Skip to main content

Zimmerman surrenders, is booked into Florida jail

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 4, 2012 -- Updated 0002 GMT (0802 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Man who shot Florida teen met authorities in a parking lot, sheriff says
  • He'd been in a "secure, undisclosed location" amid "significant threats against his life"
  • A Florida judge set a Sunday afternoon deadline for George Zimmerman to surrender
  • The judge revoked bail after a ruling that Zimmerman misled the court

Sanford, Florida (CNN) -- George Zimmerman was booked into jail Sunday after surrendering to authorities before an afternoon deadline, the Seminole County sheriff said.

Zimmerman met two members of the sheriff's office in a business parking lot about 1:25 p.m. Sunday and was taken into custody, Sheriff Donald Eslinger told reporters.

Zimmerman was required to return to central Florida and turn himself in after a judge revoked his bail Friday, saying Zimmerman misled the court about his finances.

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, is accused of shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in a gated community in Sanford in February. Zimmerman argues he acted in self-defense.

Police: Martin's death 'ultimately avoidable'

Eslinger said Zimmerman, who will be housed in administrative confinement at Seminole County's John E. Polk Correctional Facility, was "quiet and cooperative." He was being held on a no-bail status, the sheriff's office said.

Video from the jail showed Zimmerman exiting a white minivan, wearing handcuffs, jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, escorted by authorities.

Zimmerman's cell is designed to hold two inmates and is about 67 square feet, the sheriff's office said. It is equipped with two beds and a toilet. Inmates are not provided access to televisions, authorities said. It was not clear from the sheriff's office whether another inmate would be in the cell with Zimmerman.

Judge revokes George Zimmerman's bond
Did Zimmerman and his wife talk in code?
Crump: We only want equal justice
Martin family reaction to Zimmerman

After being booked, Zimmerman will be given an opportunity to purchase items at the commissary. His balance in the commissary account, posted on the sheriff's web site, was $500.

"While out on bond, Mr. Zimmerman has been living in a secure, undisclosed location as there are significant threats against his life," his attorneys said Sunday on the official website for his defense.

Documents shed light on Florida killing

Asked how his client spent the weekend, attorney Mark O'Mara told reporters, "travel."

He said Zimmerman was worried about coming out of hiding, "but I think he also realizes the judge's concerns."

O'Mara said he will be filing a motion Monday asking Seminole County Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. for a new bond hearing to revisit Zimmerman's status and allow the defense to "explain why what happened seems to have happened."

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the case that sparked anger across the country.

Martin's family contends that Zimmerman racially profiled the 17-year-old who was walking home from a convenience store. Martin was black; Zimmerman his white Hispanic. His family has said Zimmerman did not act out of racial bias.

Opinion: Trayvon Martin shooting wasn't a case of racial profiling

Lester ordered Zimmerman back to jail, saying the 28-year-old was not truthful about how much money he had access to when he was freed on bond in April.

Lester's ruling on Friday followed allegations by prosecutors that Zimmerman had $135,000. At the time, his wife told the court under oath that the family was indigent.

Zimmerman's attorneys said they will request a new bond hearing to address the issue. "The defense team hopes that Mr. Zimmerman's voluntary surrender to Sanford police will help demonstrate to the court that he is not a flight risk. Furthermore, the vast majority of the funds in question are in an independently managed trust" which Zimmerman and his attorneys cannot access directly, the statement on his defense website said.

Asked about the possibility that Zimmerman's wife could be charged with perjury, O'Mara said that statement was out of his control. He said his client is worried about himself, his wife and his family -- everyone who had to go into hiding because of the "enormous anger and hatred" the case has generated.

Zimmerman's trial is not "anticipated" to commence until some time in 2013, the defense statement said, and the next bond hearing will determine whether he waits "those many months in jail or not."

Zimmerman was charged in April after the case was referred to a state attorney for a review.

The money in question appears to have been donated to Zimmerman through a website he set up to help with a legal defense fund.

Citing recorded jailhouse conversations between Zimmerman and his wife, prosecutors alleged the two spoke in code when discussing the money in a credit union account, according to a court documents filed Friday by State Attorney Angela B. Corey.

HLN: Zimmerman wife talks publicly for the first time

In light of that, Lester revoked Zimmerman's bond and ordered he turn himself in no later than Sunday afternoon.

Zimmerman "fully controlled and participated in the transfer of money from the PayPal account to defendant and his wife's credit union accounts," Corey said in court records. "This occurred prior to the time defendant was arguing to the court that he was indigent and his wife had no money."

O'Mara said in April that the money raised by the website was put into a trust account that the attorney controls.

But in court documents, Corey said the money still belongs to the defendant.

The judge "relied on false representations and statements" by Zimmerman and his wife when the court set his bond at $150,000, Corey said. Zimmerman was required to post only 10% of that amount.

Corey argued that the court should revoke the bond or increase it.

Lester appeared angry that the court had not been told about the money.

"Does your client get to sit there like a potted palm and let you lead me down the primrose path?" he asked Zimmerman's lawyer. "That's the issue."

Judge in Zimmerman case no 'soft touch'

O'Mara said he had discussed the judge's decision with Zimmerman, who was not in court.

"He's frustrated because he now has to come out of hiding," O'Mara said in an interview with CNN.

"You need to realize we're still talking about a 28-year-old who's being charged with a crime he does not believe he committed, and his whole life has been turned upside down, so I think that it all needs to be kept in context."

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
Trayvon Martin shooting
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1551 GMT (2351 HKT)
February 26, 2012. That was the day two strangers -- Trayvon Martin, and George Zimmerman -- met for the first and only time.
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1547 GMT (2347 HKT)
The shooting death of Trayvon Martin one year ago continues to resonate among the consciousness of many Americans.
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1816 GMT (0216 HKT)
The final, violent moments in the life of their son, Trayvon Martin, no longer dominate the national news, as they once did.
One year after an explosion of press attention, the question seems obvious: Has the news media learned anything about covering race issues in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting?
March 22, 2012 -- Updated 1255 GMT (2055 HKT)
Supporters of Trayvon Martin rallyed in New York's Union Square during a "Million Hoodie March" on Wednesday, March 21, 2012.
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 2100 GMT (0500 HKT)
"Murderer," one e-mail's subject line said. These venom-drenched words are just a smattering of at least 400 e-mails and letters, all sent to George Zimmerman over the past 10 months.
The shooting of Trayvon Martin prompted Florida, and other states, to take another look at the law pivotal to this case, the so-called "stand your ground" law.
July 19, 2012 -- Updated 1155 GMT (1955 HKT)
George Zimmerman gave his first television interview, saying he had to act after Trayvon Martin said "you are going to die tonight" and reached for Zimmerman's gun holster.
May 18, 2012 -- Updated 1513 GMT (2313 HKT)
Florida, urged prosecutors to take George Zimmerman into custody after arguing his killing of Trayvon Martin was "ultimately avoidable."
May 9, 2012 -- Updated 1250 GMT (2050 HKT)
The police chief in Sanford, Florida, said communities should "take a good, hard look at who is selected" for neighborhood watch programs.
March 30, 2012 -- Updated 1533 GMT (2333 HKT)
Just like most any other teenager, Trayvon Martin enjoyed listening to music, going to the movies and the roller rink with his friends, friends and family said.
The Martin case renewed scrutiny of Florida's 2005 "Stand Your Ground" law -- and others like it.
April 19, 2012 -- Updated 0210 GMT (1010 HKT)
The judge in George Zimmerman case has received high ratings from defense lawyers but isn't known as a "soft touch."
December 3, 2012 -- Updated 2231 GMT (0631 HKT)
See photos of an injured George Zimmerman that his attorneys say it were taken the night unarmed teen Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Florida.
ADVERTISEMENT