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Valencia Voice

Official Student Media of Valencia College

Valencia Voice

Official Student Media of Valencia College

Valencia Voice

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Zimmerman’s bond revoked

Bond has been revoked for George Zimmerman, the shooter of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman must return to jail within 48 hours.

Accusations were brought against Zimmerman in a special hearing Friday, alleging that he failed to surrender a second U.S. passport to officials as part of his bond agreement, and that he misled courts about his finances.

Zimmerman’s $150,000 bond was granted April 20 under several conditions, including the surrender of his passport.

Zimmerman’s defense attorney, Mark O’Mara, delivered the passport to the court during the April 20 bond hearing, citing that it was his “client’s current passport and the only passport he has.”

Prosecutors allege in the Motion to Revoke Bond that Zimmerman obtained a second passport in 2004 by filing a claim that his original had been lost or stolen.

Recordings of conversations between Zimmerman and his wife reveal the two discussing financial matters and the presence of a second passport.

“Do you know what? I think my passport is in that bag,” said Zimmerman to his wife Shelly seven minutes into a phone call that was recorded at the Seminole County Jail. She replied, “I have one for you in the safety deposit box…”

Prosecutors also claim that the couple downplayed the state of their finances by about 1,000 times, and that Shelly had assisted her husband in “intentionally decieving the court” through phone calls recorded at the Seminole County Jail whereby the two spoke in “code” about how much money was transfered from a website for Zimmerman through Paypal to a credit union.

“So total everything, how much are we looking at?” Zimmerman asked his wife during one of the calls, to which she replied, “Like $155.”

New documents show that Zimmerman had over $135,000 in the credit union account the day before the April 20 hearing, which was of importance to his family’s ability to make bond. The Motion to Revoke Bond reads that he “fully controlled and participated in the transfer of money.”

Shelly Zimmerman claimed that she and her family did not have adequate money to pay for Zimmerman’s bond during the April 20 hearing, and that she didn’t know how much money the website had collected.

During an April 27 hearing regarding motions filed by media attorneys, O’Mara said that Zimmerman’s wife had misinformed the court about family finances, and that the money had been transfered into a trust account controlled by the Defense Councel. The State of Florida would use stronger language, according to the Motion to Revoke Bond, saying that Shelly Zimmerman had “lied.”

The state requested an increase in bond amount after the April 27 hearing, but the court ruled that it would have to determine who created and controlled the account, as well as who was in charge when payments were made into it, before a decision could be made.

The motion also alleges that O’Mara was not aware of Zimmerman’s second passport, and that “he too, like the court, was misled.”

The revocation motion was filed as part of a hearing debating the confidentiality of court records. Several media outlets have filed motions requesting that the courts not seal records that are typically made public.

Florida prosecutor Bernando de la Rio has requested that certain information — like the names of witnesses — be kept private due to the highly publicized nature of the case.

It is estimated that the second-degree murder trial will not begin until some time in 2013.

Fred Lambert contributed to this article.

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