Monday 23 April 2012

George Zimmerman freed on Florida bail


ATLANTA -- George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager, was released from a Florida jail on a $150,000 bond about midnight Sunday.


A spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, Kim Cannaday, confirmed Zimmerman's release early Monday.


Zimmerman, 28, wore a brown jacket and bluejeans and carried a paper bag, The Associated Press reported. He left with a man in a white vehicle.


Zimmerman had to post 10 percent, or $15,000, to make bail.


Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, had said in court Friday that Zimmerman would probably continue to live in hiding while awaiting his trial date, as he had done for weeks leading up to his April 11 arrest on second-degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.


An initial decision by police and prosecutors in Sanford, Fla., not to arrest Zimmerman after his fatal Feb. 26 encounter with Martin, an African American, set off protests and debate nationwide over perceived racial disparities in the justice system. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is a Latina from Peru.


The neighbourhood watch volunteer left the Seminole County jail late Sunday night on a $150,000 (£93,000) bond.


He is set to go on trial on second degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager on 26 February.


He claims he was acting in self-defence, but the case sparked an outcry in the US.


Mr Zimmerman was driven away from the prison and is expected to stay at a secret location.

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