"George Zimmerman is the son of retired Virginia Supreme Court magistrate Judge Robert J. Zimmerman, his mother Gladys Zimmerman is a court clerk. He has three closed arrests: 7/18/05 for resisting an officer w/violence- battery on a law enforcement Officer (div 10...8/9/05), for domestic violence, (div 44... 8/10/05) for domestic violence div 46...This is public information Orange County Florida Court Records."
But, if it is true, it goes a long way towards explaining why the State Attorney's office would have stepped in so quickly and squashed the Lead Investigator's desire to proceed with Manslaughter Charges.
UPDATE - Here is some corroboration that, indeed, Zimmerman's father was a Judge:
In Dec 2008, Zimmerman applied to attend the Citizens Law Enforcement Academy. He offered info that he was arrested July 2005 in an incident involving undercover UCF officers.
He was accepted and completed the program.
Zimmerman said his father was a magistrate for Virginia Supreme Court and mother was a deputy court clerk. He stated that he had the utmost respect for law enforcement and aspired to be an officer someday.
From Good Morning America:
The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News.But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney's office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction, the sources told ABC News.Police brought Zimmerman into the station for questioning for a few hours on the night of the shooting, said Zimmerman's attorney, despite his request for medical attention first. Ultimately they had to accept Zimmerman's claim of self defense. He was never charged with a crime.Serino filed an affidavit on Feb. 26, the night that Martin was shot and killed by Zimmerman, that stated he was unconvinced Zimmerman's version of events.Zimmerman, 28, claimed he shot Martin, 17, in self defense.One complicating factor in the investigation was that the first detective to interview Zimmerman about the shooting was a narcotics officer rather than a homicide detective.The State Attorney's office said only "no comment" when asked about the affidavit today.
MORE CORROBORATION:
CNN revealed a telling piece of information Friday that has been missed by many of the media outlets covering the slaying of 17-year old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch captain on Feb. 26.
"The portrayal of George Zimmerman in the media, as well as the series of events that led to the tragic shooting, are false and extremely misleading," his father, a retired magistrate judge, wrote in a letter published in the Orlando Sentinel. "Unfortunately, some individuals and organizations have used this tragedy to further their own causes and agendas.""George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends," Robert Zimmerman wrote. "He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever." (Emphasis added.)
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ReplyDeleteA magistrate is NOT A JUDGE.
ReplyDeleteThey do not sit in trials.
This I did not know. When I was going to post this, I was not sure what a "Magistrate" was, so I looked it up and here is the definition:
ReplyDeletemag·is·trate/ˈmajəˌstrāt/
Noun:
A civil officer or lay judge who administers the law, esp. one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses.
Synonyms:
judge - justice
That definition led me to believe a Magistrate is a Judge.
A magistrate to a judge is like a PA to a Thoracic Surgeon. IT's a holdover from the english system. I think Mass and Penn have them also. They are usu political appts, a reward for the spoils system?
ReplyDelete