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
This has got the stench of Eric Holder all over it. A couple of phone calls and - wham - the horrid economic news today is off the front page..
Thanks for posting the print version.
A process violation which is quite separate from the BS murder charge.
A process violation which is quite separate from the BS murder charge.
A process violation which is quite separate from the BS murder charge.
Thanks for clarifying about the passports.
No one is saying that this "process violation" has anything to do with the murder charge. It doesn't. It has to do with the bond hearing, which is why the bond was revoked - the bond was set based, in part, on the information before the court at the time, which did not include the extra money from the PayPal account; now that the court knows about the PayPal account, and knows that Zimmerman failed to disclose it, the court revoked Zimmerman's bond, and will likely increase the bond to account for the extra money.
Just making that clear for OBots. Don't want any misunderstanding you know.
What is clear and your statement emphasizes is that the prosecutors who initiated this brouhaha are aiming at having another charge against Zimmerman should the 2nd degree conviction fail. Clever, just like the Feds nailed Al Capone on tax evasion.
That's doubtful. Perjury is actually one of the most difficult (if not the most difficult) crimes for a prosecutor to prove. It is very difficult to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that someone knew they were lying, and it is very easy for defendants to argue that the questions were vague/misunderstood/etc (think Bill Clinton's "depends on the meaning of 'is'" nonsense). It would be extremely unlikely that a prosecutor would use a perjury charge-particularly one arising out of a bond hearing like this-as a "fallback" charge in case they fail to get a conviction on other charges.
“Passports are a document that you only get to have one active one, at a time. “
Small point: You can have more than one active passport.
For example, you can have the typical “tourist” (Blue) passport and an “Official Passport” (Maroon in color).
Just can’t have two of the same classification.
Small point, to be sure, and not a swipe at you.
BUT were he a flight risk he'd be long gone, and when an overzealous Prosecutor goes wild and has a press conference stirring up Sharpton, Farrakhan, and the New Black Panthers so that you're afraid for your life at every turn and can't work and have to be in seclusion, I wouldn't want the state getting access to any funding sources I had.
The Judge is hurting George`s chance of a fair trial by doing this so publicly.
That’s just it: There is a bail schedule that gives ranges for bail based on the offense. However, on constitutional grounds you can claim indigence before the court, which is what Zimmerman did. When you claim to be indigent, you’re seeking the lowest bail per schedule for the offense you are charged with or you are seeking off-schedule bail at an even lower rate. Either way, when you claim to be indigent, you’d damn well better be indigent.
If this were a case involving an outspoken liberal who had hidden assets from the court during an arraignment or bail hearing, FReepers would be howling with outrage no matter how minor the actual crime he was facing. Yet somehow, Zimmerman seems to get a pass from many.
Yes, an innocent man railroaded by a politically inspired prosecution "seems to get a pass"! Where is the outrage?!
Your government babble is so damn typical...
and having an extra passport.
That alone is enough to revoke his bail. Bonehead mistake by Zimmerman.
It is worse. Zimmerman is going to prison.
hopefully, while in custody, he’ll be beat to death, maybe stabbed by some Florida gangster, thus avoiding an embarrassing trial.
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