Monday, April 8, 2013
I asked a question yesterday and did not get an answer.
The question was, Did Mark O’Mara advise the HOA to settle the Fulton-Martin lawsuit?
Rene Stutzman at the Orlando Sentinel provided some additional information today.
That secret homeowners association settlement with Trayvon Martin’s family may not remain secret much longer.
Seminole County Clerk of Courts Maryanne Morse has written a letter to Trayvon’s family attorney, Benjamin Crump, telling him that she doesn’t think it meets the standard of a confidential filing so she intends to make it public in 10 days.
Even so, the total dollar figure paid out by the association will likely remain a secret. That’s because Crump edited it out before he put the 12-page document in the court file Thursday.
It’s believed to be more than $1 million.
Stutzman also revealed that Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton settled their claim against the HOA without filing a lawsuit. Therefore, the settlement agreement has not been reviewed by a judge.
We know that the Traveler’s Insurance Co., was not a party to the agreement because the HOA did not purchase the insurance until March 30, 2012, a little over a month after the defendant shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
Why did Benjamin Crump file the settlement agreement in the GZ criminal case?
Here’s Stutzman again,
Why Crump had it placed in the file in the first place remains a mystery. He did not return phone calls from the Orlando Sentinel. But his clients, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, were deposed last month by Zimmerman’s attorneys and were likely asked about the settlement.
In an interview last month, when asked if the settlement was a specific figure between $1 million and $2 million, Crump would not say.
“I have no comment on the subject,” he said. “I know you didn’t get that from me.”
There is an unconfirmed rumor that the New York Times reported in February that Mark O’Mara said Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton had rejected a $1 million settlement offer.
Stutzman said today about the settlement amount, “It’s believed to be more than $1 million.”
Sundance Cracker at the treehouse, which is Mark O’Mara’s internet site of choice, reported yesterday that the settlement is closer to $2 million.
Difficult to draw any conclusions without more information, but I sincerely doubt the claim was settled for nuisance value because, given the defendant’s waiver of an immunity hearing and a substantial likelihood that a jury will reject his claim of self-defense, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton would have no incentive to settle the case for peanuts. Better to wait and sue him and the HOA together after he is convicted when, basically, the sky would be the limit.
I figure they were in the driver’s seat and could afford to demand a substantial sum of money to cut HOA loose before trial.
This settlement agreement is dreadful news for the defendant.
BTW, Dee Dee definitely is not the prosecution’s star witness.
The prosecution’s star witness is the defendant and that is why a jury will convict him of murder in the second degree.
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if the hoa is a fraud and there is an incident like trevon martin
how can a person sue for damages…..some hoa are nothing more
than community endowments to recv money for their own pockets
and als the municipalities……
As a wise person said to me recently, Rene Stutzman & Jeff Weiner are simple stenographers for O’Mara’s team & the defendant i.e. anyone who can type can do their jobs, ergo they are quite lame as ‘professional’ journalists! I only use the word ‘professional’ in the context they are being paid 😉
Professor I sent you an email
…And with any special circumstances if available.
All I know for certain is that MOM and Rene Stultzman have a relationship where he tells her things on and off the record and she goes to press with the information sometimes without really examining the gift horse in the mouth.
He’s played her like a fiddle in the past, and she’s fine with it as long as it gets her stories front page treatment. It’s shameful she can’t or won’t do the work to place his statements to her in fuller context, but her excuse is that she can place a call to the SA’s office and receive a curt, “we can’t comment on that” for her trouble.
Of course calling the SA’s office isn’t the only way to get the information or a pull quote that would place MOM’s quotes in better context, but she can’t be bothered to do the legwork for that either. If she did so, her source might just dry up and find another sympathetic journalist to whisper to.
Willis, that suggests a longer work relationship of the two:
She seems to be in charge of court matters in the Orlando Sentinel. So it may not be surprising. On the other hand you usually trade favors for favors, and how exactly do they look like. Framing the stories positively?
I am admittedly still slightly obsesses by her allusion to an “interview” O’Mara gave in February. In a context were O’Mara did not seem to be a relevant contributor to me: The settlement of the Martin family. Crump may be, but I can understand he prefers to not talk with her, besides it’s either confidential or not, so why ask him at all?
A friend tells me Stutzman confirmed by mail, it was an interview she conducted herself giving the date: February 26, 2013. I am not sure if this information is correct, but if it is an interview on that date, even if published at later date it should be available from the Orlando Sentinel. if it is not online, which still could mean in was only in the print edition. Considering this statement was picked up all over the US, usually only the “interview” she used dropped, I would like to have this interview.
Arturo Garcia confirms my information:
Now the question is, if it wasn’t an interview, which may explain why he puts it less specific, why she used the slightly ambiguous term and did not give her readers the information that it was a statement O’Mara made directly to her.
Orlando Sentinel tag “Mark O’Mara”.
You can narrow down the results to articles that contain “interview”. Which gives you 6 results for 2013. And of these six results which theoretically would bring back the wider Tribune publishing universe only two articles use the word “interview” that are not related to Crump’s interview of witness 8.
Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel, April 5, 2013:
And the slightly more factual and precise Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel, March 29, 2013.
sorry, seems I didn’t close the blockquote tag of the Weiner quote, The site I use to this is down, I hate to check this stuff myself without technical support. I usually miss important little errors.
Letter from Seminole County Clerk of Court Maryanne Morse
http://www.flcourts18.org/presspublic.html
Thanks, for providing a link to the letter.
thanks so my new friend Rene may well be gloating too early. He can still file a motion to make Nelson decide on the issue. I wondered about that. Or if a clerk can decide such an issue without due process. Meaning without giving the party a chance to have it kept confidential.
I found this from April 9, 2013:
sorry, I will pay more attention on html tags in the future. 😉
Vielen Dank, Leander, for this article (and all your careful study– I always learn from your observations). What the settlement does, I think, is free the HOA members from the burden of liability so that they can speak freely in court as witnesses. Statements made by the Martin family are irrelevant compared to what the resident witnesses have to say.
Luce; i have my special obsessions, like we all possibly. Some topic make all my inner demons oscillate more profoundly than others. That’s all there is to know. I am not too fond of compliments either, it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable in fact. But thanks anyway.
@Leander,
Just one tiny comment: “a clerk” in this case is not some lowly employee who files papers and maybe makes the coffee and dusts the office flowers,
They frequently are sworn officers of the County, State or Court and are required to process paperwork – particularly for public review – and maintain archives in strict compliance with State law.
Note how enthusiastic the Florida State Legislature is about its “Sunshine Laws.”
I frequently use the services of our County Clerk or Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in my research and the are truly invaluable.
This is settlement document issue is another facet of this case that’s fascinating!
😉 🙂 that wouldn’t be the job of the people working in our courts over here either. The qualifications and authorities including state or federal “rituals” that may be comparable to what you call sworn officers. Yes, you correct, it is not always easy to immediately associate the correct function with the term for us non-natives.
If it sounded disrespectful, it wasn’t meant to be. Maybe, a little? Not sure but the way my new friend Rene Stutzman used her in her article may have created a specific image?
If the records were confidential, why were they kept open long enough for some l to study them? Even before the 10 days period that gives Crump a chance to respond? They were filed confidential but still openly accessible for a time. Or only for Rene Stutzman?
And yes, I was rather sick by the comments in the articles that were closer to the Orlando Sentinels type of “balance”.in reporting the story, by citing O’Mara.
good night Piranha. I always respect people that respect other people no matter on what social layers of life. I do not respect as a general rule people based on their authority.
@LeaNder, thanks –
You gave me a wry smile with: “I do not respect as a general rule people based on their authority.”
I spend a great deal of time negotiating with authorities (and once was a “sworn officer of the County” in which I reside – but not remotely a law enforcement officer).
My strategy is to first find out the extent of the authority of those from whom I am about to make a request – AND the authority of their superior.
I then show – actually, stress – my respect to the lower-rated authority and make my request (you would be surprised, LeaNder, how gracious I can be, when needed).
99% of the time they are so surprised to be treated as a human being who worked hard to get that position (as a “valued cog” in government), that the materials are supplied forthwith.
If there be any foot-dragging, I can slightly suggest I would take my request to a higher authority. That usually delivers (without my having to invoke higher authority access).
Exceedingly rarely do I have to request to the higher level.
To those whom I have never requested before, I approach with great humility as “a local farmer.” No need to tip them off about my knowledge of the machinations of bureaucracy.
After years of following this protocol I am now either on a first name basis, or have a reputation that is known before I meet them. I usually hear “I’ve heard so much about you.” (In some quarters, I am trailed by a fearsome reputation of attack.) Often materials are volunteered, occasionally sub rosa, if they think I might be interested.
I am not a “people person. ” But I could not do my work without the enthusiastic support of these people. Those on the lower level really merit my respect, considering the stress they are under, and how little respect is ever shown.
This works for me.
Pirhanamom- oh yes! Better to know the school secretary than the principal!
Sent from my iPod
@Cielo –
Yessss’M!
RE: “oh yes! Better to know the school secretary than the principal!”
Spoken with AUTHORITY!
Those on lower level really merit my respect, considering the stress they are under, and how little respect is ever shown.
Piranha, sorry long reply:
That’s exactly what I meant. Everybody deserves my respect. Obviously the rule, I don’t know your system, makes much sense. It’s much more easy to treat everybody in this “bureaucratic machinery” very respectful, that works over here too. It depends heavily on the type of acengy though. My general impression was–it changes slowly–over the years that people on the lower administrative levels can be forced to follow not so democratic rules for fear to do things that could get them into troubles, harm their advancement. I worked with people that tended to simply switch of their heads as long as they felt secure inside a special code they obeyed closely or rigidly, no matter how nonsencial it was. Your cog in the wheel.
Without going into details, but one experience I’ll never forget. I once asked one of our civil servants very politely what the paragraph or rule her decision was based on was. She responded, it was an interior regulation of the agency the employee has to follow, and that it was not open to the public. In other words the people treated according to this regulation in a one-size-fits-all approach couldn’t be allowed to know about it. I then asked, based on my little knowledge of German law, what rule of the administrative law (Verwaltungsrecht in German) this regulation was based on, since they could not operate outside administrative law. She answered, she could not tell me. I asked her, who could. What followed was a Odyssey through the agency basically continually upstairs. From one employee to the next. In the last room I was sent to, one floor beneath the top level, I finally got the specific paragraph this “interior regulation” supposedly was based on. And it helped to successfully challenge the decision.
By now a couple of decades later these regulations are forced to be public with some communities or federal states still trying to resist a ruling by our Supreme Court for administrative law.
What I thought at the time is, what does this mean for our basically granted equal rights? What happens to people in this system that are not aware they have basic rights, and there is a a law people that administer whatever part of the system have to follow? What about immigrants that hardly understand our system, people with lesser eduction that are not even aware they have basic civil rights.
After that experience I went to a Cologne organization that mainly works for and with female immigrants, helping them in our system. And there were quite a few that could tell stories how they were forced to follow some strange rules they were not even given a chance to understand. what about people that do not find their way there or any other institution that could help them?
Over here the job of a civil servant gives you a lot of benefits, you basically cannot be dismissed ever, you also move steadily upwards in pay according to your age, your retirment benefits are much higher than they are in the free market, you get much better insurances based on this. This is a system that makes you conform perfectly to not risk any of this. And this system may be problematic where you have power over people. That’s my opinion. Although they try to cut down on this system enormously now giving people different employment contracts.
You can grasp my problems best if you realize that most of the caders of the Nazi party did not loose their retirement benefits, the ones that were really bad off after 1945 were the people that did not function as little cogs in the wheel in that period. This is the horrible wisdom an old lady once told me about her father a socialist who had been in the camps too, he basically only harmed himself, he had close to no retirement benefits after the war as an old man. In other words her experience told her it was always much better to float with the current. No matter what the special current was about. Life is not fair.
Frederick Leatherman says:
April 8, 2013 at 4:51 pm
I doubt that the HOA admitted that it was at fault in placing GZ in charge of Neighborhood Watch and in failing to monitor and control what he was doing, so I do not believe the settlement agreement will be mentioned by either side at trial. Even if they had admitted fault, it would not be admitted because its prejudicial value under Rule 403 would far outweigh any possible relevance it might have under Rule 402.
Also, the HOA is not a party to the criminal case so any admission it might have made would not be binding in the criminal case.
I said the settlement is dreadful news for the fogen because the HOA has taken a thorough look at the case and obviously decided that there is a very good chance his claim of self-defense will not prevail. His own lawyers obviously agree since they waived the immunity hearing.
@Not only is it devastating news its a P R Disaster for the Defence whom have run a campaign of propa ganda miss imformation in the M S M blogs anywhere a mike is stuck an a Brother Attorney can spew lies they have .
Taken advantage to spin spin spin whilst the prosecution keep a dignified silance media wise.
Well tainting a jury pool wotks both wats .
An I see no bigger pointer towards guilt than spreading the news of finaceial settlement every where not only Seminole County or the State of Florida.
This is a pre emptive cave in an admission of guilt.
No matter what the fine print says about non liabilty.
Thats just leagaleze for .
You can take the money but cant tell on us.
Every one in the world following the case realises that the H O A has caved because the idiot wannnabe they let loose to terrorise Black residents is guilty as sin.
An conviction is a shue in or if not a shue in it is now.
Only way foggage could gain an aquitall in this case would be through jury missconduct al a trunkmom as I consider that jurys actions criminal definatley aided an abetteted a Baby murder to escape justice.
He could try an run but I emphise TRY as he hasnt got the smarts for that.
Even if he has rainy day money stashed he is no Ronnie Biggs or Run Bambi run sort.
He would automaticly become not the most hated man in America.
But the most Wanted an not just by LE can you imagine the yahoos who would want to catch him just for the fame an reward of the bailbond fee ten percent of a millions a hundred grand finder fee.
Suiside worrys me an should also worry those closest to him.
As narrsistitic an cowardly we know he is capbable of gratuisouly takeing a life.
An just like that demented fcker that murdered his Wife the mormon guy an his pervert father.
Cant remeber the creeps name an I hope to forget foggagges for ever when justice is served .
He burnt his house down after murdering both his children with an axe an attempted to decapitate them .But had to strike the bic as the door was being kicked in an I see similaritys of deneil an compartment placeing in his mind.And when push come to shove some times with thease type personalitys.
They can implode self harm suiside or explode same senario self harm but not alone.
If I cant live then there not going to live I die they die pure selfish self sentred desission prosess.
An totally iratinal to most…..
I would not rest easy if I were Shellie an had to lie next to George.
Pun unintended but in truth tottaly is.
.
@Colin
Great post. I don’t see fogen as suicide type. He believes in his cause. This murder has made him a “rockstar”Shelly’s words). He has accumulated more wealth in 1 year than he could have i. a lifetime. He is going to ride out his infamy
He has seen wealth come an go he was wealthy only untill his world fell apart an he had to face responceabilty for the murder of Trayvon.
The money he thought he had won was but a figgment a momentery tease.
He is broke now even if he has sevent grand in an acount he hasnt.
He is not allowed a bank acount therfore he is penny less.
Any money get will be doled out like pocket money .
His defence has spent most of the funds and will spend any he may aquire in future..
So he paid of his debts big deal top a born scammer like him that must have hurt parting with money even free money.
Paying of his debts is no comfort to him now or when he inhabits a prison cell.
Shellies anolagy os foggagge an a rockstar is quite apt though
He is like a one hit wonder whom hits the top of the charts an is front page news.
An everyones earning dosh the record company the tv stations useing his imige .
The acountants an PR People all earning money of this guys one hit.
An when he asks for his cut he told there is no cut infact you owe us.
All the PR advertiseing promotion costs money you were an investment..
Your cut comes later logevity is the way rockbands/stars earn money.
Dire Straight had thee number ones singles U K an America ditto the No one Album both sides of the pond.
An yet they never saw a penny in return money in there acounts for 18 months.
Everybody thought they were millionaires but they lived on fifty pounds a week pocket money from the record company Same thing with the band Police.
An this is were the defendant is flucked he will never be anything but a one hit wonder.Unlike his victim Travon whom has aquired true fame in death.
And his name will never be forgotten.
truthseeker66, I just got here so I haven’t read the other posts, but I agree, I can’t see GZ committing suicide.
And Colin, I agree – GZ shall soon be forgotten, Trayvon NEVER.
Justice for Trayvon!!!
HOODIES UP!
Unfortunately, I remember his name – Josh Powell. His wife is still “missing,” but otherwise, yes, a hideous horrible thing – and his father the effn pervert too (he’s currently serving time for taking pictures of the little girls across the street in the bathroom – and he has pictures of his daughter in law, the missing Susan Powell too). That was hideous and the only reason I remember the name is it was local to where I am. Ughhhh.
Who would think there are people like that?
New post up:
The differences between regular guilty pleas and Alford pleas
There are some wildly unjustified assumptions flying around this thread. Just because Crump filed the settlement agreement with the Clerk of the Court for Seminole County, does not mean the settlement agreement went into the case-file of Florida v. Zimmerman.
I don’t know why the settlement was filed at all, but guess that it was part of the agreement to foreclose future action against the HOA.
According to OS Crump gave copies to BDLR & MOM.
to be honest, I personally feel it is no one’s business but the Martin family, but since it was settled, I doubt it was for less than one million, considering a life was lost
It and the clerk’s letter to Crump regarding the filing show up in the docket for the criminal case.
@boar-d-laze –
I’m wondering how the HOA came to an agreement to settle.
Was it voted by the HOA Board of Directors? Did they take a vote of the 260 members (one vote per housing unit) in advance of the Board’s vote??
If they did not take a vote of the members, and a vote is mandatory (I don’t know Florida condo laws) and the settlement requires an assessment against the 260 owners – or depletes the HOA’s Reserve – the Reserve being an asset owned by the members that they will have to replenish – could the HOA membership sue the HOA Board?
After all, this decision was taken after the new Travelers D&O policy was in force. (Although we do not know if the policy was renewed 3/30, or if the decision was made before it expired, if it was not renewed.)
Could the 260 members, if they are to be assessed to pay $$$ for the settlement to Trayvon’s parents, without the members having voting for the settlement — could those 260 members collectively sue the Directors on their Board?
It was, after all, the Board (not the members) that anointed and promoted Zimmerman, even after complaints had been made by residents about his activities.
It is strange that not a peep has been heard from any of the 260 owners at RATL during these negotiations, unless, of course, some other entity like the Management Company will have its insurance company pay for the settlement.
Great questions all, Piranha.
thank you,
this is what I was trying to figure
boar-d-laze – The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Mr. Crump filed the settlement in the criminal case file. For example, an article today states:
I don’t know why it would be filed in court at all, either.
It wouldn’t be to foreclose future action against the HOA. The HOA’s protection against that would be to keep their copy (probably a duplicate original) of the agreement and proof of payment, and in the remote chance that that a lawsuit was later filed, submit them as an affirmative defense at that time.
I also don’t believe it needs court approval. It’s just an insurance claim settlement, unassociated with any court case, among consenting adults (e.g., no class action; no bankruptcy creditors; and not on behalf of any minor child). And even if it did need court approval, it wouldn’t be obtained in the Florida v. Zimmerman criminal case!
I don’t see how it belongs in the criminal case file. And I don’t see how Crump was even ALLOWED to file it, since he’s not an attorney of record in the case. People can’t just willy-nilly file things in court cases. It seems to me that THAT ought to be the Clerk of Court’s concern – not whether she gets to make it public or not. She probably ought to return it to Crump – unopened (probably too late for that, judging from the OS articles).
I smell local politics (with some O’Mara instigation) and some “home cooking” being served up by the Clerk of Court’s stance of threatening to make it public.
I do wonder if Crump wants it (sealed) in the record in order to use it in argument if certiorari is granted by the Court of Appeals on the issue of compelling his deposition. But the settlement agreement didn’t “arise” in the criminal case and wasn’t addressed by the trial court or the parties, so what good would filing it after-the-fact do? Furthermore, I’ve been wondering how – and if – Crump can be heard by the Court of Appeals. Since he’s the subject, but not a party, would he have to ask to intervene in the appellate process, somehow?
Obviously there’s a lot that I “don’t see” and “wonder.” It’s baffling. It really should not be so mysterious … that’s what court rules are supposed to prevent!
My best guess at this point is that:
(1) The OS is telling only part of the story and that part relies on what O’Mara feeds them (we’ve learned that much from a year’s worth of experience); and,
(2) There’s no way for us to know what is actually going on, or why, just yet.
I believe Crump has a right to speak or have Blackwell speak on his behalf, considering the issue is revolving around him.
Obviously Crump is opposing counsel because he is opposing the defendant and Omara represents the defendant, and in fact, Crump is gonna sue Fogen’s ass
bord_d_laze, the speculation is not a speculation if you follow the link to Stutzman’s article above.
You may also take a closer look at the latest entries here.
Which supports what she writes.
I doubt it was part of an agreement, but I think Crump needed the consent of the opposing party and got it. At least as far as “confidential filing” is concerned.
I definitively, and I am a nitwit both on US law and it’s customs, feel it is a response by Crump to the Writ Certiorari filed by defense from Crump.
If it the writ is granted then the court’s clerk has to sent a copy of the court files to the appellate court, I read somewhere. Crump may simply want them to be aware of it. Some of the argument is about him already being active or not active for his ciients. Which considering MOM’s apparent knowledge about the deeply related case, means he must have been partly dissembling in his motions. Although one would need to take a closer look and the specific times of the argument. Was this the reason some of them were filed by West? While O’Mara went public with the information? When exactly was the supposed interview? This is just from the top of my head.
Sorry, if I repeated anything someone has already written. I am in a hurry, and I would really prefer to cancel my appointment and duties to follow the arguments here. 😉
It is absolutely unfathomable that Fogen remains to have supporters after loss after loss after loss. The idiots over at the nuthouse continue to believe that every loss is somehow a victory for them. Are we all reading the same pleadings?
They might decide to see him as a martyr if he takes a plea, Can’t imagine junior and family changing their rants about the President, the lying media that caused all this, and the Martin ‘handlers’.
LOL – I see the stuff over there and I too wonder, how can they see the same thing I’m seeing yet see it so differently. Yes, they ARE convinced everything that is struck down is a victory for them/GZ and I do believe that GZ will become a great martyr and cause should he take a plea.
I see that Diana Tennis @tennislaw has tweeted that O’Mara had no part in the settlement. “There is no MOM involvement in civil suit” in response to a post linking the cracker thread on “A Positive Perspective…” of O’Mara’s involvement.
Who is she and how does she know whether he was involved?
I do not recognize her name.
She is reportedly a lawyer friend of O’Mara. Has a friendly tweet relationship with him.
She’s been a talking head as media analyst, like O’Mara, she got camera time in the Caylee case as she helped a defendant’s parents PI in his fight to avoid deposition.
Shes a Floridian Attorney Orlando based .
Now mostly taking head but maintains a small practice.
Was Domink Caseys Attorney the P I hired an fired by Jose Baez /
Worked pro bono Baez claims Dom Casey said other wise but he said lots an lots of weird an wonderfull things.
He then went to work for Cindy Athony in more ways then professinal hence the need for an attorney an D Tennis jumped on board to at first block an delay the depos.
An then kept them seald for some weird reason.
Worked for her though as it got her a talking head gig dureing the swampmomtrunkmom trial.
An shes poppes up a a legal expert/opinionated full of herself talking head.
Thing is listening to her in practice she was a piss poor attorney an did nothing to stop J Ashton humilating him dureing depo .
Had him contadicting himself one sentace from the next.
An tied him in knots.
An apart from the odd objection or incorectly adiviseing her client to not answer some inoucuis question .
But sit silent while he was in desprate need of her assistance.
I wouldnt hire her even for free wouldnt want her.
Tennis commented on this case early on. Here she speculates on the brilliant move it might be, for O’Mara to facilitate a meeting between client and Sybrina and Tracy. Would be ‘healing’ before trial, she says. And she alludes to knowing what Omara was thinking, maybe he gave her a hint for her analyst segment that night.
@ ay2x –
That wild(-haired) and crazy Tennis! What a cut-up that gal is!
“Tennis commented on this case early on. Here she speculates on the brilliant move it might be, for O’Mara to facilitate a meeting between client and Sybrina and Tracy. Would be ‘healing’ before trial, she says.”
ahhhh-ha-haaha–OOH!ha-ha-ha-OH, I’ fallin’ down laffin -“ooh, hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa …
Actually, I’m sobbing over this insensitivity toward Tracy and Sabrina.
That frickin’ stupid Tennis woman is a sadist.
Interesting to revisted legal analyst positions, in this analysis, Tennis speculates that the arrest of SZ will have no impact on her husband at trial. Well, as we have seen unfold, it just might.
If O’Mara, months ago, commented about the settlement agreement to the New York Times, and he would have no legitimate role in the negotiations of that agreement, rather would have a conflict of interest, why shouldn’t Mr. Crump file the actual copy of the settlement agreement with the necessary redaction with the court in this case??
Which lawyer is on solid ground here? And minimally, wouldn’t filing the agreement effectively eliminate the MOM and Junior et all, rumour mill spinning?
But can the filing of the settlement be construed in appeals court as prejudicial to a fair trial? IE is filing it now a good idea?
No, I do not think so.
No you don’t think so what? That it could be construed as prejudicial or that filing it now isn’t a good idea.
Usually the civil trial happens after the criminal trial. In Italy, they ran Amanda Knox’s criminal and civil trial at the same time which I found to be quite odd. The court in the civil trial declared her coerced confession invalid but the prosecutor’s were still able to preach it to the jury in the criminal trial. Some people think our courts in America are jokes, but you will be disturbed by the medieval justice systems in other countries like Italy.
follow ~
He may want to get himself a lawyer. Lying on one of the best lawyers in the country is never a good idea. Crump didn’t get where he is by fabricating a witness which is a crime. Can you say law suit?
O’Mara gives a preview of settlement in this case. Fletcher plays O’Mara.
The Crumpster just made a super super stupid move filing a copy of the settlement in the criminal case. Crumpster has just provided the defense with motive for Crumpster to facbricate a witness for financial gain. DERP!
This post was from a well known internet GZ-nut!!….U N B E L I E V A B L E!!!!!
What do you think people thought Crump was trying to do?
I went on Diwatman ‘s blog last night. Under an article-“payout” the post were so childish. One poster wrote the matrons don’t love their son…I mean my 11 yr old pulls that when he does not get his way!!!!
Well if that’s the case, I guess the same can be said about the Goldman/Brown families, as well as those people who are getting millions in Newton. these people are jealous as well as being bigoted racist IMBECILES.
This family would much rather have Trayvon more than any amount of money these people have no morals what so ever and, to think that, there are some women who are themselves mothers and grandmothers, yet they are smearing this kid and his family as well.
I’m a firm believer of, what goes around comes around. these people will be more than deserving for what ever bad is coming their way.
He “fabricates a witness for financial gain” and then settles the suit before the fabricated witness testifies? I don’t think so.
And IF he “fabricated” DeeDee, who was on the phone with Fogen, the Tooth Fairy?
Maybe so. “George, if you let the thug beat you so badly you lose all your teeth, I’ll give you thirty-two dollars!”
after all, he had to make rent…
Want to know how ignorant Zidiots are? One wants to know why Blackwell didn’t file the settlement with the court. He/she doesn’t understand that Blackwell doesn’t represent Tracy and Sybrina — Benjamin Crump does.
I though Obama invented her
Now its Crump LOL
But anyways, by their theory, Fogen has a motive to lie, because he just killed a kid and does not want to do time
Omara had a motive to lie and deceive Fogen because he wanted to control the donations
O’Mara has definitely seen Trayvon’s phone records so he knows that DeeDee is real. You would think O’Mara and Fogen were related considering they both lie like crap.
Oh yeah — Zidiot logic. That’s suppose to prove that GZ killed an unarmed 17 yr old high school junior (who he referred to in the plural calling him asshole and coon/punk) in self-defense.
trina, that is exactly what Rene Stutzman’s framing feels to me could be about. To trigger exactly this line of association and firmly relate it over MOM to Fogen. In a nutshell: This poor guy is hunted for financial gains only.
That explains why mom & joonyah have kept mum. CHECKMATE!!!!
Does SZ trial start next week?
Thank you.
I can sense LLMPapa forming a notion of ‘Star Witness’ and how that might turn on the defendant himself.
Star Witness George Michael Zimmerman (aka fogen) willingly offered to Homicide Investigator Serino, that in the neighborhood where he visited the kids under his mentorship, that ‘JUVENILES in that neighborhood hated cops’. Kids ok, juvenile black males not ok?
And of course, mother Zimmerman can testify how she warned him of how dangerous that neighborhood was, as she went on national media for the first time, face hidden. She says she didn’t want him to go there, and how fogen told her, if he didn’t go, the kids would have no one.
And all this fuss about the young Witness 8’s ‘age’ flurry as lsome critical ‘lie’ to discredit her. Has anyone compared the other descriptor of height, stated by Fogen himself, in his statement to Serino, that he was 5’8″, and the height he posted on his Myspace page as 5’10”? ONly question is, which one is the lie, George, which is it? Dr.’s assistant report might give a more accurate, sockless measurement as of the time of the shooting. (Of course, 2005, he could have dropped a couple inches when he dropped the weight. 😉
Star Witness…. he’d like that notoriety… make him feel ‘like a million bucks’!! (where have we read that before!! )
@ ay2z,
re: (Of course, 2005, he could have dropped a couple inches when he dropped the weight.)
I hadn’t looked at this way, ay2 — when Zimmerman puts on the pounds, “it’s all in his head.”
‘Zat where they get the term “fathead”?
Fitting …
And thanks!
lol!!
Great post. The Treehouse isn’t such a happy place right now…LOL
They might do well to install one of these as an escape zip.
haha, yea treehouse is starting to look a little more like this lately
“When you wish upon a star-
witness…”
Peter Pan
And that is Peter Pan as in the character Peter Pan and, not pay pal as in Fogen’s deception.
They’re positive spinning. And spinning, and spinning, and spinning.
It is puzzling that the document was filed with the court. But even if the clerk unseals it, it was filed with the amount redacted (and possibly other information). Either way, devastating for the defense(less).
Absolutely agree Professor. George is toast and in checkmate. I would not be surprised to learn that O’Mara & West have had their come to jesus meeting with George which explains the weight gain; that all that the defense is doing now is going through the motions in order to give George his freedom as long as possible. I need to find a bookie in Vegas.
GZ’s probably the 2 to 5 favorite of winning himself a cell…
Hopefully for a long, long time. 🙂
given that Crump does not work for the state
what does that mean?
Because it even shows the HOA feels Fogen is a fucking liability
But that is a calculated speculation from me LOL
Anyways, Crump is going to sue Fogen too
does that mean it is available as evidence for BDLR?
I doubt that the HOA admitted that it was at fault in placing GZ in charge of Neighborhood Watch and in failing to monitor and control what he was doing, so I do not believe the settlement agreement will be mentioned by either side at trial. Even if they had admitted fault, it would not be admitted because its prejudicial value under Rule 403 would far outweigh any possible relevance it might have under Rule 402.
Also, the HOA is not a party to the criminal case so any admission it might have made would not be binding in the criminal case.
I said the settlement is dreadful news for the fogen because the HOA has taken a thorough look at the case and obviously decided that there is a very good chance his claim of self-defense will not prevail. His own lawyers obviously agree since they waived the immunity hearing.
thank you professor, I am not sure then, that I understand why Crump filed the settlement into the criminal case
did I misread?
IANAL
But to me it shows the habits of the defendant, in his aggressive and weird behavior that creeps people out and that even the HOA feels he is a liability
Yes, and Crump will collect whatever money is left from the internet contributions after the jury convicts the fogen to apply against the likely multi-million dollar judgment he gets against the fogen after the trial.
Yay!!!! – not so much to the money part but the “after the jury convicts the fogen”
This is an odd twist of events. In any case Crump obviously filed this so it is part of the court files in case the writ of certiorari is accepted, a process that will take weeks. Thus definitively delay the trial. And yes, it shows that he indeed is from O’Mara/West and Team Fogen’s perspective “opposing counsel”.
For what other reason but being “opposing counsel” would he have done the alleged “scheming” the writ elaborates on? For pure spite out of no special interest? (Hmm, see below)
Now the decision of the clerk of course gives us a new twist in West/MOM’s waiving-priviledge-by-going-public theory. I would assume that these files are indeed confidential. On the other hand there is Florida’s sunshine law. Could this be read legally in favor of the defense’s argument? Could he breach his agreement of confidence with HOA and related parties, by filing it?
I wonder what Nelson thinks about it. Should he have interfered in the juridical process, which is exactly what the other party claims: He did manipulate the system to prosecute Fogen.
*******************************
Now let’s take one step back. There is a mysterious interview in February where O’Mara was questioned about the family’s claims, or more precisely he claims to know they rejected a settlement of one million. All these statements lead back to Mom and Stutzman. Rene Stutzman one way or another seems at the center of events. Why would anyone ask O’Mara about these matters?
Is she basing her wisdom on an interview with O’Mara she did herself? An interview she did not publish but only released/or releases partial statements of? Or that is only published in the print edition? Could we know what led to precisely this statement? If here is no such interview her choice of words would be really misleading. How could O’Mara have information about these pretrial procedures anyway, without representing one of the parties? Is he informed by some HOA members? On the other hand had he been one of the parties he could not have spoken about it.
Or did O’Mara in the larger context of asking for financial support for his client’s (and his wife’s) living, security, and case expenses in any interview in February use junior’s larger argument that claims of racism have one reason only: money. Did O’Mara in an interview use a similar argument? Alleging the family had somehow only financial interests as could be shown by their decision to turn down a one million dollar offer?
*****************
Definitively odd story. Rene Stutzman deserves close attention. Willing as she seems, she may be used for what we call “agenda setting” over here: Getting special matters into media to shape public perception.
Part of this agenda could read: Look the family is in it for the money only.
Considering the larger context, I doubt O’Mara would be as stupid to argue an elaborate waive-privileges-by-going-public theory and at the same time be involved int he case and thus be bound by confidentially but tells it to Stutzman or somebody else.
Now strictly Stutzman argues without saying it directly that Crump infringed his duty to secrecy by filing a confidential agreement under Florida’s sunshine law as proof for the correctness of the defense’s argument. It feels to me.
I am no lawyer, but yes the latest events somehow stirred up my emotional stability. 😉
I do not know why Crump suddenly decided to file the two-month old settlement agreement in the criminal case file.
I do not believe the agreement had to be filed since the parties settled their dispute without filing a lawsuit.
I am going to make an educated guess and say he probably filed it to insert some evidence into the record to show that he truly is “opposing counsel” for purposes of O’Mara’s motion to depose him in the criminal case and the defendant’s petition for a writ of certiorari.
Cannot think of any other reason.
It would be exceedingly ironic if the defense created hullabaloo over Crump’s deposition, triggered news of the settlement with HOA that is so damaging to the defendant’s claim of self-defense a mere 60 days before trial.
Ironic because there never was any merit to the defense argument.
Ironic because the manufactured issue regarding Crump’s deposition may turn out to be another terrible strategic move by the defense just like asking Judge Lester to recuse himself.
@Professor
It’s a way to get an authenticated document in the case file without having it considered just another discovery document subject to objections to entry into evidence during trial. IDK, but it might be instrumental in any argument regarding whether GZ needed a Class G conceal carry license since he conducted NW patrols while armed.
I suspect in the coming weeks to see the State amend its charging information, adding additional charges.
Frederick; first thanks. Yes, it could be connected to the writ. And I immediately thought it is. That’s why I find it absolutely strange that Stutzman does not even consider this pretty obvious possibility. Of course there could more spectacular reasons. But she does not seem to be beyond speculations as long as it remains firmly on the defense side.
I already posted the following link below. in the context of the clerk’s letter to Crump.
another assessment from a legal perspective (April 9, 2013).
Seems O’Mara answered some questions in the last paragraph.
Compare their last paragraph with this bit of Stutzman wisdom:
Her mind works quite in harmony with O’Mara if you compare what he said himself. Quite astonishing. Telepathic abilities?
follow
“The prosecution’s star witness is the defendant and that is why a jury will convict him of murder in the second degree. ”
x2
How you feeling MMP?? And X3 !
x10,000!!
follow — agree completely that W8 is far from the star witness. the case against zimmerman is complete without her, she is merely icing on the case/cake.
But she’s devastating icing.
The star witness is Trayvon screaming bloody murder in the background of a 911 call. All the experts have to do is rule out Fogen as the one screaming and it is over for Fogen. The jury will also get to listen to the cleaned up version and decide for themselves.
They will have no problem knowing that was Trayvon screaming that is obviously a teenager screaming. they will not need the experts they will be just a formality.
Thanks for the speedy report, Fred. Much appreciated!
>^..^< this should demoralize GZ BIG time!