George Zimmerman says he’s fed up with his judge and wants him thrown off the second-degree murder case in the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
In a motion filed Friday in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Florida, Zimmerman’s attorneys said they think Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. has a serious bias against their client and want him removed from the case.
“A judge is held to a higher standard of impartiality,” the lawyers wrote. “Mr. Zimmerman has lost faith in the objectivity of this court.”
The request comes eight days after the judge hammered away at Zimmerman’s credibility before he allowed him to go free on bail. Lester called Zimmerman a liar and manipulator but said the law forced him to grant bail anyway.
The judge said Zimmerman previously conspired to hide a huge amount of money from authorities, including the court, and therefore couldn’t be trusted. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and maintains that he killed the teen in self defense.
Lester is the second judge who Zimmerman has asked to have thrown off his case. Earlier this year, he successfully got the first judge assigned to him tossed because she was married to a local attorney who had talked about the case on TV.
In an email to the media late Friday, a spokeswoman for special prosecutor Angela Corey said her office objected to Zimmerman’s request and plans to file a formal response next week.
Nick R. Martin
Nick Martin is an associate editor at TPM in New York City. He came to the site in 2011 as a reporter for TPMMuckraker. Previously, he worked in Arizona, first as a staff reporter for a local newspaper and later as a freelance journalist. He also ran the news blog Heat City. Contact him: nick [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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