Lawyers for George Zimmerman Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to announce that they have dropped him as a client, saying, “we have lost contact, he no longer returns phone calls.”
Uhrig said that Zimmerman is out there doing things on his own without consulting or speaking with his legal team, referring to the recent website set up where Trayvon’s shooter was begging for donations to help him pay for living expenses.
Lawyer Sonner said he heard that Zimmerman had contacted the State prosecution office and spoken to Fox’s Sean Hannerty but that his client had not spoken to him in days. He said because of this lack of communication, “it would not be ethical to continue to represent him as his attorney.”
Conner said he still believes the neighborhood watchman was acting in self-defense but Zimmerman has not returned his texts, phone-calls or emails in 2 days.
Uhrig added that their former client is under immense pressure for he cannot even walk outside or go down to a 7-Eleven to “buy a diet soda.” On the question of whether Zimmerman was still in the country, his lawyers said yes he was, even if they said earlier-on that they didn’t know where he is and had never met him in person.
Conner said the death threats prevented him from meeting his client face to face but that they had face-to-face meetings set up.
Uhrig said the fact that they had never met their client was a bit unusual for other cases but perfectly understandable for this one given the volatility.They hinted that Zimmerman may have broken mentally under the stress. On the issue of money being a factor in their withdrawal, both lawyers say they have not been paid but money wasn’t the reason for the parting of ways.
Conner said Zimmerman hasn’t been arrested so they were working pro bono until or if such time as an arrest was imminent.
28 year old George Zimmerman shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26 in Sanford Florida. To date, he has not been charged for the shooting death of the teen, which has caused widespread outrage, protests, marches and online petitions. The Grand Jury scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled by special prosecutor Angela Davis.
Trayvon’s parents Sybrina and Tracy Martin’s lawyer Benjamin Crump told CNN on Monday that his clients were hoping for justice and did not see the cancellation of the Grand Jury as a bad sign.
Zimmerman claimed self-defense under Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law in the killing of unarmed teen Trayvon, who reportedly only had a bag of candy and an iced tea whne he was fatally shot in the chest.
