Friday we saw yet another crazy twist in the circus-like case of George Zimmerman. What started out as a simple hearing regarding whether to seal discovery evidence from the media turned into a blame game and strict orders by Judge Kenneth Lester that Zimmerman return to jail within 48 hours. Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda told the judge Zimmerman "misrepresented, misled, and deceived the court" at his bond hearing April 20 when he failed to turn over a second passport and, more importantly, failed to mention the fact that he raised $135,000 on a website prior to the hearing. So what happens now? Basically, Lester is starting from scratch, and once Zimmerman is back in custody, he'll hold a brand new bond hearing now that this information has come to light to decide whether to raise his bond, or revoke it completely.
After a few weeks of relative calm and quiet in this case that has captured the nation, Friday's news set a firestorm online and on TV with many Martin supporters, including Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, calling for Zimmerman to remain in custody until the trial. Given the fact that Zimmerman actually had much more money at the time of the original bond hearing than he and his family led the court to believe, I think a higher bond is necessary and appropriate. The fact is, whether it was intentional or not, Zimmerman and his wife deceived the judge in April when they said they were a family of little means and unable to pay a high bond. When the judge calls a new hearing, the main question he'll want answered is how much money does Zimmerman have in his defense fund now. Based off that amount, he'll raise the bond accordingly.
However, a full revocation, in my opinion, is too severe and unnecessary. Remember, the purpose of a bond is to ensure the defendant will appear in court. Judges are mindful not to set bond so low that the defendant can potentially use the money to flee, which is why, given this extra money from his website, a higher bond is fully appropriate. Yet to revoke Zimmerman's bond and force him to remain in jail until the trial, which may not be until next year, is unnecessary. As his defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, reminded the court, Zimmerman has remained in constant contact, there have been no problems with his GPS monitoring and he has not been a flight risk. Even with the extra passport and extra money he had after the initial bond was set, Zimmerman never attempted to flee.
In terms of the second passport, that, to me, is less of a consideration in the judge's decision. He even said today that he was not swayed by arguments about the second passport, often routinely obtained by people who lose their passports. Plus, O'Mara said it was his fault the passport had not been turned in sooner as he simply forgot to hand it over to authorities until Friday.
The real question to me is whether Zimmerman will testify again at his new bond hearing. When Zimmerman testified the first time it was a complete shock, as criminal defendants almost never take the stand so early, if at all, in a case. Yet, O'Mara took that gamble the first time around so I wouldn't be surprised if Zimmerman testified once again, this time to try to appease the judge and explain he didn't intentionally lie to him, but that these oversights were an honest mistake. He'd likely claim, either on the stand, or in a written affidavit, that he did not consider the funds raised from the website his own money since it was going towards his defense and his attorney and that as soon as he realized he had this second passport, he turned it over to his attorney. The risk in having Zimmerman testify again is prosecutors can cross-examine him, and unlike last time, they'll be prepared and not flabbergasted if he takes the stand. Still, the prosecution can only cross-examine him within the scope of direct examination, so basically they can only ask him about the money in the fund and the passport.
The reason why the judge called Zimmerman back to jail is he wants the bond to accurately reflect his current financial circumstances. Yet any notion that the judge is livid over Zimmerman's lies and will take this lack of credibility into consideration as the case moves forward is a stretch. The fact that Zimmerman may have lied about his financial situation and passport are not relevant to the issue of whether he intentionally killed Trayvon Martin. The thousands of files of discovery, which thanks to Florida's full disclosure law and Lester's ruling Friday will now be made public, are much more relevant to whether he is guilty than his alleged deceit at the original bond hearing.
Follow Mari Fagel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MariFagel
I can't guess whether the judge will decide whether bail is still appropriate in this case; and if so, in what amount. The judge has enormous discretion in terms of what he can take into account, and how to balance those factors.
Our Legal Lady doesn't seem to be aware of the role a defendant's credibility plays in a bail determination; nor the importance of the source of his money. Here we have a mixture of lies and "easy come easy go" donated money. We also have a pissed-off judge.
I'm not predicting what the court will decide in terms of future bail, just saying that the judge has a ton of new facts and acres of latitude to reach new decisions. After Our Legal Lady goes to law school, is admitted to the bar, AND gets a few years of DA or PD experience, maybe she can begin to appreciate how things are done in the criminal [ahem] justice system.
In the meantime...
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That won't fly, though. First, it was actually his wife who perjured herself. And the excuse that they didn't consider the money theirs won't fly because the court didn't ask that. The court asked Zimmerman's wife if she knew how much money the website had raised. She said she did not. That was a lie. She did know. She had just transferred the money to her credit union the day before. How could she not know?
Also, it's very unlikely that O'Mara didn't talk to Zimmerman and his wife before the hearing, and ask basically the same questions the court asked. They lied to him too.
However, they've known about the extra funds for a while... I have a feeling this is more about the second passport than anything else.
Why are you asking for something you could easily find if you were following this case?
Zimmerman would not want a passport in his name if he wanted to flee because he is too well known.
Zimmerman would not get far even if he decided to flee and had a fake passport. It would be one of the biggest manhunts in history.
BDL
It is absolutely clear that Zimmerman and his wife conspired to deceive the court. Their coded jail conversations demonstrate that they wanted to conceal not only how much money was available to them, but also that they had control over how to use it and for what.
Furthermore their conversation seems to show that they also knew of the 2nd passport prior to the bond hearing where the court was led to believe Zimmerman was turning in his only passport. That his lawyer came to learn of it and told Zimmerman the court would find out so he needs to turn it over, is irrelevant at that point.
BOTH of these things should cause grave concern in the mind of the court that Zimmerman had it in the back of his mind that he might, at some point should things start to look sour for him, decide he needs to get out of dodge.
One doesn't need money and a passport to do that, but it sure makes it A LOT easier. So even with a higher bond and zero credibility now from Zimmerman (you can't take his word that he won't run), the judge should order Zimmerman be held in custody through the trial, particularly given that he is MUCH more likely to be convicted now that he has destroyed his credibility.
They obviously knew, and committed an act of perjury, which is also a felony. If the DA decides to prosecute them on those charges they will need to prove that the Zimmerman's were aware of that when they told the judge differently. Of course chances are the DA can now just use the threat of those charges to get George to agree to a plea deal. (Manslaughter of someone under the age of 18, and take a 20 year sentence, rather than risk 25 to life in prison).
It is absolutely clear that Zimmerman and his wife conspired to deceive the court. Their coded jail conversations demonstrate that they wanted to conceal not only how much money was available to them, but also that they had control over how to use it and for what.
Furthermore their conversation seems to show that they also knew of the 2nd passport prior to the bond hearing where the court was led to believe Zimmerman was turning in his only passport. That his lawyer came to learn of it and told Zimmerman the court would find out so he needs to turn it over, is irrelevant at that point.
BOTH of these things should cause grave concern in the mind of the court that Zimmerman had it in the back of his mind that he might, at some point should things start to look sour for him, decide he needs to get out of dodge.
One doesn't need money and a passport to do that, but it sure makes it A LOT easier. So even with a higher bond and zero credibility now from Zimmerman (you can't take his word that he won't run), the judge should order Zimmerman be held in custody through the trial, particularly given that he is MUCH more likely to be convicted now that he has destroyed his credibility.
Why list networks in your bio......along with Geraldo Rivera?
Shouldn't that read........appeared on CNN, BBC radio, FOX News and HLN online.
Any reason for the omission?
My query Ms. Fagel:
Maybe he should consider the notoriety this case has now achieved....(I believe it has already surpassed Casey Anthony?)........and the fact that he revoked bail.....and Zimmerman's donations have skyrocketed in 4 days...............that no matter the bond, no matter IF Zimmerman has access or not to that specific money...............
...there may be people and organizations out there willing to help George Zimmerman at any cost in any way possible to make sure he remains free.................as well as there may be plenty of people willing to do him extreme harm if he is located.............
...that it may be worth it for the case and his reputation to have Zimmerman remain in custody until trial?
If Zimmerman doesn't make it to trial for whatever reason......(other than a plea)......the judges career will be over?”
Get your facts straight.
Yeah...and blame the judge...that should go over well with the court.
Sorry Grandma. There IS NO stand your ground defense for Zimmerman. You don't threaten somebody (by following them with a deadly weapon), and then get to shoot them dead when they defend themselves from you.
Zimmerman's OWN lawyer admits that Zimmerman and/or his wife gave misleading testimony and deliberately withheld the second passport!
"The question of whether or not they [Zimmerman and his wife] represented it [the money] properly, I think it was somewhat misleading to the court. I've gone over that with George. Um... I think you need to realize we're still talking about a 28 year old... who you know... is being charged with a crime he does not believe he committed..."
Also...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-judge-revokes-george-zimmerman-bond-20120601,0,4612322.story
Sounds like he's talking about an 8 year old not a 28 year old.
And so many still have no problem, even after all his violence and lies and fatally-flawed judgment, with him and his clones being allowed to carry a loaded weapon.
Seems that would have been the lawyerly thing to do..............but alas.........he sat on his hands and it cost his client dearly......and maybe in the long run.....
Posting bail from the coffers of complete strangers from the internet doesn't provide much of an incentive to not run should things look bad.