ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal grand jury will meet in downtown Orlando on Wednesday to hear testimony about whether Trayvon Martin’s civil rights were violated when Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him in the chest, according to court paperwork.
A U.S. Department of Justice attorney from Washington, D.C., Mark Blumberg, has issued at least one subpoena for Wednesday in the case.
Blumberg would not comment on the grand jury session, but the federal panel is to meet at 9 a.m. at the federal courts building in downtown Orlando to hear evidence in the case.
It’s not clear how many witnesses have been ordered to appear, but at least one, Frank Taaffe, Zimmerman’s former friend and longtime defender, has been.
Following Zimmerman’s acquittal on a murder charge, Taaffe has reversed his position and now says that he believes Zimmerman was motivated by race the night he followed then shot Martin in 2012.
Taaffe cites a phone conversation he had with Zimmerman in the days following the shooting but before Zimmerman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
When originally interviewed by federal investigators in the weeks following the shooting, Taaffe did not tell them about the phone call, he says, but earlier this year he did in interviews with Blumberg and FBI Agent John Weyrauch at the FBI office in Maitland.
Weyrauch did not return a phone call from the Sentinel.
FBI spokesman Dave Couvertier described the investigation as ongoing and said agents were “still talking to people.”
George Zimmerman would not comment.
Last month, the Washington Post cited three unnamed law enforcement officials as saying there would likely be no federal charges brought against Zimmerman because of insufficient evidence.
