Friday, Aug. 3, 10:57 a.m. EDT: Sanford Police chief slammed in emails about Trayvon case: The Associated Press reports that, in his last days as Sanford, Fla., police chief, Bill Lee received "blistering emails with every curse word imaginable, criticizing him for not immediately arresting George Zimmerman for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin." The AP also obtained emails showing that he received requests for interviews from as away as Qatar, and letters of support from other law-enforcement officers nationwide.
Thursday, Aug. 2, 10:10 a.m. EDT: Shellie Zimmerman was not at arraignment: George Zimmerman's wife, Shellie, after pleading not guilty to perjury for allegedly lying about her family's finances as her husband faced murder charges, was not at her arraignment yesterday, WPTV reports. Her lawyer, Kelly Sims, on Friday entered a waiver for her not to personally appear in the Seminole County, Fla., courtroom, a court spokesperson said.
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 10:03 a.m.: Zimmerman judge says he won't step aside: In a one-sentence order, Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said that the request by George Zimmerman's lawyers that he recuse himself from the second-degree-murder trial was "legally insufficient," CNN reports. Zimmerman's lawyers had argued that their client feared he could not get a fair trial before Lester, who had revoked Zimmerman's bond and, they said, showed a lack of objectivity toward their client. In that ruling, Lester wrote that Zimmerman was "flouting" and "manipulating" the legal system.
Tuesday, July 31, 6:17 p.m. EDT: False email says that photo of rapper is of Trayvon: There's a photo being circulated in a chain email that claims to show Trayvon Martin appearing much older than in other images we've seen of him, with tattoos on his face. It reads, "They don't show the up-to-date pictures of Trayvon Martin, in the media. Now you know why. Kinda scary, ain't it?" The only problem is that the photo is not of Trayvon; it's of rapper Game. Politifact Florida clarified that for anyone who was confused.
Tuesday, July 31, 9:39 a.m. EDT: Shellie Zimmerman to be arraigned today after not-guilty plea: The wife of George Zimmerman, the man charged with second-degree murder in the death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, pleaded not guilty to perjury for allegedly lying about the family's finances, WPTV reports. Shellie Zimmerman's lawyer, Kelly Sims, entered a written not-guilty plea and waiver for her not to personally appear at her arraignment, which is scheduled for today.
Read last week's updates on the Trayvon Martin case here.
Read all of The Root's news and commentary about the Trayvon Martin case here.