Judge Debra Nelson has rejected the state's second request for a gag order in the George Zimmerman case. The two page order is here.

By now, Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump should have disclosed to the defense everyone who was present on March 19 when he recorded a telephone interview with Witness 8, referred to as "Dee Dee." ABC News reporter Matt Gutman has previously said he was there, as were the parents of Trayvon Martin, whom he described as "ashen-faced" while listening to the call. At the hearing on Friday, October 19, the Judge told Crump to disclose the names to Zimmerman's defense team within 10 days. Background here. [More...]

The State's Attorney's Office has filed this Memorandum in support of its second motion for a gag order on attorneys in the George Zimmerman case. The pleading is not on the court's website yet, but Jeff Wiener of the Orlando Sentinel has posted it. He describes it here. The hearing on the motion is today at 1:30 p.m. Fox 35 Orlando will be live-streaming it.

It's not the defense that needs gagging. While I don't think Judge Nelson will issue a gag order, as opposed to just reminding all the lawyers they are subject to disciplinary rules for improper prejudicial extra-judicial comments, it's important to note that that the State asks in its Memorandum, as it did in its Second Motion for Gag Order (and its first motion in April) that the court restrict not just prosecutors, O'Mara and defense lawyers, but all lawyers "involved" with the prosecution or defense. [More...]

Michael Skakel, whose parole hearing is today, has filed a libel suit against Nancy Grace, Tru-TV host Beth Karas, Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting, for falsely stating evidence of Michael Skakel's DNA was found near the scene of the crime.

In the segment, "Kennedy Cousin Asks Judge for Shorter Jail Time," Grace asks Karas if Skakel was masturbating in a tree near Moxley's window. Karas responds: "His DNA was found."

The lawsuit says that both Grace and Karas "are thoroughly familiar" with the fact that there was no DNA evidence linking Skakel to the Moxley murder.

Here's the video. Karas says his DNA was found and Nancy reminds her it was semen. Henry Lee testified at the trial that there was no direct evidence, no DNA, no semen:

Henry C. Lee, the former head of the Connecticut State Police and a renowned forensic criminologist, testified today that state prosecutors have no direct scientific evidence, like fingerprints or DNA, to connect Michael C. Skakel to the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley.

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The full version of the October 19 hearing in the George Zimmerman case is now available without commentary on You Tube (Parts 1 and Part 2.)

Of particular interest to me are the issues surrounding Witness 8, aka "Dee Dee", Trayvon Martin's phone friend who reportedly was speaking with Travyon in the minutes leading up to the shooting. The media has referred to her as "Dee Dee", but her true identity is protected by court order (so please don't speculate on it here, that's not the point of this post.)

When Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump held a press conference in Ft. Lauderdale on March 20, to introduce the nation to the existence of this witness, he played a tape recording of a telephone interview he conducted with her the day before. He said the interview shows George Zimmerman's version of the events leading up to the shooting are not believable. The transcript of his press conference is here. Crump announced he would send the recording to the Justice Department. Video is here (part 1) and here (part 2.) [More...]

Martha Moxley and her neighbor Michael Skakel, nephew of Ethel Kennedy, were both 15 in 1975, the year Moxley was murdered. No one was charged with the murder until 25 years later. Skakel, then age 40 was charged, tried and convicted as an adult. He was sentenced to an indeterminate sentence of 20 years to life. He is now 52, and having served 10 years of the minimum 20 year sentence, he is eligible for parole in April. A parole hearing is scheduled for October 24. The Moxley family is objecting. Mrs. Moxley wants him jailed for life.

At the time Martha Moxley was murdered, and until 1976, CT had a five year statute of limitations. In 2010, in affirming Skakel's conviction, the CT Supreme Court overruled precedent of more than 20 years, and held the 1976 amendment could apply retroactively to Skakel. Here is the 89 page majority opinion. Skakel's petition for cert to the U.S. Supreme Court, written by former Solicitor General Ted Olson, was denied. [More...]

The new judge in the George Zimmerman case agreed to issue defense subpoenas for Trayvon Martin's school records and social media account records, as well as the social media accounts of witness #8 "Dee Dee", the phone friend of Trayvon, who says she was on the phone with him just before the shooting. You can watch the Judge explain her ruling here.

As I wrote here and here, I think this is the correct ruling. A defendant raising self-defense may introduce evidence regarding a victim's reputation for a particular character trait like violence to show that the defendant was not the initial aggressor, even if the defendant did not previously know about the victim's reputation. Here's the Munoz case the Judge cites from, which quotes the Dwyer case.

The school records will not be released publicly. The judge also granted the state's request for Zimmerman's medical records, but like the school records, they will not be released publicly. [More]

The state moved for a gag order against the defense yesterday. Here is the motion, which will be heard next week. I think the motion, which is directed at Zimmerman's lawyers, picked the wrong target. The target should be the lawyers for the family of Trayvon Martin. They are the ones who comment on the evidence, opine on guilt, and inflame passions likely to prejudice the potential jury pool.

The defense has posted pleadings it has filed in court. That's allowed, and the motion doesn't seek to prevent it. The defense is also allowed to inform the public about the course of proceedings. [More...]

There's a lot of buzz yesterday about the new judge in the George Zimmerman case scheduling his trial in June. I doubt it will happen that fast. Even in non-high profile cases, delays to two to three years are not uncommon.

James Wonder was charged in 2008 with shooting a polygrapher for the U.S. Border Patrol during a road rage incident. Weeks after the shooting, prosecutors asked the grand jury to indict on first degree murder. The grand jury returned an indictment on manslaughter. His stand your ground hearing was just scheduled a few weeks ago for the end of October. The hearing is expected to take 8 to 10 days with 35 to 40 witnesses being called. (One of the issues recently decided: The state objected to the defense introducing Wonder's 3 hour post-arrest interview at the stand your ground hearing.)

Trevor Dooley, a retired bus driver, shot and killed a younger man who was playing basketball in 2010. His stand your ground hearing was in May, 2012. He lost, and trial was set for September. But Dooley is appealing the denial of his stand your ground motion, so the trial date was vacated. [More...]

In the George Zimmerman case, Mark O'Mara has filed two fairly explosive motions. You can read them here and here.

In addition to withholding the report on the analysis of the phone found at the scene alleged to have been Trayvon's, it turns out the records given to the defense by the investigator who downloaded the information from the phone's sim card don't match those turned over by the State.

Also check out Officer Joseph Santiago's chronology of events concerning the phone.

There's lots more in these motions I don't have time to get into now like issues regarding the Dee Dee (witness 8) interview. O'Mara says he will depose the Martin family lawyers and public relations adviser. Diwataman has a summary of the motions.

If the state has been playing fast and loose with its discovery obligations as alleged by O'Mara, and it seems he has the documentation to back it up, the state has some serious explaining to do.

To date, the public has only seen George Zimmerman's legal team playing defense - fighting for bond and against the negative perceptions of their client created by the selective discovery released and the Martin family and their media team of lawyers and consultants.

Yesterday, that began to change. Mark O'Mara filed a notice of hearing for subpoenas he wants issued for Trayvon Martin and his phone friend "DeeDee"'s cell phone accounts for the period of 1/1/12 to 6/1/12, and for their Facebook and Twitter accounts,.

In another motion, Mark O'Mara says he wants the original recordings of Witness 9, George's cousin, brought to court because despite repeated requests, the defense may not have received accurate and audible copies and they want to make sure what was submitted to the court at the bond hearing is the same as what they received. [More...]

Barrett Brown, a vocal supporter of Anonymous, was arrested by the FBI three weeks ago. The raid occurred during an online chat at his home in Dallas. He was ordered detained without bail as a flight risk and danger to the community, but no charges were publicly available for weeks.

Brown has now been indicted on three counts, including making Internet threats, conspiring to make restricted personal information of a government employee publicly available, and retaliation against a federal law enforcement officer. The maximum sentence is 20 years. The Indictment is here.

His lawyer has filed a motion to determine his competency, which has been granted. From the docket: [More...]

Various news outlets in the Netherlands began reporting yesterday that Joran van der Sloot is going to be a father, having impregnated his girlfriend, since identified by Peruvian news as Leydi Figueroa Uceda, during an unsupervised conjugal prison visit. Joran reportedly told his lawyer the pregnancy was not intentional. The AP says:

He could resist extradition to the United States, where is wanted in the Holloway case, if he obtains Peruvian nationality. That would be a possibility if he becomes the father of a Peruvian child or if he marries a Peruvian citizen.