Judge revokes George Zimmerman’s bond, orders him to surrender

By Michael Muskal
LA Times

A Florida judge revoked the bail bond of George Zimmerman on Friday and ordered the man charged in the death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin to surrender within 48 hours.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said Zimmerman had falsely represented his financial state when the $150,000 bond was set. Lester ruled at a hearing at which prosecutors requested that the bond be revoked because Zimmerman’s finances had been misrepresented and because the defendant had not revealed that he had a second passport.

Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Martin, 17, in February. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, has admitted shooting Martin, an African American, but has insisted that he acted in self-defense during a confrontation at a gated community in Sanford, Fla.

Sanford police accepted Zimmerman’s claim and refused to charge him, leading to more than six weeks of racially charged protests.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott eventually appointed a special prosecutor, who brought the second-degree murder charge.

At his bail hearing on the murder charge, Zimmerman’s lawyers argued that the family had limited finances. Bond was eventually set at $150,000; Zimmerman posted it and was then released. He has been in seclusion, citing death threats.

According to a transcript of the April bond hearing, Zimmerman’s wife testified that they had limited funds since she was a nursing student and Zimmerman was unemployed.

But it was later revealed that Zimmerman had raised more than $200,000 from a website the family set up to solicit contributions for the defense. That money was not disclosed during the bail hearing.

On Friday, prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda described the Zimmermans’ testimony as false.

“This court was led to believe they didn’t have a single penny,” De la Rionda said. “It was misleading and I don’t know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie.”

Defense attorney Mark O’Mara argued that the omission was simply a misunderstanding.

But Lester sided with prosecutors. Zimmerman “can’t sit back and obtain the benefit of a lower bond based upon those material falsehoods,” the judge said.

Zimmerman also surrendered his passport to authorities as a condition of being released. But in their papers, prosecutors said Zimmerman had a second passport which he still has. The second passport was a replacement for the first, which reportedly was lost.

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