Judge Kenneth Lester
A short time ago, Florida Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester revoked accused murderer George Zimmerman’s bond and ordered him to surrender himself to authorities within 48 hours, because he lied about his financial resources. The prosecution also revealed that Zimmerman had failed to turn over a second passport that was in his possession, but the judge didn’t include that in his reasons for revocation of bail. The defense says it’s all “just an innocent misunderstanding.” New York Newsday:
Prosecutors said in a motion that 28-year-old George Zimmerman and his family misled them about his finances when testifying during a bail hearing that allowed him to be released from jail on a $150,000 bond. Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda asked for the revocation during a hearing to help determine if prosecutors and the defense can stop the public release of certain documents in the case.
During the bond hearing in April, Zimmerman’s relatives testified they had limited funds. Zimmerman’s attorney said several days later that he had discovered his client had raised more than $200,000 from a website. At the time of the hearing, about $135,000 had been raised, and that money wasn’t disclosed at the bond hearing.
“This court was led to believe they didn’t have a single penny,” said Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda. “It was misleading and I don’t know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie.” ….
Prosecutors also said in the motion that Zimmerman didn’t disclose he had a second passport. Zimmerman turned his passport over to the court at the bond hearing as a measure that would prevent him from fleeing the country.
I’ll update if I get any more information.
UPDATE 1: According to the Miami Herald,
Prosecutors said they have recordings of phone conversations between Zimmerman and his wife while Zimmerman was in jail in which they discussed moving money from a PayPal account set up to collect money for Zimmerman’s defense. But Zimmerman’s wife testified at her husband’s bond hearing that she was unaware of any additional money available for her husband’s defense — what prosecutors now call a lie.
Um… yep, that’s a lie alright.
UPDATE 2: According to ABC News, Zimmerman and his wife also talked on the phone about the second passport he had in a safe deposit box.
In recordings of conversations released today during a court hearing, Zimmerman and his wife, Shelly Zimmerman, cryptically talk about his second passport in a safety deposit box they shared.
Although one of his passports was due to expire in May, prosecutors said today, Zimmerman applied for a second passport, informing the State Department that the original had been lost lost or stolen.
In some of the phone calls between the two, she is at a credit union that was linked to his PayPal account and speaking to a teller. The prosecution said that despite being in jail, Zimmerman was “intimately involved in the deposit and transfer of money into various accounts.”
In the conversations Zimmerman and his wife speak in code — reducing the amounts in their financial accounts by a factor of 1,000. Prosecutors said the couple knew that their jailhouse conversations were likely being recorded.
Zimmerman had $135,000 in his bank account on the day of his bond hearing, when his entire family claimed he was broke. Wow! Are they ever stupid.
