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George Zimmerman back in Fla. jail
Last Updated 2:11 p.m. ET
(CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. - George Zimmerman' has returned to a Florida jail, after a judge revoked bond for the man accused in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman wore a white plaid shirt and jeans when he arrived at the jail in a white unmarked minivan with a police official. He did not answer questions from reporters.
On Sunday afternoon, about 40 minutes before the 2:30 p.m. deadline to surrender, Zimmerman was listed as an inmate on the jail website. He was marked as being held without bail and having $500 in his jail account.
Zimmerman's lawyer said he hopes his client's voluntary return to Florida to turn himself in will show that he's not a flight risk.
A judge revoked Zimmerman's bond last week, suggesting he and his wife had not been honest about their finances. The neighborhood watch volunteer is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman's lawyers say their client returned to the state to meet this afternoon's deadline. They say they will ask for a new bond hearing.
During a bond hearing in April, Zimmerman and his wife indicated they had limited funds. But prosecutors say Zimmerman had raised thousands through a website he had set up for his legal defense.
His lawyers said in a press release that the money Zimmerman has raised is in an independent trust and cannot be directly accessed by Zimmerman or his attorneys.
Zimmerman credibility may be hurt by bond dispute
Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder charge. He maintains he shot Martin in self-defense under Florida's so-called "stand your ground" law because the teen, who was unarmed, was beating him up after confronting Zimmerman about following him in a gated community outside Orlando.
Zimmerman's credibility could become an issue at trial, legal experts said, noting the case hinges on jurors believing Zimmerman's account of what happened the night in February that Martin was killed.
Zimmerman wasn't charged in the case until more than a month after the shooting. Protests were held across the nation, and the case spurred debate about whether race was a factor in Zimmerman's actions and in the initial police handling of the case. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is from Peru.
Police in Sanford did not immediately arrest Zimmerman, citing the Florida law that gives wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat in a fight if people believe they are in danger of being killed or seriously injured.
The questioning of Zimmerman's truthfulness by the judge on Friday could undermine the defendant's credibility if it is brought up at trial. It also may complicate how his defense presents him as a witness, said Orlando-area attorney Randy McClean, a former prosecutor.
"The other key witness, unfortunately, is deceased," McClean said. "Basically, Zimmerman is going to be asking the jury to believe his version of the facts. ... As the case stands now, his credibility is absolutely critical to the case."
Jail authorities in central Florida, where the case arose, said Zimmerman had not turned himself in there by early Sunday. He must do so by Sunday afternoon.
Zimmerman went into hiding in the weeks after the shooting and his exact whereabouts since he bonded out of jail remain unclear. It was not immediately clear exactly where Zimmerman would surrender.
Witness accounts of the rainy night that Martin was shot are spotty. There is no video of the fight, though photos released by prosecutors show Zimmerman with wounds to his face and the back of his head.
Zimmerman's credibility would be important if his attorney, Mark O'Mara, tries to get a judge without the jury to dismiss the charges based on the law, said Orlando defense attorney David Hill.
"If he was in on something that was not truthfully revealed to the judge, when there is a `stand your ground' hearing, of course you're going to second-guess him," Hill said.
Both McClean and Hill said O'Mara would be able to challenge the admissibility of the bond revocation at trial by questioning its relevance.
Zimmerman was arrested 44 days after the killing, and during a bond hearing in April, his wife, Shellie, testified that the couple had limited funds available. Zimmerman took the stand at the hearing and apologized to Martin's parents.
Prosecutors pointed out in their motion that Zimmerman had $135,000 available then. It had been raised from donations through a website he had set up. They suggested more has been collected since and deposited in a bank account.
Shellie Zimmerman was asked about the website at the hearing, but she said she didn't know how much money had been raised. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester set bail at $150,000. The 28-year-old was freed a few days later after posting $15,000 in cash — which is typical.
Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda complained Friday, "This court was led to believe they didn't have a single penny. It was misleading and I don't know what words to use other than it was a blatant lie." The judge agreed and ordered Zimmerman returned to jail by Sunday afternoon.
The defense countered that Zimmerman and his wife never used the money for anything, which indicated "there was no deceit."
The judge said he would schedule a hearing after Zimmerman is back in custody so he could explain himself.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, said his clients have always said Zimmerman should remain in jail until trial.
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Look, dear writer, use EITHER so-called or the quotation marks, NOT both!
This seems so totally ridiculous, since he wasn't indicted or there wasn't enough evidence or whatever.
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oh yeah
just cause someone died from being shot by a guy who went after him doesn't mean there should be an investigation.....right?
I guess not when the shooter is a judge's kid.
what is ridiculous is that there was not an investigation until public pressure forced one....exactly why the police chief is not and should not be here any more.
You just confirmed for me once again that the right wing attitude is that rules are for the other suckers.
I have ESP. : )
Trayvon Martin was also an American citizen who had committed no crimes, and he also deserved to have his right s respected - but he is already dead.
Zimmerman will receive as fair a trial as possible, if you believe otherwise you have no idea how jury selection works. Neither side will be able to "stack the deck" on a case like this, as everyone including the judge will be very concious of the situation.
As for the propaganda about this being the sickest display of racism in a while, this isn't even close. You can hardly blame people for being angry when this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME and never gets fully investigated.
Zimmerman precipitated the incident. He could have driven away. He could have stayed in his car. He could have walked away. He could have answered Trayvon's question from the assumption that TRAYVON was "innocent until proiven guilty." He did NONE of those things, and as such he deserves to stand trial.
And if you think otherwise, you are part of the problem.
The first question asked in THIS case will not be "who hit who first" but to Zimmerman (in a nice way) "What the hell were you doing stalking and confronting a law abiding citizen?" If Zimmerman had just driven away, nothing would have happened. If he had stopped following himm, nothing would have happened. If he hadn't gotten out of his car to chase Martin, nothing would have happened.
Zimmerman precipitated the incident. It would never have happened if Zimmerman hadd't operated against advice and confronted Martin. And therefore, the question is not who threw the first punhc, but why was there a fight at all, and for that Zimmerman is 100% responsible.