After Lying about Passport and Money, Zimmerman to request new bond hearing

From [HERE] and [HERE] George Zimmerman's lawyer has vowed to file a motion asking a Florida judge for a new bond hearing for their client Monday, a day after the murder suspect returned to jail on a judge's order.

Three months after killing Martin, Seminole County Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. ordered Zimmerman into custody, finding that the suspect was not being truthful about how much money he had access to when his bond was set months earlier.

The defense team, in an online statement posted Sunday, pointed to the fact that Zimmerman turned himself in voluntarily, and within the 48-hour limit mandated by Judge Lester, as proof "that he is not a flight risk."

His lawyers also contend, in an online statement, that "the vast majority of the funds in question are in an independently managed trust" that Zimmerman and his attorneys can not access directly.  In trust or not, the attorney and Zimmerman knew the $ existed. His attorney is not working pro-bono -  the money is for the main purpose of paying his attorney's fee. The money is not available for the attorney's personal consumption until the case is concluded. But Zimmerman could have authorized attorney to post bond out of the funds. O'Mara would not have retained him if he was broke-- bw.

The white media has already forgotten that Zimmerman lied about having a second passport. In a packed Florida courtroom in April, George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer surrendered his client’s passport—a gesture to show that Zimmerman would not attempt to flee the country if he were released on bond. The state attorney’s office says Zimmerman failed to give the court another valid American passport he had obtained in 2004. 

Prosecutors said Zimmerman got his second passport after claiming he’d lost his original one, which expired at the end of May 2012. It was that original passport which he turned over to the court; the second passport, which is valid until 2014, remained in his possession. [MORE] Why else would he fail to disclose having another passport? He wanted to keep it - in case he decided to flee the country. He is absolutely a flight risk -- he turned himself in b/c he was ordered to - and he is clearly a danger to people of color. And what about lying to obtain a second passport - doesn't that violate a federal statute (Homeland Security)?

Zimmerman's credibility could become an issue at trial, noting the case hinges on jurors believing his account of what happened the night in February that Mr. Martin was killed. His attorney's credibility with the Judge and the public is also at issue. 

Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda complained Friday: “This court was led to believe they didn’t have a single penny. It was misleading and I don’t know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie.”

Part of the evidence presented to the judge for revoking the bond related to Z and wife discussing the money and the second passport Z had:

As evidence, prosecutors presented transcripts at Friday’s hearing of telephone conversations between Mr. Zimmerman, who was in jail, and his wife. They said the two were discussing in code what to do with the money.

The judge agreed and ordered Mr. Zimmerman returned to jail by Sunday afternoon, where he is now. [MORE] 

Zimmerman "fully controlled and participated in the transfer of money from the PayPal account to defendant and his wife's credit union accounts," Corey said in court records. "This occurred prior to the time defendant was arguing to the court that he was indigent and his wife had no money."

The judge "relied on false representations and statements" by Zimmerman and his wife when the court set his bond at $150,000, Corey said. Zimmerman was required to post only 10% of that.

Lester appeared angry that the court had not been told about the money.

"Does your client get to sit there like a potted palm and let you lead me down the primrose path?" he asked Zimmerman's lawyer. "That's the issue."

He is being held on no-bail status in administrative confinement at Seminole County's John E. Polk Correctional Facility, Sheriff Donald Eslinger said. Equipped with two beds and a toilet, his cell is designed to hold two inmates and is about 67 square feet, the sheriff's office said.

Zimmerman is "anticipated" to stand trial sometime next year, according to his defense team. His return to jail centers around a pool of money that appears to have been donated to Zimmerman through a website he set up to help with a legal defense fund.