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Zimmerman prosecutor has history of going after critics

Zimmerman prosecutor has history of going after critics

Yesterday I posted about how Alan Dershowitz alleged that Zimmerman prosecutor Angela Corey called up Harvard Law School complaining about Dershowitz and treatening to sue for libel based on Dershowitz’s criticisms of her handling of the case.

The whole incident seemed strange, and reflected conduct that should be off limits for any prosecutor and certainly for a senior prosecutor on a high profile case.

It appears, however, that the Dershowitz incident was no isolated incident.  According to Ron Littlepage, a columnist for the (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, Corey has done this several times before:

Last December when I wrote a column critical of how she handled the Cristian Fernandez case, she fired off a two-page, single-spaced letter on official state attorney letterhead hinting at lawsuits for libel.

In the letter, she called me out for my “lack of knowledge and objectivity about the workings of the criminal justice system.” Ouch. I think she called me stupid….

Then there’s Corey’s spat with Sandy D’Alemberte.

D’Alemberte is a former president of the American Bar Association, a former president of Florida State University and a law professor — not too shabby in the legal credentials department.

When Corey was appointed to head up the investigation into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, D’Alemberte had this to say:

“I cannot imagine a worse choice for a prosecutor to serve in the Sanford case. There is nothing in Angela Corey’s background that suits her for the task, and she cannot command the respect of people who care about justice.”

Earlier, D’Alemberte had criticized Corey in the Fernandez case. The reaction then: A public records request from her office to FSU seeking all emails, text messages and phone messages involving D’Alemberte related to Fernandez.

Then there was this:

When David Utter of the Southern Poverty Law Center was on Melissa Ross’s radio program and had the audacity to say that Fernandez should be in the juvenile system instead of adult court, that prompted a 20-minute scream-fest from Corey in a call to the center’s director.

Similar criticism from Jeff Goldhagen, a professor and chief of the division of community pediatrics at Shands Jacksonville, elicited a similar response from Corey.

Something appears to be rotten in the state of Zimmerman prosecution.

Update:  Exclusive – Prosecutor Angela Corey letter claiming libel by Florida Times Union

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Comments

Well, she appears to have slipped her moorings.

She should be replaced, post haste.

    She is Dumb and Vicious.

    Glad that you agree!

    stevewhitemd in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 9:27 am

    Not sure how you replace a prosecutor during a case, and not sure who has the power to do that in this case. As I recall (someone please correct me if I’m wrong), she was appointed as a special prosecutor by Gov. Scott. Who has the power to remove her, and what does state law stipulate as sufficient grounds?

    Sorry to sound legalistic, but while her actions against Prof. Dershowitz are reprehensible, it isn’t clear to me who has the power to sanction / remove her.

      Ragspierre in reply to stevewhitemd. | June 8, 2012 at 9:43 am

      There are a lot of people who can pressure her, and the Governor can certainly remove her from the case.

      Now would be a good time, since it is still early days. Replacing her becomes more and more difficult as the case approaches trial (and the judge has some say as to whether a lawyer may withdraw).

      Nobody needs a law to do what needs done here. Her reactions to her (even crazy) critics mandate she step aside or be replaced, as the story will increasingly be about extraneous BS, rather than the case at hand. Also, the state can’t be seen to be supportive of her acting out like this, IMNHO.

        creeper in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 9:57 am

        For dog’s sake let’s hope this incompetent nitwit remains on the case. She’s George Zimmerman’s ticket to freedom.

          Ragspierre in reply to creeper. | June 8, 2012 at 10:07 am

          Thing is, she is not a nitwit or incompetent. She is a very practiced, effective prosecutor…who has done some very wrong things in response to critics (some of whom criticize her for being like us WRT politics and practices).

          She is very respected among Florida LEOs and the criminal bar, but the kind of retributive conduct reported here yesterday and confirmed today can’t be allowed to stand.

          creeper in reply to creeper. | June 8, 2012 at 10:47 am

          She withheld evidence from a judge. If that doesn’t make her a nitwit it certainly speaks to her competence.

          I don’t give a damn how smart she is. She’s perverting the criminal justice system with her over-reaching on charges, cozy relationship with the Martins and blatant attempt to stifle Dershowitz.

          Rags, you’re a little inconsistent with your comments here. When others raise the issue of politics in the criminal justice system you defend it to the teeth, claiming it almost always works.

          Now, when we speak to the legal aspects you’re giving us lectures on the “political” aspect of the system. You can’t have it both ways.

          But I expect you’ll try.

          Ragspierre in reply to creeper. | June 8, 2012 at 11:12 am

          Who says, “It should never be called a ‘criminal justice system’…on a good day it is a legal system”?

          I NEVER say the system “almost always works”. I also have noted, “The law is a clumsy hammer…not a scalpel”. And that the law OFTEN fails to offer any remedy, depending on a raft of factors.

          Ours is a good system, flawed, populated by people. So it shows the effects of people, good, bad, and in the middle.

          That is what I’ve said, do say, and will say.

    OcTEApi in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 9:52 am

    Quite comical that after blowing up yesterdays thread with all the expressed unhingediness that’s on display in bowl of Jello…
    You simply wake up today and speak to slipped moorings.

    What was inconceivable yesterday is mainstream today, such is the tyrannical nature of liberalism.

      Ragspierre in reply to OcTEApi. | June 8, 2012 at 11:53 am

      “You simply wake up today and speak to slipped moorings.”

      Really? No intervening event or information (scroll up, moron).

      See the support for the Dersh claims? Which is all I said was lacking.

      What a liar.

        OcTEApi in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 1:46 pm

        NO you said what Dershowitz wrote was hearsay, that there was no proof of what he said was true..

        Now, by your own standard this is also just more hearsay.

        I would have liked to comment in yesterday’s thread, but your virulent moonbattery didn’t peak my interest enough, didn’t even rise to the low-level where hurling epithets at you would simply keep me amused.

        JackRussellTerrierist in reply to Ragspierre. | June 9, 2012 at 1:48 am

        You claimed Dersh’s story was just hearsay. How has that changed? We haven’t learned anything more about Dersh’s specific claim from any other source in the 24 hours or so since you said his story was just hearsay.

      SmokeVanThorn in reply to OcTEApi. | June 8, 2012 at 1:36 pm

      Please, OC – show some respect for the Scout Who Takes Arrows.

      JackRussellTerrierist in reply to OcTEApi. | June 9, 2012 at 2:02 am

      So true. Yet he calls those of us who recognized and understood the truth of Dersh’s story “collectivists.”

      It’s beyond bizarre. And it’s weaselly. To now claim that the the new stories “support” yesterday’s story does not comport with the terms and theme of his demand for proof of Dersh’s claim. According to “Rags Rules”, nothing else about Corey, such as her character or practices as a prosecutor, including the ommission of exculpatory facts in her affidavit, have anything to do with whether or not Dersh’s claim was true.

      According to him, she’s a good civil servant with a sterling record as a prosecutor. At least that was true yesterday, but apparently not today.

        “So true. Yet he calls those of us who recognized and understood the truth of Dersh’s story “collectivists.”

        It’s beyond bizarre.”
        ————————————–
        Yah, and beyond true, as well. You are out of your mind. I have not called you “collectivists”. Haters, yes. Because you so obviously ARE haters on the opposite fringe of the Mumia haters, and sharing their same traits.

        And NOBODY here has proven the Dersh story gospel truth…just that the gist of it IS supported by an apparent pattern and practice.

          BHirsh in reply to Ragspierre. | June 14, 2012 at 1:07 pm

          I suppose waddling, quacking and shaking her tail feathers vehemently don’t indicate that she’s a DUCK?

          Come ON.

    JackRussellTerrierist in reply to Ragspierre. | June 9, 2012 at 1:26 am

    Lame.

      Please note that I call for Corey to withdraw or be removed from the Zimmerman matter.

      Just like the Prof., and for the same reasons.

      Not that she be removed from office.

      Not that she be charged with a crime.

      Not that she be disbarred.

      Not that she be drawn and quartered.

      ‘Cuz I am rational, unlike you, who have allowed your hate-twisted delusions to completely overtake you.

      BTW, did you note that O’Mara is delaying the Zimmerman re-hearing on bond? (He must be in on the conspiracy, too, huh…???)

Florida must have some crazy system if it can allow a prosecutor to file a felony case in a superior court and not have to present it to a grand jury. Was she afraid she’d not get a true bill?

This lady is out of control. If I were Dershowitz, I’d offer my services pro bono just to take her to the woodshed for a round or two.

    Ragspierre in reply to persecutor. | June 8, 2012 at 8:49 am

    Same process as in a of states, persecutor.

    And she should be replaced because of her reactions to critics, many of whom where wrong, and part of the “usual suspects” of the Collective. Her reactions were wrong.

      Ragspierre in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 11:18 am

      The “dislikes” here are extra curious, because what I said above is exactly what Prof. Bill says.

      Corey should withdraw or be removed because of her retribution against critics.

      persecutor in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 12:03 pm

      In NY the only way we can bypass the grand jury is to file a Superior Court Information, but the defendant has to specifically file a waiver of presentment with the court before the SCI is filed.
      Typically we would use them when we’d worked out a plea while the case was still in a local criminal court as a felony complaint and it was going to be a plea to a misdemeanor.

      creeper in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 3:35 pm

      Just FTR, mine was not one of those thumbs down. It is gratifying to see you finally accepting Corey’s perfidy.

      Though I heartily hope she stays on the case. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel…

        JackRussellTerrierist in reply to creeper. | June 9, 2012 at 1:41 am

        But….but….but….he still doesn’t have his “proof” that Dersh’s story is true.

Those knots on Corey’s head are gonna start showing soon. Rags – she ain’t gonna leave. We all know there are only two ways a pol leaves office, either feet first or doing the perp walk!

    Ragspierre in reply to texan59. | June 8, 2012 at 8:46 am

    She serves on this matter by appointment, correct? That is easily fixed by the appointer fella.

      texan59 in reply to Ragspierre. | June 8, 2012 at 7:22 pm

      Rags – if you were Guv Scott, would you really want to do that after the kerfuffle it’s caused so far. It could be similar to what’s going on here in TX with our Senate race. A lot of us TP’ers were upset at Perry for endorsing DewDew, but some things have been circulating that it’s his way to get rid of him. Send him to DC. Nice plan, poor execution to foist him on the rest of us though. 🙁

        Ragspierre in reply to texan59. | June 9, 2012 at 9:01 am

        Short answer: yep. That is what governors do when they appoint the wrong person. They set it right. Removing Corey would have a very limited down-side. More important would be who replaced her.

        As to the DewHurts thing, I just scratch my head. But I’ll vote for Cruz.

    JackRussellTerrierist in reply to texan59. | June 9, 2012 at 2:13 am

    Corey and Rags can nurse their wounds together: She, the knots on her head; Rags, that bloody nose he gave himself when he tried to barrel through a door built of solid reasoning with his mouth open and running his usual BS about his individualism vs. our “collectivism” and trying to “get the rest of us to think.”

joethefatman | June 8, 2012 at 8:50 am

Well after seeing her grinning and smiling through the press conference,I had little doubt that she was in it for publicity. She is starting to make Nifong look good.

Seems like governor Scott dropped the ball on this one…

Blind justice and not blind rage should be the de facto MO for legal beagle Corey.

NC Mountain Girl | June 8, 2012 at 9:06 am

I’ve got a rail and a feather pillow. Who’s got some tar?

    radiofreeca in reply to NC Mountain Girl. | June 8, 2012 at 9:52 am

    Get a few gallons of Stockholm tar – warm it up a bit, and it brushes on easy, and soaks in well – you use it to make canvas be watertight.

Her thin skin reminds me of someone, but I can’t think of who it is? By chance, is she from Kenya?

2nd Ammendment Mother | June 8, 2012 at 9:13 am

Geez, seems I was giving her too much credit thinking she had a few squirrels hanging out in the rafters.

[…] On a related note, I think Outlaw mentioned that the Florida prosecutor in the Zimmerman case wrote to Harvard Law trying to get them to silence Alan Dershowitz who has called her out for being politically motivated and incompetent. In other words, she is trying to suppress free speech. She may very well have a suit for libel and slander, but to press it she should resign from the prosecution and then pursue it. William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection has more here. […]

The reason Corey was chosen for the Trayvon case is because she has taken heat for her handling of several cases involving minorities AND she is up for re-election. This case was seen as a chance for her to redeem herself in the black/minority community of her district. Shades of Nifong…definitely. Ignore the specifics of each case and understand that he too was in the middle of an election in a town with a large black population. Both cases highlight the politicization of justice and a complete disregard for the truth. Certainly makes her flawed affidavit make sense now.

    NC Mountain Girl in reply to caambers. | June 8, 2012 at 10:58 am

    These politicians who are so afraid of block voting by minorities need to learn to be even more afraid of those who believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

    That she is up for reelection would be a primary reason never to put her on a case like this.

kbob_in_katy | June 8, 2012 at 9:27 am

As a former resident of the area, all I can say is that Gov Scott did not get the sharpest tool in the shed for this one. I don’t know if he picked her to just appease the rabble – but if that is the thinking, with the (apparent) overcharging of Zimmerman (and fairly good chance of a loss at trial) – he has only kicked the can down the road. FDLE and all LEO’s on FL (and beyond) should be gearing up for the unrest that is certain to come when Zimmerman walks either as a free man or with a minimal sentence.

The choice of prosecutor needs to be reviewed, as do the charges. I sincerely hope Prof. Dershowitz would like to counduct a class in criminal law in Florida. I am reasonablt certain that he would hand Ms. C her posterior on a silver platter.

All that said, the press needs to be taken to task as well for their characterization of TMartin as a hoodie wearing angelic teen who was merely out for skittles and a coke on a rainy night. Some of the local papers picked up snippets of his past….he was just doin’ what he knew best.

This case should just be thrown out and Corey reprimanded for wasting resources.

More on Martin and his, um, “issues” at

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/05/24/update-26-part-2-trayvon-martin-shooting-a-year-of-drug-use-culminates-in-predictable-violence/

radiofreeca | June 8, 2012 at 10:06 am

I was thinking about the “Dumb, Vicious and out to make a name for herself” – I can’t comment on the first two items, but it looks like she’s already succeeded on the third, and will have the rest of her life to figure out how to live it down. It sounds like she’s doing a bad enough job that she’ll lose the case, which means Conservatives will be mad that she (a) pursued it at all, and Liberals mad that she (b) screwed up and (c) lost.

There comes a certain “breaking point” where a bully engaged in bullying behavior on the schoolyard will suddenly reverse themselves, either angrily pointing the finger of blame at their victims and claiming entrapment (Anger), or howling piteously about how society/family/government/environment is to blame and how they were unable to help their actions (Denial).

On *rare* occasions a bully can be made to see the effect of their actions and change their behavior. In this case I don’t think its going to happen, I think she will keep up her bullying behavior right up to the day she is fired and switches to the Anger route (or the Dark Side). Perhaps Brett Kimberlin will hire her, it sounds like he needs a lawyer and the two of them should get along swimmingly.

“She withheld evidence from a judge.”

Let’s pour out a little thought question, just to stir the pot.

That allegation is commonly made by posters here, none of whom is a Florida criminal lawyer (and I’m certainly not).

Watching O’Mara, that does not seem to be supported, and here’s why I say that–

1. there is a procedure called “mandamus”, which is an appeal to a higher court to make a court below do something that it clearly MUST do

2. O’Mara has never filed…or mentioned…a writ of mandamus respecting the charging instrument filed by Corey

I dunno, but my impression is that O’Mara is a very practiced criminal defense attorney, who would know if the Corey instrument was an affront to Florida practice and procedure, and would do something about it on his client’s behalf. A writ of mandamus is one such thing to do.

Interesting discussion in the comments here…

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2012/6/6/63420/28270

Coming soon to a theater near you, “Lawyers Behaving Badly” starring Kim Kardashian and Martin Sheen.

Angela Corey seems to be an adherent of Brett Kimberlin’s reputation management technique.

Something appears to be rotten in the state of Zimmerman prosecution.

As one of EBL’s commenters noted, Janet Reno is another rogue FL prosecutor who did very well for herself. (Reno is a Democrat. Corey is a Republican, appointed by a Republican governor who, presumably, had her vetted before appointing her to this high-profile case. Are these two rogue prosecutors, or is this how the system works?)

I’m all for putting the spotlight on Corey’s behavior. I salute Mark O’Mara for remaining poised and professional and not demagoging the situation.

Moreover, IMO abuse of prosecutorial and law enforcement discretion is a national issue, or should be. Hopefully Possibly Corey’s behavior will draw attention to it.

    JackRussellTerrierist in reply to gs. | June 9, 2012 at 1:37 am

    Mike Nifong’s behavior certainly drew attention to the proble. What did we get from the legal community in response to that lesson? Angela Corey.

To this non-lawyer simpleton here, Corey’s qualifications evaporated the moment she made the case and its issues more about her than either Zimmerman or Martin. When she asserts a “libel”, that is personal. It’s no longer about her ability to prosecute, win or lose, on the merits of the case. Nope, it is now about her “unhappiness” about criticism of her directly.

She really does need to go. But then, as I said, I am simple minded in these matters….you know, someone who grasps the KISS principle.

The scuttlebutt down here in Floriduh is that Corey, being the loose cannon that she is, was put on this case for her to sink or swim. The hope is that she will pull a Titanic sinking and just disappear. She is not looked on kindly in Tallahassee. It now looks like Scott made the right choice with the expectation of a triple. Zimmerman goes free, Corey goes bye-bye and there will be a LA type response from the fools in the black community.

It’s mind-boggling that the Florida Bar hasn’t suspended or disbarred her. Why?

[…] the affidavit she filed seeking Zimmerman's arrest, and her conduct of the case. Via Patterico and Legal Insurrection I see that according to Dershowitz, this led Corey to call Harvard Law School and engage in a […]

[…] Zimmerman Prosecutor Has History Of Going After Critics […]