Posted on 06/04/2012 2:40:56 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
Zimmerman's defense team will file a motion today for a second bond hearing. While Mr. Zimmerman acknowledges that he allowed his financial situation to be misstated in court, the defense will emphasize that in all other regards, Mr. Zimmerman has been forthright and cooperative. He gave several voluntary statements to the police, re-enacted the events for them, gave voice exemplars for comparison and stayed in ongoing contact with the Department of Law Enforcement during his initial stage of being in hiding. He has twice surrendered himself to law enforcement when asked to do so, and this should demonstrate that Mr. Zimmerman is not a flight risk. He has also complied with all conditions of his release, including curfew, keeping in touch with his supervising officers, and maintaining his GPS monitoring, without violation.
The audio recordings of Mr. Zimmerman's phone conversations while in jail make it clear that Mr. Zimmerman knew a significant sum had been raised by his original fundraising website. We feel the failure to disclose these funds was caused by fear, mistrust, and confusion. The gravity of this mistake has been distinctly illustrated, and Mr. Zimmerman understands that this mistake has undermined his credibility, which he will have to work to repair.
At the point of the bond hearing, Mr. Zimmerman had been driven from his home and neighborhood, could not go to work, his wife could not go back to a finish her nursing degree, his mother and father had been driven from their home, and he had been thrust into the national spotlight as a racist murderer by factions acting with their own agendas. None of those allegations have been supported by the discovery released to date, yet the hatred continues.
It must be noted that, when attempting to interpret George's actions regarding the funds, that he did disclose the existence of the funds five days after the bond hearing, during his first conversation with the defense about the fund. When the defense team learned of the funds, we disclosed this to the court and to the State Attorney's Office, and the money was transferred to the Legal Defense Fund which is now independently managed.
Of the original $204,000 raised by Mr. Zimmerman's fund, approximately $150,000 was transferred to the Legal Defense Fund. $30,000 was used to make the complicated transition from private life in Sanford, FL to a life in hiding as a defendant in a high-profile court case. The balance of approximately $20,000 was kept liquid to provide living expenses for the first several months as the legal process unfolds.
Since the independently managed Legal Defense Fund was established on May 3, supporters have contributed more than $37,000. Of this amount, $2,000 has been designated for household expenses. Less than $300 has been designated for fund management and fees associated with maintaining the conditions of the bond. None of the funds have yet to be allocated to legal expenses. Neither Mr. Zimmerman or the defense team has direct access to the independently managed Legal Defense Fund.
>>Would O’Mara have seen the full transcript of the tapes, or heard the whole thing?<<
I don’t believe that MOM had access to the tapes until 8:30 in the morning of the hearing. I sure wouldn’t trust a transcript of the phone calls.
There was speculation on another website that maybe the reason MOM was putting off asking for another bond hearing is because he was going to go on the offensive against the state for misrepresenting the phone calls or even going after the judge.
I've asked before, I'm asking again ... a link please.
Not to split hairs or anything... but the fund was set up expressly for legal defense... and living expenses. Perhaps in their minds it was “theirs”... that's why they were moving it around. She had the correct answer herself...
It also looks like the original fund was set up illegally... a violation of Florida Statute 496.413... a felony of the third degree.
I think he put it off because he knew he would be turned down. Zimmerman who is destitute and dependent upon charity just lost $15,000 down the rathole all based upon the filing of a prosecutor who misled the very same court in her opening statement. Worst yet, she even admits it in a phone call to Harvard University.
A transcript of that phone call needs to be turned over to the court and MOM needs to ask for a dismissal of all charges, and an investigation of her misconduct, including witness tampering.
The question that they may have been wrestling with was whether use of the money for bailbond fell under the category of "legal defense". For the court to take the Paypal account into consideration for bailbond would have precluded what the account was set up for.
Perhaps in their minds it was “theirs”... that's why they were moving it around.
Perhaps in their minds they also felt responsible to the donors for it and did not feel that using it for bailbond would be in keeping with what was promised on the website.
She had the correct answer herself...
Yeh -- "I don't know".
It also looks like the original fund was set up illegally... a violation of Florida Statute 496.413... a felony of the third degree.
I don't think that any of the donors to that fund give a rats behind about that statute. They wanted it handled with due diligence and it was by GZ and Shellie. Besides they are only in violation if they don't have a trustee and who is to say that GZ's brother was not the trustee??? That was what she indicated to the judge in her answers but he chose to not pursue it further. Perhaps he just didn't want to know.
kerping ... and thanks for the ping to the Memorial Day sermon.
Tom did not die by hanging. Also, I read an article about the neighbor watch program and there is a national program that offers advice and information. According to this org., Zimmerman did everything wrong. You do not give chase, you to not pursue, you do not make any contact, and you do not carry a gun. You watch and report. Thats it. I am sick of these threads that portray Zimmerman as a hero and Martin a thug. I am sick that Zimmerman’s past gets a total pass, while Martin is the “thug.” I listened to all the 911 tapes and I defy you to argue that Zimmerman was calm and simply reporting. He was angry and called Martin a “fucking asshole.” This was before any contact and before he left the car. Yeah, Zimmerman is a hothead with a gun. We disagree, but I don’t call names. BTW, I like this site, I’m staying. I plan on making a donation today so I feel I have the right to be here as much as you.
You are presently the biggest blemish this site has.
You are against everything we stand for here. You belong at one of the standard leftie race-baiting forums.
You’ll be the protagonist in a new book: “To Kill an Eagle”
I can't speak to how all other countries handle it, but U.S. passports have the number printed in them in a format easily regognized by the optical character readers U.S. border agents use, which I believe interface with State Department computers to display the passport status on screens used by the agents.
Last I checked, trying to escape from a correctional facility was a crime, and inmates are aware that the guards may "shoot to kill". So, though I have every sympathy for his wrongful conviction, trying to escape he was as much "taking the law into his own hands" as a vigilante. Tom Robinson was killed committing a crime which was the proximate cause of his death. So, as much as one may sympathize with him, he is responsible for his own death.
Arguing the Zimmerman case before ALL the facts are out, and evidence is subjected to scrutiny, is useless. People have chosen a side based on emotion and choose the evidence they consider relevaant based on which side they have chosen.
It is a waste of time to attempt a logical discussion with BLOC77, his position is Sarah Bardy’s position WRT private guns:
>> “Zimmerman did everything wrong. You do not give chase, you to not pursue, you do not make any contact, and you do not carry a gun. You watch and report.” <<
By his method, Zimmerman would now be dead, and the thug Trayvon Martin would be getting kid glove handling at most.
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