FAVORABLE RULING FOR ZIMMERMAN GIVES DEFENSE ACCESS TO TRAYVON MARTIN’S SCHOOL RECORDS

I suspect those records will show that Trayvon was far from the little angel his parents have painted him to be.

ZIMMERMAN JUDGE ALLOWS ACCESS TO TRAYVON MARTIN’S RECORDS
By Amanda Evans and Margaret Kavanagh

cfnews13.com
October 19, 2012

SANFORD, Fla. -- A judge has ruled that George Zimmerman's attorneys can view Trayvon Martin's records from middle and high school.

Judge Debra Nelson also granted the defense access to the 17-year-old's posts on Twitter and Facebook, as well as tweets from a girl Martin was on the phone with shortly before his death.

Zimmerman sat in silence during the entire hearing Friday afternoon.

It was the first time he was seen in public since his release from the Seminole County Jail in July -- and the media didn't even recognize him at first, as he has put on a significant amount of weight in the last three months.

During Friday's hearing, defense attorney Mark O'Mara filed an emergency motion to make sure no one was talking to witnesses before they could be deposed.

The judge said she would make a decision on that next week. The next hearing was scheduled for Friday, Oct. 26, at 1:30 p.m.

Nelson, the third judge to preside over the case, set the tone right away in court Friday: She's a stern, no-nonsense judge.

She ruled swiftly on allowing the defense to see Trayvon Martin's school and social media records, which O'Mara said the defense will use to try and prove the teen had a reputation of violence.

The defense was also granted access to Twitter posts made by "Witness No. 8," the teenage girl Martin was talking to the night he was killed.

Zimmerman's attorney said those tweets could show she didn't tell the truth about where she was and what she was posting.

"What I see online -- what I presume to be accurate -- contests those suggestions," O'Mara said.

"There's been no proof that this person actively tweeted, or whatever word is used to describe such a thing," said prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, who argued it could have been anyone posting from the girl's account.

While the defense now has access to these records -- and the prosecution will get to see Zimmerman's medical records -- Judge Nelson will still have to decide if it all that evidence would be allowed to be shown to a jury.