Zimmerman's defense to witnesses: Stop talking

By Monique Smith

updated 5:11 PM EDT, Wed October 24, 2012

NEED TO KNOW

George Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Trayvon Martin
Zimmerman claims he shot the teenager in self defense
His defense team wants witnesses to stop talking about the criminal investigation

George Zimmerman’s defense wants to stop witnesses from discussing the criminal investigation into Trayvon Martin’s shooting.

This comes after the defense attorneys say the prosecution failed to disclose private meetings between investigators, where they talked about whether there was enough evidence to charge Zimmerman. In the motion filed Friday, Zimmerman’s defense attorneys said that they were made aware of the meetings after an October 18 deposition of Sgt. Joseph Santiago, a Sanford Police Department officer.

The defense says these discussions could contain relevant information about whether their client is guilty, or “most notably the lack of guilt, of Mr. Zimmerman." They want the judge to order all the attorneys involved in the trial to not talk to the witnesses about the meetings until they’ve had their depositions.

Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Martin. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. The teenager was unarmed and walking from a convenience store to his father’s apartment.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.

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