- Associated Press
- George Zimmerman at an April 20 bond hearing.
Breaking: A Florida judge revoked the bond of neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who was charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager, and ordered him to present himself to authorities within 48 hours, writes WSJ’s Arian Campo-Flores.
The move came amid allegations that Mr. Zimmerman misrepresented to the court what he knew about money in a defense fund he created. Mr. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors filed a motion earlier Friday asking Judge Kenneth Lester to revoke the bond, arguing that Mr. Zimmerman and his wife misled the court during an April 20 bond hearing. At that hearing, Mr. Zimmernan’s wife testified by phone that she had no money available to pay bond. Mr. Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, made similar statements regarding his client.Associated Press
George Zimmerman at an April 20 bond hearing.
Yet the following week, Mr. O’Mara told Judge Lester at a subsequent hearing that he had been informed that a legal fund created by Mr. Zimmerman contained some $ 200,000. At the time, prosecutors requested that the bond be revoked, but the judge declined to do so.
At Friday’s hearing, however, assistant state attorney Bernie de la Rionda presented new information. He said prosecutors had reviewed phone calls between Mr. Zimmerman and his wife, made prior to the April 20 bond hearing, in which the two discussed using money from the defense fund to pay his bond.
Mr. Zimmerman couldn’t sit in court “like a potted plant and let his wife testify falsely,” Judge Lester said, clearly displeased at the revelation.
After revoking Mr. Zimmerman’s bond, he ordered the defendant to turn himself in to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office within 48 hours. He said a hearing would be scheduled for Mr. Zimmerman to explain what transpired to the court.
Here’s past coverage of the case on the Law Blog.