Motion filed claiming Zimmerman cannot get a fair and impartial trial under Judge Lester
From Newsmax / July 13, 2012:
Zimmerman alleged in the filing that Lester made "gratuitous" and "disparaging remarks" about him during a July 5 bond hearing and offered "a personal opinion" in the case, Reuters reported.
"In doing so, the Court has created a reasonable fear in Mr. Zimmerman that this Court is biased against him and because of this prejudice he cannot receive a fair and impartial trial or hearing by this Court," the motion said.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, was released from jail on $150,000 bail in April. But Lester later revoked his bail after prosecutors accused Zimmerman and his wife of misleading the court about their finances to secure a lower bond.
During the original bond hearing, Zimmerman sat silently as his wife, Shellie, told the court the couple had no money.
But investigators later learned the couple failed to disclose $135,000 they raised from a website created to collect funds from anonymous donors for his legal defense and his wife was later charged with perjury.
Earlier this month, Lester set Zimmerman's bail at $1 million and issued a scathing decision rejecting arguments by Zimmerman's lawyer that he posed no risk to the community and his portrayal of the case against Zimmerman as weak.
"Under any definition, the defendant has flouted the system," Lester wrote at the time. He said Zimmerman's "stories changed with each retelling."
Lester also said attorney O'Mara attempted to portray Zimmerman as a confused young man who "experienced a moment of weakness" and may have acted out a sense of betrayal by the justice system.
"This court finds the opposite. The defendant has tried to manipulate the system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so," Lester wrote.
O'Mara referred to Lester's words in the motion. "The Court chose language ... to describe the defendant in ways that reflect the Court's opinion of Mr. Zimmerman's character as much as his conduct," he wrote.
"A reason why Mr. Zimmerman feels he cannot get a fair trial is that the Court spent a lot time and a lot of words crafting an order that was harsh and morally indignant in tone," O'Mara continued.
It is the second time Zimmerman and his legal team have requested a new judge.
In April, they asked the judge presiding at the time to step aside because of a possible conflict of interest after revelations that the judge's husband had been contacted by Zimmerman's family as part of their search for a defense attorney.
The request was granted and Lester was appointed.
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