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Subscribe to RSSAfter Judge Kenneth Lester set a bond of $1 million, Zimmerman made bail with strict conditions governing his release. NBC's Kate Snow reports.
Updated at 4:41 p.m. ET: SANFORD, Fla. -- George Zimmerman was released from the Seminole County Jail at 2:49 p.m ET Friday after posting $1 million bond in the Trayvon Martin case.
Zimmerman, 28, was wearing a white shirt and gray suit as he stepped into an SUV and was driven off, NBC News reported. Don West, one of Zimmerman's attorneys, described his client's mood as "buoyant."
He was fitted with an electronic monitoring device before his release. Zimmerman is required to stay in Seminole County, according to a statement by the Seminole County Sheriff's Department.
Donations to defense rise, his lawyers say
According to conditions of his release, Zimmerman can not open a bank account, obtain a passport or set foot on the grounds of the local airport. He has a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, the Associated Press reported.
On Thursday, Seminole County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth R. Lester, Jr. ordered Zimmerman's bond raised to $1 million in light of revelations Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie Zimmerman, had misled the court about their finances during an April 20 bond hearing.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17, inside a gated community in Sanford.
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, pleaded not guilty and told police he acted in self-defense after Martin punched him and knocked his head against the pavement.
"He's very happy to be out," West said, the AP reported. "Certainly it's been a sobering experience being in that kind of environment."
Zimmerman had to pay a bond company $100,000 but also needed $1 million in collateral to secure the bail, according to his legal team. West refused to say what was being used as collateral after Zimmerman left the jail.
"We worked that out," West said, AP reported.
His parents, the document shows, put up their house as collateral, NBC News reported.
Zimmerman will stay in a "safe house" before relocating to a permanent residence, and he has hired a security team, according to information posted on a website run by his legal team, the AP reported.
George Zimmerman gets out of jail, but the judge in his case will now require advance notification before Zimmerman can leave the county. NBC's Jay Gray reports.
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Georgie get your gun! This putz went hunting and got more than he bargained for. Oooh, I've got this cold hard automatic and I want to take something down with it. SEEK and ye shall find. If this pervert had been minding his own business, this wouldn't have happened. A sick predator is what he is and jail is where he belongs. Does he deserve to be ANYONE's neighbor? NOT!
Yep! GZ is the most likely, "on the hunt" candidate in this scenario. The most likely to do some provoking with an inappropriate attitude, based upon his under the breath comments on the 911 recording and his other history, including being a former gang banger himself (revealed from GZ's former MySpace account). Sure, none of this is illegal. But it helps establish the frame of mind GZ was in. While there's only wild and unsubstantiated speculation about the same on TM's part in that circumstance on that night. Unless unduly provoked it's a little more difficult to paint a picture whereby TM just went off in some THC induced gangsta wanna' be rant on GZ for no real reason. And we have to remember that only GZ claims TM said, "You got a problem?" There's zero witnesses to the effect he said any such thing to GZ or any such verbal exchange took place before hand. The scuffle occured more than 100 yds away from Z's vehicle, not close to it as somre claim. If TM confronted GZ in such a manner, his running away is less plausible as well.
Being accused without being convicted and yet he still gets jail time. This country needs to stand up to all of the bleeding hearts and tell them that we are done being abused and done being taken advantage of by the non working, unmarried non tax paying masses. Smoking dope and beating on people is grounds to get your lights put out . Has anyone other than me noticed the headlines lately where the innocent dopers are hurting people? They want to legalize dope because it is so harmless and yet there have been no fewer than three cases where the attackers were shot dead and the only thing in there system was good old dope. Two out of those three were 17 year old punks attacking older people. Every one of the hard working tax paying home owning people should pack a gun until all the dopers gp back to bed where they belong.
"Being accused without being convicted and yet he still gets jail time."
Are you new to the U.S.? Or do you have absolutely no idea how the legal system works?
The country needs to eliminate bail bondsmen. A person should have to post bail based on their financial resources only and if they appear for trial they should get all their money back. It is because of the bail bond system that bail is so ridiculously high. Bail has become almost a fine just for being charged with a crime.
At the very least, if a defendant is found not guilty, then the court and/or the prosecutor should make the defendant whole. That is they should pay the defendant reasonable attorney fees and restitution for the cost of bail or Jail.
"Smoking dope" is enough to get your "lights out"
You have 0 empathy or logic sir
Nitey, nite then. Obviously, you have some sort of mind altering substance in your system.
Wow... some of you people are just plain dumb. GZ ADMITTED to shooting Treyvon. That's not what is on trial. What is on trial is why. The problem is... who was the aggressor? Now from the 911 call... the mere fact that GZ disobeyed the operation would indicate pretty simply that GZ was the aggressor. HOWEVER... if GZ did not leave the property that he was incharge of protecting and Treyvon was trespassing... it COULD wind up being a different story... but a reason to shoot someone? Probably not. Since as far as we know there were no witnesses and Treyvon cannot speak for himself... GZ will very likely get convicted on the fact that the 911 clearly shows that GZ was the aggressor... and that Treyvon's only crime that day was being where he should not have been... but THAT is what is on trial. The fact that Treyvon may or may have not gone for GZ's gun AFTER GZ started the fight is irrelevant. GZ simply got to his gun first, but doesn't mean that GZ was fighting for his life. The ultimate decision is going to be... if death was an appropriate punishment for trespassing. I'm going to say it was not.
"...and that Treyvon's only crime that day was being where he should not have been..."
Don't think you meant to put it that way. He commited no such crime. TM was well within his rights to be where he was, doing what he was doing.
Let me explain something to you, Sid Higgins. If ANYONE, stalks me, I am getting in their face and kicking their ass. Flat out. That kid had every right to charge GZ. If GZ stalked me, and got in my face, I would kick the S***T out of him too. That still doesn't give the right to ANYONE, much less GZ the right to shoot someone...fight, lose and live to fight another day. What ever happened to just fighting to defend oneself?? That is whats wrong with this country...the wild west. And now the Titanic is running at full steam...everyone has a gun. Wimps.
Truth is, no matter how my statement is interpreted... that is irrelevant also. With the evidence so far presented to the public... the 911 call is the single most damning peice. In my opinion it makes GZ the aggressor since he was obviously not engaged with Treyvon at the beginning of the call... and then clearly disobeys the operator and engages Treyvon.. which ended in Treyvon's death. There was simply no reason for it. Since GZ is therefore the aggressor in my opinion... it does not matter WHAT Treyvon was doing unless he was committing a felony... which he was not... and the Stand Your Ground Law will eminently not apply to GZ.
Yes Mike... I said that GZ was the aggressor.
Sid, Actually no. Zimmerman did not shoot "Treyvon". He shot Trayvon.
Come on Dale! Don't be the spelling/grammar police! Sheesh... gimme a break.
Sid, if anything I think the opposite of the 911 call. Zimmerman does stop 5 seconds after being told to not follow. On the 911 call, you can hear him say ok after being told not to follow, then Zimm stops running most likely because he can no longer see Trayvon. He's on the phone with the police another 90 seconds after this point, then there is another 90 seconds before the fight starts. Yet the fight occurs at a spot 10 seconds from his truck, and 30 seconds away from Trayvon's house which is at the end of the walkway. It's all time stamped. If Trayvon didn't want to fight, it wouldn't have happened. Trayvon engaged Zimm.
There wasn't any stalking. Hell, you probably spend more time checking people out at bars.
Well Gabbo... I respect you opinion... we'll see what happens. The prosecution will have to prove that GZ was the aggressor. That is the key... if they can't do that... then GZ is off. The defense will not have to prove that Trayvon (feel better Dale?)was the aggressor, as it is not their burden to do so, but would benefit them if they tried. But the only unbiased piece of evidence is the call. The rest of it is GZ's story. The jury will have a tough case on their hands.
There is also one witness. The guy who called 911. He watched part of the fight as it occurred outside his apt. And Trayvon was shot during that call. All other witnesses had gotten there after the shot, so they're kind of pointless. That's the thing. Is GZ still the aggressor even though he's standing in almost the same spot waiting for police to show up for 3 minutes before the fight actually starts? He was actually a sitting target for Trayvon.
Boo freakin' hoo!
It just makes me nervous living in this state... First Casey Anderson and now this fool. This is the most criminally populated state in the entire country.
No biggie! His bond was set at $1 mill to get released this time because he proved he can't be trusted with just a $150 grand bond. He's not really free in the sense some would like to think. Nothing is really going his way to prove his innocence just because he was released on bond.
Give Zimmerman "Manslaughter" and call it a day....this is the best charge that will most likely stick with the evidence they have.
Actually think you may have it with that one. Manslaughter is a very likely outcome for this story.
this is so old and everyone wants to make a rce issue out of how about the white women who was robbed by 3 black guys and killed for her tips and she didnt even get on the news this is bs i say f**k all the aclu or what ever they`re the ones who`s racist im done with them
well written and spoken j43rsr2-1231618...lay off the Natural Ice.
Now.. if those men were allowed to go free because they claimed "self defense" then you can complain it wasn't on the news.
I have never seen so many racists people as I have here in Forida people on here are conviciting Zimmerman before the trial. to casereader if you would take the time to actually read something you would have read that people have been giving lots of money to immerman for his defense. there are so many stupid people on here. I hope most of you are never accused of a crime and have to go through what you have been putting Zimmerman through and where the hell is dumbass Al sharpton and dumb ass jesse jackson with all of the killing black people up in Chicago? I know this one!! it is blacks killing Blacks. this does not matter that much??
"there are so many stupid people on here."
Clearly.
And Zimmerman played judge, jury and executioner without a trial. Your point?
I am sure the money came from the Klan. Since when is it ok to STALK ANYBODY???? then kill that poor person on top of it? How do we know that GZ wasn't a pervert as well as a murderer??
Same way we don't know if you are.
It is what it is.
LOL...Touche'
What a dumb azz comment. You're bent over somewhere in San Francisco, aren't you?
If the victim had been a white male there would be no news. The ONLY reason this is national news is b/c the victim was an African American. My question is, what about all those young African Americans that are getting shot every day in this country we don't hear a word about. Is that b/c they were shot by African Americans. Is it ok for African Americans to shoot African Americans? If not, why aren't we hearing more about those shootings?
The reason for the public outrage was because no thorough investigation was done at first, and no arrest was made. As to why this killing was largely ignored at first, that's up to everyone's personal opinion.
Once an arrest was made, the outcry subsided, as the case works its way through the legal system like it's supposed to.
Zimmerman admitted shooting Martin. The defense is "SELF DEFENSE" and/or "STAND YOUR GROUND". If a Jury had resonable doubt in OJ trial, Black on White Crime. Then a Jury will have RESONABLE DOUBT on this White on Black Crime. 15 Black man killed in Ft. Myers, Florida this year and the Black community remains relatively....silent!
We need to get Bill the Butcher involved-he takes care of everything.
Boy, his lawyers must think they have an iron clad aliby for him, to put out a plea on their website for donations to get Zimmerman out on bail! They probably had some friends with very deep pockets who came to their aid too. let's just hope Zimmerman isn't lying to them too.
where did this prick get $100,000 and who the hell would help this @!$%# out ?
That would be noneya.
Well he had 25 to 30G's from his other "stay" in jail and subsequent bail out. Now, his lawyers set up another website to contribute and the way I understand he had over 20 more in just 18 hours. And that was two days ago. So I would guess that number grew a bunch over the last two days to get the the 100G's he needed.
well believe it or not, but there are a lot of people out there, with a lot of money that would like to rid the planet of black people....I know it's hard to believe, but it is true.
He lied about his money makes me think he lied about everything else. GUILTY! Sucks that this is top news and we have to hear about this case for a long time to come!
Oh Great !! I wonder HOW he managed to find the money to post the $ 1 million dollar bond ? ? for those reader who think George Zimmerman is innocent >> I will read your comments but I would like for you to explain the 911 call in which it is clearly shown on tape's transcript George Zimmerman given orders not to follow Trayvon Martin. Just saying
Becuase most people support him. That's how.
Albert64
The dispatcher with no legal authority never ordered Zimmerman to do anything. He gave advise "you don't need to do that". Everyone is ignoring that Zimmerman agreed and everyone is ignoring that Zimmerman agreed. They are also ignoring the dispatcher say "Let us know...."
The exact words from the 911 operator were "We don't need you to do that". Damn now that is a demand to cease and desist. 911 operators are not police officers and even if the operator ordered him, it wouldn't have held water. Got it?
Albert, Zimmerman does stop 5 seconds after being told to not follow. On the 911 call, you can hear him say ok after being told not to follow, then Zimm stops running most likely because he can no longer see Trayvon. He's on the phone with the police another 90 seconds after this point, then there is another 90 seconds before the fight starts. Yet the fight occurs at a spot 10 seconds from his truck, and 30 seconds away from Trayvon's house which is at the end of the walkway. If Trayvon didn't want to fight, it wouldn't have happened.
and everyone is ignoring that he requested that the police call him when they arrive so that he could direct them to his location after they had made plans for him to meet them at the mailboxes. Why would he need the police to call him for directions to his location if he was on his way to his vehicle to meet them at the mailboxes?
It also wasn't 911 that he called, he called the non-emergency number which usually (at least where I live) connects you to the local police station which is manned by police officers.
Talk to the Hand - Why would you chase after someone when you feared for your life & you knew the police were on their way? You might be a dumba$$ and believe this guy, but I most certainly don't.
bmilleroh - And just how quickly do you think they would have gotten there when there was just a "suspected" troublemaker? He MAY have followed him but I doubt he chased him. Rather just keeping an eye on him so that when the police came many minutes later he would know where he was. I don't think he feared for his life as he knew not what or whom he was following.
And good for you Donna, my local dispatch at our police station is still manned/womened/staffed with civilians.
I'm sure when I come back, the racist will have taken over this discussion. So predictable.
And the little WUSS has on his "Lucky Suit"....fitted with Bullet Proof Vest and all...Too bad the UNARMED Teen he KILLED didn'thave on a Vest! Karma will catch up to this little prick! Dont get too comfy with your temporary freedom Georgie! Lying sack of crap!
Good. step one in his exoneration. There is no chance in hell he will be found guilty of murder. There is in fact only a small chance of manslaughter. We will see him walk on this. Lesson learned. You never know who you are dealing with and what they have. Escalate a situation and you might end up dead.
typical nigga dead who really cares no one did when Andy died !!!!!! wtf
Keith Wolfrey is a perfect example why a lot of women should swallow. A million sperm, and THAT one won the race.
that was fantastic girlcop...lmao
I asked this question before.
Who is paying for Zimmerman defense?
The nra, the gop?
Low caps, intentionally.
What a bunch of Cynical unfeeling illiterate bigoted goofs you all are! As as honorable upright American Republican I'm ashamed to be affiliated with you all!
By the way Keith, your inflamitory grammer choices are only outdone by your low inbred IQ dumbass !
Then get out of the discussion @!$%#.
A person is murdered by firearm every hour in the United States.
That statistic has held up for more than a decade now.
Given that, nearly two-thousand people have been murdered-by-firearm since Zimmerman gunned down Trayvon - where's the outrage for all those thousand of other murders?
This case is now all about media sensationalism. I would forget all about this case if not for the media, people are gunned-down every-hour in this country.
Someone gets murdered... the police arrest the murderer... not very exciting...
Someone sees a kid walking home from buying candy.. is recorded saying "These @!$%#s always get away".. kills that kids minutes later... tells the police he acted in self defense... police believe him and let him go even though the guy has a history of assulting a police officer, and his spouse. SUPER INTERESTING.
I have always thought that everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty.is there a reason why this should not be the case this time?
What are you trying to say? that GZ is guilty?