Man who worked for Florida state prosecutor sues former boss, claiming he was illegally FIRED after testifying on behalf of George Zimmerman

In his termination letter Ben Kruidbos was accused of violating state attorney office policies and procedures

He had informed the defense team that they hadn't received all the images and text messages retrieved from Trayvon Martin's cell phone

The missing content included images of Martin blowing smoke, holding a gun and images of marijuana

Kruidbos is seeking in his suit against Florida State Attorney Angela Corey more than $5million



By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press

A former employee of Florida State Attorney Angela Corey's office is suing the prosecutor, claiming he was illegally fired after he testified on behalf of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder trial.

Ben Kruidbos, the former director of information technology for Corey's office, is seeking more than $5million in damages in the lawsuit filed in Jacksonville, according to a legal documents.

Kruidbos was fired after testifying at a pre-trial hearing June 6 that he believed prosecutors had failed to turn over to the defense, as required by evidence-sharing laws, potentially embarrassing evidence extracted from Martin's cell phone.

Wrongful termination: Ben Kruidbos (left) is suing Florida State Attorney Angela Corey (right) for more than $5million in damages, claiming that he was fired after he testified on behalf of George Zimmerman

His lawyer, Wesley White, said last month that he would file a whistleblower action. This week he filed a separate complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations seeking whistleblower status, which could result in the second lawsuit, White said.

White said the lawsuit against Corey, which was filed on Thursday, cited a statute that makes it illegal to fire someone for their testimony when it is given under subpoena. Kruidbos was subpoenaed by the Zimmerman defense team.

‘I cannot find a single other case of that statute being litigated,’ said White.

‘Normally people wouldn't do something like that, fire somebody as a result of testifying pursuant to subpoena,’ Said White, a former prosecutor who worked with Corey.

Under fire: Corey has been criticized by legal experts for unsuccessfully prosecuting Zimmerman, whose defense team also called for sanctions against her

The action is expected to add to pressure already on Corey, who has been criticized by legal experts for unsuccessfully prosecuting Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted July 13 of murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of the unarmed teen.

Zimmerman's defense has also called for sanctions against her and her prosecution team.

Corey's office said it would not comment on the lawsuit but re-issued Kruidbos' termination letter, in which her office accused him of hacking confidential information from state computers.

The six-page letter, dated July 11, charged Kruidbos with ‘deliberate, willful and unscrupulous actions’ that make him untrustworthy and ‘a shallow, but obvious, attempt to cloak yourself in the protection of the whistleblower law.’

Photos from Trayvon Martin's cell phone showed the slain Florida teenager blowing smoke rings, a gun and what appears to be a marijuana plant

He testified during a hearing on June 6 that Martin's cell phone contained images of the 17-year-old blowing smoke, images of marijuana and deleted text messages regarding a transaction for a firearm and that those images had not been given to Zimmerman's defense team.

He received the termination letter the same day jurors began deliberating Zimmerman's case.



The letter states: 'It has come to our attention that you violated numerous State Attorney's Office (SAO) policies and procedures and have engaged in deliberate misconduct that is especially egregious in light of your position.'

George Zimmerman with his defense team, Mark O'Mara, left, and Don West, while waiting for jury arrival in the courtroom on Saturday morning

Attorney Wesley White said Kruidbos wasn't surprised by the firing.



He had been on paid administrative leave since May 28 from his job as director of information technology for the State Attorney's Office.



Kruidbos said that, when he printed a 900-page Florida Department of Law Enforcement report from Martin's cell phone in late 2012 or early 2013, he noticed information was missing.



Concerned that attorneys did not have all the information they needed to prepare the case, he said, he reported his concerns to a State Attorney's Office investigator and later to prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.



Kruidbos said he generated a report that was more than three times the size of the one that had been handed over.



For example, Kruidbos said that 2,958 photos were in the report given to the defense but that his report contained 4,275 photos.

Gun: A photo of a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun was retrieved from Martin's cell phone

The images on Martin's phone included this photo of what appears to be a marijuana plant

Through his attorney, Wesley White, Kruidbos informed Zimmerman's defense team that the information existed.



In court, Kruidbos testified that he was concerned that he could be held liable if all information wasn't shared.



'All the information is important in the process to ensure it's a fair trial,' he said.



In a six-page dismissal letter, the State Attorney's Office, Fourth Judicial Circuit, blasted Kruidbos' assertions and motivations.



Managing Director Cheryl Peek accused Kruidbos of having erased data from a laptop in violation of the Public Records Law and derided his concern about being held liable as 'feigned and spurious' and 'nothing more than shameful manipulation in a shallow, but obvious, attempt to cloak yourself in the protection of the whistleblower law.'

Trayvon Martin's cell phone which he was using to speak to Rachel Jeantel when he was attacked

She concluded, 'Because of your deliberate, willful and unscrupulous actions, you can never again be trusted to step foot in this office. Your have left us with no choice but to terminate your employment.'



Zimmerman's attorneys were seeking sanctions against the state for not properly turning over the evidence from Martin's phone.



O'Mara and co-counsel Don West argued that they needed more time to go through the information found on Martin's phone and asked for a delay, which was denied.



Judge Debra Nelson said she would revisit the possibility of sanctions at the trial's end.

