Honorable Kenneth R. Lester, Jr.
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Court
Seminole County, Florida
Dear Judge Lester:
I just finished reading the text of the “Order
Setting Bail“ regarding George Zimmerman, wherein you
raised the bail to one million dollars. With great respect, I am
moved to tell you that it was a distressing experience to this old
retired lawyer because the order was so far removed from the actual
facts of the case.
In that order you portrayed the defendant, George Zimmerman, as
a clever, knowledgeable person who has “tried to manipulate the
system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so.” You
described him as a fellow who lied to everyone, including his own
counsel, about the state of his finances and accordingly was not to
be believed on any matter. You waxed eloquent on the deception
played upon you when Shellie Zimmerman, the defendant’s wife,
stated in court that she was not aware of any funds the couple
had.
Your honor, you then went on to state: “While not exactly the
same, this Court finds that deceiving the Court at a bond hearing
is akin to violating a bond condition.” Then, sir, you came
perilously close to equating that deception to the act of
committing a new offense while out on bond.
You went on to consider the defendant’s past and present conduct
and had to conclude that there was no record of previous
convictions “or failure to appear at court proceedings.” You
reviewed the defense claims that Zimmerman’s silence in the
presence of his wife’s false testimony in court was occasioned by
his fear and confusion. You rejected those arguments and then
jumped to this extraordinary conclusion: “Although there is no
record of flight to avoid prosecution, this court finds that
circumstances indicate that the Defendant was preparing to flee to
avoid prosecution.”
On the core issue of the weight of the evidence supporting the
charge of second degree murder, you concluded that the State’s case
was “strong” and to support that finding you mentioned the infamous
probable cause affidavit submitted by special prosecutor Angela
Corey. In that affidavit and in testimony of one of her
investigators, it appeared that “the Defendants actions were
imminently dangerous to another and that he acted with a depraved
mind regardless of human life.” You agreed with those damning
statements.
In my view, you are wrong on each of these important points,
save one. The Zimmermans did mislead you on their finances and my
hope is that you see that for what it is, a small part of the
overall picture. Recall that George and Shellie have been the
victims of what amounts to a national lynch mob, led in part by the
president and the attorney general. They have received a flood of
death threats from the Black Panthers and many others. They have
been forced to leave their home in Sanford. So have other family
members. George has had to leave his job and his college. They have
been forced into hiding and he must now stay in a safe house. Think
of how you would feel if you received constant death threats and
had to leave everything with which you were familiar. In that
situation, it is quite understandable that you would become
secretive and be very cautious when asked about your finances in a
court hearing.
These are terrified young people and you are treating them as
clever pariahs and devious criminals. You are supposed to assure
their dignity and their safety. You have sought to do neither. Just
the opposite. For shame.
It is as if you had graduated from the Al Sharpton School of
Law.
My review of all of the available evidence and information leads
me to believe, as have other legal analysts, that the state’s case
is fatally weak. That has led me to conclude that George Zimmerman
is innocent, which is an extraordinary public statement for an old
lawyer and legal scholar to make — since the case has not yet been
tried. I am not saying merely that there is insufficient evidence
for the state to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. I am
saying innocent. Period.
Here are some of the facts that led to my conclusion.
Zimmerman’s claim of self defense is supported by almost every
piece of information that has come to light. The first police
officer on the scene arrived within minutes of the tragic shooting.
He observed that Zimmerman was bloody and looked beaten. The second
police officer arrived moments later and reported that Zimmerman
told him that he had been screaming for help but that no one would
help him. The fire department emergency medical technician told of
how he had treated Zimmerman’s head and face wounds. A subsequent
doctor’s report confirmed his injuries and stated that he suffered
from a broken nose.
Such reports made within a short time of the incident, in my
experience, are the most persuasive. There is no time to make up
stories in such hurried circumstances. All of them support
Zimmerman’s claim of self defense. These statements made in the
heat of the moment, or near to it, are much more compelling than
the affidavit filed by Angela Corey months later, an affidavit you
cited with approval.
None of the early statements by officials mentioned any hint of
racial bias in any comment made by the defendant.
Trayvon Martin was killed with one shot to the chest fired at
close range. This was consistent with Zimmerman’s description of
the encounter. Had Zimmerman been intent on stalking and killing
the young man, he could have taken out his pistol and fired several
shots from a distance, perhaps hitting him in the back.
On the evening of the sad event, George Zimmerman agreed to
voluntarily take a CVSA Truth Verification test in the Sanford
police station. This is a form of lie detector test used by many
police departments. While not ordinarily admissible in a formal
court trial, as you know, it does help guide police and prosecution
officials in determining whether or not to proceed with an arrest
and prosecution in the early stages of a case. The
confidential report gives the examiner four choices to describe how
the subject fared. The examiner checked the fourth and highest
level: “The examinee has told substantially the complete truth in
regards to this examination.” Such evidence quite probably figured
in the decision by the police chief and the then-prosecutor to drop
the case, at least initially.
It is of major significance that, in the early stages, the only
official to question Zimmerman’s racial tolerance and also his
innocence was lead detective Christopher Serino. Within a few days
he practically accused Zimmerman of being a bigot and also urged
that he be charged with manslaughter. Recently, Serino was reduced
to a patrolman on the night shift. The change was labeled as
voluntary but there is some new information that his role in the
case, on numerous fronts, has been quietly discredited.
Your honor, I am baffled to try to understand your conclusion
that Zimmerman was preparing to flee the jurisdiction. That is
simply bizarre. Adam Vincent, a Seminole County probation officer,
testified, “We never had any problems from Mr. Zimmerman while he
was under our supervision…. For all intents and purposes he was a
model client.”
I have been forced to conclude that like Christopher Serino and
Angela Corey, you have made it obvious that in your mind George
Zimmerman is guilty of second degree murder. It would help restore
my faith in the legal profession, which faith is a cornerstone of
my very being, if you recused yourself from the case — and
moreover issued an apology to all concerned for the misleading
contents of the bail order.
With sadness and deep concern,
Arnold S. Trebach
