George Zimmerman's Bail Revoked In Death Of Trayvon Martin, Must Report To Jail By Sunday
A Florida Judge revoked George Zimmerman's bond in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Friday, after it was revealed the former neighborhood watch volunteer and his wife may have conspired to lie about thousands of dollars they collected toward Zimmerman's legal defense before his initial bond hearing.
Zimmerman must report to Seminole County jail by 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The surprising decision came shortly after the state filed the motion on Friday, just before a hearing in Sanford, Fla., discussing the release of more evidence in the case against Zimmerman.
Prosecutors argue that Zimmerman misled the court during his April bail hearing, where he was released on $150,000 bond. However, Zimmerman reportedly brought in more than $200,000 from a website collecting donations from his legal defense fund, a detail the defendant's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, says he was unaware of before that hearing.
On Friday Prosecutor Bernie de La Rionda told Judge Kenneth Lester that the court, was led to believe that they didn't have a single penny at the earlier bond hearing, which clearly was not the case.The state also alleges that Zimmerman's wife, Shelley, knew about the money and lied about it during the hearing.
State prosecutors also said Zimmerman has another passport he did not disclose to the court, a lie de La Ronda said casts further doubts on his credibility.
The defendent lied to the court, de Le Ronda said Friday, according to local media reports.
Zimmerman is facing second-degree murder charges in the Feb. 26 shooting. He told police he fired his weapon at the unarmed teenager in self-defense after Martin knocked him to the ground and began banging his head against the sidewalk.
However, Martin's family, as well as several Civil Rights organizations, allege Zimmerman is guilty of racial profiling and intentionally targeted Martin. Martin's father and his family attorneys claim Zimmerman spotted the African American teen walking through the Sanford neighborhood he was patrolling and then intentionally pursued him and confronted him with a handgun.
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