Ken Berwitz

Are you as unsympathetic as I am, when a prosecutor whines and complains about a defendant who insists on mounting a defense?

Yeah, I kinda thought so.

Here, excerpted from Jeff Weiner's article for the Orlando Sentinel, is the latest news about George Zimmerman's upcoming trial.  Please pay special attention to the last paragraph, which I've put in bold print - which contains a quote that would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic:

In a blistering response to a recent filing by George Zimmerman's defense team, prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda accuses the second-degree murder defendant of attempting "to co-opt the mantle of victimhood for himself."

Zimmerman's legal team had asked Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to force an attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin, the Miami Gardens teen shot by Zimmerman Feb. 26 in Sanford, to turn over a recorded interview of a witness described as the teen's girlfriend.

In its filing, the defense argued Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump was not forthcoming in response to requests for the original copy of the recording of the girl, who is identified in prosecution documents as "Witness 8."

"No matter how often, how viciously, or how vociferously Defense Counsel tries to attack Mr. Crump and make him a feature of this case, he is not the issue," de la Rionda writes in his response, arguing Zimmerman's "goal... is not legitimately to gather relevant evidence in this criminal case. Rather, he is clearly more interested in defending his own supposed 'reputation' than in permitting a judge and/or a jury to consider his actions."

Holy excrement. 

Is it just me, or does prosecutor de la Rionda seem to be saying "Can you believe this guy Zimmerman and his defense lawyer?  They're demanding THE EVIDENCE.  And Zimmerman is concerned about HIS REPUTATION, when all I'm doing is trying to convict him of second degree murder.  I mean, what's the big deal anyway?"

Look, this case is a joke to begin with.  The reason?  Because, under Florida Law, second degree murder requires that Zimmerman acted with a "depraved mind".  Here is the definition:

"Murder with a Depraved Mind occurs when a person is killed, without any premeditated design, by an act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind showing no regard for human life."

George Zimmerman had facial injuries, a laceration on the back of his head, and there is eye-witness testimony that Trayvon Martin was on top of him before the shot was fired.  I challenge anyone to show me how these circumstances can be mutated into proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin as an act of depravity rather than self-defense. 

Speaking bluntly, the only way I see for George Zimmerman to be convicted is by racism - specifically, out of fear that, if he is not convicted the racial arsonists - al sharpton immediately comes to mind, but there are others - will scream that it is because Trayvon Martin was Black.

And I have no doubt that the racism strategy will be employed by the prosecutor.  It may be lame beyond belief, but what else has he got?  As my mother used to say, "Any port in a storm".

But can we at least be spared prosecutor de la Rionda's whining about Zimmerman mounting a defense, as if that were some kind of affront to the legal process?