George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watchman charged with second-degree murder in the case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was given a bond of $150,000 by Circuit Judge Kenneth M. Lester Jr. at the hearing on Friday. His attorney, Mark O’Mara, said he could be free in several days. Authorities and attorneys are expected to organize arrangements to permit Zimmerman to live outside of Florida as he awaits trial because of threats made against him. In the shooting case of Martin, Zimmerman is claiming self-defense in reference to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. On February 26, the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman claims Martin attacked him after he started following him because he thought the teen looked suspicious walking around the gated community. Zimmerman told police he was punched in the nose and his head was slammed against the cement.
To Trayvon Martin’s parents and a national television audience, Zimmerman took the witness stand and said, “I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not.” Judge Lester set several conditions for Zimmerman’s release, the date of which is undermined. Zimmerman is banned of any guns, cannot drink alcohol or use illegal drugs, and must observe a curfew between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. At the start of the hearing, Zimmerman surrendered his passport. Before the hearing, Zimmerman asked to meet with Martin’s parents, but the family’s lawyers said that it was not the time. In an email on Thursday, Justin R. Campbell, attorney Benjamin Crump’s assistant, said, “We believe (the) Zimmerman request is very self-serving, considering the timing of it 50 days later, right before his bond hearing.”
