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Defense in Florida shooting files for suspect’s release

By Jeff Weiner, The Orlando Sentinel –

ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer has filed a motion arguing that Zimmerman should be granted bond on the second-degree murder charge he faces in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, “notwithstanding” allegations that he sat silently as his wife lied under oath about the couple’s finances.

Zimmerman, the defense argues, “has no criminal convictions, no history of failing to appear at court proceedings and has significant ties to the community as evidence at his initial bond hearing.”

Defense lawyer Mark O’Mara also noted that his client has maintained contact with law enforcement when not in jail, and has now twice turned himself in to authorities. A new bond hearing is set for Friday.

At that first hearing, Zimmerman was granted $150,000 bail. But his bond was later revoked, after evidence surfaced that Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie Zimmerman, had been untruthful during the hearing.

Prosecutors allege Shellie Zimmerman had ready access to thousands of dollars the couple had raised in donations through her husband’s website, but testified that she and her husband were essentially broke.

Shellie Zimmerman has since been charged with perjury, arrested and released on bail.

In the new motion for bond, O’Mara says that the money has since been moved into an independently controlled defense fund, and George Zimmerman has no direct access to it.

O’Mara also acknowledges Zimmerman’s failure to tell the court about the money “was wrong and Mr. Zimmerman accepts his part in allowing the court to be misled as to his true financial circumstances.”

O’Mara is asking the court impose conditions similar to his client’s original bond terms, which included GPS monitoring.

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