Pam Bondi got political ally Angela Corey on George Zimmerman case

Sunday, July 14, 2013 - The Conscience of a Realist by Joseph Cotto

FLORIDA, July 14, 2013 — Since an all-female six-member jury in the central Florida port city of Sanford acquitted neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin on Saturday evening, attention has turned to prosecutor Angela Corey.

Her seemingly extra-legal tactics in the case have generated a groundswell of public attention. On Friday, she fired one of her office’s employees, Ben Kruidbos, after he testified in court about materials not being given to George Zimmerman’s defense team.

According to right-of-center pundit Judson Phillips, Kruidbos “recovered images from Trayvon Martin’s cell phone. These images were in addition to other information that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had recovered. Ben Kruidbos sought the advice of an attorney after he became concerned that prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda had not turned those images over to the defense, and he was concerned he might have legal liability for that.

“That attorney turned the images over to the defense. On June 6, Kruidbos testified at a hearing where defense lawyers sought sanctions against Corey and her office for refusing to turn over exculpatory materials. The judge has not yet ruled on that motion.”

Many have pointed fingers at Florida Governor Rick Scott for appointing Corey to the Zimmerman case as a special prosecutor. However, it should be noted that he acted on the advice of state Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi has much to explain insofar as not only Corey, but Trayvon Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump are concerned.

“How could Sybrina Fulton be approved for a crime victims relief fund (March 29th) prior to anyone identifying whether a crime was committed?” asked Sundance, a blogger at The Conservative Treehouse, a widely-read right-of-center website which has covered the Martin shooting’s aftermath detailedly. “George Zimmerman was not arrested until April 11th.

“The answer is simply political influence via Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“Bondi has been a key part of the scheme to enrich her race-motivated friends, Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks – Trayvon family attorneys, from the beginning.

“Pam Bondi has a long-standing personal and professional relationship with Benjamin Crump from her prior work in the Martin Lee Anderson wrongful death case.

“Bondi was State prosecutor and Crump was the Anderson family attorney who sued the State and County governments for $7.4 million on behalf of his client, Mrs. Anderson (Martin’s mother).

“It was Pam Bondi, who in March of 2012 used her position as AG to convince Governor Rick Scott to appoint her friend, and Attorney General 2010 campaign chair, Angela Corey, to prosecute George Zimmerman.

--snip--

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1203/27/pmt.01.html

March 27, 2012

MORGAN: Trayvon Martin's mother speaking emotionally to Congress today. And joining me now the woman in the center of the two biggest stories in the day. The Trayvon Martin case and the Supreme Court debate over health care reform. And she is Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi, the state's official lead plaintiff in the health care case.

Welcome, Pam Bondi. Let's start with the Trayvon Martin case. You saw his mother there. Obviously very emotional. It's been an appalling few weeks for her. What do you make of the debate? Not the issue of whether there was a racial element, but the issue of whether the "Stand Your Ground" law in Florida has been exposed through this case as deeply flawed.

PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, Piers, first let me tell you. I’ve spoken to Trayvon’s parents. They are amazing, sweet, kind people. My heart goes out to them. I’m actually friends with their attorneys Ben Crump and Daryl Parks. They’re wonderful lawyers who are representing them.

What my — I have no legal role as attorney general in the state of Florida. That authority is left to the state attorneys. But what I did do was I discussed with the governor the appointment of Angela Corey, a special prosecutor in Jacksonville who’s well removed from the case. She’s absolutely excellent. And the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are now involved in the case.

The reason, Piers, I can’t comment on “Stand Your Ground”, whether that applies here because there are too many unanswered questions. And, you know, that’s why the family is rightfully upset. When you have an innocent 17-year-old boy walking home with Skittles and an iced tea and he’s killed, you have to have answers, not questions. And that’s what we need in our state.

MORGAN: Yes, I mean, look, I am encouraged by what you’re saying. It’s good that a senior lawmaker in Florida is saying all this, but in the end, you know, I remain like many people absolutely bemused that somebody can shoot somebody in cold blood, an unarmed young teenager.

And so, I mean, I just think with your legal training and your legal background on what appears to be a very empathetic attitude towards this case, it might be quite powerful for the attorney general of Florida to say publicly, you know what? This guy should be arrested. He should be interviewed under caution and he should, if necessary, face charges. But he should be at stage one of the legal process of being under arrest.

BONDI: Well, what we’ve done is appoint a special prosecutor. And that’s what she’s doing. Conducting a thorough investigation because we need to get Trayvon’s girlfriend to cooperate which I don’t know if was happening previously. And they may have had good reason for that. But she’s cooperating now. And again, a thorough investigation is being done to ensure that justice is sought for that family.

But you can’t make an arrest until you interview all the witnesses, Piers. Nor do you want that to happen because a speedy trial could run. And — then that’s — we don’t want that to happen. And all I can tell you is we have a great prosecutor on the case. We have great law enforcement agencies. The Department of Justice is looking at this. And I firmly believe as you do that we need to have justice for the death of this innocent young man who was walking home to watch a basketball game with Skittles and an iced tea.

Pam. You are a jack ass.

Another one of our fake "Republicans" proving herself less than worthless. Scum.