George Zimmerman collected about $204,000 in donations through his short-lived website, but did not disclose the contributions during his bond hearing last week and was facing some trouble for it. However, the judge has ruled that for now, he can keep his money. Details below.
(KTLA) – Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. to increase Zimmerman’s $150,000 bond. But the judge said he would delay ruling on the request, in part because he does not know if he has the authority to do so.
Lester said he is also concerned about revealing the names of donors.
“I’m not going to make a snap decision,” Lester said.
Zimmerman’s family testified last week at his bond hearing that they did not have the kind of resources that would have been necessary to meet the prosecution’s suggested $1 million bond.
Zimmerman, 28, was released Monday on $150,000 bail, 10% of which his family put up to secure his release while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge in Martin’s February 26 death.
Although Zimmerman spent some of the contributions on living expenses, about $150,000 remains, O’Mara said Friday. O’Mara said he has put the money into a trust he controls until a final decision is made about its use.
O’Mara said he learned about the money on Wednesday and he and Zimmerman were trying to shut down Zimmerman’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account to avoid concerns about possible impersonators and other problems.
“He asked me what to do with his PayPal accounts, and I asked him what he was talking about,” O’Mara told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday. “He said those were the accounts that had the money from the website he had. And there was about … $204,000 that had come in to date.”
O’Mara had said earlier this month that he believed Zimmerman had no money.
Asked whether knowledge of the money might have made a difference to Lester, who presided at Zimmerman’s bond hearing, O’Mara said, “It might have.”
Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said Zimmerman’s failure to reveal that he had the money shows that he is being dishonest.
“If his testimony at the bond hearing is any indication of what is to come, then the lying has already begun,” Crump said.
