I came away from the press conference with a VERY different impression. Of course, I actually WATCHED and LISTENED to the entire press conference.
In particular, Hal Uhrig was extremely passionate and forceful in his defense of Zimmerman, he set the case out factually and was unafraid to discuss the racism charges and the media heat the case has generated- he named Sharpton and Jackson saying they have come into town and stirred this up for their own gain.
The lawyers have not heard from their client for over 2 days- Zimmerman may be in a dark place about now- he has stopped listening to counsel and has called the prosecutor’s office himself- never a smart move. Luckily the prosecutor’s office is professional enough they turned him down - said no talking without Zimmerman’s attorney present.
I live about 6 miles from where this happened and so have some local views that may not be shared by all ..
What their strategy is in doing this publicly the way they are, I don’t know- but I’d want Hal Uhrig on my side if I ever needed a defense lawyer.
According to one of the attorney’s, Zimmerman ain’t even in Florida right now.
I agree. I have a lot of sympathy for Zimmerman but if he isn’t answering calls and is doing things against his attorneys’ advice and not telling them about setting up a public website, they are justified in withdrawing. That doesn’t mean they are unethical or just in this for the money or cowards; it just means they can no longer represent a client who is doing what he wants to do without coordinating with them. I hope the end result is that Zimmerman gets a top notch legal team but I’m not going to bad mouth these guys.
I got the same impression about the lawyers after watching the press conference...don’t be fooled by reading only the headlines. They were very forceful in their belief that Zimmerman should NOT be charged and had taken on the case pro bono UNLESS charges were filed against him. I definitely got the sense that they are worried about him...no contact with them for two days. They mentioned several times that he has a bounty on his head..that he cannot seek help from anyone because he can be recognized AND because there have been death threats. They felt they had to announce that they were no longer representing him because ETHICALLY they cannot continue to represent someone who is out of contact with them, but they believe in his case and would continue helping him if HE chooses to contact them.
I don’t blame them at all...and I can’t imagine the hell that Zimmerman is going through.