Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester has been placed on the hot seat once again. George Zimmerman’s defense team yesterday lobbied Lester to grant their client bond after having his original bond revoked earlier this month for misleading the court about how much money he and his wife had.
Prosecutors claimed that a website Zimmerman created for his legal defense had raised $135,000 at the time of his first bond hearing, which he failed to mention to the court.
While Zimmerman’s attorney disputed the claims that there was no foul play, the prosecution pointed to repeated transfers between their bank account and Paypal account used to take donations.
Adam Magill, a financial specialist called to testify by Zimmerman’s defense team, began defending the Zimmerman’s means of acquiring the funds, but then admitted that moving the money around from different accounts would make it appear that you didn’t have the money.
Another hole in Zimmerman’s defense is the recorded phone calls in jail of him and his wife discussing in code different ways to transfer the money to various banks. The prosecutors allege that when Mrs. Zimmerman told her husband they had $155, it was in reference to the $155,000 they had raised through the site.
Shellie Zimmerman was charged with perjury and will be arraigned on July 31st. She was released on $1,000 bond.
The defense spent the majority of the hearing looking to poke holes in the prosecution’s claim that Zimmerman used excessive force in his handling of the Trayvon Martin encounter. Zimmerman’s father testified that it was his son screaming for help during the now infamous 911 call, not Trayvon.
No word yet from Judge Lester on when he will make an official ruling.
