The question many want to know: will George Zimmerman post bond today inside a Seminole County courtroom?
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Zimmerman, who faces a second-degree murder charge in the Feb. 26 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is set to appear at a 9 a.m. bond hearing before Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. and many legal experts say that he will be granted bond if his attorney Mark O’Mara can prove he is not a flight risk.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, several local defense lawyers expect Zimmerman will be given the opportunity to await trial outside a jail cell.
David Fussell of the Fussell Law Firm said:
“Generally, it’s a constitutional right to get out on pretrial release of some type it would not be consistent with the law.”
The public “should expect him to get a bond,” added Andrew Moses of Moses & Rooth.
The bar for denying bond is high, as criminal defendants have a basic right to reasonable bail. However, a few factors could play into Lester’s decision today.
For instance, is Zimmerman a flight risk? That’s what O’Mara will likely argue.
On Thursday, court administrators said members of Zimmerman’s family will testify by phone.
Also in Zimmerman’s favor is his behavior, Fussell said. When charges were announced, “he turned himself in,” Fussell said, and before that, “he stayed in touch with law enforcement.”
Is he a danger to the community? Zimmerman has only one known arrest, when he was accused of shoving a law-enforcement officer outside a bar near the University of Central Florida in 2005.
Fussell said the danger standard best applies to defendants accused of repeated criminal acts — a serial rapist, for example — or prone to sudden, unprovoked or random acts of violence.
Because the charge Zimmerman faces carries a possible life sentence, there is a third standard the state could argue, known as “proof evident, presumption great.”
It’s a higher standard than “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the burden necessary for a criminal conviction.
Zimmerman is currently being held in a 67-square-foot cell in Seminole County’s John E. Polk Correctional Facility.
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