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Mike Schneider

Police chief resigns in wake of Trayvon Martin case

Last updated Monday, April 23, 2012 - 12:58pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Sanford city commission on Monday will vote to approve the resignation of the police chief harshly criticized for his handling of the Trayvon Martin case, just hours after the teen's shooter was released from jail on bond.

Commissioners said in a news release that they would vote at a meeting later in the day to approve the resignation of Bill Lee. If his resignation is approved, Lee will step down at midnight.

Fatal shooting, George Zimmerman, Resignation, Trayvon Martin, National Read more Comments

George Zimmerman, right, enters the courtroom, Friday, April 20, 2012, during a bond hearing in Sanford, Fla. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester says Zimmerman can be released on $150,000 bail as he awaits trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Martin. He claims self-defense. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool)

George Zimmerman's bail set at $150K

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, April 20, 2012 - 11:28am

SANFORD, Florida — George Zimmerman can be released on $150,000 bail as he awaits trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a judge ruled Friday during a hearing that saw Zimmerman apologize to Martin’s parents for the teenager’s death.

Courts, George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, National Read more Comments

FILE - In this Thursday, April 12, 2012 file photo, George Zimmerman, right, stands next to a Seminole County Deputy during a court hearing in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, has a bond hearing scheduled for Friday, April 20, 2012. Whether Zimmerman is allowed to leave Seminole County as he awaits trial, and how he will remain safe, are two questions that likely are going to be at the center of the hearing at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, legal experts say. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Pool, Gary W. Green, File)

Zimmerman's family at hearing: He isn't violent

Curt Anderson, Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, April 20, 2012 - 9:05am

SANFORD, Fla. — The family of a neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin asked a Florida judge Friday to let him out of jail while he awaits trial, and legal experts said he stands a good chance of being granted bail.

George Zimmerman’s parents and wife testified by phone in the hearing at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, saying he is not a flight risk nor a threat to the community. Zimmerman’s family members were testifying by phone because they say they have been threatened.

Courts, Fatal shooting, George Zimmerman, Neighborhood watch shooting, Trayvon Martin, National Read more Comments

Zimmerman expected to get bail but safety an issue

Curt Anderson, Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 4:56pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- After spending a week in a jail cell by himself, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murdering Trayvon Martin stands a good chance of being granted bail Friday, despite the severity of the second-degree murder charge he faces.

Courts, Fatal shooting, George Zimmerman, Neighborhood watch shooting, Taryvon Martin, National Read more Comments

This recent but undated file photo taken from the Orlando Sentinel’s website shows George Zimmerman, according to the paper. Zimmerman is losing weight, suffering from high levels of stress and unable even to perform the simple task of buying a soda at a grocery store because of the intense public scrutiny he is under, his former lawyers say. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, File)

Attorneys say Zimmerman is isolated, stressed out

Kyle Hightower, Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 8:42am

SANFORD, Fla. — The man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is said to be losing weight and suffering from high levels of stress from the intense public scrutiny he is under, his former lawyers said. Meanwhile, a special prosecutor said she will soon make an announcement in the case.

George Zimmerman, Jail, Shooting, Trayvon Martin, National Read more Comments

This undated file family photo shows Trayvon Martin. Angela Corey, the special prosecutor in the shooting death of Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer, said Monday, April 9, 2012, she continues to investigate the case and will not involve a grand jury set to meet Tuesday. (AP Photo/Martin Family, File)

Trayvon Martin death won’t go to Fla. grand jury

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 9, 2012 - 10:55am

ORLANDO, Fla. — Special prosecutor Angela Corey said Monday she will not take the Trayvon Martin shooting death before a grand jury.

Investigation, Prosecutor, Trayvon Martin, National Read more Comments

Slain teen's girlfriend urged him to run from volunteer with gun

Curt Anderson, Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 11:43am

SANFORD, Fla. -- The attorney for the family of a black teenager fatally shot by a neighborhood watch captain said Tuesday that the boy was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone when the confrontation began. She did not hear the shooting.

Fatal shooting, Gun, Neighborhood Watch, Neighborhood watch shooting, Protests, National Read more Comments

Feds to investigate fatal shooting of Fla. teen

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 8:31am

SANFORD, Fla. -- The growing national attention -- and outcry -- over the case of an unarmed black teen in Florida who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch captain has culminated with the federal government's announcement that it will launch an investigation.

Fatal shooting, FBI, Neighborhood Watch, Neighborhood watch shooting, Protests, Teen, National Read more Comments

Students want watch leader who shot teen arrested

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 3:56pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the arrest of a white neighborhood watch captain who shot an unarmed black teen last month, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

Crime, Fatal shooting, Neighborhood Watch, Protest, National Read more Comments

Debris and wreckage lie along the highway after a multi-vehicle accident that killed at least nine people, on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup on the highway, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

Cause sought for deadly highway pileup

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 30, 2012 - 10:39am

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Authorities in Florida were trying to determine Monday what caused the horrific pileup on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, where a long line of cars and trucks collided one after another on a dark highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were blinded.

Fatals, freeway, Pileups, Accident, National Read more Comments

FILE - In this July 4, 2011, file photo, Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton gives the final rebuttal in the Casey Anthony murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. Ashton takes aim at the Florida mother's attorneys in his new book, "Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony," calling her lead counsel "smarmy." (AP Photo/Red Huber, Pool, File)

Ex-prosecutor knocks Casey Anthony lawyer, jurors

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 11:35am

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A retired prosecutor from the Casey Anthony murder trial calls her lead attorney "smarmy" in a new book and says he didn't think a jury would ever agree to the death penalty for the Florida mother, who was ultimately acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter.

Attorneys, Casey Anthony, Caylee Anthony, Courts, Prosecutor, National Read more Comments

(PIERRE DUCHARME/The Associated Press) Lakeland Police and Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies investigate a shooting in Lakeland, Fla. on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. A gunman killed his wife at their Florida home and then burst through the front door of a nearby church on Sunday, wounding a pastor and associate pastor before parishioners tackled him, authorities and relatives said. The suspect, 57-year-old Jeremiah Fogle, killed one person at a home about a block away from the church before shooting the pastors, the Polk County Sheriff’s office said. The two men, pastor William Boss and associate pastor Carl Stewart, were in critical condition. Maria Beauford said the slain woman was her sister, 56-year-old Theresa Fogle. The Fogles married in 2002 and had been members of Greater Faith Christian Center Church, where the shootings happened, but had started their own ministry out of their house and regularly hosted Sunday services, Beauford said.

Man accused of killing wife, wounding 2 pastors

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, September 18, 2011 - 5:44pm

LAKELAND, Fla. — A gunman killed his wife at their Florida home and then burst through the front door of a nearby church on Sunday, wounding a pastor and associate pastor before parishioners tackled him, authorities and relatives said.

Church, Shooting, Fatality, National Read more Comments

Casey Anthony's lies cost her $100K for investigation

Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 1:46pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Casey Anthony must pay almost $100,000 in law enforcement costs for investigating the death of her 2-year-old daughter, a Florida judge ruled Thursday.

Casey Anthony, Courts, National Read more Comments

Solo living drops in Manhattan, rises elsewhere

Mike Schneider, Verena Dobnik The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, September 6, 2011 - 7:43am

NEW YORK — Nowhere else is living alone celebrated the way it is in Manhattan, where solo dwelling has been exulted in pop culture from "Seinfeld" to "Sex and the City."

Home, National Read more Comments

(RED HUBER/The Associated Press) Casey Anthony (center) walks out of the Orange County Jail with attorney Jose Baez (right) during her release in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday.

Release is no relief for Casey Anthony

Matt Sedensky, Mike Schneider The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, July 17, 2011 - 6:20pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- This is what freedom looks like for Casey Anthony: $537.68 from her jail account, no job, estranged parents, a criminal record, lawsuits pending against her and the scorn of multitudes who think she got away with murder.

She quickly gave reporters the slip after walking out of jail Sunday, but whatever life she manages to build for herself will be lived under a media microscope and the shadow of countless threats.

Experts who have helped other notorious defendants through rough times say she will have opportunities as well, but it won't be easy for the 25-year-old, who was found not guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, but convicted of lying to investigators.

Crime, Murder, Casey Anthony, Courts, News, Unsolved murder, Featured Read more Comments