No Decision Yet on Zimmerman’s Bail
After a three-hour bond hearing with heated exchanges, George Zimmerman still has no answer to his request to reinstate his $150,000 bail.
It was unclear when Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester would make a decision on the request by the lawyers for Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman pleaded not guilty, saying he had shot the teenager in self-defense. He invoked Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, which allows people to use deadly force if they feel they are in imminent danger.
Zimmerman was granted bail in April, but was ordered back to jail when prosecutors discovered that he misled the court about a sum of more than $135,000 he received in donations. Despite Zimmerman and his wife Shellie’s testimony that the couple were nearly destitute, the money was, in fact, in an account controlled by Zimmerman and his wife.
Robert Zimmerman, George’s father, took the stand during the hearing and confirmed that the voice on a 911 call in which there were screams and calls for help that could be heard “was absolutely George’s.”
That is in direct contrast with the view of Trayvon Martin’s parents, who contend that the screams were those of their son. Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton attended the hearing accompanied by the family attorney, Benjamin Crump.
The hearing opened with an accounting expert, called by the Zimmerman’s attorney. The accounting expert, Adam MaGill, presented a listing of money transfers conducted by Zimmerman’s wife using money contributed for his legal defense.
Prosecutors have contended that Zimmerman and his wife Shellie intentionally misled the court about their finances during his first bail hearing in April.
MaGill said he was asked by Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman’s lawyer, to look at records of money transfers from Zimmerman's PayPal account to the official legal defense fund later established by the shooter’s attorney.
MaGill testified that moving the money around from different accounts would "make it appear that you didn't have the money," according to the Associated Press.
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(Photo: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel-Pool/Getty Images)