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Subscribe to RSSGeorge Zimmerman's attorney says his client has pulled in more than $200,000 in donations from his website to help with his defense. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jo-An-4354969:
JO!!!!
What in God's name was I on here saying last night???
Last time I will drink then get on the computer. WTF!!!!
I sounded like a fool! Damn. Lol.
LOL...I thought those shots got to you! hahahahh....Hey I just got your email through Newsvine, and sent you back a message, and it keeps being bounced back to me. A Gmail account...that's why you didn't get mine through Newsvine!
Jo-An:
If the prosecution's narrative is the same as mine, that Zimmie assaulted Trayvon first, what do you think Trayvon's natural response would be, since he has a hand with skittles and a nice hard can of Iced Tea?
Don't you think the most natural response in the world would be to crack Zimmie upside the noggin with the can of ice tea?
I wonder where the can of tea is, and if forensics can do anything to prove or disprove this since the can was out in the rain.
Is the can dented? Bloody, Zimmie DNA on it? Where's the can?
Yup -I think the evidence so far makes it likely that ole Zimmie got his scratches from getting whupped with a can of Arizona Iced Tea -all that headbanging sidewalk stuff is disproved by witness accounts. So how'd Zimmie's head get scratched?
what's happened to the coverage of this case? geozim's lawyer just entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. not a single word or even syllable of it from the news media. he also waived the right to a speedy trial which means things can drag on in silence until the public looses interest and zimmerman can slip quietly from the confines of the judical system.
fox news sean hannity made a small reference the case and most of it was cut which appeared to be a broadcast malfunction. yeah right.
what news ??? the plea was expected... there was no evidence, no new material, and certainly no surprise. The martins and "reverends" couldn't make any sort of noise or controversy out of this step of the proceedings.
@ trust verify #655.1...
it's a usual practice for the media to keep the public updated on every detail of high profile cases. when casey anthony broke a nail it was televised without anyone making any noise or causing controversy. hmmm, i wonder why that is.
if it had not been for his parents calling on sharpton and jackson (and let's not forget kevin cunningham who is white) this case would have been dust in the wind.
meanwhile bill oreilly on fox news is attempting to stir up white ire by contriving the story that there is some sort of injustice going on with the handling of the virginia attack on a white couple by an alleged "black mob". this is obviously a desire to create a 'white people get treated unfairly too' controversy because, unlike the trayvon case, there was a near immediate arrest and the investigation is still ongoing. what is ridiculous is that oreilly at first was demanding information pertaining to the case while investigations were still underway.
he's also allegedly upset that this hasn't been classified as a 'hate crime' and that the media hasn't focused on this case even though he chastised them severly for what he called exploitation of the trayvon case.
@ trust verify #655.1...
it's a usual practice for the media to keep the public updated on every detail of high profile cases. when casey anthony broke a nail it was televised without anyone making any noise or causing controversy. hmmm, i wonder why that is.
well lets see.. there is NO NEWS.. they can't stir anything up if everyone is keeping their mouths and actions quiet. George isn't out at the local night club having a party.. his wife just might have an issue if he were.
If sharpton and company had stayed OUT of this it would be what it was.. a sad incident. Instead he got MSNBC to make it appear to be a hate crime. "White ....... shoots ... Black teen" Those were the words. Meanwhile down the street days later 2 Black teens beat a white man near to death to take his truck for a 1/2 mile joy ride and not only was there no national news but even the local paper refused to comment on the race of those involved.
As to the incident that you are referring to and o'reilly... YES there is an under reported crime in VA. Several... 25 - 100 Blacks attacked 2 whites while chanting anti white slurs and "justice for trayvon" or so the story goes and yet it takes an internet search and finding the story in a foreign paper to get any details and it is being treated as a picnic by the local authorities.
YES he is chastising them... the MSM seems to only mention race on the RARE occasion that it is non black on black and that is the rare time that a local murder makes NATIONAL news. 94% of Black homicides are committed by Blacks. 4% is white on black and 2% is other. George would be a mix so therefore is part of the 2%. But enough of the statistics.
The reality is that there is NO news in the State of FL vs Zimmerman. The court date was such a non event that the judge was done with it in under 5 minutes. The judge had 140 other cases on his docket that day.
The next EVENT in this case will be the assertion of Self Defense. Whether that waits until the August court date or it gets moved up I don't know. Other than a few commentators here, and o'rielly, are even interested in this story. Barring "the reverends" making noise this will fade back to what it should have been in the first place.. strictly a local to florida case
you haven't explained why when casey anthony shed a hair it was newsworthy but you opinion is this case merits no follow up. to many whites, such as yourself, when focusing on black victims your attention span collapses quickly. many (including some whites) would like to be kept abreast of what is happening with this case such as whether not the judge increased the bail and why he didn't. you may not find this of any interest but many would. by the way, how would you know how long the plea took and how many cases were on the judges docket?
the likely plan is to keep the case out of the media until the blood stop boiling to avoid the racial upheaval they're wrongly anticipating when/if geozim gets off. even al sharpton can no longer be heard speaking about it due to the media blackout.
are you purposely ignoring the fact that trayvon's parents got al sharpton and jesse jackson involved because the authorities ran with geozim's syg story and even though they completed only a perfunctory investigation they were refusing to turn information over to trayvon's parents. you and the media are also failing to mention the young white college graduate that gathered the millions of internet signatures to push for an investigation.
al sharpton "got msnbc" to nothing but report facts. much of the focus was on how the police mishandled the case (shallow investigation), the appearance of a cover up and definitely the issue that trayvon was unarmed. race was an automatic because had black man shot and killed an unarmed 17 year old white youth you know damn well 'syg' would not have saved him from occupying a jail cell that very night. there would have been no need for public outcry for what you in that case would perceive as justice.
nothing like a little exaggeration to liven things up t_v. there's a huge and notable difference between 25 and 100 persons so lets get back to the truth. even bill oreilly said the crowd was estimated to be around 30 individuals and mentioned nothing about chanting anti-white slurs. two young boys with lying little smirks on their faces agreed with the newsman when he suggested it might have something to do with trayvon's case.
can you please explain why there would be focus on crimes whether black on white or vice versa if there's been immediate investigations and arrests have been made? what's the point unless they were especially egregious such as shooting an unarmed teen who had just turned 17 a couple of weeks prior and was only walking home from the store which was then followed by a police cover up?
this is no doubt the truth because you and other whites (certainly not all) have only concern about seeing that blacks are punished for black on white crime which, in case you don't know, carries a far more severe penalty than white on black.
Well said Irene, well said!
you haven't explained why when casey anthony shed a hair it was newsworthy but you opinion is this case merits no follow up.
What little I followed Casey Anthony I do recall she was more or less in the public eye the entire time. Was she hidden away somewhere? I don't remember but thought she stayed at home. George is HIDDEN. FEW know where he is at. There have been no spottings that I am aware of. What CAN the news report on other than "where is George?" The news keeps attempting to keep the story alive by associating OTHER news with this story... The recent conviction of MA for example. There was a court action where paperwork was filed.. only the judge and assistant prosecutor showed up. Do we need to hear that the prosecution is working other cases? That the prosecution has an illness or went out to dinner? I for one don't need to see a HEADLINE stating XX days since Zimmerman shot Trayvon. I also don't need a HEADLINE reading XX days until the next court date. The only event that I expect to be reported next is the release of "evidence" and I half expect that to be severely redacted... Witness ----------------------- living at -------------------------- contacted 9-1-1 at 7::?? and stated blah blah blah. the dashes being redactions much like the 9-1-1 recordings released previously.
Not everyone has a "need" to know minute by minute who is popping pimples or where.. which is what that amounts to. That applies to all sorts of news, not just Black victims. Are you paying attention to the John Edwards trial? I'm aware of it but not all the details and that involves SEX not death. As to how would I know how many cases were on the docket... "whites, such as yourself," do take time to follow the news... that it happens to involve a black victim must be a shock to you. that doesn't mean we need to live and breath THIS story every minute of every day. I personally don't care what flavor of tooth paste George uses or what fast food he ordered in last night. The only REAL things to be aware of are court dates. I will follow this case much like I have followed other high profile cases... snippets on the evening news and reading online... If something catches my eye I will find a rerun on court TV.
the likely plan is to keep the case out of the media until the blood stop boiling to avoid the racial upheaval they're wrongly anticipating when/if geozim gets off. even al sharpton can no longer be heard speaking about it due to the media blackout.
REALLY Al Sharpton has a TV PROGRAM. Last I heard he gets to say pretty much what he wants... or choose topics. Even AS and JJ have nothing to say because there is NOTHING to speak on. They and the Martins DEMANDED charges.. they got them They DEMAND justice and justice takes her time. What would you like them to speak on? They have NO say in the release of "evidence". If they start demanding the release they would be interfering in the process and just might piss a lot of people off and end up contaminating the jury pool... remember Casey Anthony????? There is no "black out" there is simply nothing to report. I think we are about out of social media postings by both George and Trayvon. My guess is that George doesn't even have access to a cell phone without supervision so he won't be posting anything new. Perhaps you would like the reporters to start reporting on the Martins? Is Tracy still seeing his Fiance'?
Not ignoring it at all. My statement stands. (when I use they I refer not only to JJ, AS and the Martins but mainstream media as well) They MADE it about RACE. The ONLY reason this is such a big news story is they made it White vs Black. They then proceeded to make it about BIG BAD WHITE vs innocent sweet 14 year old black child. Honestly did not know about the White college graduate... (just what exactly is that if you don't mind my asking? I know what a college graduate is.. what significance does their being a graduate have? I thought Tracy Martin was a college grad also) which is it .. whites do or don't care? do all Blacks care or just some?
no exageration on my part. That is what was reported when it finally made page 2 of a VA local paper. should I state it was 100? you seem to have more details than I do... I don't watch o'reilly. I do my best to avoid the talking heads... Ok I admit to catching leno and the likes late night when I can't sleep. Why exactly were the 30 blacks attacking 2 whites while they were on a public street? I doubt they were the ONLY vehicle on the street but it seems they were singled out for being white.
can you please explain why there would be focus on crimes whether black on white or vice versa if there's been immediate investigations and arrests have been made? what's the point unless they were especially egregious such as shooting an unarmed teen who had just turned 17 a couple of weeks prior and was only walking home from the store which was then followed by a police cover up?
Have there been ANY arrests in VA? Last I heard there had not been. There WAS an immediate investigation in Trayvons shooting. George was taken in for questioning... no arrest while the investigation continued.
Seriously the whole walking home from 7-11 is getting OLD. EVERY DAY teens DIE while doing the same thing. It is so common it barely makes the LOCAL news under police/fire. It is a SAD FACT of life. There are roughly 16000 homicides a year. roughly HALF of those are Black and Roughly half are White, only 2% are other. so that is roughly 8000 Blacks a year. 94% of ALL Black homicides are committed by Blacks. so for easy math lets say 7200 a year. The MAJORITY of ALL homicides are males 14-24 years of age. Where is the outcry for THOSE victims? Or is it only NEWS when 4% are killed by whites because it is SO RARE. Does that make it ACCEPTABLE in the other 7200 cases? Even when it is Black killing Whites it rarely makes NATIONAL news. It has to be something outrageous or unusual generally and even then it barely holds any attention for more than a couple days then a byline when it goes to court. FAMOUS PEOPLE are the exception and counts as unusual or outrageous.
In case my above response is unclear. I think ALL CRIMINALS need to go away for a long time. The MAJORITY of the time Blacks kill Blacks and Whites kill Whites. That is a statistic from DOJ. Interracial murders are infrequent. The sad FACT is that while Blacks are 13% of the population they account for roughly HALF of all homicides.
For the years 1976-2005 combined -
From 1976 to 2005 --
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/homicide/race.cfm
Seems that the races have a propensity to kill their own, contrary to urban myth or those who would love to have us believe otherwise.
Again this SAD tragic incident should have been a local story.. maybe state. It should have run it's course as any other tragic story. Instead it has been USED to stir hatred on all sides by all sides. There are even those on here who instead of debating FACTS want to make it a fight and use personal attacks. You and I , I would like to believe, have managed to keep it civil, if heated. For the most part we have kept it on topic. There are others who want to drag up old arguments that are not, or should not, be part of the argument. I don't know the history of the Sanford PD. I do know, from what has been reported, that the PD appears to have done their job and WANTED to press charges. The DA, both local and eventually state, declined charges based on SYG. Yet somehow the PD got beat up over not doing their job? What more would people like? If the PROSECUTION chose to not move forward how is it the fault of the PD? NO FACTS have changed since the PD collected their evidence (or hopefully nothing has BEEN changed). No NEW evidence has been found/collected since that night and the immediate investigation. What MORE do you( the everyone you) want from Sanford PD?
As to the more severe punishments.... I don't have that answer. I believe that is why many legislatures have implemented MANDATORY sentencing. Unfortunately some of those are slanted. (crack vs coke). but I don't see how a gun crime with a mandatory sentence (which may be what you are referring to) can be bias or racial... EVERYONE uses guns. Everyone murders. George is facing the same prosecutor in the same state under the same laws as any other person.
Hate to say it but George may have some issues here....
According to the report, prior to the shooting Zimmerman had been prescribed Adderall and Temazepam, medications that can cause side effects such as agitation and mood swings, but in fewer than 10 percent of patients.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-medical-report-sheds-light-injuries-trayvon/story?id=16353532#.T7MBhsVQQ3E
Same article does support he was getting his butt kicked though.
Not sure he can get mitigating circumstances due to influence of the drugs... Again not a smart move on his part but doesn't mean he did not fear for his health.
trust_verify:
Fine comment. But will not matter at trial (guilt/innocence phase).
But will be tremendouse at sentencing phase; Geoge clearly has mitigating issues -he will cop and not do much time. Holder & Fed beef will wash him up -as it should.
Jo-An and Rhama:
MrPerryrice is twisted tonight.!!!!!!
My wife, almost got me killed. Ordinarily, when an as$hole pedestrian walks across the street and makes her stop the car, she waits until they have gone then cusses them out. Last night my wife screeched to a stop after I had screamed at the pedestsrian, "Move your faggety ass off the street", and I expected my wife to screech off and save me. Her ass was dumb as shyt! She screeched the car to a stop and this big assesed gangster leaned in the window trying to open the car door and my face looked like this :-0, I was scared as shyt! I told my girl, "pull off", ten times, finally she did. As we were pulling off, I reache my arm out of the window -POW- and smacked him, my wife pulled off without knowing. We got around the corner and I told her "you are a stupid bitch trying to get me killed", she told me I was stupid for letting the dude smack me. I said you are stupid as shyt -I was the one who smacked him.
We are 50 years old. Ha ha ha.
you fools can give your money to a child killer !!!!! but i will never give a child killer, any damm thing ok !!!!!!