Zimmerman Now Accused Of Child Molestation, Racism - With No Evidence

Seminole County and Special Prosecutor Angela Corey are going to stop at nothing when it comes to demonizing George Zimmerman. They desperately want a conviction, and they want Zimmerman destroyed in the eyes of the potential juror pool to stack the deck.

Today, Judge Lester signed an order over defense objections to allow the public release by Corey of a statement by someone known only as 'witness number 9' accusing Zimmerman of racism and child molestation:

A woman told authorities that while they were children, murder suspect George Zimmerman sexually molested her for a decade, according to prosecution records released today.

The woman, identified only as "witness 9," said the abuse started when she was six and ended when she was 16. Zimmerman, she said, is about two years older than her.{...}

In a statement released several weeks ago, witness 9 told Sanford police that Zimmerman does not like blacks. In the audio-recorded interview released today, she reiterated that but without providing specifics.

Zimmerman's family, she said, "don't like black people if they don't act like white people. They like black people if they act white."

Had she seen George Zimmerman act with hostility toward a black person, she was asked.

No, she said.

From the statement of witness number 9 about 'acting white', I'll leave you to guess her race and more importantly, her mindset and her views on race.

Defense attorney Mark O'Maramade a last-minute attempt to block the release of witness 9's statement as well as the jail calls. He filed a motion this morning at the Seminole County Courthouse, asking that they be delayed, but Corey's office released them anyway. A pending court order required their release.

Witness 9 told prosecutors the molestation began when she and Zimmerman, who is two years older than her, were young children. Her parents were moving to another state and she and her sister were sent to stay with Zimmerman's family in Virginia.

"We would all lay in front of the TV" to watch movies, she said, "and he would reach under the blankets and try to do things. … I would try to push him off, but he was bigger and stronger and older," she said.

He touched her improperly, she said, and at least once, when she was 12, forced her to touch him.

The last sexual encounter, she said, happened when she visited Zimmerman's family in Lake Mary. He directed her to lay on a bed and began to massage her, she said.

"I just got up and I ran out of the house and I got in my car," she said, adding that Zimmerman "only chased me to the front door." {...}

Investigators asked her why she decided to come forward now.

"This is the first time in my life that I'm not afraid of him," she replied.

While the molestation claim is incendiary, "A jury will likely never hear about that," said WFTV-Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer.

That's because it has no relevance to the Feb. 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin, the alleged crime for which Zimmerman is charged. "It should not come into evidence before a jury at all."

Sheaffer said it's possible the state could use Witness 9's claims that Zimmerman is a racist, but that could be rebutted by a great many defense witnesses who are expected to testify to the contrary.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon's family, issued a brief statement, saying witness 9 could be a state rebuttal witness, one called after Zimmerman presents all of his evidence to jurors.

The defendant's mentality, Crump wrote, "is very relevant to this trial."

I can't imagine whom this 'media analyst' or the Orlando Sentinel think they're kidding when they say a jury will never hear about this.They're doing their very best to make damned sure that potential jurors hear all about it.

Does any serious person think these totally unproven, anonymous and irrelevant allegations aren't going to affect potential jurors, even if the prosecution never refers to them? This was put out there by the prosecutor for one reason and one reason only...to use irrelevant, unproven charges that have nothing to do with the case at hand and amount to slander to sway potential jurors.

Not only is this grounds for a mistrial, but the judge who allowed this to go public is guilty of a serious error and should be reprimanded by the state Bar.

To me, this seems a clear indication the prosecution can't make murder two stick. What they want to do is create a climate where they can lean on Zimmerman to plead guilty to a lesser charge, like manslaughter.

The racial politics involved mandate that they have to get a conviction of some kind. And there's no difference I can see from the Bad Old Days when blacks accused of a crime would be railroaded for the same reason.