Zimmerman Will Probably Get a New Judge Today

AP
Adam Martin 3,512 Views Apr 18, 2012

When George Zimmerman appears before a judge on Friday, it probably won't be the same one he saw last week, as she plans to announce Wednesday whether she'll leave the case, something she already said she'd do should one of the lawyers request it. And request it George Zimmerman's lawyer did.

There's no controversy, no shady dealings, but a possible conflict of interest that the judge brought up herself at a hearing last week. The judge, Jessica Recksiedler, is married to a lawyer whose partner, Mark NeJame, George Zimmerman initially consulted about his defense, and who works for CNN as an analyst commenting on the case. CNN is reporting she'll announce her decision by Friday, but the local news says she's going to do it today.

Most helpfully, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Rene Stutzman has details on the three judges who may replace Recksiedler:

John Galluzzo, a longtime Oviedo lawyer who has represented two dozen murder defendants while in private practice

Kenneth Lester Jr., a 15-year veteran judge who gave Michael Reynolds two death penalties plus a life prison sentence for beating and stabbing a Geneva couple and their 11-year-old child to death in 1998

Debra S. Nelson, a 13-year judge who was a civil-litigation specialist in private practice.

The Sun-Sentinel has a good rundown on each of these choices, including Galluzzo's primarily private career and Nelson's previous decision to throw out "a $28 million jury award given a woman who had sued her gynecologist, accusing him of so badly botching an operation for minor incontinence that the woman had to catheterize herself twice a day." 

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