George Zimmerman’s bond hearing took place in the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center this morning. Zimmerman is charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin on the night of February 26 in Sanford, FL. Zimmerman’s wife took the stand and declared that her husband is not violent. His father also took the stand and made similar comments that even when confronted, Zimmerman is likely to “turn the other cheek.” Zimmerman himself took the stand and apologized directly to the Martin family for the loss of their 17-year-old son, Trayvon. Zimmerman stated that he did not know how old Martin was, and that he thought Martin was just a year or two yonnger than Zimmerman, who is 28 years old. “I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know if he was armed,” Zimmerman said on the stand.
The prosecution’s attorney, Bernardo de la Rionda, badgered Zimmerman, asking him whether he had ever apologized to the Martin family before today’s hearing. Zimmerman stated that he had expressed regret to the police on the night of the shooting, but had been advised by his attorneys not to communicate with the Martin family, so he had not contacted them. Today’s hearing was the first time that Zimmerman and Martin’s family have been in the same room. As an attorney, de la Rionda is aware that Zimmerman’s defense would have advised him against contacting the family.
The court set bail at $150,000 plus GPS monitoring. Zimmerman may be allowed to stay outside the county if he posts bail, as media attention to the case plus the New Black Panthers’ $10,000 “dead or alive” bounty on his head, which has not been investigated or prosecuted, put his safety at risk.
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