Serious question... Could Sean Hannity be called to testify?

[aaaaaa5a]

I'm just wondering about this.

Is there a journalistic or press law that prevents it?

Say a murder took place. And then it is learned that afterwards, before charges were filed, the accused contacted and spoke to another person about the night in question. Is that not relevant information to the case?



If you are a prosecutor could you subpoena Hannity to learn what he was told by Zimmerman with regard to the murder?

That would be cool!

Just asking.

[HockeyMom]

1. Is Hannity really a member of the press?

Are Talking Heads on Faux "News" reporters? We distort, you comply.

[freshwest]

14. Made me snicker there, HockeyMom.

[madaboutharry]

2. He absolutely can be subpoenaed and called to testify.

There is no privilege.

[H2O Man]

3. Definitely.

There is no way Hannity could successfully contest being called by either the prosecutors or defense.

[Bjorn Against]

4. He could be called to testify, but I don't think he will.

Corey would only call him if she thought he had important testimony and I have seen no evidence that he does, simply talking to Zimmerman does not mean Zimmerman told him anything important. While the defense could call him I doubt they will either, could you even imagine Hannity cross examined under oath? I don't think the defense wants to see that so unless Corey thinks he knows something I doubt he gets called.

[H2O Man]

13. Respectfully disagree.

The content of the call is likely immaterial; the context is very significant.

Zimmerman made the decision to call Hannity (and the prosecutor) on his own .... at very least, without letting his (then) attorneys know .... more likely, ignoring one of their original instructions to NOT talk to anyone in the media.

The fact that Zimmerman did so -- on his own -- fits the exact image the prosecutors will present of him on the night of the murder -- a self-appointed, "take charge" jackass. The call to Hannity is a gift to the prosecutors.

[Bjorn Against]

19. That is a good point and you may be right

We will have to see what Corey does, I still think that he probably won't get called but your argument makes me see a greater possibility of him taking the stand than I did before I read your post.

[H2O Man]

25. I think that

there is a very good chance that Zimmerman will cop a plea, to a somewhat lesser charge. A serious charge, though. But I don't think he will risk a trial.

[Bjorn Against]

26. You may well be right

I don't think the claim he had his nose broken and his head bashed into cement would hold up well in trial, the lack of injury and the sounds of Trayvon's screams for help on the 911 call will be devestating to him. Zimmerman could probably plea the charge down to manslaughter and avoid trial, but I am unsure what he will decide. On one hand there is a great deal of evidence that will get thrown out because it was tainted by the Sanford police and the police screw ups will benefit Zimmeran in court, on the other hand there is some extremely damning evidence that can be presented so the state still has a very strong case against him. We will see if it goes to trial, personally I hope he does plea bargain as I don't think a trial would be good for the country but I could certainly see him fighting it to the end.

[H2O Man]

28. I just saw

the new defense attorney on MSNBC (Lawrence O'Donnell's show). He appears to be a serious man, not one of the attorneys looking to pump up their reputation by grand-standing in a big trial. I think he will be looking out for Zimmerman's best interests -- and a trial might not be good for him, considering the evidence you accurately identify.

Zimmerman is a cowardly pup. All of his actions on the night in question are those of a spineless punk. I don't think he will dare go to trial.

[Bjorn Against]

30. I just saw his lawyer's press conference

He is clearly an excellent lawyer, he is able to present himself as a very reasonable person and carefully chooses every single one of his words to make sure he does not hand us any ammo to use against Zimmerman. He did actually make the comment that this may not go to trial and he very carefully hinted that Zimmerman might be willing to plea bargain. We will see what happens.

[wandy]

5. It is common for journalists to be jailed for not revealing their sources or other information...

Let's see if Hannity has the stones.
I think you know my bet.

[aaaaaa5a]

9. I thought about that.

but nobody would be asking him to give up sources. They would be asking him for what an accused murderer told him directly about the incident in question, during a conversation he has already admitted took place.

[freshwest]

17. I'd love to see him cross examined for what he said about the NYC case... But this isn't that.

I really don't like him.

[RebelOne]

21. But at one time on his radio show he stated he was not a journalist. n/t

[GodlessBiker]

6. By the prosecutor, yeah, as long as...

Zimmerman made some statement against interest or admission to Hannity. Such statements are exceptions to the Hearsay rule.

By the defense, well, the statements to Hannity are hearsay.

[cthulu2016]

7. If you cleared whatever hearsay hurdles there might be

Those hurdles ar eusually minor when it comes to the accused talking about the crime.

It would be amusing to see Hannity's credibility argued in court. One side of the other could present hours of tape of him lying on TV.

[Solomon]

8. What possible reason would anyone have to hesr what

he has to say? No one. He was only worth a question when they didn't know where Zimmerman was. Zimmerman's in custody now, Hannity's 15 mins are over.

[malaise]

10. Depends and if he has to testify he'll probably borrow a few from

ReTHUG Senator David Vitter

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. It would be hearsay

[cthulu2016]

15. Hearsay from the accused is routinely admitted

particularly purported admissions to the crime made to another person

[freshwest]

16. But it's Zimmermann's words, not someone else, so it's not hearsay, right? Just asking.

Hearsay being second-hand.

[cthulu2016]

20. Still hearsay, but generally admissible

"He told me he had shot someone at work."

That is hearsay, but it is usually admissible. There are exceptions for confessions and statements against interest and such.

"His wife said he had taken a gun to work that day."

Also hearsay, but usually not admissible.

[arcane1]

12. Assuming, of course, that Hannity is telling the truth about the call

and further assuming that if the call happened, the person calling him was really Zimmerman.


Considering the source of the claim... I have a hard time believing anything that fool says, so he would have to prove it before I'm convinced.

[Bjorn Against]

22. It sounds like both Zimmerman and his former attorneys confirm the call happened.

I know Hannity is a compulsive liar and I would not trust him to tell the truth on the stand, but it appears the call did happen and there are most likely phone records to back it up.

[arcane1]

23. Ah, thanks for that! I have not been keeping up on this story.

Now I'm hoping that he was telling the truth, and takes the stand

[hyphenate]

18. To my knowledge

I believe that there isn't as much speech protection in homicides as there are in other major crimes. And, as is often said, Hannity is not a journalist--he's an entertainer. Therefore, no protection.

[Lil Missy]

24. That's what he wants, but they don't need him. n/t

[Zax2me]

27. nope. not a good witness.

biased.

[jillan]

29. I just hope he is shitting in his pants tonite pondering the same question.