ORLANDO, Fla. - After months of defending George Zimmerman and reacting to state-gathered records, his lawyers late this week shifted gear and began their hunt for evidence about the 17-year-old he killed.
Their first target is Trayvon Martin's school records, expected to reveal damaging information about the Miami Gardens teen.
On Thursday, Zimmerman's lawyers issued several subpoenas, asking for disciplinary records, attendance records and test scores dating back to middle school. Defense lawyer Mark O'Mara indicated in a blog post Friday that he will likely soon ask for what Trayvon wrote and posted on social-media sites.
Local lawyers say the school records are unlikely to be admissible in court and O'Mara is simply casting a wide net, hoping to influence public perception of Trayvon.
"I believe it's O'Mara doing what any good defense attorney does, and that's called fishing," said Bill Sheaffer, WFTV-TV legal analyst. "You throw a thousand stones in the sea and hope that one hits a fish."
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While Sheaffer described the record subpoenas as a fishing expedition, Martin family attorney Ben Crump described them as a "witch hunt to try to assault (Trayvon's) character."
"None of those things that are being subpoenaed is relevant to why Zimmerman profiled and pursued Trayvon and shot him in the heart," Crump told the Orlando Sentinel.
Much of Trayvon's disciplinary history has already been made public.
The 17-year-old, who was staying with his father's girlfriend in Sanford, was on suspension from school at the time of the shooting because of an empty marijuana baggie. Though he was never arrested, he'd been in trouble before.
The Miami Herald reported that a school police officer searched Trayvon's book bag in October and found women's jewelry, as well as a screwdriver, which authorities described as a burglary tool. He was not disciplined for that but was suspended because, a day or so earlier, a school resource officer saw him deface a door, the Herald reported.
Such incidents are not likely to be admissible in court because they're not relevant to the shooting, lawyers say.
"The general principle is that you can't engage in character assassination of a victim," said Orlando defense lawyer Richard Hornsby. "They would have to show that they're relevant to a legal issue in the case."
