28 Jun Did George Zimmerman’s Lawyer Set Up a Mistrial with his “Knock Knock” Joke?

The Trayvon Martin muder case appears to be everywhere, with the cable stations covering the trial gavel to gavel. Certainly many issues raised in the case, including the appropriateness of Florida’s “stand your ground” law and of course the racial overtones to the proceeding. If you’ve been under a rock, a scuffle between George Zimmerman (white) and Trayvon Martin (African American 17 year old) in Florida appears to be the cause of Martin’s death by shooting. Zimmerman has now been charged with murder.

Interestingly, defendant Zimmerman’s lawyer, Don West (at least his parents didn’t name him “North”!), started his opening statement with a “knock knock” joke which apparently no one laughed at. Ready for the joke? “Knock-knock. Who’s there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? All right, good. You’re on the jury.”

According to the ABA Journal, famed defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz thinks this is grounds for a mistrial, especially if Zimmerman didn’t know about the joke in advance. He feels Zimmerman should have the chance to let his lawyer basically get a do-over. What do you think?