Zimmerman v. NBC 6-19-2014
Judge Nelson is currently on the bench hearing argument on NBC’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman.
Thus far, attorneys for NBC are arguing that the case should be dismissed since Zimmerman failed to follow Florida’s retraction statute, and he wasn’t harmed by the reports.
Zimmerman’s attorneys argue they haven’t even had time to interview witnesses. They say pretrial depositions will support his claims that NBC’s broadcasts were false and reckless.
We’ll continue to update.
NBC has won a partial victory. The Judge has thrown out all claims against Jeff Burnside.
Judge Nelson has delayed ruling on NBC’s motion.
Posted on 06/19/2014, in George and Shellie Zimmerman and tagged defamation, George Zimmerman, June, lawsuit, NBC. Bookmark the permalink. 85 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
You can find the Wesh and Rene Stutzman’s earlier tweets that I posted starting at this link on the last page:
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 8:30 am
Rene Stutzman @renestutzman · 3m
#GeorgeZimmerman libel hearing about to begin in Sanford. No GZim.
NBC is asking judge to throw out suit.
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Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 8:31 am
I think that, because this is a CIVIL lawsuit, it will not be televised.
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 8:33 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh · 5m
We’re in court for #nbc motion to dismiss #GeorgeZimmerman liable suit against them. No sign of him so far. Follow @WESH for updates
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 8:41 am
Where’s George?
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 8:46 am
Rene Stutzman @renestutzman · 39s
Judge Nelson hasn’t gotten to the #GeorgeZImmerman libel case yet this morning. Is taking other cases first.Stand by.
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:17 am
Rene Stutzman @renestutzman
Here we go: Judge Nelson just announces the start of #GeorgeZimmerman v. NBC libel hearing.
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:18 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh
Update: #zimmerman vs #nbc called. NBC attorneys arguing for summary judgement in GZ defamation suit. @WESH
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:34 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh
NBC argues #zimmerman must prove “actual malice” GZ not in Sanford courtroom. Criminal trial Judge Debra Nelson hearing this civil case.
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:27 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh
Attorney for #nbc argues #TrayvonMartin death made #zimmerman public figure, protecting them from his defamation claim.@WESH
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:39 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh · 5s
Attorney for #zimmerman argues case should proceed, discovery evidence gathered. Public figure matter not appropriate argument now.@WESH
REPLY
Yahtzee | 06/19/2014 at 9:49 am
bob kealing @bobkealingwesh
Zimmerman atty argues GZ words took on more weight by #nbc manipulating them to make it appear he was looking for Martin b/c he was black
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bob kealing @bobkealingwesh · 7s
Judge defers ruling on NBC motion for summary judgement on #zimmerman defamation action.
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Rene Stutzman
@renestutzman
But, ominous for #zimmerman, judge says she’s gonna do homework then decide whether to toss other 3 b-casts.
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Bless his heart, doing terrible is he… *snicker*
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I wonder if he realizes how much money other people have made off his back, for having killed an unarmed youth….
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I don’t know, Mindyme. For those who wrote books, I seriously doubt that they recovered the cost of self-publishing. IIRC, Lisa Bloom is the only author who actually has a hardcover book with a distributor. O’Mara is probably the only person who has been served some financial benefit from the case and while he might be making some money, his reputation is not high on the scale.
George Zimmerman is toxic.
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And now, with very exceptions, everyone knows he’s toxic…
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Mindyme,
It deserves repeating;
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Lol, I pray his pockets stay broke, and busted!!!
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Tavia! Good to see your fonts.
Not to worry. It’s his karma for taking other people’s money and paying off his pre-Feb. 2012 debts rather than using the money for his “legal defense.” Karma for his killing of Trayvon is still in the hands of man via the DOJ. George would actually be better off in prison with 3 hots and a cot.
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Mindyme,
I think we already knew that, but it’s always good to hear about karma. 🙂
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You bet!
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This court date is probably the reason he went silent on Twitter – was always telling his supporters how great he was doing, as was his girlfriend. She’s thought to be pregnant.
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yeah, what ever happened to that, her being pregnant?
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He also stated he isn’t haunted by the fact that he killed Trayvon. If that doesn’t seem to bother him, then nothing should. At least NBC apologized, GZ couldn’t even bring himself to do that. He was acquitted by a jury who thought race did not play a part. I’m sure those who think he is a racist wasn’t due to what NBC aired. George has only himself and his family to thank, a picture paints a thousand words.
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“Judge throws out part of Zimmerman libel case against NBC”
Excerpts:
SANFORD – A judge this morning threw out part of George Zimmerman’s libel suit against NBC Universal and held out the prospect that she may throw out the whole thing.
Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson tossed the allegations related to one of four broadcast and said she needs to do more homework before deciding about the other three.
…
The hearing started shortly after 10 a.m. and concluded shortly before 11 a.m.
Zimmerman did not attend.
NBC’s attorneys raised several defenses, some of them technical. They contend that any harm Zimmerman claims to have suffered were not caused by the specific NBC news reports that are at issue.
.
“Zimmerman’s attorney, James Beasley Jr., told the judge it would be a mistake to throw out the case now before he can gather evidence.
He pointed out that an NBC executive apologized for the edits and that two employees were either fired or disciplined.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder but was acquitted by a six-member Seminole County jury last year.
NBC is represented by several lawyers, including those with the Tampa law firm Thomas and LoCicero, the same firm that represents the Orlando Sentinel.
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More from article:
In their response, NBC’s attorneys contend that Zimmerman has no valid claim.
The most important point, they say, is that Zimmerman was a public figure and cannot prove that NBC employees acted with “actual malice”.
That means that they either knew what they said was false or had grave misgivings about its truthfulness.
The phrase that NBC employees interpreted as a racial slur, an NBC attorney said, was “very difficult to understand or decipher.”
And other news organizations reported that same thing, he said.
As for the editing, the network should not be held liable for reporting truthfully what Zimmerman’s actually said, NBC’s attorney said.
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Beasley hasn’t had time to gather evidence. Pffft. ‘Cuz there isn’t any.
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Two sides!! HEY!
You make a good point. The case is almost laughable.
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Hey, Xena!
Rich irony over at HuffPost. Out of all the thousands of photos they could have posted of GZ, they chose one of him in his jail garb. Bwa-ha-ha!
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Two sides,
AHHHH. Too funny. The “real George Zimmerman.”
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Also remember that Z also dropped his pursuit of the State of Florida paying for his bills and sanctions against Corey just so this suit could take place….and now they are crying they don’t have enough time. They have had over a year and not one witness interviewed.
There is a saying that goes something like this….”Failure by you to do your job does not constitute an emergency on my part.” Too bad.
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towerflower,
Oh yeah. Thanks for the reminder. Wasn’t that when O’Mara said that George had seen enough of the inside of a courtroom? I actually think he was talking about himself and West having already seen enough of George. (snicker)
That’s a good and true saying.
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The only evidence is actually his NEN call & Trayvon’s murder.
He called the police to set Trayvon up as a criminal. Make no bones about that one.
As Xena says below, it’s laughable.
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They haven’t had time to gather EVIDENCE??? Anybody wanna take a wild guess at who that sounds like???? O’Smeara!!!
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Hey Marilyn!! Based on my understanding, after a defendant has been served and filed an answer, the plaintiff can start discovery. The Beasley firm probably didn’t start the discovery process because NBC only has one person to depose, and that is Zimmerman. His lawyers do not want him deposed. He will have to answer how the edited tape injured him. What’s his evidence? None.
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Judge throws out part of Zimmerman libel case against NBC
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/trayvon-martin/os-george-zimmerman-nbc-lawsuit-20140619,0,5211694.story
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Lexiechey, thanks for adding the link to the article I quoted above…I forgot to do that.
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Lexiechey, your wordpress generic gravatar is the same one as B.G. on the page before this at this link
I wonder how that happened?
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Sorry, it is different, need my glasses LOL
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Your gravatar is VERY different from that one.
Again, thanks for providing the important link! 🙂
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LOL I didn’t choose it, it chose me.
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Lexiechey! Good to see your fonts. Thanks for the info.
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Thank you, Yahtzee!!
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YW 🙂
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And thank you, Lexiechey!!
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Yes, thanks Lexiechey!!
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I wonder how gz’s and Shellie’s divorce is coming along?
LLMPapa’s video:
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You know, I too have wondered about the divorce case. It was George who wanted the dissolution set aside but he has not done anything in the case as far as I know. Maybe his divorce attorney is waiting until George can pay him. (shrug) He’ll be waiting forever.
I’d like to hear what O’Mara has to say about today’s hearing and ruling. He certainly bailed out leaving the goldmine behind because ultimately, he knows that the case is like looking for a diamond in a coal mine.
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Right?? I would love to know his take on this..
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You’re welcome, I didn’t look before I posted it, you already had the info 🙂
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Well, I am so glad you did! I would not have realized that I had not posted the link had you not posted it…and I had only quoted part of it. So TY very much!
Have a great day!
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I wonder why NBC didn’t get Nelson taken off this case, and I wonder if Nelson is going to be the judge in the Zimmerman vs Roseanne case too ?
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Lexiechey,
NBC would not want Judge Nelson recused because what she did with the jury instructions in the criminal trial was biased and intentional in order to have George acquitted.
Papa and Mama Zim’s case against Roseanne was moved from the state to the federal court.
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I found out that the only other judge would be Lester, and I’ll bet Zimmerman wouldn’t want that. LOL
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LOL@ Lexiechey. Yeah. I remember in his criminal case, that he wanted a specific judge who had retired.
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Ha!! You know it!
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Wesh TV Reports on today’s hearing.
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Thanks for this, Xena!
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Thank You ,Xena !
Child killer need to find a real “job” to support himself.
The corrupt judge stated that she may throw out the whole thing.
Roseanne Barr’s attorneys say child killer parents want $750k for tweet.
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Joseph,
You’re right. The entire case should be dismissed. Zimmerman has no proof that the edited tape injured him in anyway.
As far as Papa and Mama Zim’s lawsuit against Barr, they too will need to prove injury. Just as George abandoned his house before Trayvon was identified, his parents abandoned their house before Rosanne sent out that tweet. They have made no effort to litigate their damages — not even put the house on the market.
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Xena,
They haven’t had time, too busy doing laundry.
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🙂
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dreamer,
Oh yeah!! That laundry that they want Rosanne to pay for as if they wouldn’t have laundry if she hadn’t tweeted their address.
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David Brat campaign manager scrubs Facebook page after election.
The 23-year-old made provocative remarks about George Zimmerman and secession.
http://news.yahoo.com/brat-campaign-manager-scrubs-facebook-page-after-election-173536113.html
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Hi Joseph,
Thanks for this link!
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Does anyone else get the impression that George was placing all his marbles on this case with the hope that if he prevails in blaming NBC for giving the nation the impression he’s a racist, that will somehow be his defense with the DOJ?
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Well now, that does make sense, doesn’t it?
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HEY Rachael,
Know why I thought about that? Because the pretend paralegal who is now begging for money for a “legal defense” for an appeal, is one who thinks that by filing one case, he might gain some leverage to file another and argue between the two.
He claims being able to directly contact Zimmerman.
Whatever evidence the DOJ has that Zimmerman violated Trayvon’s civil rights is not based on public perception but clear and convincing evidence that will get him convicted. Those guys don’t play.
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Also, there is this:
LLMPapa video:
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YES…YES….YES I DO!! Also why in the hell does corrupt Nelson need a 2 week VACATION before she decides anything?
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As if the whole nation was watching NBC suddenly had a come to Jesus moment. Good luck in proving that one. This one is almost up there with “it was all God’s Plan.”
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Sanford Watch gives a compilation and Zimmerman’s attorney’s statements after the hearing.
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I wonder what the judge is researching. It would appear that Zimmerman’s attorney missed the 5 day deadline for filing a written retraction on the other three defamation/libel instances. If the case is not dismissed, it will be great to see Zimmerman deposed. In a civil case, NBC will have wide latitude regarding questions they can pose to him. Remember, truth is an absolute defense to libel or defamation so they will get into all the phone calls Zimmerman made concerning black people to Sanford PD. They can also ask him about his alleged tutoring of black youth. Hey, maybe even Taaffe can be a witness, lol!
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Apparently, the 5 day notice was not late, it was defective, stupid me, I misread the article. I guess she is researching, among other things, whether their was some defect with the notices in the other 3 instances of alleged libel.
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OT- I just thought of something that might be scary:
What happens when a gun owner dies of old age? Does that person’s relative, who might NOT have a gun license, “inherit” his/her gun/guns?
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A Concealed license does not pass on, but you can pass on your firearms but you still need to abide by the state laws. When my father passed my mother had laid out his various firearms and the siblings took turns picking what they wanted. Say if I had a sibling in CA who wanted say an assault rifle he had owned and they would not be legally able to take it to CA since the state has a ban on assault rifles. If a State had a requirement to obtain a license to own on of the types then they would still be required to obtain the license on their own before they took possession of it or face the music if caught with it. But not all States have a requirement for a license to own or purchase a firearm and in those cases nothing needs to be done to transfer the firearm.
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towerflower
When I saw that you wrote:
“But not all States have a requirement for a license to own or purchase a firearm”
I found this Wikipedia page with charts for each state as to their requirements.
I am surprised at the number of states that do not require gun licenses or registration:
Gun laws in the United States by state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_United_States_by_state
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America Under the Gun:
A 50-State Analysis of Gun Violence and Its Link to Weak State Gun Laws
http://americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2013/04/02/58382/america-under-the-gun/
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No, a gun license is not transferable or passed on as part of an estate.
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Good. I glad that local authorities keep track, and see to it that the guns are turned in or sold.
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” THE CORRUPT JUDGE” should be exactly how this witch is addressed from now on. The corrupt defense knew that she was dirty and, I do believe she was hand picked for that case. This woman is a disgrace to the judges robe which she wears and, out of all of the corrupt players during last summers injustice to Trayvon, she IS one of the biggest players out of them all.
She is right now, trying to see how she can rigg this case to go in his favor, hence the TWO week time span which she is taking to “study” up on the other matters that she could have studied over yesterday. This case didn’t just fall into her “CORRUPT” lap yesterday morning. As MarilynC said, why does she need two weeks to make her decision?
Less Fogen forget, he’s done some editing of that tape himself. The words F’ing Coons were edited out of his tape, that he sent to the court! I hope and pray, that this child murderer, will NOT succeed in his money grabbing efforts, in this case. I’ll bet a big money pay off, was promised to that imbecile last fall and, that’ sway she dropped the domestic abuse charges against his fat @$$.
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“Less Fogen forget, he’s done some editing of that tape himself.
The words F’ing Coons were edited out of his tape, that he sent to the court.”
Excellent point, ladystclaire, thanks for reminding me!
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LLMPapa video:
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@ Lady, I think that Judge Nelson either enjoys being in the spotlight or has a crush on Piglet.
She is definitely corrupt and one would have thought she would have recused herself since she presided over the criminal case last year.
Most people believe that Judge Lester knew he would be forced to recuse himself after he wrote that opinion in which he called Piglet a liar.
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You are very welcome Yahtzee!
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@ roderick2012 I think you’re right about Corrupt Nelson and, she has to know, that those who really care about this injustice, are on to her and the part she played in that farce of a trial.
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I s this satire? http://thyblackman.com/2014/06/20/what-actor-will-smith-to-produced-the-george-zimmerman-story/comment-page-1/
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Hey Rachael! Yes, that story started on a spoof site. It got tweeted and links posts without people saying it as satire.
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Child killer to corrupt judge Nelson : Don’t kill my libel suit against NBC .
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/trayvon-martin/os-george-zimmerman-nbc-affidavits-20140626,0,4632133.story
What damage the child killer,women beater suffered to be asking now the corrupt judge for “clemency’ on a absurd abhorrent lawsuit?
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