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Trayvon Martin case: Zimmerman bail revoked
Seventeen year-old Trayvon Martin. PHOTO/Martin Family/AP
A judge on Friday revoked the bond of the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with shooting dead an unarmed black 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, and ordered him returned to jail within 48 hours.
George Zimmerman is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder and claims self-defense. Zimmerman shot Martin in February during a confrontation at a gated community of townhouses in Sanford, Florida, 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.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said that George Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, misled the court about how much money they had available when his bond was set for US$150,000 in April. Prosecutors claim Zimmerman had US$135,000 available that had been raised by a website he set up.
Zimmerman’s wife testified at the bond hearing that they had limited funds available since she was a nursing student and Zimmerman wasn’t working.
“He can’t sit back and obtain the benefit of a lower bond based upon those material falsehoods,” Lester said.
Defense attorney Mark O’Mara said the fact that Zimmerman and his wife never used the money for anything indicated “there was no deceit.”
