Posted on 06/01/2012 11:50:10 AM PDT by Lurker
ORLANDO, Fla. (WLS) - Prosecutors asked a judge Friday to revoke the bond of the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Prosecutors said in a motion that 28-year-old George Zimmerman and his family misled them about his finances when testifying during a bail hearing that allowed him to be released from jail on a $150,000 bond. Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda asked for the revocation during a hearing to help determine if prosecutors and the defense can stop the public release of certain documents in the case.
During the bond hearing in April, Zimmerman's relatives testified they had limited funds. Zimmerman's attorney said several days later that he had discovered his client had raised more than $200,000 from a website. At the time of the hearing, about $135,000 had been raised, and that money wasn't disclosed at the bond hearing.
"This court was led to believe they didn't have a single penny," said Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda. "It was misleading and I don't know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie."
Defense attorney Mark O'Mara said it was an innocent misunderstanding and that Zimmerman wasn't using that money for his expenses and wasn't sure what he could use the money for. He said Zimmerman used the houses of his parents and grandmother as collateral for the bond.
Prosecutors also said in the motion that Zimmerman didn't disclose he had a second passport. Zimmerman turned his passport over to the court at the bond hearing as a measure that would prevent him from fleeing the country.
Zimmerman is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder and claims self-defense. Zimmerman shot Martin last February during a confrontation at a gated community of townhouses in Sanford, Fla., where Zimmerman lived and where Martin was visiting his father's fiancee.
The delay in an arrest for 44 days prompted protests nationwide and led to Sanford's police chief stepping aside so emotions could cool down.
At Friday's hearing, De la Rionda and O'Mara also asked a judge to stop the public release of witness names and statements made by Zimmerman to police officers. Those documents normally are part of the public record under Florida law.
"What's occurring, unfortunately, are cases are being tried in the public sector as opposed to in the courtroom," De La Rionda told Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester. "We are in a new age with Twitter, Facebook, and all these things I've never heard of before in my career.
Everybody gets to find out intimate details about witnesses that never occurred before. Witnesses are going to be reluctant to get involved."
A consortium of more than a dozen media groups, including The Associated Press, asked the judge to ignore the request, saying such records are presumed to be publicly available under Florida law.
Rachel Fugate, an attorney for the Orlando Sentinel, cited the Casey Anthony trial as an example of a highly publicized case in which a jury was able to be seated despite intense media coverage. The Florida mother was acquitted last year of killing her 2-year-old daughter.
"Discovery in Florida has traditionally been open ... and Florida hasn't encountered problems seating juries and giving defendants fair trials," Fugate said.
O'Mara said Friday on a website that he doesn't expect the case to be ready for trial until next year.
O'Mara said he expects to call on 50 witnesses who need to be deposed before he decides whether to file a "stand your ground" motion which would ask for a hearing before a judge without a jury. At the hearing, Zimmerman would argue self-defense under the Florida law which gives wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat in a fight if people believe they are in danger of being killed or seriously injured.
The Associated Press Contributed To This Report
Not being a Fla resident, I realize the laws vary from state to state.
I am curios about a couple of things maybe someone can answer.
Is bail set on the assets of the individual as opposed to the crime involved?
If Zimmerman’s bail was reduced due to character witnesses and the fact that he used two family members’ home to secure the new bail (as I have read), why should it matter if there is an undetermined amount of cash in a PayPal account?
“Oh stow the Capt. Zimmerman crap already. This was every reason to revoke bond. Hiding money + failing to properly surrender his passport = flight risk.”
Wow. All that’s missing is “Zimmerman is GUILTY!!!!”
Remember to always believe everything reported by ABCCBSCNNNBCFOX/AP.
No need to read beyond the headline. They’ve got your back.
Today was a different judge. Wasn't the other one a female? No comment on the kid's fb page. They are not stepping in this one.
He had 48 hours from the revocation to turn himself in.
He had two "current" passports. One issued in 2002 was reported lost or stolen, and he received a second passport in 2004. The one he turned in was the one reported lost or stolen. Not canceled, but probably not good for getting through immigration as it was flagged as a reported stolen or lost passport.
It does look like he was trying to sandbag the court on the money, too. Greed is pretty easy to fall into, especially when you have the money in your hands, after years of struggling to make ends meet. He figures he didn't do anything wrong on February 26th, and it likely pisses him off that the sate and the court are jailing him, etc. I expect he sees Lester and Corey as two fingers on the same hand - now both of them as adversaries.
Probably a good mindset to have, but he's not up to the task of pulling the wool over the court's eye's, and if he persists in that, it'll cost him more.
He lied to the Court. That’s such a huge no, no. In Florida, you better not even look at a cop wrong or try to speak. They’ve had their DHS training down here.
Also Florida related: USDOJ refused to permit Florida to purge its voter rolls of noncitizens and dead people. Barack wants to win Florida and he may need Eric Holder to win the election. Now THAT’s disgusting.
It’s still amazing how ARDENT so many are to believe everything they read from Big Media....
It’s how we got the Fraud-in-chief.
Jailhouse conversation with his wife about where to transfer the paypal funds of $135,000. Failure to disclose that those funds existed at bail hearing. Zimm cried poormouth when he knew he had these funds. This would happen to anyone who failed to disclose. It changes the outcome of the bail hearing cuz of a misrepresentation of fact.
Jailhouse conversation with his wife about where to transfer the paypal funds of $135,000. Failure to disclose that those funds existed at bail hearing. Zimm cried poormouth when he knew he had these funds. This would happen to anyone who failed to disclose. It changes the outcome of the bail hearing cuz of a misrepresentation of fact.
Foolish of the Zim pair to discuss such things over a tapped line in “code”.
He didn't ask for any. O'Mara volunteered it as a "good faith" show that Zimmerman wouldn't be a flight risk.
Passports are a document that you only get to have one active one, at a time. Normal protocol for getting a new passport is to surrender your expired or expiring one, which is punched full of holes and sent back to you, about the same time as the new one.
Zimmerman reported his lost or stolen - so he couldn't send it. That report was made two years into the passport's ten year life.
To the extent I come across as excessively contrarian, it’s because I frankly find it boring to essentially post “me too, I agree” type posts. So, I am more likely to post in a thread where I disagree with some or all of what is being said than a thread where I agree with what is being said. In the Zimmerman-Martin case, I tend not to agree with the “general beliefs of the people who use this site,” as you put it, in that the “general beliefs” appear to be that Zimmerman is 100% innocent, while I am hesitant to reach any conclusion before we see all of the facts and evidence.
************************************************************************************
“.......the “general beliefs” appear to be that Zimmerman is 100% innocent, while I am hesitant to reach any conclusion before we see all of the facts and evidence.”??????
Well, I guess you’re one of those folks who doesn’t believe that strange American concept of INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY?
Yes. The court expects to know about how much money you have, so he can set bail high enough that you are quite sure to appear. First he has to decide you aren't a danger or a flight risk - if you are either of those, no bail. Then, if you have few financial resources, low bail; if you are wealthy, high bail.
What this information suggests to me, is a very fearful man, distrustful of his government’s intention to protect him, readying for the possibility of having to abscond to save his life.
1. He has a bounty on his head ‘dead or alive.’
2. Eric Holder has refused to do a thing about the threats from the New Black Panthers.
3. Obama has spoken sympathetically in regards to a person he had to defend his life against, and who could have been whacked out on ghetto ‘lean.’(Google it)
I have no idea what is going on in Zimmerman’s mind right now, but I’d suspect much of it is not pleasant viewing.
This has nothing to do with what he was charged with, but the government piles on more punitive shit...Put him back in a cage!
He failed to comply!! Order the government agents to track him down! He is making them look bad! Get him! March him around in front of the cameras in prison garb....Make him look bad. He'll regret they day he was born!
I distinctly recall reports that Zimmerman had raised money from donations. If I know it, how can this court pretend they didn't know it?
This man is being set-up for a jailhouse killing.
I'd try to hide money and a passport just in case, as well.
Well, I guess you’re one of those folks who doesn’t believe that strange American concept of INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY?
Of course he is entitled to a presumption of innocence, but that applies only to the legal proceedings, not to public opinion. There's no American concept that says that people can look at a case and reach their own conclusions about whether someone is guilty or not before that person is convicted or acquitted.
That way the corrupt prosecutor and her corrupt government friends can avoid looking like total morons and idiots at a trial. If they can get rid of him, it's a win win.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.