George Zimmerman seemed high on freedom after his not guilty verdict in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, touring the gun factory where his weapon was made and posing for pictures. But then his wife of more than five years handed him her verdict: She filed for divorce.
In a Sept. 5 filing that describes the marriage as “irretrievably broken,” Shellie Zimmerman lays out what she wants from her embattled spouse: full custody of their two dogs. Oh, and also a chunk of the to-be-determined damages George may win from his defamation lawsuit against NBC, which aired a selectively edited call from Zimmerman to the police last year that made him seem racist.
After slapping him with a divorce petition, Shellie called the cops on George Monday evening when a domestic dispute took a disturbing (and confusing) turn. In her 911 call, she said George had a gun and was threatening her and her father, whom he had already punched in the nose. Shellie later retracted her statement about the gun—police say there is no evidence a gun was even at the scene—and she decided not to press charges. George’s brother Robert may have put it best in a tweet:
We’ve learned from GZ case not to “jump to conclusions”, to wait for facts, & to avoid speculation. “News” is a business – not your friend.
— Robert Zimmerman JR (@rzimmermanjr) September 9, 2013
But has George himself learned any lessons?
In the minutes before the confrontation, Shellie was reportedly recording video on her iPad as she and George divided up furniture and property at the Lake Mary, Florida, house that Shellie’s father owns. That video is now key to the investigation according to local police, who say it could answer a lot of questions about Shellie’s backtracking. Even the reason for the current state of the iPad is in dispute, however. Shellie says George smashed it to pieces, while George says Shellie hit him with it. Police said Wednesday it could take weeks or months to recover video from the damaged device, and “as it stands right now there will not be any charges any time soon without that iPad.”
This surveillance video from Shellie’s father’s house shows George “twisting the iPad and throwing it into the grass,” which would seem to fit Shellie’s 911 call assertion that he cut it with a pocketknife. (There’s also dash cam video from the police of Zimmerman surrendering before being handcuffed.)
Shellie doesn’t have a great track record of truthfulness (and George doesn’t have a great track record on domestic violence). She pleaded guilty to a perjury misdemeanor in August, admittedly lying to a judge about how much cash the couple had on hand last summer for legal fees. Now at stake is the potentially handsome sum George stands to win from NBC. Though the network said it plans to defend itself in court, many legal and media analysts think the case will be resolved with a huge settlement for George. As in millions of dollars. And Shellie, with the “unknown assets” clause in her divorce filing, could get some of that.
From the filing: ”The Wife does not have sufficient information concerning the exact nature of all marital assets of the parties and reserves the right to amend this pleading after complete and full financial disclosure. Due to the length of the marriage [ed note: November 2007 to September 2013], the Wife alleges that all assets of the Husband and Wife encompassed within the date of marriage through the separation of the parties are marital assets and subject to equitable distribution by this Court.”
Karen Steger, a top divorce and family attorney in Florida, says that “encompassed within the date of marriage” phrasing means Shellie would certainly be able to make a play for some NBC cash. ”Based on something that happened during their intact marriage, without question,” she says. “Probably 95 percent of it arguably will be nonmarital, personal to him, but I’m sure there’s an argument that could be made that a portion directly affected her, even if it’s a small portion. There’s always an argument to be made with lawyers.”
For George’s side, “he may argue that the entire cause of action [from NBC damages] is personal, so it would not be a marital asset,” Steger says. “The smart thing is to give her some small portion, just so you don’t have to litigate the issue.” That way, Steger says, George might avoid a judge ruling that all money given in the lawsuit is considered marital.
“Did he have a loss of earnings? Some of it would have a marital component. She could make a claim for a portion of it, if not half of it,” Steger says.
We can’t say what Shellie wants (apart from ”Oso, a 2-year-old, 120-pound Rottweiler and Leroy, an 8-year-old, 20-pound ‘Heinz 57′ mutt”). The emergency call last night and subsequent retraction are characteristic of divorce proceedings.
“We know from human experience that it happens,” says Raoul Felder, one of New York’s top divorce attorneys, who has represented Rudy Giuliani. “Not specifically with a gun, but it’s been known on both sides—claims to be assaulted.” Felder says one of two things could have transpired: George could have lost it, or Shellie could have taken advantage of the fact that he has already been tried on a gun charge to try and get him in trouble again. Lake Mary police are still deciding whether they will press domestic battery charges against either George or Shellie (or neither).
They’re not the only ones who possibly stand to receive large sums of money for their controversial roles in a controversial case. Dr. Shiping Bao, the medical examiner who testified at Zimmerman’s trial, announced Wednesday he is suing for $100 million on claims that “the medical examiner, state attorney’s office, and Sanford Police Department were all biased against Martin.” Bao was fired last Friday for unknown reasons (county officials called it “standard practice in personnel matters.”)
Even the man who led the charge for George’s acquittal of shooting and killing an unarmed teenager is washing his hands of the Zimmermans. Attorney Mark O’Mara said Tuesday he will not represent George in the domestic dispute, though he will continue to represent him in the lawsuit against NBC.
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