George Zimmerman was hustled out of the Seminole County Jail on Friday, the second time in as an many months.
Zimmerman, wearing a suit jacket and looking stern-faced didn’t say anything and was quickly directed into the backseat of an SUV and whisked away.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second degree murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, an unarmed black teen. He has pleaded not guilty and said, he shot Martin in self defense.
On Thursday, Judge Kenneth Lester set a second bond of $1 million for Zimmerman, after he was ordered back to jail last month for being less than candid about his financial situation. Zimmerman’s wife, Shelly Zimmerman has also been charged with perjury for lying about the couple’s finances.
Lester, in the bail order said, Zimmerman “has tried to manipulate the system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so.” He suggested too, that Zimmerman might be a flight risk, as he didn’t tell the court he is in possession of a second passport.
Mark O’Mara, one of Zimmerman’s defense attorneys said on his website, gzlegalcase.com that, the Legal Defense Fund currently has approximately $211,000, with about $40,000 payables for defense expenses so far, not including attorney’s fees and other expenses associated with mounting a defense.
Initially Zimmerman paid $15,000 (10 percent) for the first bail fee which carried a bond amount of $150,000. O’Mara said, an additional $85,000 was paid to post the fee of $100,000 required under the new $1 million bond.
It would seem that some arrangement was worked out with the bail bond company to post the $1 million in collateral. O’Mara, on the website wrote, the Zimmerman family did not have this.
Since Lester’s new bail order, it has been reported that $20,000 in new donations have come into Zimmerman’s Legal Defense Fund.
Zimmerman’s release from jail comes with more stringent requirements, one such being that he must not leave Seminole County without prior authorization by the court. His attorneys said that for the near term, a safe house has been established in Seminole County, but there could be another location over the longer term.
The other conditions that Zimmerman must abide by are:
- Wear an electronic monitoring device
- Not enter the property of the Orlando- Sanford International Airport
- Not open or maintain a bank account
- Obey a curfew between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am.
- Check in with the Pre-trial Release Department every 48 hours
- Not have contact with the victim’s family, directly or indirectly
- Refrain from criminal activity of any kind
- Not consume alcohol
- Not apply for or obtain a passport
