GEORGE ZIMMERMAN AIMS TO CONVINCE HIS TRIAL JUDGE HE "STOOD [HIS] GROUND" THE NIGHT HE KILLED TRAYVON MARTIN.

Can Zimmerman win 'stand your ground' hearing?
By Rene Stutzman

Since the night he shot Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman has insisted he killed the unarmed 17-year-old to save himself.

If he's going to beat the murder charge against him at a "stand your ground" hearing, local lawyers said Thursday, the burden falls almost entirely on him: He must take the witness stand and convince a judge he acted in self-defense.

Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, on Thursday formally announced that he would defend Zimmerman using Florida's now much-debated "stand your ground" law.

That means he'll schedule a trial-like hearing, put on evidence and try to show that Zimmerman was afraid — and that it was a reasonable fear — that Trayvon was on the verge of killing or severely injuring him.

If he's successful, a judge will throw out the second-degree-murder charge.

"There is clear support for a strong claim of self-defense," O'Mara wrote in a blog post Thursday.

Central Florida lawyers predicted that, based on the evidence released so far by prosecutors, Zimmerman has a strong chance of winning.

"He's assaulted, and he claims he's on the ground, fighting for his life. I don't see how a judge does not grant that motion," said Robert Buonauro, an Orlando defense lawyer who has been through three "stand your ground" hearings, one that cleared his client.

"He was in a place where he had a right to be. He wasn't violating any laws. He was attacked. There's no other witness to contradict his testimony," Buonauro said.

That last point — that no other witness saw the entire encounter — is key, according to experts. An Orlando Sentinel review of Central Florida "stand your ground" cases found that suspects were far more likely to be exonerated if they were the lone surviving witness.

Prosecution Investigator Dale Gilbreath testified at a bond hearing April 20 that prosecutors had no evidence — other than Zimmerman's statement — about who struck the first blow Feb. 26, the night Zimmerman and Trayvon got into a fight and wound up in a wrestling match on the ground that ended with the teenager shot in the heart.

"I think we all understand that you don't win without putting your client on the stand," said Orlando defense attorney Diana Tennis. "It all looks pretty darned good for him, but he is going to make or break that hearing."

What Zimmerman must make clear is that he was afraid of Trayvon, she said.

And to qualify for immunity under Florida's "stand your ground" law, his fear must be reasonable and he must have believed that unless he acted immediately, he would have died or been severely injured.

Zimmerman's account to authorities, on its face, appears to comport with the law, Tennis said, but there is one major drawback: "[He] doesn't do so well on the stand," she said. "That's a huge worry."

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. has already characterized the 28-year-old Zimmerman as a manipulator who, along with his wife, hid $130,000 and a second passport from the court.

O'Mara has not yet said what he'll do about Lester, who rejected Zimmerman's request to step down from the case. O'Mara has 30 days to decide whether to appeal.

He has an announcement and news conference scheduled Monday, but his office would not provide details.

Zimmerman told Sanford police that Trayvon knocked him down with a single punch, then got on top of him and began punching him and banging his head into the sidewalk in Zimmerman's Sanford neighborhood.

The defendant suffered a broken nose and cuts to the back of his head, according to photos and a medical report. He says the teenager also put a hand over his nose and mouth and, near the end, reached for the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol that Zimmerman carried in a holster on his waist.

Prosecutor, however, say Zimmerman spotted the teenager, assumed he was about to commit a crime, followed him, then murdered him.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon's family, said in a statement Thursday that the teenager's parents are confident Zimmerman will lose a "stand your ground" motion.

"A grown man cannot profile and pursue an unarmed child, shoot him in the heart and then claim stand your ground," Crump wrote. "Trayvon's parents do not feel that this is a man that feared for his life the night he shot and killed their child, this is a man whose only fear is spending his life in prison."

The law, enacted in 2005, has been a subject of intense debate since Sanford police cited it as the reason they would not arrest Zimmerman. He was not jailed or charged until six weeks later, after a series of civil-rights rallies across the country that prompted Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor.

O'Mara did not say when he would schedule the hearing but made it clear it is months away, after he has the chance to depose dozens of witnesses, question experts and finish a defense investigation. He will prepare as if for a trial, he said.

"You want to go in there with all your guns blazing," Buonauro said. "You want to make sure you know what everybody is going to say."

Buonauro and Tennis predicted the hearing would not happen until next year. Buonauro also said that if Zimmerman prevails, Special Prosecutor Angela Corey would appeal, something that would add months to the case.

Staff writers Jeff Weiner and Arelis R. Hernández contributed to this report. rstutzman@tribune.com or 407-650-6394.

Rules for a 'stand your ground' hearing

A defendant has the burden of proof and must show that:

•He was in a place where he was lawfully entitled to be.

•He was not violating the law.

•He was attacked.

•He had a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm.

SOURCE: Florida Statute 776.013(3)