Zimmerman Back In Court Friday Seeking Release On Bond
ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) — A Florida judge will consider releasing self-proclaimed neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman at a second bond hearing on Friday in connection with the shooting death of Miami teen Travyon Martin.
George Zimmerman's attorney asked that Zimmerman be granted bond for a second time.
The neighborhood watch volunteer was granted a $150,000 bond in April but it was revoked earlier this month after prosecutors accused Zimmerman and his wife of misleading the court about how much money they had raised from donations to a website. Prosecutors say they had raised at least $135,000 from the website created by Zimmerman.
During the hearing, Zimmerman's wife, Shellie, testified that the couple had limited funds to use for bail since she was a fulltime nursing student and he wasn't working. Zimmerman did nothing to correct her as she testified by telephone due to safety concerns. Prosecutors say jailhouse calls between Zimmerman and his wife a few days before the hearing show the neighborhood watch volunteer instructing his wife on how to transfer funds raised by the website to her account.
Zimmerman's wife, Shellie, was later charged with making a false statement.
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara says Zimmerman isn't a flight risk and stayed in touch with law enforcement during his initial release on bail.
Zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty, has maintained since the Feb. 26 killing that he shot Martin in self-defense because the unarmed 17-year-old was beating him up after confronting Zimmerman about following him in a gated community outside Orlando.
Zimmerman has asked that he be allowed to wear civilian clothes at the hearing.
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