George Zimmerman Is His Own Worst Enemy

Despite the majority of public opinion appearing to believe that George Zimmerman is guilty of the unjustified homicide of Trayvon Martin, there is apparently a significant, if silent, segment of the public that believed in Zimmerman’s innocence.  The Los Angeles Times recently reported that Zimmerman was able to collect more than $200,000 from his now defunct website, The Real George Zimmerman, indicating belief in his innocence.  One prominent Southern Baptist leader,  recently defended Zimmerman and criticized prominent african-american leaders, including President Obama, for their responses to the Trayvon Martin tragedy. So, does Zimmerman’s defense have legs under the Florida statute?
Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute  is very liberal in its protection of the right to self defense.  The Florida statute states “a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if . . . [h]e or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony . . .”   Details reported to the media about the events that night have so far been scant, but what has been made public are: the 911 call Zimmerman made, the telephone conversation between Martin and reported by his girlfriend at the time of the incident, and a few near-by witnesses who reported someone screaming for help and saw two people fighting.  Based on what has been made public, and despite Zimmerman knowing law enforcement was on the way, and despite the fact that Zimmerman followed Martin after being specifically told not to by the 911 operator, Zimmerman might have had a chance of convincing the judge or a jury to give him the benefit of reasonable doubt who might then have dismissed the charges; might have, that is, if Zimmerman’s recent alleged actions did not appear that he had gone about “working the system.”
Regardless of what really happened that night on February 26, 2012, when Trayvon Martin was killed, Zimmerman now has his work cut out for him in trying to gain back his freedom.  The recent release of the jailhouse calls between Zimmerman and his wife Shellie Zimmerman do nothing to help Zimmerman’s case in the court of public opinion.  Before each of Zimmerman’s calls was connected to Shellie, a recording advised, “This call will be recorded and subject to monitoring at any time.”
Despite this warning, in the calls between the two that were released, it appears Zimmerman thought he was being stealthy, and talked in what appears to be code: while Shellie was at the bank, she and Zimmerman talked about making “transfers.”  Zimmerman advised Shellie to make transfers from “Peter Pan” to “his,” and then from “his” to Shellie’s “every day,” and to pay off all the credit card bills.  Zimmerman talked about having “at least a hundred dollars” in his account and Shellie talked about having problems wiring “ten dollars” to Zimmerman’s account, and Zimmerman reminded Shellie to “wire ten dollars” everyday.  Shellie advised she “found a house” and Zimmerman advised to “put it under Jay’s name.”  Shellie and Zimmerman also discussed whether she “had access to ten dollars,” could “transfer ten dollars,” and to put “ten dollars in the box.”  Shellie reported going back to the bank “to do that thing” and confirmed a debit card was ordered.  Zimmerman advised Shellie he “asked Ken to double up on it, ten dollars in the morning and ten dollars in the evening,” that way Shellie could take “ten for you and ten for Suzie,” and clarified “he can only take it from Peter Pan to mine.”  Zimmerman reminded Shellie to “make the transfers.”  At one point, discussing posting bond, Zimmerman advised “if it’s more than fifty, just pay the ten percent” to a bondsman and then Shellie asked, “you don’t want me to pay a hundred dollars?”
It doesn’t take a genius to infer what “Peter Pan” means, what amount “ten dollars” really is and how much “a hundred dollars” really is.  If Zimmerman is this emboldened, on a line he knows is monitored by law enforcement, how truthful has he been about the February killing of Martin?  Glaringly absent from these calls is any concern for Martin’s family.  After this latest development, at least one analyst believes that public opinion in Zimmerman’s favor will diminish.
Zimmerman would be best advised to stop speaking publicly, and to ask his friends and family to do the same Share