George Zimmerman Gets Bail, But Won't Walk Today
Update (11:37 a.m. EDT): Zimmerman will spend at least one more night in jail, Judge Lester said. He'll have to come up with 10 percent of his $150,000 bond, and figure out where to stay and how to meet the special circumstances Lester placed on him.
RELATED: $204,000 Raised Online Won't Land Zimmerman Back in Jail, For Now
Update (11:28 a.m. EDT): In a press conference outside the courtroom, O'Mara said Zimmerman took the stand to apologize because the Martin family had asked for an apology, and he had wanted to offer one, according to the Orlando Sentinel's Trayvon Martin Twitter stream.
RELATED: George Zimmerman, Free on Bail, Has a Safe House and Lots of New Money
Update (11:20 a.m. EDT): Judge Kenneth Lester said Zimmerman wouldn't walk free today. The court needs to work out a monitoring system with Zimmerman and local sheriffs. Zimmemran will have to check in on his location every three days. He can't have any contact with firearms or witnesses. Once he satisfies the conditions of the bond, he'll walk free, defense attorney Mark NeJame said on CNN. Zimmerman and his family have very little money, but NeJame said bond companies would be likely to put up the money simply because of the high profile of the case.
RELATED: Zimmerman Will Probably Get a New Judge Today
Update (11:10 a.m. EDT): Zimmerman has just been granted bail at $150,000. He'll be monitored by GPS and have a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., and he can't drink.
RELATED: George Zimmerman's Wife Arrested for Perjury
Update (11:08 a.m. EDT): Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said bail shouldn't be set, and if it is, it should be $1 million.
RELATED: Zimmerman's Got a New Judge
Update (10:58 a.m. EDT): After apologizing, Zimmerman said he had told police at the time of the shooting that he was sorry about Martin's death, but that the message wasn't conveyed to Martin's parents.
Update (10:55 a.m. EDT): George Zimmerman took the stand and apologized directly to Trayvon Martin's parents:
“I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I didn’t know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am, and I didn’t know if he was armed or not.”
(Updated 10:48 a.m. EDT): George Zimmerman is sitting in a courtroom in Sanford, Florida, as his lawyer, Mark O'Mara, argues for him to be released on bail. The man who's admitted to shooting Trayvon Martin in what he says was a case of self defense has spent his time in isolation in jail since he turned himself in to prosecutors in Florida on April 11. Since then his case has already gone through two judges, after the initial judge, Jessica Recksiedler recused herself over a conflict of interest. Zimmerman appeared on Friday in a white shirt, black blazer and silver tie, in contrast to the gray jumpsuit he wore for his April 12 appearance, where he heard the charges against him.
Zimmerman surrendered his passport in court on Friday, as his wife, father, and mother testified, appearing via speakerphone because they're afraid for their safety. His wife, Shellie Zimmerman, heard an affidavit from Zimmerman's ex-girlfriend who said he threw her onto a bed, slapped her in the mouth, and asked her how it felt. She also confirmed Zimmerman had gone through anger management counseling as part of a pre-trial diversion on batter charges against a police officer in 2005. The best quick-moving updates in the hearing are coming from the Orlando Sentinel's Twitter account dedicated to the case, @OSTrayvonMartin. You can watch it live at WAVY.
Dale Gilbreath, an investigator for the Florida State Attorney's Office, said he and the rest of the investigators didn't know who threw the first punch in the conflict between Martin and Zimmerman. Gilbreath defended the affidavit of probable cause the office filed on April 12, in which it said Zimmerman "profiled" Martin. O'Mara pushed him to admit that the word that most frequently goes along with "profiling" is "racial," but Gilbreath wouldn't do it.
This hearing comes just hours after ABC published new photos showing Zimmerman's bloodied scalp the night of the shooting, which provides at least some evidence to back up Zimmerman's claim that Martin slammed his head into the sidewalk.
Trayvon Martin's mother and her lawyer pushed through a mob of media as they walked into court earlier. The Orlando Sentinel's Bianca Prieto shared a photo of the scene on Lockerz:
