A Florida judge has dismissed a lawsuit that former neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman had filed against the parents of Trayvon Martin, the teen he fatally shot in 2012.
Tallahassee Judge John Cooper dismissed all counts on Monday against the defendants in the lawsuit filed by Zimmerman against Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin; attorney Ben Crump, who had represented the family in the high-profile case; and others, AP reported.
Cooper stated in the order that Zimmerman had failed to show “any fraudulent representation” in the suit.
“There can be no claim for conspiracy to defraud if there is no adequately stated claim for fraud,” Cooper wrote in the order.
Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Martin in February 2012 in Sanford, Florida. While patrolling the housing development as part of the neighborhood watch program, Zimmerman spotted Martin wearing a dark hoodie while walking home after buying snacks at a local convenience store.
Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges after the fatal shooting in 2013. He claimed that he acted in self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. However, prosecutors argued that Zimmerman racially profiled the Black teenager after he ignored the advice given by the emergency dispatcher, ABC 7 Denver reported.
According to Zimmerman’s lawsuit, a key witness in the 2013 trial, Brittany Diamond Eugene, refused to testify that she and Martin had developed a relationship before he was killed. As a result, her half-sister, Rachel Jeantel, falsified claims and ended up testifying at Zimmerman’s trial in Sanford, Florida.
The lawsuit stated that Martin’s parents and Crump conspired to file charges against Zimmerman to “destroy his good will and reputation in the community.” He said the defendants portrayed him as a racist murderer who racially profiled Martin leading up to his death.
HarperCollins Publishers were among the defendants mentioned in Zimmerman’s lawsuit. He claimed the company and Martin’s parents made false claims about him in the published book about the case.
