07/05/202211:3595554582PAGE01/09
TNTHECIRCUITCOURTFOR
THEEIGHTEENTH
JUDICIALCIRCUIT,
INANDFOR
SEMINOLE
COUNTY,
FLORIDA
CASENO.12-CF-I083-ASTATEOfFLORlDA,
Plaintiff(s),
VS.
GEORGE
ZIMMERMAN,
Defendant(s).
_____________;I
ORDERSETTINGBAIL
TheDefendant,chargedwithsecond-degreemurderwitha.firearm,wasgrantedreleaseona$150,000
bondon
A
pri
I20,2012.Baseduponinformationlater
discovered,
theStateflied
8
Motionto
Revoke
Bond
which
washeard
onJuneI,2012.Aftcr
an
adversarial
evidentiaryhearing,
the
CourtrevokedthebondpursuanttoFla.R.Crim.P.3.13I(b)(5).OnJune25,2012,theDefendantfiledamotionseekingreinstatementofthebond.TheStateopposedtheDefendant'srelease.Themotionwas
heard
onJune29,2012.
Atthe
hearing,the
Court
heardtestimonyandreceived
substantial
evidenceregardingtheDefendant's
financesatthetime
immediatelybefore
theApril20,2012bond
hearing.TheDefendantalsopresentedevidenceabouthisgoodbehaviorwhileonelectronicmonitoringafterhisreleaseonbond.TheCourtreceivedsubstantialevidenceregardingthefactsofthecaseitselfinanefforttoshowthattheState'scaseagainsthimisweak.Finally,theDefendantdidnotofferanyexplanationoforjustificationforhisdeceptionthat
was
subjecttocross
examination.
Asnoted,the
Defendantspent
asubstantial
portionof
thehearingpresentingevidencerelatingtoself-defenseinanefforttocountertheState'scasebecause,intheinitialorder,theCourtcharacterizedtheState'scaseas"strong."Notably,attheinitialbondhearing,this
Court
hadonly
limited
evidence;tothatpoint,theStateshowedtheDefendanthadshotandkilledTrayvon
Martin.1
Therewasother
evidence
presented
throughtheprobablecauseaffidavitandthetestimonyofDale
Gilbreath,
aninvestigatorwith
the
StateAttorney'sOffice,thattheDefendant'sactionswereimm;nentlydangeroustoanotherandthatheactedwithadepravedmindregardlessofhumanlife.TheDefendantcertainlyindicatedthrough
cross-examination
thatheactedinself-defense,butheputforwardnoevidenceof
I
This
is
undisputed.The
Defendant
apologizedonthe
recordforshootingandkilling
Martin.
I
07/05/282211:35
%5541:,82
PAGE
02/09
such?As
E.\
consequence,
thisCourtfoundasapreliminarymatterthattheevidenceagainsttheDefendantwas"strong."SincetheJune29,2012hearingaddressedwhethertoreinstatethebondwasnotan
Arthur
hearing,
the
presentationofevidenceattackingtheState'scaseisof
limited
relevanceatthisstageofthe
proceedings.
Nonetheless,theCourt
reviewedallof
the
exhibits
andconsideredthewitnesses'testimony
regarding
theDefendant'sself-defense
theory.
The
actual
questionsbefore
the
Courtatthistimearc:is
the
Defendantentitledtobailwhenhepresentsfalsetestimonyatapriorbondhearingandwhatrecoursethereis
when
theDefendanthasshownblatantdisregardforthejudicialsystem,TheFloridaConstitutionofferssomeguidance.
Art.T,
§
14
states:Unlesschargedwithacapitaloffenseoranoffensepunishable:
by
lifeimprisonmentand
the
proofofguiltisevidentandthepresumptionisgreat,
every
personchargedwithacrimeoraviolationofmunicipalOrcountyordinanceshallbeentitledtopretrialreleaseonreasonableconditions.Ifnoconditionsofreleasecanreasonablyprotectthecommunityfromriskofphysicalharmtopersons,assurethepresenceoftheaccusedattrial,orassuretheintegrityofthejudicialprocess,theaccusedmaybedetained.
By
itsplainlanguage,thisCourtisauthorizedtodetaintheDefendantwithoutbailifitisdeterminedthatitisnecessarytoassuretheintegrityofthejudicialprocess.Underanydefinition,theDefendanthasflauntedthesystem.CounselhasattemptedtoportraytheDefendantasbeingaconfusedyoungmanwho
was
fearfuIandexperiencedamomentofweaknessand
who
mayalsohaveactedoutofasenseof"betrayal"
by
thesystem.Baseduponalloftheevidencepresented,thisCourtfindstheopposite.TheDefendanthastriedtomanipulatethesystemwhenhehasbeenpresentedtheopportunitytodoso.Heisanadult
by
everylegaldefinition;TrayvonMartinistheonlymale
whose
youthisrelevanttothiscase,TheDefendanthastakencoursesincriminaljustice
with
theintentionofbecomingapoliceofficer,anattorney,ajudge,or~magistratelikehisfather.Hehasbeenarrestedbefore,havingenteredandsuccessfullycompletedapre-trialinterventionprogram.Hehasalsoobtainedaninjunctionandhadaninjunctionenteredagainsthim.TheinjunctionagainsthimhasobviouslybeendissolvedatsomepointforhimtohavevalidlyobtainedapermittocarrythefirearmusedtoshootTrayvonMartin.Healsohadthewherewithal
to
setupawebsitetocollectdonationstohelpdefraythecostsofhisdefense.Thus,beforethistragicincident,theDefendanthadaverysophisticatedknowledgeofthecriminaljusticesystemoverandabovethatoftheaverage,law-abidingcitizen.
Moreover,
anysenseof
"betrayal"
wouldbe
unreasonable.
HewascooperativewiththeSanfordPolleeDepartmentinthathedidgivenumerousstatementsuponrequest.TheStatenotesthathisstorieschangedeachretelling,butonthesurfaceheshouldbedeemedtohavebeencooperative.However,heclearlyunderstoodthathewasbeinginvestigatedforcommittingahomicide
and,
whilehebelievesthathewasjustifiedin.hisactions,there
has
beennothingpresentedwhichindicatesthathewasmisledinto
I.
Argument
by
counselisnotevidence.
Seee.gWheelerv.Stare,
311.So.2d713(Fla.4thDCA1975)(notingthatcounsel'sopeningstatementIsnotevidence),
2
137/135/2132211:3595554582
PAGE133/139
believingthathewouldnotbechargedwithacrime.Contrarytobeingbetrayed,theDefendantreceived
normal,
reasonabletreatment
andwasgranted
reasonable
bail.
Contrarytotheimagepresented
by
theDefendantnotbyevidencebutonly
by
argumentofcounsel,
it
appears
to
thisCourtthattheDefendantismanipulatingthesystemtohisownbenefit.TheevidenceisclearthattheDefendantandhiswifeactedinconcert,butprimarilyattheDefendant'sdirection,toconcealtheircash
holdings.
Theyspokeinrudimentarycodetoconcealthetrueamountofmoneytheyweredealing
with.
AdamMagill,theDefendant'sforensicaccountingexpert,didnotdispelthisCourt'sconcernthattheDefendantwasseekingtohideassets.HeadmittedthatoneinterpretationoftheDefendant'Sactions
was
to
hide
money,
buthe
alsostatedthat
it
was
not
II
veryeffectiveway
todo
sobecauseallofthebanktransactionsweretraceable.TheDefendantalsoneglectedtodisclosethathehadnvalidsecondpassportinhissafedepositbox.Notably,togetherwiththe
passpon,
themoneyonlyhad
to
behiddenfora'shorttimeforhimtoleavethecountryiftheDefendantmadeaquickdecisiontoflee.'
It
isentirelyreasonableforthisCourttofindthat,butfortherequirementthathebeplacedonelectronicmonitoring,theDefendantandhiswifewould
have
fledtheUnitedStateswithatleast$130,000ofotherpeople'smoney.Thefactthattheyhavespentthemoney"responsibly"(i.e.withoutgoingouttoexpensivedinnersorsplurgingonnonessentials)isofnoconsequenceinthisanalysis.TheDefendantdidn'tpresent
anywitness
toaffirmatively
state
that
the
Defendanthasno!receivedfundsfromanyothersource.HislackofcandorwasnotlimitedtorepresentationsmadetotheCourt.TheDefendantisrepresented
by
MarkO'Mara,averywell-respectedcriminaldefenseattorneyintheCentralFloridaarea.Attheinitialbondhearing,Mr.O'Maraindicatedthathewouldberepresentingthe
Defendant
withouttakingafee.AttorneyO'Maraalsoindicatedthathewouldbefilinganaffidavitofindigencyforcosts.TheDefendantdidnotcorrecthisattorney'srepresentationstothecourtontheseissues.Thefailuretocorrect
these
representationsmeantthatforaconsiderable
period
oftimetheDefendantmisledhisattorneyastohisabilitytopaycounsel.NomemberoftheDefendant'sfamilywhohadknowledgeoftheDefendanthidingfundsalertedthecourt.Whilenotexactlythesame,thisCourtfindsthatdeceivingtheCourtatabondhearingisakintoviolatingabondcondition.Thereislink:authorityestablishingwhat"assuretheintegrityofthejudicialprocess,"assetforthin
Art.
I,
§
14oftheFloridaConstitution,actuallymeansinoperation.
Williams
v.
Spears,
814
So.2d1167(Fla.3d
DCA
2002)appearstooffersomeguidance.There,theThirdDistrictCourtofAppealnotedthat,"[tjheintegrityofthejudicia!processisundercut
if
thecourtsdonothaveeffectivetoolsrousewhereadefendantfreeonbail
commits
anewcrime:'
[d.
at1170.TheCourtquotedwithapprovaltheSupremeCourtofRhodeIsland,whichstatedthat"wedonotthink
OUf
~It
appearsthattheDefendantalsorequeststhatthisCourtassume[hattherearenoundisclosedsourcesof'inccme
ormoney
withwhich
theDefendantcouldabscond
if
releasedagain.
.3
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George Zimmerman Bond Order
Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. granted George Zimmerman a $1 million bond on July 5, 2012.
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