‘I Am Sorry,’ Zimmerman Says as Bail Set at $150,000

'I Am Sorry,' Zimmerman Says as Bail Set at $150,000

Pool photo by Gary W. Green
George Zimmerman arrived for his bail hearing on Friday in Sanford,
Fla. He spoke publicly for the first time about his case, apologizing
to the parents of Trayvon Martin, the teenager he shot and killed.

By SERGE F. KOVALESKI and JENNIFER PRESTON

SANFORD, Fla. — Speaking publicly about the case for the first time,
George Zimmerman, the man accused of second-degree murder in the
shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, briefly took the
witness stand at his bail hearing on Friday and apologized to the
teenager's parents.


Mr. Zimmerman, accused of murder, answered questions from his lawyer
Mark O'Mara during a bond hearing Friday.

"I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son," Mr. Zimmerman,
28, said in a soft voice from the stand, dressed in a dark suit, with
his hands locked in cuffs, and shackles at his feet and waist. "I did
not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I
am. And I did not know if he was armed or not."

Mr. Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, sitting in the
second row of the courtroom here, showed little emotion during Mr.
Zimmerman's remarks. They did not comment after the hearing ended,
hurrying to a waiting car.

One of their lawyers, Benjamin Crump, said later that Mr. Martin's
family was "completely devastated" by the Seminole County Circuit
Court judge's decision to allow Mr. Zimmerman to be released from jail
on $150,000 bail, which was considerably less severe than the
prosecutors' request for no bail or $1 million.

Describing Mr. Zimmerman's apology from the stand as "self-serving,"
Mr. Crump said he considered it a ploy to help win his release from
jail and curry favor with the court and the public through the news
media.

"They have to accept the court's decision," he said about Mr. Martin's
parents. "But they are praying that his freedom is only temporary
because the pain Zimmerman caused them is going to last forever. They
are never getting Trayvon back."

Mr. Martin, a high school student, was shot and killed on Feb. 26
while walking through the gated community where he was staying and
where Mr. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer. The case
incited a national uproar, including protests across the country,
after the police did not arrest Mr. Zimmerman, raising questions about
Florida's expansive self-defense law and racial profiling.

A special prosecutor, Angela B. Corey, was assigned to the case by
Gov. Rick Scott amid criticism of the way it was being handled by
local authorities, and she brought second-degree murder charges
against Mr. Zimmerman last week.

Mark M. O'Mara, Mr. Zimmerman's lawyer, said he had asked that Mr.
Zimmerman be allowed to apologize privately to the parents, but the
request was rebuffed. He said Mr. Zimmerman wanted to answer the three
questions that he had heard Mr. Martin's mother raise during a
television interview.

"He answered very specifically the three questions posed by the
mother: Why haven't you apologized? Did you know he was a teenager?
And did you know he was unarmed?" Mr. O'Mara said.

At the end of the hearing, which ran more than two hours, the judge,
Kenneth R. Lester Jr., set bail and imposed multiple restrictions on
Mr. Zimmerman's release, including no contact with Mr. Martin's family
or with witnesses to the shooting. Judge Lester also banned access to
alcohol or firearms, and ordered that his movements be monitored by an
electronic bracelet. He set a curfew that would require Mr. Zimmerman
to remain at home from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. and ordered him to check in
with the authorities every three days.

Mr. Zimmerman will not be released from jail for several days, Mr.
O'Mara said, because it will take time to arrange financing for the
bond and find a secure location for Mr. Zimmerman, who has received
death threats.

Testifying by telephone during the proceeding because of concern for
their safety, Mr. Zimmerman's family members, including his wife,
Shellie Zimmerman, assured the judge that they would closely monitor
his whereabouts and notify the authorities if they lost contact with
him for any reason before his pending trial.

As part of his effort to win Mr. Zimmerman's release on bond, Mr.
O'Mara challenged the prosecution's case, going through the state's
probable cause affidavit line by line, turning the bail hearing into
what appeared to be a foretaste of the trial.

He aggressively questioned a state investigator, Dale Gilbreath, about
the accusation that Mr. Zimmerman had racially profiled Mr. Martin,
and he demanded to know what evidence the state had for the statement
that "Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued."

"Do you know who started the fight?" Mr. O'Mara asked Mr. Gilbreath.

"Do I know?" Mr. Gilbreath said. "No."

Mr. O'Mara then asked Mr. Gilbreath if the state had any evidence to
contradict Mr. Zimmerman's statement to the police that he had been
making his way back to his car when he was punched by Mr. Martin. Mr.
Zimmerman told investigators he shot Mr. Martin in self-defense after
Mr. Martin banged his head on concrete, covered his nose and mouth and
reached for his gun.

Mr. Gilbreath responded, "No."

While on the stand, Mr. Zimmerman was sharply questioned by Bernardo
de la Rionda, an assistant state attorney.

"Do you agree that you changed your story?" Mr. de la Rionda asked,
referring to the five separate statements that Mr. Zimmerman gave the
police about the shooting.

"Absolutely not, " Mr. Zimmerman replied in a firm voice.

Serge F. Kovaleski reported from Sanford, and Jennifer Preston from New York.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/us/george-zimmerman-bail-hearing.html?hp

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy



--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

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