Mark O'Mara to seek 'stand your ground' hearing during George Zimmerman trial

Attorney Mark O’Mara and George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman, 28, charged with the murder of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, will seek to have second-degree murder charges dismissed under Florida's 'stand your ground' law, his attorney said on Thursday.

If successful in securing a hearing under the law, it could result in the dismissal of all criminal charges against the man accused of killing Martin.

The hearing, which is not expected to take place for several months, will involve evidence collected by prosecutors as well as expert testimony from both sides. Accoring to the New York Post, legal experts believe that Zimmerman himself will testify since he is the sole survivor of the February 26 confrontation.

'Most of the arguments, witnesses, experts and evidence that the defense would muster in a criminal trial will be presented in the 'stand your ground' hearing,' a statement posted on Zimmerman's official defense website said.

Under the controversial Florida law, Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester could dismiss the charges if Zimmerman conclusively shows he shot Martin because he 'reasonably believed' he might be killed or suffer 'great bodily harm' at the hands of the unarmed teenager.    READ MORE

Supreme Court to Weigh Torture Lawsuits Against Corporations

Famed Nigerian author and environmental activist
Ken Saro-Wiwa at a rally, 1993.
(photo: Greenpeace/AP)

By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times

27 February 12

Can international companies be sued in the U.S. over ties to foreign regimes that commit human rights abuses?

wo years ago, the Supreme Court said corporations were like people and had the same free-speech rights to spend unlimited sums on campaigns ads. Now, in a major test of human rights law, the justices will decide whether corporations are like people when they are sued for aiding foreign regimes that kill or torture their own people.

It would "create a weird paradox" if the corporations are people when funding campaigns but not when they violate human rights, said Peter Weiss, vice president of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York.

At issue is an obscure 18th century law unearthed by human rights lawyers in the 1980s and increasingly used against U.S. corporations whose work overseas has entangled them with brutal regimes.

On Tuesday, the justices will hear an appeal of a suit accusing Royal Dutch Petroleum and its Shell subsidiary in the United States of aiding a former Nigerian regime whose military police tortured, raped and executed minority residents in the oil-rich delta. The victims included famed Nigerian author and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.  READ MORE

In the Assange Case We Are All Suspects Now

First day of hearing into extradition of WikiLeaks
founder to Sweden centers on issue of Swedish
prosecutor's impartiality. (photo: Guardian UK)

By John Pilger, The New Statesman

02 February 12

his month's Supreme Court hearing in the Julian Assange case has profound meaning for the preservation of basic freedoms in western democracies. This is Assange's final appeal against his extradition to Sweden to face allegations of sexual misconduct that were originally dismissed by the chief prosecutor in Stockholm and constitute no crime in Britain.

The consequences, if he loses, lie not in Sweden but in the shadows cast by America's descent into totalitarianism. In Sweden, he is at risk of being "temporarily surrendered" to the US, where his life has been threatened and he is accused of "aiding the enemy" with Bradley Manning, the young soldier accused of leaking evidence of US war crimes to WikiLeaks.

The connections between Manning and Assange have been concocted by a secret grand jury in Virginia that allowed no defence counsel or witnesses, and by a system of plea-bargaining that ensures a 90 per cent conviction rate. It is reminiscent of a Soviet show trial.

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