ORLANDO, Fla. — Using words like “false testimony” and “misled,” a judge granted $1 million bail Thursday for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, but questioned his honesty and suggested he had plotted to leave the country when he was out of jail the first time.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester’s
doubts could hurt a Zimmerman attempt to dismiss the case by claiming he shot Martin in self-defense, a possible motion based on Florida’s “stand your ground” law, experts said.
Lester had revoked Zimmerman’s $150,000 bail last month after prosecutors said Zimmerman and his wife misled the court about how much money they had during an April bond hearing and failed to disclose he had a second passport after turning in one passport to the court.
Zimmerman, who formerly lived in Sanford, had not yet been released from jail and his arrangements after his release were unclear. Zimmerman will have to pay a bail bond company $100,000 and have collateral worth $1 million. Neither Zimmerman nor his family have that amount in collateral, said defense attorney Mark O’Mara on his website in an appeal for donations.
