06-06-2012, 05:02 PM
i usually want to smack Dershowitz, and i almost always love prosecutors, but this time i'm in Dershowitz' camp:
orlando sentinel
Famed attorney and legal commentator Alan Dershowitz has been one of the harshest critics of State Attorney Angela Corey's approach to prosecuting George Zimmerman. According to Dershowitz, Corey is none too pleased.
Writing on Newsmax.com, the Harvard Law School professor says Corey called the school and went on "a 40-minute rant, during which she threatened to sue Harvard Law School, to try to get me disciplined by the Bar Association and to file charges against me for libel and slander."
When the school explained Dershowitz has a right to express his opinions, Corey "persisted in her nonstop whining," he writes, "claiming that she is prohibited from responding to my attacks by the rules of professional responsibility."
Dershowitz has been critical of Corey since she charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder in April. He says the affidavit she filed to support that charge omitted key facts and contained "half truths."
A Corey spokeswoman declined to comment on the Newsmax column.
Dershowitz's post doesn't say when exactly Corey's call occurred. A Harvard Law School spokeswoman didn't return a call seeking comment.
Dershowitz says Corey, in her affidavit, "willfully omitted all information" about injuries Zimmerman suffered in his conflict with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He said Corey denied having an obligation to include that information.
"She should go back to law school, where she will learn that it is never appropriate to submit an affidavit that contains a half truth, because a half truth is regarded by the law as a lie, and anyone who submits an affidavit swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," Dershowitz wrote.
Dershowitz has ripped Corey repeatedly.
The affidavit, he said in a television interview, "is not only thin, it's irresponsible." He described Corey's announcement of the charge as "a campaign speech for re-election" and later wrote that she has been "anything but ethical, lawful and professional" in prosecuting the case.
In an appearance on Fox News, he went a step further: If Corey knew about Zimmerman's injuries, he said, "This affidavit submitted by the prosecutor in the Florida case is a crime... It's a perjurious affidavit."
However, he says Corey's went too far in her response to his criticism.
"The idea that a prosecutor would threaten to sue someone who disagrees with her for libel and slander, to sue the university for which he works, and to try to get him disbarred, is the epitome of unprofessionalism," he says.
Zimmerman shot Trayvon on Feb. 26 in Sanford. He says he fired in self-defense after the teenager attacked him.
orlando sentinel
Famed attorney and legal commentator Alan Dershowitz has been one of the harshest critics of State Attorney Angela Corey's approach to prosecuting George Zimmerman. According to Dershowitz, Corey is none too pleased.
Writing on Newsmax.com, the Harvard Law School professor says Corey called the school and went on "a 40-minute rant, during which she threatened to sue Harvard Law School, to try to get me disciplined by the Bar Association and to file charges against me for libel and slander."
When the school explained Dershowitz has a right to express his opinions, Corey "persisted in her nonstop whining," he writes, "claiming that she is prohibited from responding to my attacks by the rules of professional responsibility."
Dershowitz has been critical of Corey since she charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder in April. He says the affidavit she filed to support that charge omitted key facts and contained "half truths."
A Corey spokeswoman declined to comment on the Newsmax column.
Dershowitz's post doesn't say when exactly Corey's call occurred. A Harvard Law School spokeswoman didn't return a call seeking comment.
Dershowitz says Corey, in her affidavit, "willfully omitted all information" about injuries Zimmerman suffered in his conflict with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He said Corey denied having an obligation to include that information.
"She should go back to law school, where she will learn that it is never appropriate to submit an affidavit that contains a half truth, because a half truth is regarded by the law as a lie, and anyone who submits an affidavit swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth," Dershowitz wrote.
Dershowitz has ripped Corey repeatedly.
The affidavit, he said in a television interview, "is not only thin, it's irresponsible." He described Corey's announcement of the charge as "a campaign speech for re-election" and later wrote that she has been "anything but ethical, lawful and professional" in prosecuting the case.
In an appearance on Fox News, he went a step further: If Corey knew about Zimmerman's injuries, he said, "This affidavit submitted by the prosecutor in the Florida case is a crime... It's a perjurious affidavit."
However, he says Corey's went too far in her response to his criticism.
"The idea that a prosecutor would threaten to sue someone who disagrees with her for libel and slander, to sue the university for which he works, and to try to get him disbarred, is the epitome of unprofessionalism," he says.
Zimmerman shot Trayvon on Feb. 26 in Sanford. He says he fired in self-defense after the teenager attacked him.