ix weeks after he ordered murder suspect "I don't know what other word to use," said prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda. "They lied."
He called their acts "an egregious violation of the law."
De la Rionda had made the allegation before, although not as forcefully, at a hearing April 27, and the judge had brushed it aside. But this time the prosecutor had tangible proof: Transcripts of several telephone calls between Zimmerman and his wife while Zimmerman was locked up at the Seminole County Jail.
In them, the couple talk about their finances and transferring money between accounts, de la Rionda said. During one call April 16, shortly after Shellie Zimmerman had left a credit union, they talked about using that money to post his bail.
"That's what it's for," she told him, according to a portion of the transcript cited by de la Rionda.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. was clearly unhappy.
There was no doubt in his mind, he said Friday, that both George and Shellie Zimmerman knew they had access to a pile of money. They were spending it, transferring it and talking about it on a recorded jail phone line.
"They were well aware of the amounts available," the judge said.
So at a hearing that was supposed to be about sealed prosecution records, hidden evidence and the public's right to know the details of the state's case, Zimmerman, one of the nation's best-known murder suspects, wound up the big loser.
He was not at Friday's hearing, but Lester ordered him to surrender at the Seminole County Jail within 48 hours. He's due back by 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
News organizations responded by immediately setting up an around-the-clock vigil at the jail.
"Innocent misunderstanding"
Defense attorney Mark O'Mara did not know about the money until several days after that April 20 bond hearing. On Friday, as he had before, he defended Shellie Zimmerman's testimony and her husband's silence about it as "an innocent misunderstanding rather than a devious attempt to hide it from you."
The judge was not so sympathetic. He suggested that Zimmerman was leading everyone, including O'Mara "down a primrose path."
Late in the day Friday, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office was investigating a threat made to the judge via an email sent to court administration and the Orlando Sentinel, Sheriff Don Eslinger said.
After the hearing Friday afternoon, O'Mara said he would try to schedule a bond hearing next week and intends to call Zimmerman — and perhaps his wife — to the stand to explain their actions.
Michael Grieco, a South Florida defense attorney and former Miami-Dade prosecutor, said Zimmerman's wife may have exposed herself to contempt-of-court or perjury charges.
De la Rionda would not say Friday whether he planned to pursue perjury charges. It will be up to the judge to decide whether contempt charges are warranted.
De la Rionda also would not say what new bond amount he would request, but two months ago he asked that Zimmerman be held without bail or be ordered to post $1 million. Zimmerman's legal-defense fund, now managed independently by a certified public accountant, has approximately $185,000, O'Mara said Friday.
De la Rionda also complained that Zimmerman had a second passport, a valid one that he had not surrendered. That, too, should be grounds to revoke his bond, de la Rionda argued, but the judge said he was unconcerned after O'Mara explained why Zimmerman had it.
He had gotten it several years ago after he misplaced his other passport, O'Mara said. When Zimmerman recently moved, he found the duplicate and handed it over to O'Mara about two weeks ago, the defense attorney said.
O'Mara said he had meant to surrender it but had simply overlooked it and left it in a stack of paperwork at his office. He surrendered it Friday.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon, an unarmed black 17-year-old from Miami Gardens.
The case drew international attention after Sanford police closed their investigation without making an arrest, saying they could not disprove Zimmerman's self-defense claim.
Trayvon's father and family attorneys say Zimmerman is guilty of racial profiling, that he had spotted the teenager in his Sanford neighborhood, got out of his SUV with a handgun and began pursuing the teen then confronted and murdered him.
Trayvon's mother and father were not at Friday's hearing, although they had been at the one April 20 when the judge ordered Zimmerman released on $150,000 bail.
Their attorney, Benjamin Crump, was in the courtroom Friday.
"Judge Lester finding that George Zimmerman was dishonest is very important because his credibility is the most important thing in the entire case," Crump said. "Remember it is only George Zimmerman's testimony that says Trayvon Martin attacked him."
The issue that brought everyone to court Friday was hidden evidence. De la Rionda and O'Mara both wanted much of it kept from the public, saying that's the only way Zimmerman can get a fair trial.
But attorneys for more than a dozen news organizations, including the Orlando Sentinel, objected, saying state law requires that the public get access to nearly every scrap of evidence.
"It's the law," said Rachel Fugate, the Sentinel's attorney.
The judge agreed, although, he admitted that his heart was with the prosecution and defense teams.
He said he would issue an order in the next 30 days, giving himself more time to review the evidence that de la Rionda and O'Mara want sealed. The most prominent pieces are Zimmerman's five statements to authorities, witness names, cellphone records and photos of Trayvon's body.
Desiree Stennett of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
