George Zimmerman, the Florida man facing second-degree murder charges for his fatal shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, will get a new judge. On Wednesday, a three judge panel of The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach, Florida have ordered the chief circuit judge to appoint a successor and concluded that Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. in Sanford went too far when he wrote that Zimmerman is a manipulator and made a veiled threat to hold him in contempt of court in the future. "Although many of the allegations in Zimmerman's motion [for a new judge], standing alone, do not meet the legal sufficiency test, and while this is admittedly a close call, upon careful review we find that the allegations, taken together, meet the threshold test of legal sufficiency," the appeal court wrote in its opinion. Zimmerman’s defense attorney Mark O'Mara had insisted on having a new judge, arguing that Zimmerman does not believe he will be treated fairly by Lester. Zimmerman, 28, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, claiming he has acted in self-defense in the Feb. 26 shooting.
