In a case that has captured the attention of the world, an interesting twist has now appeared with respect to public records access. According to an article published by WKMG in Orlando, the Prosecutors, the Defense counsel and the judge in the George Zimmerman case appeared to be trying to invent new ways to circumvent Florida’s Public Records Act.
The central issue in the new controversy, according to another story published by WTSP, seems to be the names of donors who contributed about $200,000 to George Zimmerman’s defense fund. At the time of his bail hearing Zimmerman claimed to be indigent, in spite of having more than $200,000 sitting in his PayPal account.
That revelation caused the prosecutor to demand the judge increase the bail. The judge demurred and said he would need to know the details of the $200,000 – where it came from, etc.
Read the article for the full details. After reading it myself I was tempted to fire-off a series of public records requests. That may still happen.
Mr. Chandler,
I have submitted a 119.07 request for all communications to and from Chief Lee (Sanford Police Chief) from the moment of the shooting until one hour after Zimmerman was released. As of yet no records but they have acknowledged the request.