Zimmerman to Request New Bond Hearing
Lawyers for Trayvon Martin’s shooter, George Zimmerman, are expected to request he be released on bond again after his previous request was revoked when prosecutors revealed he misled the court.
Zimmerman surrendered to police custody in Seminole County, Florida, late Sunday afternoon after a judge revoked his bond and ordered his return to jail Friday. Despite Zimmerman’s and his wife’s testimony at the April 20 hearing that Zimmerman was in possession of only one U.S. passport and that the couple had little money to post bail for Zimmerman, prosecutors presented evidence showing the contrary. Armed with evidence showing that Zimmerman and his wife knew of the $135,000 they received in donations via the internet and that Zimmerman has an additional passport, prosecuting attorneys asked a judge to order Zimmerman’s return to prison.
Now, as Zimmerman returns to jail to await the start of his murder trial, his lead defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, hinted that Zimmerman will again try be released, stating, "There is a credibility question that needs to be explained away,” the Orlando Sentinel reports. O'Mara also hinted Zimmerman may not testify at a bond hearing.
"The revocation of bond, I hope, is temporary," O'Mara told reporters last week. "I hope that they will give us a day in court to explain George's behavior and look at all the circumstances ... in determining what (the judge) is going to do about letting him back out on bond."
However, Trayvon's family attorney Benjamin Crump said Monday that "if attorney O'Mara files the motion, then the stage is set for George Zimmerman and his wife to have to take the witness stand and try to explain what the state attorney said were blatant lies to the court, thus exposing them further to credibility issues," CNN reports.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, faces a second-degree murder charge for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American teen.
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