Saturday, June 30, 2012

Zimmerman makes new appeal for bail

LIVE VIDEO ? George Zimmerman, charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, attends bail hearing in Sanford, Fla.

By NBC's Jamie Novogrod and msnbc.com's Kari Huus

Updated at?12:05 pm ET:?At a bail hearing for George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., the defendant's father, Robert John Zimmerman, briefly took the stand. After the elder Zimmerman was sworn in, defense attorney Mark O'Mara played a witness 911 tape that caught sounds of screaming during the fatal encounter being Trayvon and Zimmerman, along with a shot being fired.

Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the February shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is seeking release on bail for the second time. His initial bail of $150,000 was revoked and he was rearrested in early June, after prosecutors argued that the couple had mislead the court about?their financial picture in the first bail hearing on April 20.

Under questioning by O'Mara, the elder Zimmerman said he told state investigators that the voice of the man screaming "was absolutely George's."

Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda then questioned Robert Zimmerman, asking how his son could make those screaming noises if in fact Trayvon was covering his nose and mouth, as George Zimmerman told police.

Robert Zimmerman responded: "From the look of my son's injuries, Trayvon Martin's hands were not just on his nose and mouth."


Earlier, the court heard testimony from firefighter Kevin O'Rourke, of the Sanford Fire Department, who was called to the scene after the shooting.? O'Rourke, who said he attended to Zimmerman, answered questions about the severity of his injuries.

"I observed that he had blood on his face and the back of his head," O'Rourke said.

He said that Zimmerman's nose was "obviously deformed," agreeing with defense attorney Don West that the injury was consistent with a broken nose. But under questioning by prosecutor de la Rionda, O'Rourke said he didn't diagnose Zimmerman with a broken nose.

The court was also shown the last minutes of a video taken by Sanford police on Feb. 27 in which Zimmerman discusses wounds to his nose and head.

Zimmerman appeared at the hearing wearing a grey suit, after Judge Kenneth Lester after O'Mara had successfully argued that showing up in prison garb and shackles could damage his client's chances of getting a fair trial.

Martin's older brother Jahvaris Martin attended the hearing, along with Trayvon's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. The family was escorted -- and is seated with -- family attorney Benjamin Crump.

After O'Rourke had described Zimmerman's wounds at length -- in response to questioning by the defense team -- de la Rionda shifted focus from Zimmerman to Trayvon Martin, asking the defense witness to describe the wounds sustained by Martin.?De la Rionda asked O'Rourke to confirm that Trayvon had no weapon on his person.

Following the money
At the start of the hearing, the first witness to testify, at the request of Zimmerman's defense attorney Mark O'Mara, was an accounting expert Adam MaGill, who detailed a series of money transfers conducted by the defendant's wife, using money contributed for his legal defense.

MaGill, who was called by O'Mara said he was asked by O'Mara to look at records of money transfers from Zimmerman's PayPal account to the official legal defense fund later established by O'Mara.

Zimmerman, who was released on bail of $150,000 in April, was rearrested June 3 after prosecutors charged that Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, had misled the court about their finances at that bail hearing.

NBC News

George Zimmerman appears in court in Sanford, Florida, on Friday.

Shellie Zimmerman?asserted at the first bail hearing that she did not know how much money was in a PayPal account set up for contributions to Zimmerman?s legal defense.

In recorded telephone conversations from jail prior to that date, Zimmerman and his wife appear to discuss ? in thinly?disguised code ? the amount of money in the account, and he instructs her to make a series of transfers to other accounts, the prosecution charges. (Read original report.)

Special Prosecutor Angela Corey used the recordings to persuade?the judge to revoke the original bond for George Zimmerman.?Shellie Zimmerman was arrested on June 12, charged with perjury and released on $1,000 bond.

O?Mara told NBC on Thursday that if Zimmerman is released on bond, he would go back into hiding for his own safety. The shooting death of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in February has stirred an emotional national debate about race, gun rights and "stand your ground" laws like the one in Florida that use a broad definition of self-defense.

O'Mara told NBC News yesterday that Zimmerman can't afford a much higher bail than he had last time -- of $150,000.

NBC's Lisa Lampkin contributed to this report.

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Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/29/12474108-george-zimmerman-back-in-court-seeking-bail-for-a-second-time?lite

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