A veteran judge with broad experience and a reputation for being tough on both lawyers and defendants has been assigned to take over George Zimmerman’s murder trial.
Seminole County Circuit Judge Debra Nelson is a familiar face to the Zimmerman family: She is the same jurist assigned to handle Zimmerman’s wife’s perjury case.
Zimmerman’s legal team might live to regret forcing the last judge off the case because Nelson runs a tight ship and tends to favor the prosecution, Central Florida lawyers said. A native of South Florida who did a brief stint at the Broward state attorney’s office, Nelson is known for being a no-nonsense judge who keeps lawyers on their toes.
“I don’t think they did themselves any favors,” said attorney Jose Baez, best known for defending “tot mom” Casey Anthony. “She has a reputation of being more pro-prosecution than the previous judge. We have an expression: ‘The devil you know is much better than the devil you don’t.’ ”
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Zimmerman gets new judge, but lawyers say he may regret it - Trayvon Martin - MiamiHerald.com