TRAYVON MARTIN
Trayvon Martin’s shooter is going back to jail.
A Florida judge revoked the bond of George Zimmerman after ruling that he and his wife misled the court at a bail hearing two months ago.
Florida prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda argued that Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, knew her husband had $135,000 to post bond because that amount had been raised in donations for his murder-trial defense.
But during the bail hearing in April, she testified the couple had little money because Zimmerman wasn’t working and she was a nursing student.
“The defendant’s wife lied to this court,” de la Rionda said during a hearing yesterday in Sanford, Fla. “This court was led to believe that they didn’t have a single penny.”
Her testimony helped convince a judge to set bond at $150,000. Zimmerman posted that amount three days later and has been staying at an undisclosed location since then.
Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, argued yesterday that “there was no deceit” and that Shellie made an honest mistake at the April hearing.
But de la Rionda told Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester, “It was misleading, and I don’t know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie.”
Lester agreed.
“He can’t sit back and obtain the benefit of a lower bond based upon those material falsehoods,” the judge said in ordering Zimmerman to surrender himself.
The judge said he would schedule a new hearing once Zimmerman is back in custody so the neighborhood watch leader could explain himself.
Zimmerman shot Martin, 17, in February during a confrontation at a gated community of town houses in Sanford. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges and claims self-defense.
Yesterday’s ruling might keep Zimmerman in jail until his trial. O’Mara said on a Web site that he doesn’t expect the case to go to trial until next year.
He expects to call on 50 witnesses who need to be deposed before he decides whether to file a “stand your ground” motion that would ask for a hearing before a judge and without a jury.
During yesterday’s hearing, both de la Rionda and O’Mara asked the judge to stop the public release of witnesses’ names and of statements made by Zimmerman to police officers.
Lester agreed, adding that he will order the release of the documents once he has reviewed them and redacted items that aren’t subject to disclosure under the state’s public-records law.
De la Rionda said making the documents public would mean trying the case in the public arena, rather than in a courtroom.
“We are in a new age with Twitter, Facebook and all these things I’ve never heard of before in my career,” he told the judge. “Everybody gets to find out intimate details about witnesses that never occurred before. Witnesses are going to be reluctant to get involved.”
With AP
