In a surprise announcement this afternoon, lawyers for George Zimmerman, the shooter in the Trayvon Martin shooting, said they no longer have contact with their client and are no longer representing him. Craig Sonner said:
"I still believe he was acting in self defense that night .... I just cannot stay representing a client who will not stay in contact with me."
Sonner and Hal Uhrig said they had been told that Zimmerman had directly contacted the special prosecutor's office that has been investigating the case since March 22. That's not a contact a suspect should make, they said. And the special prosecutor's office told him, they said, that nobody there would talk to him without counsel being present.
Both lawyers said they still believe Zimmerman acted in self defense. They said they would represent him still if he asked them. But for now, he remains without counsel as far as they know.
The lawyers indicated that they did not think Zimmerman would flee the country, but made clear that their former client was not in Florida.
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Press Conference going on here.
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[UPDATE]: Uhrig said he would be "very surprised" if Special Prosecutor Angela Corey gave hints about how she might decide on filing charges or not.
[UPDATE]: Uhrig tells reporters that Zimmerman is not a racist and has African American friends. There is no "evidence whatsoever from the time the earth cooled until right this minute" that Zimmerman is a racist.
2:18 PM PT: Uhrig takes "a shot at the press" for abetting the accusations of racism. He blasts the media for using photos of Trayvon Martin as a younger boy instead of ones of him at 17 while using a booking photo of George Zimmerman.
2:19 PM PT: Uhrig says the crime was "battery against George Zimmerman."