Zimmerman released from US jail on bail
Source: Agencies |
April 24, 2012, Tuesday
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THE US man whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen led to weeks of national protests before his arrest was released from a Florida jail on US$150,000 bail as he awaits trial on a charge of second-degree murder.
George Zimmerman was wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans and carrying a paper bag as he walked out of the jail around midnight on Sunday. He was following another man and the two then got into a white BMW car and drove away.
No questions were shouted at Zimmerman from members of the news media at the scene, and he gave no statement. His ultimate destination is being kept secret for his safety and it could be outside Florida.
Zimmerman, 28, fatally shot 17-year-old Martin on February 26 inside a Florida gated community where Zimmerman and Martin's father's fiancee both lived. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. The case has sparked national protests and accusations or racial profiling. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is from Peru.
As with the July 2011 release of Casey Anthony, a Florida woman whose acquittal for murder in the death of her young daughter was national news, Zimmerman was released around midnight. But the similarities end there. Anthony was quickly whisked away by deputy sheriffs armed with rifles as angry protesters jeered her. While news helicopters briefly tracked her SUV through Orlando before she slipped from public view, there was no such pursuit of Zimmerman, who will have to return for trial.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said at a hearing last Friday that Zimmerman cannot have any guns and must observe a 7 pm-to-6am curfew. Zimmerman also surrendered his passport.
Zimmerman had to put up 10 percent, or US$15,000, to make bail. His father had indicated he might take out a second mortgage.
Zimmerman worked at a mortgage risk-management company at the time of the shooting and his wife is in nursing school. A website was set up to collect donations for Zimmerman's defense fund. It is unclear how much has been raised.
Bail is not unheard of in second-degree murder cases, and legal experts had predicted it would be granted for Zimmerman because of his ties to the community, because he turned himself in after he was charged last week, and because he has never been convicted of a serious crime.
Earlier Sunday, Zimmerman's attorney was working to secure the money for bail and a safe place for Zimmerman to stay. But residents in Sanford, where Martin was killed, didn't expect a ruckus once Zimmerman was released.
George Zimmerman was wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans and carrying a paper bag as he walked out of the jail around midnight on Sunday. He was following another man and the two then got into a white BMW car and drove away.
No questions were shouted at Zimmerman from members of the news media at the scene, and he gave no statement. His ultimate destination is being kept secret for his safety and it could be outside Florida.
Zimmerman, 28, fatally shot 17-year-old Martin on February 26 inside a Florida gated community where Zimmerman and Martin's father's fiancee both lived. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense. The case has sparked national protests and accusations or racial profiling. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is from Peru.
As with the July 2011 release of Casey Anthony, a Florida woman whose acquittal for murder in the death of her young daughter was national news, Zimmerman was released around midnight. But the similarities end there. Anthony was quickly whisked away by deputy sheriffs armed with rifles as angry protesters jeered her. While news helicopters briefly tracked her SUV through Orlando before she slipped from public view, there was no such pursuit of Zimmerman, who will have to return for trial.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said at a hearing last Friday that Zimmerman cannot have any guns and must observe a 7 pm-to-6am curfew. Zimmerman also surrendered his passport.
Zimmerman had to put up 10 percent, or US$15,000, to make bail. His father had indicated he might take out a second mortgage.
Zimmerman worked at a mortgage risk-management company at the time of the shooting and his wife is in nursing school. A website was set up to collect donations for Zimmerman's defense fund. It is unclear how much has been raised.
Bail is not unheard of in second-degree murder cases, and legal experts had predicted it would be granted for Zimmerman because of his ties to the community, because he turned himself in after he was charged last week, and because he has never been convicted of a serious crime.
Earlier Sunday, Zimmerman's attorney was working to secure the money for bail and a safe place for Zimmerman to stay. But residents in Sanford, where Martin was killed, didn't expect a ruckus once Zimmerman was released.
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