Zimmerman missing, say his lawyers
GEORGE Zimmerman’s attorneys withdrew from his case Tuesday — saying the neighborhood watchman has bolted from Florida and won’t pick up his phone.
In a stunning news conference, defense lawyers Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner revealed they’ve lost contact with Zimmerman, who fatally shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
“You can stop looking in Florida, you can look much further away from that,” said Uhrig when asked about Zimmerman’s whereabouts. The lawyers said their former client is still in the country.
Word of Zimmerman’s disappearance comes a day after he set up a website where supporters could donate to his defense fund.
The bizarre twist came as special prosecutor Angela Corey said cryptically she will release new information on the investigation within 72 hours. She did not elaborate.
Zimmerman’s ex-attorneys said he will surrender if charged, but a lawyer for Trayvon’s family expressed fears he won’t.
“At this point, we’re just concerned that nobody knows where he is at,” said attorney Ben Crump.
Uhrig and Sonner said Zimmerman has gone rogue, reaching out on his own to the special prosecutor investigating Trayvon’s Feb. 26 death and even calling Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“I can no longer represent a client that refuses to be in contact with me,” Sonner said. “However, I still believe in everything I have said and that George acted in selfdefense.”
Sonner said he last communicated with Zimmerman on Sunday via text. But since then, Zimmerman, who went into hiding after his deadly encounter with Trayvon, has been out of reach, the attorney said.
The lawyers revealed they have never met Zimmerman face-toface, but had been in constant communication with him over the phone or through emails and text messages.
Since the lawyers last communicated with him, Zimmerman has shunned their advice to keep his trap shut.
“We learned that he called Sean Hannity directly,” Sonner said. “We believe he spoke directly with Sean off the record.”
Uhrig said Zimmerman, 28, called Corey’s office earlier Tuesday, but she refused to speak with him without counsel.
He said he was “a bit astonished” at Zimmerman’s disappearing act and said it could be due to the enormous pressure he’s been under and his self-imposed isolation from the public.
On Monday, Corey announced she would not bring the racially charged case before a grand jury, meaning Zimmerman would avoid a first-degree murder rap for shooting the 17-year-old in a Sanford gated community but could still face lesser charges.