Tayvon Martin / George Zimmerman Case: Bond Hearing And Discovery Updates

No ruling in yet in George Zimmerman’s bond hearing, which was held this morning, because Judge Lester will need some time to review the 10+ hours of evidence presented by the defense. But, here’s what happened…

Attorney Argues For New Bond

Zimmerman’s attorney, Mak O’Mara, presented information and evidence aimed at letting Zimmerman back out on bond as he awaits trial. As you may recall, Judge Kenneth Lester ordered Zimmerman back to jail on June 1, 2012, after learning that he and his wife had misrepresented the amount of money they had available to pay for bond. It was shown that he and his wife, Shellie Zimmerman, conspired on jailhouse calls using coded language to hide the fact that they had over $130K from doanations from Zimmerman’s website. Shellie Zimmerman was charged with perjury for her part in the lies.

o'mara zimmerman in courtO’Mara provided a number of reasons why he thinks Zimmerman should be released on bail after lying to the court:

  • O’Mara says that Zimmerman admits fault for not speaking up about Shellie Zimmerman’s inaccurate statements about the couple’s finances during the 4/20/2012 bond hearing. He attributes this to fear, confusion, and mistrust of the system that charged him with murder after he cooperated with Sanford Police Department’s initial investigation.
  • After realizing that Judge Lester wasn’t going to let Zimmerman take the stand and not be cross-examined by the prosecution (as O’Mara requested), O’Mara tries to rationalize that Zimmerman should receive bond because he has told more truth than lies–essentially that he has been honest except for that one lie about his finances. Apparently O’Mara hasn’t listened to Zimmerman’s statements to police, because they are full of inconsistencies that would lead a rational person to conclude he was lying about much of his account of what happened the night he killed Trayvon Martin as well.
  • O’Mara also argued that Judge Lester hadn’t seen all of the evidence at the time he issued the order to revoke Zimmerman’s bond. He was referring to the fact that Judge Lester said that the prosecution had a strong case against Zimmerman.
  • The last argument that O’Mara makes in an attempt to gain bond for Zimmerman is the most despicable. He said that Trayvon Martin’s actions are what led to his death, as he continued to paint George Zimmerman as the victim. O’Mara suggests that this is why there is a strong case for self defense, which is why Zimmerman should be allowed to be free on bond while awating his trial. The implication here is that Zimmerman is innocent of wrongdoing and should not be forced to wait for a year in jail until his trial date rolls around.

Witnesses

The following witnesses testified in today’s bond hearing:

  • A forensic accountant–a financial expert for the defense–took the stand to explain how the money from Zimmerman’s website was spent and/or transferred to his wife and “sister’s” account. He answered questions from both the prosecution and the defense. He testified that the donations to George Zimmerman were all in $20 to $100 increments from “tons of people.” The forensic accountant left the stand without the Florida State Attorney’s Office asking any questions about the $24K the Zimmerman spent as expenses in just two months? They should have made the point of how much the Zimmerman’s spent in prior months compared with how they spent after the windfall of donations through the website. In the jailhouse calls, Zimmerman and his wife talk about expecting to lead a happy life after it’s all over, and they seemed to be quite happy with the money.
  • Paramedic Kevin O’Rourke took the stand to establish the injuries he observed on Zimmerman. The defense paid particular attention to discussing the blood on Zimmerman’s head after the incident. The prosecution rebutted with questioning that established head lacerations bleed more than other areas of the body, because they are “very vascular.” You can find his original testimony to the police on TheyAlwaysGetAway.com.
  • Adam Vincent, George Zimmerman’s probation officer, took the stand as a character witness and to establish Zimmerman’s compliance while previously out on bond. He testified that Zimmerman was a “model client.” Vincent also testified that he visited the place where Zimmerman was staying twice while he was out on bond, and that there were no alcohol or firearms were found on the grounds. The prosecution made the point that the probation officer didn’t know whether this was true during times when he hadn’t visited Zimmerman.
  • robert zimmerman sr george zimmerman bond hearing 06292012

  • Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman Sr., testified that the voice heard on the 911 call screaming “Help!” is that of George Zimmerman. Listen to a comparison between the 911 call and Zimmerman screaming in a reenactment, and let us know whether you think it’s George Zimmerman on that original 911 call.

The Bottom Line Of The Bond Hearing

The bottom line for Zimmerman’s bond hearing is that Mark O’Mara was content to attempt to try the case and manipulate public opinion about his client–that’s not what the hearing was supposed to be about. The point of showing those photos and bringing Zimmerman’s daddy into court was somewhat about gaining bond for his client, but it was mostly about wanting to paint Zimmerman as the victim in the eyes of the public. Doing so accomplishes having a better chance of winning a “not guilty” verdict when the trial comes.

And, let’s not be fooled! O’Mara is there to enhance his reputation by getting George Zimmerman off the hook for murder. While he may not have the know-how on the best ways to utilize the Internet and social media to advance his cause, he was savvy enough to establish a web presence, and continue to pound his message home. Someone from his staff was even sending tweets during the hearing!

If you recall, last week O’Mara got the jump on the Florida State Attorney’s office by releasing the audio and video of George Zimmerman’s statements to Sanford Police and Florida State Attorney’s Office investigators. He did this to establish himself and a credible source of information, so that he can control the messages sent about his client. This is why he wants you flocking to his website and Twitter page.

Oh yeah, O’Mara is requesting that George Zimmerman be released on the same amount of bond as before–$150K. According to his logic, despite having raised well over $150K, George Zimmerman deserves a bond that will only require him to pay $15K! He’s essentially saying that George Zimmerman cannot afford a higher bond, now that the remaining amount of his donated funds are managed by a third-party trust in the legal defense fund. Now that’s some BS!

Release Of More Discovery Evidence

Today’s bond hearing wasn’t the only information released in the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case. This week, the Florida State Attorney’s Office released a version of Sanford Police Department’s original report in the Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman case, which includes additional information that was previously redacted in other versions. They also released Zimmerman’s voice exemplars, which were recorded for the purposes of comparing Zimmerman screaming for help to the original 911 call (Call #2/Witness #11) where screams were heard in the background before a gunshot.

Be sure to check out all of the evidence for yourself at TheyAlwaysGetAway.com!

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As always, we urge you to listen to these recordings for yourself instead of relying on the media to filter this information to you with their spin. In accordance with our goal of providing all of the files (audio, video, documents, etc.) associated with the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case, we’ve posted George Zimmerman’s statements to the police so that you can hear them for yourself.

Because we feel that it is important to go straight to the source for information, we have done exactly that. We house many files associated with the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin Case at a site we created strictly for that purpose, TheyAlwaysGetAway.Com. The site includes court documents, motions, pictures, audio, and video. Take a look for yourself, and stay in the know and abreast!


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Heit & Cheri




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