http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11427416-after-zimmermans-
website-raises-more-than-200000-prosecution-asks-judge-to-raise-bond?lite
The prosecution in the second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman
asked a Florida judge Friday to raise Zimmerman's bond in light of recent
revelations that a website for his defense raised more than $200,000.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said he wants to know more about the money
before he decides whether to adjust the bond. The judge said he will make
a decision at a later date.
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara revealed Thursday night that his client's
website had raised about $204,000 in donations, adding that the money has
been placed in an account that can't be accessed directly by Zimmerman or
his family.
"He asked me what to do with his PayPal accounts, and I asked him what he
was talking about," O'Mara told CNN in an interview on Thursday. "He said
those were the accounts that had the money from the website he had. And
there was about ... $204,000 that had come in to date."
O'Mara told the judge about the money at a hearing Friday. The hearing was
previously scheduled to discuss whether Zimmerman's file should be made
public. Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death
of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.
O'Mara told the judge the money is currently in a trust fund that he
controls and Zimmerman cannot access.
The website, which was created before Zimmerman turned himself in, has
been shut down by O'Mara, who told the court he was not aware of the money
it had raised when he spoke at Zimmerman's bond hearing last week. The
site included pictures, quotes and a page asking for donations via PayPal.
Zimmerman, 28, the former neighborhood watch volunteer, was released early
Monday from a Florida county jail on $150,000 bail. His family put up 10
percent to secure his release.
Martin's family was distressed to hear Zimmerman had raised so much money,
considering the bond was set by the judge based on his family's limited
wealth, their attorney said.
"They tried to portray themselves as indigent that they did not have any
money," Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said, according to CNN.
"We think that the court should revoke his bond immediately and he should
be held accountable for misleading the court," he added.
At the bond hearing last week, Zimmerman's wife told the court she did not
know how much money the website had collected in donations, adding that
her brother-in-law helped set it up. She said the family is “trying to
scrape up anything that we possibly can.”
According to CNN, O'Mara said Zimmerman's defense costs could reach $1
million.
"You can really go through a lot of money on a case like this, with the
intensity of it," he said.
At the hearing Friday, the judge said he wouldn't place a gag order on
Zimmerman's attorney, denying prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda's request.
The prosecutor had complained to the court that O'Mara had been talking
about the facts of the case to the media.
Zimmerman says Martin attacked him and he shot in self-defense. He was not
charged for more than six weeks, sparking national protests. Martin was
black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.
--
Obama's black racist USAG appointee.
Eric Holder, racist black United States Attorney General drops voter
intimidation charges against the Black Panthers, "You are about to be
ruled by the black man, cracker!"
Eric Holder, prejudiced black United States Attorney General settles the
hate crime debate, "Whites Not Protected by Hate Crime Laws."
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact, to
former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel of New
York's million dollar tax evasion.
Barack Obama and Eric Holder, committed treason by knowingly and
deliberately arming enemies of the United States of America through
Operation Fast and Furious. Complicit in the murder of Federal employees
during the execution of their duties.
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