Watch live coverage of George Zimmerman’s bond hearing at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time to determine if Trayvon Martin’s killer will be released from jail pending his murder trial. This comes just a day after we learned that Trayvon Martin’s parents refused to grant Zimmerman’s request for a face-to-face meeting.
George Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara will go before Judge Kenneth Lester at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center to seek the release. Concerns for Zimmerman’s safety and travel restrictions will be considerations in the hearing. George Zimmerman faces second-degree murder charges for the February 26th killing of Trayvon Martin.
Watch George Zimmerman’s bail hearing live below:
Live Blog – Latest Updates In The Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman Case
*Times are U.S. Central
5:45 a.m. – Trayvon Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, will attend the bond hearing this morning with their attorney Benjamin Crump.
7:55 – Trayvon Martin’s parents and their attorney arrived in the courtroom.
8:03 – Zimmerman arrives in courtroom in shackles, wearing a black suit, white shirt and gray tie. His attorney O’Mara is present as well.
8:06 – The proceedings begin with Zimmerman’s attorney O’Mara speaking.
8:08 – O’Mara surrenders Zimmerman’s passport to the court.
8:10 – Defense witnesses being giving instructions on testifying. Shelly Zimmerman (George’s wife) is in contact with the court via telephone. She has other witnesses with her. They will testify via phone.
8:12 – Shelly Zimmerman begins to testify. She’s been married to George for 5 years.
8:16 – Attorney O’Mara asks questions to try to establish that the Zimmermans are indigent and unable to pay bond.
8:16 – Shelly Zimmerman testifies that she is willing to help Zimmerman keep the terms of his bond. She testifies that she and his other family are concerned for his safety and want to keep his location while out on bond confidential.
8:18 SZ testifies that she does not believe that Zimmerman is a danger to society.
8:19 The prosecution’s attorney begins to cross-examine Shelly Zimmerman. Prosecution questions her about Zimmerman’s previous arrests. One was an assault on an officer.
8:22 Prosecution continues SZ questioning. She says that Zimmerman hit the officer, but the officer hadn’t identified himself.
8:23 Prosecution questions SZ about whether she was aware of the details of his assault on his ex-fiance. Prosecution asks her that in spite of knowing about his previous assaults she still feels that he is not a danger to society. She said he was not a danger.
8:26 Shelly Z. was not with her husband since he was in hiding.
8:28 SZ said that she has received hate mail, but no threats herself.
8:29 O’Mara asks SZ more questions about his previous assault and battery charges.
8:35 Shelly Z. says she’s never seen her husband angry.
8:36 Robert Zimmerman (father) is sworn in and begins his testimony. He says he’s lived in FL for over 5 years and maintained close contact with George. The father said that he would help to ensure that George would make all the conditions of his bond. Father is a disabled vet and he and his wife are retired. They said they have a home and a small savings. He said that he would take on a second mortgage on his home to help secure George’s release.
8:40 Father says he’s never known to be violent unless provoked and then he’s turn the other cheek.
8:41 Prosecutor begins his cross-examination of Robert Zimmerman. He questions his statement about not seeing George being violent. He brings up George’s violent arrests from the past. The father is aware and provides excuses. Prosecution shows that these are situations where George didn’t turn the other cheek. “He’s been honest his whole life,” his father says.
8:45 Prosecution asks father about whether George wanted to be a police officer. Father says that he always was interested in criminal justice. Father was aware that George was involved in neighborhood watch. Father says he knows nothing about the violence against George’s ex-
8:47 Prosecutor asks whether he is aware of George’s website, but he is not in charge and has no idea who does. He doesn’t know where the money is going or who has access to it.
8:49 Father says he observed swollen face and scars on the back of the head after killing Trayvon. Lip swollen and cut, protective covering over the nose. Two vertical gashes on the back of his head. There is a photo on an iPhone somewhere. He has had limited access to his son since his head was beaten
8:50 Father said he spoke to the State’s Attorney’s office in Sanford the day after the incident.
8:51 Gladys Zimmerman (mother) is sworn in and begins her testimony. She says she has concerns for George’s safety because they have received a lot of threats. She says she wants secrecy about his whereabouts if he is let out on bond. She is willing to put up her house to secure his release.
8:57 O’Mara asks about George’s previous assaults. She gives the example that George came to the defense of a homeless man who was beaten. She says that Sanford’s mayor recognized him for organizing the fight for justice after a police officer’s son assaulted the homeless man.
9:00 Mother testifies that George mentored two children for two years. According to her, George taught them good manners. He was supposedly devoted to these children. She said that the children were African American.
9:02 Prosecutor begins cross examination of Gladys Zimmerman. He asks about George’s level of compliance with police officers. She says she knows about the website, but has no access to it.
9:06 O’Mara calls the Investigator Dale Gilbreath, one of the investigators with the State’s Attorney’s Office. He says he was not planning to testify and has brought no supporting documentation to court. They are going over the probable cause affidavit.
9:10 O’Mara questions the fact that the probable cause affidavit has no substantive evidence. He questions the use of the word “profiled” in the affidavit. Gilbreath says that his supervisor reviewed the document in addition to the other investigator who helped to prepare it.
9:13 Gilbreath explains that he got many of the statements in the document from listening to the 911 calls (nonemergency police calls). He says there was one call to the police by Zimmerman.
9:15 O’Mara questions that they used two quotes they chose for the document had explicatives. Why didn’t the other statements Zimmerman made on the call make it into the document?
9:17 Gilbreath admitted that Trayvon’s girlfriend (witness) wasn’t interviewed until five weeks after the killing.
9:30 Prosecutor De La Rio establishes that there is video of Trayvon Martin purchasing Skittles and iced tea at 7/11. Gilbreath says that dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon, but he did anyway.
9:32 Gilbreath says they verified through phone records that the phone call with the girlfriend took place. He said that the other investigator (Osteen) was the one who actually verified this. Gilbreath says Zimmerman was armed and Martin was unarmed. Gilbreath says that you can hear Zimmerman continue to pursue Martin despite being told not to.
9:35 O’Mara objects to the line of questioning because these were not facts in evidence.
9:42 O’Mara continues to question Gilbreath and establishes that there is no evidence that conflicts with the contention that Martin assaulted Zimmerman.
9:49 Gilbreath said that Zimmerman had two lacerations to the back of his head. he injuries are consistent with a harder object striking the back of his head.
9:53 Zimmerman is making a statement. He was sworn in. He says he is “sorry for the loss of your son. I didn’t know that he was that young. I though that he was a little younger than me.” He says that he told the police that he felt sorry for the family. He said he told the police that he was sorry that they lost their child. He says he didn’t know if they were going to convey the message. he said he waited so long to tell the parents because he was told not to contact the parents.
He remembers giving 3 statements on that night. He says he didn’t change his story as he went along. He gave his phone to the police. He said he received and sent messages on the phone. Did you make any references to Mr. Martin the father of Martin. Does he recall sending a message–email or txt message–referring to the victim’s father? He said no.
10:01 O’Mara reestablished that Zimmerman doesn’t have the financial means, cannot support himself, his wife is a student. O’Mara asks the judge to consider a GPS monitor for the bond period. He tries to establish that Zimmerman will not be able to work in public in the near future. He suggests bond for Zimmerman, and argues that the probable cause presented by the state was insufficient. Defense is asking for a $15,000 bond.
10:04 Prosecutor argues against bond–cites flight risk, innocent unarmed young man, Zimmerman’s possible threat to others, people may want to “get at him,” lack of adhering to authority as evidenced by previous assaults, they ask for either no bond or a $1,000,000 bond.
10:08 He set bond at $150,000 and will use GPS monitoring. Zimmerman is to have no alcohol, no contact with victim’s family or witnesses, location report every three days, and a 7pm-6am curfew.
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