Judge in Trayvon Martin Case Refuses to Ban Defense Lawyer's Blog and Comments
A Florida judge has refused to issue a gag order to bar comments and blogging by the defense lawyer for the man accused of killing Trayvon Martin.
Ruling on Monday, Judge Debra Nelson of Seminole County said there was no “overriding pattern of prejudicial commentary” and an impartial jury could still be seated, report the Orlando Sentinel and the New York Times.
Prosecutors had complained that Mark O’Mara, the lawyer for George Zimmerman, is using social media and blogging “to control and filter commentary about the case, in effect bypassing the regular media,” the Orlando Sentinel reported in a previous story. Prosecutors also complained about comments to the media made by both Zimmerman and O’Mara.
In a hearing on Friday, O’Mara argued that Trayvon Martin’s family had portrayed Zimmerman as a racist, and he was using social media and a legal website to counter the negative publicity.
