Murder charge for Florida teenager’s killer
Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges against Zimmerman, 28, last night, and a law enforcement official added he was in custody.
Zimmerman’s lawyers, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner, said they were no longer representing him because they have not heard from him since Sunday, and there are growing concerns about his state of mind.
Sonner said: “As of the last couple days, he has not returned phone calls, text messages or emails.
“He’s gone on his own. I’m not sure what he’s doing or who he’s talking to.
“I cannot go forward speaking to the public about George Zimmerman and this case as representing him because I’ve lost contact with him.”
Zimmerman said he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defence after following him in a gated community outside Orlando on Feb 26.
He said he was returning to his truck when Martin attacked him and that he shot him in a fight. He was not arrested partly because of Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defence law.
However, Martin’s girlfriend, to whom he was speaking by phone, said Martin in his last minutes claimed Zimmerman was following him.
The lack of an arrest or charge led to protests across the US and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defence. Zimmerman’s father is white and his mother is Hispanic.
He is said to be losing weight and suffering stress due to the intense public scrutiny he is under, his former lawyers said.
“He is largely alone,” said Uhrig. “You might even say he is emotionally crippled by virtue of the pressure of this case.”
The protests and profound isolation of going into hiding may have pushed Zimmerman “a little bit over the edge”, his ex-lawyers said.
Against their advice, the attorneys said Zimmerman contacted special prosecutor Corey, but prosecutors in her office refused to talk to him without his lawyers present.
“To handle it this way suggests that he may not be in complete control of what’s going on,” said Uhrig. “We’re concerned for his emotional and physical safety.”
Zimmerman is unable to see a psychologist because he could be spotted. A bounty for his arrest has been issued by the New Black Panther Party.
Zimmerman also has been in touch with conservative talkshow host Sean Hannity, who declined to reveal what was said.
Uhrig said after they found out that news, the “final straw” came when they learned Zimmerman contacted Corey’s office and said he wanted to meet. Uhrig said he told her he no longer had attorneys, whom he called “legal advisers”, representing him.
Uhrig said they were “a bit astonished” that he had contacted her on his own and that Ms Corey and her team refused to talk to a potential defendant or suspect without counsel.
Ben Crump, an attorney for Martin’s family, said they were concerned that Zimmerman could be a flight risk if he is charged with a crime, since his former attorneys did not know how to contact him. “We’re just concerned that nobody knows where he is at. Nobody knows how to get to him,” said Crump.
Meanwhile, tensions were rising in Sanford as townspeople awaited the prosecutors’ decision.
Several rounds were fired into an unoccupied police car early on Tuesday as it sat outside the neighbourhood where Martin was killed. A demonstration by college students closed the town’s police station on Monday.
Some residents said they were worried there would be violence if Ms Corey had decided not to charge Zimmerman. Police are not saying what precautions, if any, they would be taking.
Zimmerman set up a website, therealgeorgezimmerman.com to collect money from his supporters, but the attorneys said they did not know about it until they started getting questions from the media, Sonner said.
They had worked with his father and others to set up a different account and when they started getting questions about the new site, Uhrig assumed it was bogus. They have since learnt it is legitimate.
Sonner said he stands behind his statements that Zimmerman did act in self-defence, but said: “I just can’t proceed to represent a client who doesn’t stay in contact with me.”
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