Herald, Other News Groups Fight To Open Travyon Martin Shooting Files
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) – CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald, and other news organizations are challenging efforts to seal records in the death of Trayvon Martin.
Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was charged with second degree murder last week and remains in jail. His attorney, Mark O'Mara, asked a Seminole County Circuit Court judge to seal records in the case, contrary to usual procedures in the state of Florida.
The news organizations, led by The Herald, filed a motion in Seminole Court to unseal the records.
No hearing date for the media's motion was immediately set.
Records such as full police reports, autopsy reports and transcripts of witness interviews are normally public under Florida law.
The motion by the news organizations says Zimmerman's case doesn't meet the standards that are typically used to create an exemption to those laws. Those standards allow the sealing of records if their public release would create an imminent threat to the administration of justice, if there are no alternatives for protecting a defendant's right to a fair trial and if closing the records protects the rights of the person being tried.
"The closure order and the manner in which it was entered are contrary to law," the media organizations said in the motion.
A spokeswoman for the special prosecutor in the case said her office was reviewing the media motion but had no immediate comment.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder last week for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a gated community in Sanford, near Orlando. The delay in an arrest for almost a month and a half inspired protests nationwide.
Zimmerman's attorney said his client will plead not guilty during his May 29th arraignment. Zimmerman said he acted in self-defense and his attorney will seek dismissal of the charge using Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.
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