Jennifer Lai has a
Slate article about the latest out of
George Zimmerman (and, no, it's not an admission of guilt):
George Zimmerman is asking the state of Florida to reimburse him for up to $300,000 for expenses he racked up while successfully defending himself in court after shooting and killing Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman appears to have a good shot at having his financial wish granted: Florida law requires the state to cover some legal costs for defendants who are acquitted, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The law doesn't cover Zimmerman's largest legal cost— the fee that would go to his lawyers— but it does account for other, smaller expenses that can add up quickly, including the cost of expert witnesses, travel, depositions, photocopies, even that animated 3D video that defense attorneys showed jurors during closing argument that depicts Trayvon punching Zimmerman.
Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's lead defense attorney, says that he's prepping a formal motion to request the judge authorize the payments. He said he and his staff are still crunching numbers, but that he expects the request would fall somewhere in between $200,000 to $300,000. That, as the Sentinel notes, would be on top of the estimated $900,000 that public agencies spent during Zimmerman's five-week murder trial.
Rico says he suspects this law will get changed soon... (People forget that
not guilty isn't the same as
innocent.)
No comments:
Post a Comment