Hal Uhrig, the lawyer who defended George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, was arrested Monday on charges of solicitation to commit perjury and witness tampering.
The defense attorney was apprehended by law enforcement while he was on his to court. Uhrig's charges are related to a juvenile case in which his client is accused of raping a nine-year-old. Sheriffs claim Uhrig organized a meeting between his client, the victim, and her father with the intention of keeping "the rapist from going to jail."
"The attorney instructed the victim and her father that they should do three things," said Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez. "Write a declination -- basically a letter to the state attorney saying the rape didn't happen; avoid being served with a subpoena so you don't have to go to court to testify; [and] lie during your deposition and say the rape didn't happen."
The family of the nine-year-old girl informed the state attorney's office about the upcoming meeting, causing the sheriff's sex crimes unit to launch an investigation. During the meeting, the father was allegedly asked to read a script of Uhrig's client. The father wore a recording device during the meeting and reportedly captured the entire exchange.
Uhrig claimed he was innocent in the matter and denied asking the father to read the script. The lawyer also said he wanted to view the recording and intends on fighting the charges. Sheriff Lopez believes this wasn't Urig's first time tampering with witnesses, although he acknowledged he couldn't prove it unless more people come forward with similar allegations.
"If you're an attorney, you've been practicing law for a long time and there's no way you're going to jeopardize your career on something like this, especially at that age...it's retirement time," Lopez said. "So, I think that this wasn't his first rodeo. Unless someone else comes forward we won't know that, but that's what I suspect at this time."
Hal Uhrig has since bonded out of jail.
