Tag Archives: from-the-media

Nice try big guy ! George Zimmerman’s Libel Lawsuit Against NBC Thrown Out The same judge that presided over George Zimmerman’s trial recently dismissed his claims that NBC falsely portrayed him as a racist by shortening  clips of him calling 911 the night he murdered Trayvon Martin. The Orlando Sentinel reports: Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson ruled that the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer is entitled to no money from the media giant. She issued a summary judgment in the network’s favor, meaning that unless an appeals court reverses her, the case is now dead. Zimmerman had filed suit two years ago, accusing NBC of falsely portraying him as a racist in a series of broadcasts shortly after he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, in Sanford. Editors shortened audio from a 911 call Zimmerman made to a police dispatcher the night of the shooting, making it sound as if Zimmerman volunteered that Trayvon was black and that he racially profiled the Miami Gardens teenager. In addition, Zimmerman accused the news organization of defaming him in a separate broadcast by falsely reporting that he used a racial epithet in the same call. The network fired two employees who were involved in the edits and made a public apology. At a hearing June 19, NBC attorney Lee Levine asked the judge to end the suit with a judgment in the network’s favor. Zimmerman is a public figure, Levine said, and could not prove that he was the victim of “actual malice”, meaning that NBC employees either knew what they reported was false or had serious misgivings about it. In her ruling, issued shortly before 9 a.m. today, Nelson wrote that that’s where Zimmerman’s suit fell apart. “There exists absolutely no clear and convincing evidence that defendants knew that the information published was false at the time it was published, or recklessly disregarded the truth or falsity of those statements. …,” she wrote. Zimmerman also alleged that the network intentionally inflicted emotional distress. Nelson shot down that claim, too.   Sucksssssss to be you….loser!

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A Well Deserved Ho Sit Down: Judge Throws Out George Zimmerman’s Lawsuit Against NBC