't put the victim on trial, you shouldn't be able to put the defendant on trial"

Translation

[The Magistrate]

20. We Have A Winner, Sir!

This is simply bizarre.

[TekGryphon]

21. I think that about sums it up

[knitter4democracy]

22. Wait, that means the prosecution gets a list, too, right?

Let's ban:

hood
hoodlum
the n-word in any form
gangsta
rap
delinquent

Feel free to add the other ones Zimmerman and his attorneys have used that are obvious code.

[Voice for Peace]

34. let's ban punch, jumped out, bashed my head, scared, self-defense as well

[pacalo]

23. He doesn't want to be prosecuted; I get that.

He wants only his concocted version to be heard.

[Fearless]

25. How about "guilty"

[Rhiannon12866]

29. +1!

[Warpy]

26. How about "self appointed judge, jury and executioner?

Good luck, Georgie, on getting "vigilante" banned, along with "racist pigfucker."

[ZombieHorde]

27. Ha! I don't blame him.

“He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.”

I can definitely see why he wouldn't want the jury to know that.

I don't think he stands a chance of this.

I hope you're right.

[Lil Missy]

28. Ha! I'll bet he does!

[gordianot]

30. Mr. Zimmerman would also like his pistol returned and be able to follow the jury home in his truck.

[Arkana]

31. So basically anything that paints Zimmerman in a negative light is unacceptable?

Yeah, he's not getting this.

[Solly Mack]

32. "He got out of the car after the police (or dispatcher) told him not to.”

So he wants to exclude facts from his trial.

Snort

[naaman fletcher]

33. Well

The actual phrase used was "we don't need you to do that", i'm 50-50 on whether or not that is an instruction not to do something.

[Mosby]

35. Has this been ruled on yet? nt

[Thor_MN]

36. The thread is from early June...

The prosecution rested yesterday, opening statements happened awhile ago.