A Florida judge today ordered George Zimmerman, who is charged with fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, free on $1 million bond, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Zimmerman would be required to put up 10% to be freed. It was not immediately clear how long it would take for him to leave jail.
Update at 11:41 a.m. ET: The Sentinel notes that Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, has said that his client’s legal defense fund has a balance of $211,000, which would more than meet the 10% required to put up a $1 million bond.

https://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/07/judge-to-decide-whether-george-zimmerman-will-be-freed-on-bond/1
Judge Lester’s written Order: https://www.scribd.com/doc/99210750/Zimmerman-Bail
Pertinent details of the Judge’s Order highlighted in yellow with commenatary by Treeper commenter/attorney It’sMichaelNotMike:
https://litigationuniverse.com/Bond1MOrderMyHighlights.pdf
Mark O’Mara had noted in the second bond hearing he felt that the prosecution’s case was weak, and that Zimmerman had a strong claim to self-defense, and to keep him jailed until his trial would be unreasonable.
The original bail amount of $150,000 was viewed by many in the law enforcement community of Florida to be excessive, in light of what bond amounts are set for similar crimes. The extremely high bar set for the second bail signals two things: (a) it is punishment for misrepresentation to the court about his finances and ability to fund a bail bond (which is improper, IMV) and (b) it demolishes the State’s claim that their case is strong, and Zimmerman will be found guilty. It is up to the State to disprove Zimmerman’s self-defense claims “beyond a reasonable doubt”, and the Judge apparently no longer feels the State’s case is “strong” as he originally stated in his decision to revoke bond on June 1st.
As a result of the generosity of people concerned with due process, Zimmerman does have immediate access to enough cash in his defense fund to quickly arrange a new bond, and be released as soon as it is safe and prudent for him to do so.
Posted in Uncategorized
358 Comments