Today, Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson, who is presiding over the George Zimmerman case, has refused to issue a gag order to the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed Trayvon Martin on Feb 26th.
STORY: Testify! Zimmerman Defense Set To Call Sanford Police Department Officials As Witnesses
In a two-page order, the judge wrote that she found no “overriding pattern of prejudicial commentary” and noted that media companies who had opposed the order, including the Orlando Sentinel, were right when they argued that the state had failed to demonstrate prejudice.
As reported by the Orlando Sentinel:
The judge also noted that she had several tools to make sure Zimmerman’s jury is impartial. She can move the trial to another county, have attorneys question potential jurors one at a time and away from other potential panel members and, once seated, she can give stern instructions about avoiding outside sources of information.
Nelson also gave prosecutors fewer medical records than attorneys for Trayvon Martin‘s family had hoped.
They had asked for all his medical records. Defense attorneys had squawked, saying that would violate Zimmerman’s right to privacy. So the judge looked them over and handed to the state only those that she said were related to injuries Zimmerman suffered the night he shot the unarmed 17-year-old.
Nelson wrote in her order:
“Any injuries received that night would clearly be relevant to a self-defense claim, as would any similar injuries present before that night or continuing symptoms after that night…Observations of the defendant’s physical appearance surrounding the date of the shooting may also be relevant. However, other medical records relating to the treatment of untreated maladies should not be disclosed.”
Zimmerman’s medical records are an essential key to understanding what kind of mental state he was in at the time of the shooting.
SOURCE: OS
