Rats off a sinking ship

Josh Voorhees, Rachael Levy, and Abby Ohlheiser have a Slate article on George Zimmerman's situation:

Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey will announce that she will charge George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
The Washington Post was the first to break the story, citing an unnamed law enforcement officials, with a number of media outlets quickly confirming the news that Corey will announce the charges at a 6 p.m. news conference in Florida. It is not yet clear exactly what charges Zimmerman will face. (Second-degree murder, according to NPR on 12 April.)
Corey announced earlier this week that she would make an announcement concerning her investigation by the end of the week. That announcement came after she opted against presenting the case to a grand jury, a decision that cleared the way for her to make the final decision on whether or not Zimmerman would face charges. Under Florida law, a grand jury would have only been necessary if Corey had sought first-degree murder charges against Zimmerman.
The latest development comes one day after Zimmerman's defense lawyers announced they were quitting because their client had broken off contact with them and repeatedly ignored their legal advice, including by reaching out to Corey on his own.

Wednesday, April 11: According to George Zimmerman's now former attorneys, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin has been pushed "a little bit over the edge" by the national scrutiny that has forced him into hiding.
Defense attorney Hal Uhrig said that Zimmerman has lost weight and is possibly "emotionally crippled by virtue of the pressure of this case", the Associated Press reports.
Uhrig and Craig Sonner, the two men who had been representing Zimmerman, announced that they will no longer do so after he failed to follow their advice and broke off contact.
Sonner said that, while he is no longer representing Zimmerman, he believes his former client's claims of self defense. "I believe that he's gotten a raw deal from the media, that the media has tried to convict him wrongfully," Sonner said on CNN. "When the facts come out, it'll show he acted in self-defense, that the police department made the proper decision in not arresting him, as there was not probable cause to make the arrest."
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor assigned to the case announced that she will make an announcement about her investigation in the next 72 hours, CNN reports. While it is unclear exactly what she will announce, most observers believe it will be concerning whether or not Zimmerman will face charges in Martin's death.
Tuesday, April 10, 5:31 p.m.: George Zimmerman's lawyers announced today that they will no longer represent him, saying that he had failed to follow their legal advice and that he was no longer in contact with them.
Defense attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig broke the news at an unexpectedly bizarre press conference in Florida, saying that they had not had contact with Zimmerman since this past Sunday, and that they had never actually met face to face with him, instead relying on phone calls and meetings with his family members.
They also said that, against their advice, their now ex-client had contacted the special prosecutor who will decide whether or not he should face charges, the Associated Press reports. "As of the last couple days, he has not returned phone calls, text messages, or emails," Sonner said. "He's gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to. I cannot go forward speaking to the public about George Zimmerman and this case as representing him because I've lost contact with him."
Perhaps the oddest allegation Zimmerman's former lawyers made was that their client had recently met in private with Sean Hannity, and then refused to tell them what he and the Fox News host had discussed, according to the Huffington Post. "George called Sean Hannity of Fox News off the record and he was unwilling to tell us what was said," Uhrig said.
The latest developments come on the same day that Zimmerman unveiled a website soliciting donations from his supporters to help pay his legal costs.
Tuesday, April 10: George Zimmerman has created a website from hiding, offering some of his first public comments since he shot and killed Trayvon Martin earlier this year, and asking for donations from supporters to help cover his legal defense and living expenses.
In a short statement on the website, Zimmerman does not offer specifics of the shooting, which he claims was in self-defense, saying only that he "was involved in a life altering event" that led him to "become the subject of intense media coverage."
He continues: "As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family, and ultimately, my entire life."
One of Zimmerman's lawyers has confirmed the authenticity of the website to a handful of media outlets, including Reuters. On it, Zimmerman says that he has not received any donations that have been made to a handful of other websites claiming to be raising money for his defense.
The site, rather spartan and set on a background of an American flag, accepts donations via PayPal and includes simple links titled My Race and The Facts, which contain famous quotes. The Race section, for instance, contains only the following quote, attributed to Thomas Paine: "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion."

Rico says lessee, the guy's got no money, no lawyers, and he's (in the vernacular) a Jeeww... He's screwed.