Trayvon Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump has issued a statement regarding the George Zimmerman hearing earlier today, in which Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson granted Zimmerman’s defense access to Trayvon’s school records.
According to Crump:
“Trayvon Martin died because George Zimmerman profiled him as a criminally minded young punk under the guise of protecting his neighborhood. And now, Trayvon Martin is being profiled again posthumously as an MMA-loving violent thug under the guise of pursuing justice. This has to stop. Profiling, like racism and sexism, has no place in the criminal justice system. Neither one of these assertions are true.”
Mr. Crump is correct; the defense is painting Trayvon into something he’s not – merely to fit racist stereotypes involving young, troublesome black youth.
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As for the hearing, Nelson also granted subpoenas for Trayvon’s social media. However, Twitter and Facebook can file motions to fight the ruling that Trayvon’s postings will be given to lawyers.
Zimmerman’s defense team will get access to FB/Twitter accounts for Trayvon’s friend (Witness 8), the girl who was on the phone with Trayvon on the night he was killed.
As for Zimmerman’s medical records, Judge Nelson has granted the State’s request, although they will stay private. O’Mara did argue however, that the records could reveal Trayvon’s state of mind in the lead up to the shooting. That, O’Mara said, is crucial to the case, citing the 6th Amendment:
“The issue in this case is who did what during those couple of minutes that we don’t know what happened…sounds horrible” to attack the character of the alleged victim in the case, but is necessary for Zimmerman’s defense.
Citing case law, Nelson went on to explain that though Zimmerman didn’t know anything about Trayvon before the Feb. 26 shooting, the school records could potentially show a history of behavior by Trayvon relevant to Zimmerman’s self-defense claim. The medical and school records will not be released to the public, the judge said.
