George Zimmerman’s legal team said that it will file a motion on Monday for a new bond hearing, one day after he returned to jail.
Seminole County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. revoked his $150,000 bond Friday, suggesting that Zimmerman and his wife Shellie had not been honest about their finances during the bond hearing held in April, when they indicated they had limited funds. Prosecutors pointed out in a court filing that Zimmerman actually had raised $135,000 through a website he set up for his defense.
“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,” the O’Mara Law Group said Monday in a posting on gzlegalcase.com, the site it set up to represent Zimmerman online in early May.
Zimmerman, 28, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, of Miami Gardens in a Sanford gated community on Feb. 26. Zimmerman claims self-defense. He is represented by Mark O'Mara and Donald West.
He surrendered to police and was booked back into jail in Sanford on Sunday.
See the motion prosecutors made to revoke Zimmerman's bond here.
His lawyers noted that Zimmerman gave several voluntary statements to police, reenacted the events of Feb. 26 for them, gave voice samples and stayed in contact with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement during his first period in hiding before his arrest on April 11.
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“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,” his legal team said.
In their posting, his team said it was clear from Zimmerman’s phone conversations that he knew a significant amount of money had been raised by his original site, therealgeorgezimmerman.com.
“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,” his team said.
Zimmerman first told his defense team about the funds five days after his bond hearing, the gzlegalcase.com posting says.
Zimmerman and his wife only used $5,000 from the fund to pay his bond, O'Mara said in court Friday.
About $204,000 was raised, with about $150,000 transferred to a new, independently managed legal defense fund, according to the posting. About $30,000 was spent on Zimmerman’s transition to a life in hiding, and the remaining $20,000 or so was set aside for several months of living expenses as the legal case unfolds, it added.
The new fund has raised more than $37,000 in the 32 days since it was created on May 3. Of that amount $2,000 has been put toward household expenses, and none of the money has yet to be allocated to legal expenses, the posting said.
Separately, prosecutors said in a court document released Monday that they turned over 151 of Zimmerman's recorded jail calls from April 12-22 as well as his and his wife's credit union records to O'Mara on Friday.
