George Zimmerman's Snippy Judge - Debra Nelson - Snapped Again
Has the Zimmerman trial judge felt the pressure from her community, her state, as well as the United States government, including Eric Holder? How could she not? The lady prosecutor, Angela Corey, as reported, waited a long, long time, and even bypassed the Grand Jury before she decided to haul George Zimmerman in for the "unjustified" murder of Trayvon Martin.
I have noticed in this trial that Judge Nelson has shown an obvious animosity toward George Zimmerman's defense lawyers. Her excuse, mostly, for her quick temper, is that she does not want to inconvenience jurors. "Hey lady," Jerry Lewis would say, there is a MAN ON TRIAL for something that may put him behind bars for a very long time, and he should not even be on trial according to Florida's own "Stand Your Ground" laws.
I have not kept count of all of Judge Nelson's errors in judgment, but it was not very respectful for trial judge Nelson to walk out of the courtroom while defense attorney was attempting to make a case earlier in July. Judge Nelson would not allow much evidence of Trayvon Martin's character including his history of enjoying fights on and off video, as well as his history of belligerent and criminal behavior, and she even denied Trayvon's incriminating texts and photos to be shown to the jury, yet all of George Zimmerman's life, as exaggerated by the prosecution, has been allowable.In fact, Nelson, at one time, did approve of Trayvon Martin's criminal record, and other behavioral problems, but more recently she "changed her mind."
Another quite insulting and biased move by the judge was that George Zimmerman's parents were barred from the courtroom, because they might be called as witnesses, yet Trayvon's mother and father were allowed to view the procedures in the court, and they were also listed as possible witnesses by the prosecution.
More than one person has commented that her court decisions have been "90%" in favor of the prosectuion. We shall see
Zimmerman's attorneys put together a fascinating, and very expensive, animation of the events that occurred on the fateful night, but Debra Nelson nixed the re-creation, contrary to fact that these sort of explanations have been used in all sorts of cases, including criminal trials. Judge Nelson again embarrassed the defense by directly addressing George Zimmerman, asking if he was going to testify, instead of directing her question to the defense attorneys. Very awkward, even if legally OK. Her entire demeanor in the incident was that of an impatient, snippy woman. Not that men are exempt from being so.
To further exemplify how petty the judge can be, I remember at one point in the trial when Rachael Jenteal was testifying, quite incoherently, defense attorney Don West asked Judge Nelson if he could move to another seating arrangement so that he could, maybe, read her lips, or whatever. Judge Nelson promptly snapped, "Why did you wait until now to ask to move?"
Between State's prosecutor Angela Corey and Judge Debra Nelson I would not want to meet up with either one at a family reunion.
Famous (or infamous) Jodi Arias defense lawyer Jose Baez is quoted as saying this about Judge Nelson - after the first judge chosen dropped out from presiding over the Zimmerman trial. “I don’t think they did themselves any favors,” said attorney Jose Baez, best known for defending “tot mom” Casey Anthony. “She (Debra Nelson) has a reputation of being more pro-prosecution than the previous judge. We have an expression: ‘The devil you know is much better than the devil you don’t.’ ”
She has refused several defense requests for sidebars, but the prosecution seems to have been awarded golden invitations to approach the bench at any time.
I have noticed in this trial that Judge Nelson has shown an obvious animosity toward George Zimmerman's defense lawyers. Her excuse, mostly, for her quick temper, is that she does not want to inconvenience jurors. "Hey lady," Jerry Lewis would say, there is a MAN ON TRIAL for something that may put him behind bars for a very long time, and he should not even be on trial according to Florida's own "Stand Your Ground" laws.
I have not kept count of all of Judge Nelson's errors in judgment, but it was not very respectful for trial judge Nelson to walk out of the courtroom while defense attorney was attempting to make a case earlier in July. Judge Nelson would not allow much evidence of Trayvon Martin's character including his history of enjoying fights on and off video, as well as his history of belligerent and criminal behavior, and she even denied Trayvon's incriminating texts and photos to be shown to the jury, yet all of George Zimmerman's life, as exaggerated by the prosecution, has been allowable.In fact, Nelson, at one time, did approve of Trayvon Martin's criminal record, and other behavioral problems, but more recently she "changed her mind."
Another quite insulting and biased move by the judge was that George Zimmerman's parents were barred from the courtroom, because they might be called as witnesses, yet Trayvon's mother and father were allowed to view the procedures in the court, and they were also listed as possible witnesses by the prosecution.
More than one person has commented that her court decisions have been "90%" in favor of the prosectuion. We shall see
Zimmerman's attorneys put together a fascinating, and very expensive, animation of the events that occurred on the fateful night, but Debra Nelson nixed the re-creation, contrary to fact that these sort of explanations have been used in all sorts of cases, including criminal trials. Judge Nelson again embarrassed the defense by directly addressing George Zimmerman, asking if he was going to testify, instead of directing her question to the defense attorneys. Very awkward, even if legally OK. Her entire demeanor in the incident was that of an impatient, snippy woman. Not that men are exempt from being so.
To further exemplify how petty the judge can be, I remember at one point in the trial when Rachael Jenteal was testifying, quite incoherently, defense attorney Don West asked Judge Nelson if he could move to another seating arrangement so that he could, maybe, read her lips, or whatever. Judge Nelson promptly snapped, "Why did you wait until now to ask to move?"
Between State's prosecutor Angela Corey and Judge Debra Nelson I would not want to meet up with either one at a family reunion.
Famous (or infamous) Jodi Arias defense lawyer Jose Baez is quoted as saying this about Judge Nelson - after the first judge chosen dropped out from presiding over the Zimmerman trial. “I don’t think they did themselves any favors,” said attorney Jose Baez, best known for defending “tot mom” Casey Anthony. “She (Debra Nelson) has a reputation of being more pro-prosecution than the previous judge. We have an expression: ‘The devil you know is much better than the devil you don’t.’ ”
She has refused several defense requests for sidebars, but the prosecution seems to have been awarded golden invitations to approach the bench at any time.
posted by joeclarke at Wednesday, July 10, 2013
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