Seminole County judge allows use of academic and social media records

Judge Debra Nelson will allow Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, to access Martin’s academic and disciplinary records as well as information on his deactivated Twitter and Facebook accounts.

 
Martin’s older brother, 22-year-old Jahvaris Fulton, said that the family respects the court and its decisions but contended that these records are “irrelevant in this case.”
 
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder after he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26. Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watchman, allegedly profiled Martin as he walked home from a convenience store in a gated community of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford.
 
Although Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense after Martin allegedly attacked him. Zimmerman also said that Martin had reached for his gun, which was holstered on his waist at the time. Results showed no signs of Martin’s DNA on the holster.
Benjamin Crump, who represents the teen’s family, said he believes the defense is trying to find anything that would justify Zimmerman firing on the boy.
 
“They are on a fishing expedition against Trayvon to say that he deserved what Zimmerman did to him,” Crump said, adding that he felt as if Trayvon, not his killer, was on trial.
 
A trial date is set for June 10, 2013. A gag order hearing was held on Oct. 26. The Motion for Gag Order, released by the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Seminole County, would prohibit any attorney involved with the prosecution, defense, personnel employed or affiliated with said attorneys and law enforcement personnel from making or releasing any statements to the media about facts, evidence, credibility of witnesses or opinions of guilt.