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Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, 28, was released from the Seminole County Jail after posting bail in Sanford, Florida, early Monday morning. Zimmerman, wearing a brown Pittsburgh Steelers jacket and blue jeans, walked out of the jail and climbed into a white BMW before speeding off.
Zimmerman will stand trial on second-degree murder charges in the death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin later this year.
He was granted $150,000 bail by a judge on Friday. During the bond hearing, Zimmerman apologized to Trayvon’s parents despite their refusal to meet with him.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara was praised for urging his client to take the stand. But in a surprising reversal today, O’Mara apologized for Zimmerman’s apology, saying the apology was “ill-timed.”
After the hearing, Martin’s parents said during a news conference they didn’t appreciate Zimmerman’s public statement of remorse.
“To be honest, had I known that — maybe had I seen the press conference — I’m not sure that we would have done it at the bond hearing, because the purpose of it truly was to get to the family and to respond directly to the family’s request,” O’Mara told CBS’s “The Morning.” Source
Also today, former Sanford police chief Bill Lee officially retired from the police department. Lee stepped down in March after he was widely criticized for not filing charges against Zimmerman the night he shot Trayvon to death. Zimmerman claimed self defense having had a 9mm handgun, while Trayvon was unarmed.
At the time, Lee arrogantly said he was only stepping down temporarily and he fully expected to be exonerated.
Update: just moments ago, the Sanford city commissioners voted, 3-2, to reject the resolution to accept Chief Bill Lee’s resignation, saying it seemed as if he was being forced out when he broke no laws. This according to USA Today.
