Desperation for cash, signs of discord on George Zimmerman team

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When George Zimmerman relaunched the website on Thursday, people who saw the maiden post said he attacked his lawyers over their handling of the case.

The lead attorney, Mark O’Mara, had made shutting down the website his first act as Zimmerman’s new counsel in April, having taken over for Zimmerman’s previous attorneys (he would later claim they were never really his lawyers) withdrew after losing contact with Zimmerman.

Back in April, Zimmerman launched TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com without Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig’s knowledge. He added a PayPal account, so that he could raise money for living expenses and a potential legal defense. The 28-year-old had remained free from arrest for more than 45 days since shooting a Miami teenager, Trayvon Martin, touching off international protests. But the 28-year-old wasn’t entirely free — he remained hiding, and claims to have received death threats.

Zimmerman had been forced to leave his job, his school, and his rented townhouse inside the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community, where he had helped start a neighborhood watch the year before, and then become its community coordinator. Then, Zimmerman’s soon-to-be former “legal advisers,” on the day they quit the case, portrayed him as “stressed out,” isolated, and seemingly increasingly desperate:

“He is largely alone. You might even say he is emotionally crippled by virtue of the pressure of this case,” Uhrig said in a media interview after quitting the case. Uhrig and Sonner said the protests and  profound isolation of going into hiding may have pushed him “a little bit over the edge.

“… As of the last couple days, he has not returned phone calls, text messages or emails,” Sonner said. “He’s gone on his own. I’m not sure what he’s doing or who he’s talking to. I cannot go forward speaking to the public about George Zimmerman and this case as representing him because I’ve lost contact with him.”

Now, Zimmerman appears to have taken matters into his own hands again, relaunching his personal website, along with a Youtube account and a Twitter account, @friendsofGZ, which was deleted shortly after it was launched. On the site, Zimmerman, or someone writing on his behalf, made a fervent appeal for donations.

When he went off the grid in April, Zimmerman tried to call the special prosecutor, Angela Corey, who did not accept his calls (it’s improper for a prosecutor to talk to the target of an investigation, and Corey at that time was preparing to charge Zimmerman with second degree murder). He also reached out to Sean Hannity, with whom he had an off-the-record conversation that Hannity touted on his Fox News show.