Judge rejects Zimmerman lawyers' request for trial delay

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - A judge in the case of a former neighborhood watch leader accused of shooting Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has denied a defense request to delay the trial...

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SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — A judge in the case of a former neighborhood watch leader accused of shooting Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has denied a defense request to delay the trial.

George Zimmerman’s attorneys presented a motion Tuesday asking Judge Debra Nelson to push the trial from mid-June back to November. They say the prosecutor has been slow in turning over needed evidence. The state attorney denied the accusation.

Judge Debra Nelson noted Zimmerman’s lead attorney had been in the case nearly a year and says the problems he’s having getting evidence are not insurmountable.

Zimmerman is claiming he acted in self-defense in shooting Martin last year and has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

EDITOR’S NOTE: George Zimmerman sued theGrio’s parent company of NBC News last year, alleging that the network intentionally edited reports on the case to depict Zimmerman as a “racist and predatory villain.” NBC has refuted these claims.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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