George Zimmerman's wife arrested, charged with perjury

[Baitball Blogger]

At her husband's bond hearing, Shellie Zimmerman was asked repeatedly about money. Among the questions: How much did the couple collect in donations through George Zimmerman's website?

"Currently, I don't know," Shellie Zimmerman replied. She and other family members described their financial situation as dire. Judge Kenneth Lester granted George Zimmerman $150,000 bond on the second-degree murder charge he faces in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

But prosecutors say Shellie Zimmerman spent the days before that hearing shifting tens of thousands of dollars out of her husband's account, then deliberately lied to the judge.

On Tuesday, she was arrested on a perjury charge and booked into John E. Polk Correctional Facility, the same jail her husband has called home since the deception was revealed earlier this month, leading the judge to revoke his bond.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-12/news/os-george-zimmerman-wife-arrested-20120612_1_perjury-charge-prosecutors-deputies

[MADem]

1. Good--they'll probably sweat her to tell the truth about George's behavior that night. nt

[pipoman]

4. They can't/won't talk to her.

This is a pretty iffy case against her husband...her case, not so much..

[Solomon]

6. iffy my ass.

Zimmermans lawyer would plead him in a heartbeat if he could get a deal. I don't see this one as going to trial. Zimmerman is toast if he does. He wants a manslaughter plea in the worse way. That's a win for him.

[greiner3]

17. " This is a pretty iffy case against her husband..."

WTF?

[MADem]

22. They can get her husband on perjury, too.

He lied about his passport, and he lied quite openly to the police and the judge.

He told the dispatcher (and they have that on audio recording) that Trayvon was a teen-ager; he told the judge (they have that on video) at his bond hearing that he thought Trayvon was "about his same age."

The guy is a walking, talking example of "Pants on Fire." If his lips are moving, he's lying.

I don't think his case is as "iffy" as you might believe it is, but whatever.

[pipoman]

31. Yeah, we'll see..

If the witness is credible about Martin being on top hitting (even once) zims head against the concrete, and there is no evidence that Zim threw the first punch, murder2 will be tough..iffy..There is a reason it took so long to charge him.

I do agree..Martin will be charged and probably convicted of perjury.

[frylock]

39. the "MMA style" witness has since recanted..

ORLANDO, Fla. — Evidence released last week in the second-degree murder case against George Zimmerman shows four key witnesses made major changes in what they say they saw and heard on the rainy February night when he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Three changed their stories in ways that could damage Zimmerman. One man who initially told police Martin was atop Zimmerman punching him "MMA-style" — a reference to Mixed Marital Arts — later said he was no longer sure about the punches. The teenager may have simply been keeping Zimmerman pinned to the ground, he said.


http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/25/nation/la-na-zimmerman-witnesses-20120526

[MADem]

42. The teenager may have simply been keeping Zimmerman pinned to the ground, he said.

That's consistent with how the girlfriend described Trayvon--upset and trying to get away from the creepy guy who was following him.

And damn...he really DID think he could get away with it.

Zimmerman told him that Martin "was beating up on me, so I had to shoot him," the witness told Serino. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, then asked the witness to call his wife, Shellie, and tell her what had happened.

In two subsequent interviews about a month later — one with a state investigator and one with De la Rionda — the witness described Zimmerman's demeanor in greater detail, adding that he spoke as if the shooting were no big deal.

Zimmerman's tone, the witness said, was "not like, 'I can't believe I just shot someone!' — it was more like, 'Just tell my wife I shot somebody' … like it was nothing."

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/25/nation/la-na-zimmerman-witnesses-20120526

[magical thyme]

44. Zimmerman's entire defense depends on SYG

which means that there will be a hearing with this judge in which Zimmerman will have to convince this judge -- the judge he has already lied to -- that he had reason to fear for his life.

Who "threw the first punch" rests totally on Zimmerman's credibility, and in light of the witness to the chase scene, may be irrelevant.

Zimmerman only has to prove he had credible reason to fear for his life.

And yet Zimmerman, who supposedly feared for his life, also claimed that Martin circled his car, making him so afraid that he rolled up his windows to prevent a confrontation....but then he left that car and followed Martin. His story is chock full of such inconsistencies, not to mention conflicts with physical evidence.

The witness that thought Martin was on top hitting MMA has already recanted.
Zimmerman has already demonstrated he is a liar to the judge.
The physical evidence shows that Martin's belongings were strewn across 40 feet, suggesting a traveling altercation
The bullet casing was found in grass 40 feet from the sidewalk where Zimmerman claims Martin jumped him from behind.

Zimmerman will have to testify at his SYG hearing, and every time he opens his mouth he digs himself in deeper. If he fails to convince the judge that he had credible reason to fear for his life, he loses SYG as a defense. And then he has no defense.

[pipoman]

45. I disagree

self defense law in FL would be sufficient if Zimmerman didn't throw the first punch, and was having his head pounded against the ground. SYG simply means a person doesn't have to take an available possible escape route. It doesn't effect a person's right to defend themselves if it is too late to escape. Further, even in a semi official capacity of watching the neighborhood with the knowledge of the HOA, he likely can make the argument of acting within his capacity in following and confronting Martin.

I'm not saying he isn't an asshole, or doesn't deserve punishment. This case is far, far from a slamdunk.

[magical thyme]

49. not according to the legal experts

quoted in various articles about this. Not having an escape route is not sufficient cause to kill somebody. To use SYG as his defense, he must prove *reasonable fear for his life* to the judge. That rests on his credibility, which is already pretty shaky based on the evidence published to date. He will have to testify because that is the only way he can explain why he feared for his life. And every time he opens his mouth, he digs himself in deeper.

He cannot prove his head was being pounded into the ground, simply because his injuries do not support it, and the sole eye witness to "mma punches" has recanted.

He went way too far with his story, making it physically impossible. On the one hand, we have the hard to believe claim that a 17 year old jumped him from behind, pinned him by both shoulders to the ground, pounded his head repeatedly into the sidewalk, tried to smother him with a hand over his mouth, saw the gun, threatened him and grabbed for his gun. While he screamed for help (while being smothered?), grabbed his gun first (with both shoulders pinned to the ground while his head was being pounded into the sidewalk?) and managed to "scoot away," aim, take off the safety and shoot him from a short distance.

All within something like 48 seconds according to the 911 tape. And described, under oath, by somebody who has already been proven to have sat quietly, "like a potted plant" while his wife lied twice under oath on his behalf.

Re: his "semi-official capacity," his HOA neighborhood watch had policies that specifically and clearly instructed watchers to not intervene or confront, but to call 911 and report suspicious activity. He violated their policy, which existed to protect themselves from exactly this sort of situation. There is no way the HOA will defend his actions if they get dragged into this; quite the opposite. If he tries to claim he was acting in a semi-official capacity, they most certainly will vigorously protect themselves from any potential of wrongful death suit by pointing out that he violated their policy.

I'm not saying the case is "slam dunk." I'm saying it's not such an "iffy" case, either. It could go either way, because we don't know what will go on inside the judge's head and how much leeway he is willing to allow. But the more time goes on, the more it looks like he is going to hang himself. He will have to testify at his SYG hearing, and every time he opens his mouth, he shows himself to be a liar. The judge will have to accept the incredible claims of a known liar, and in so doing, the judge will have to put his own credibility and career on the line.

[pipoman]

50. Yep

It will be interesting. I have long been fascinated with criminal law and have participated on more than a few criminal defense teams.

[AhmsoRealwidit]

2. George Zimmerman's wife arrested, charged with perjury

[Starry Messenger]

3. Good.

Fucking awesome.

[left on green only]

5. Looks like honest Mark O'mara Esq. is gonna have another pro boner case to take on.

On second thought, I wonder who advised the prudent Mrs Zimmerman not to move more than $9999.00 at one time? Somehow, I don't think she was ever enrolled in "Tax Law 1A" at her local junior college.

[juniorbonner]

9. wife needs her own lawyer, not in her best interest to use GZs

This is how a classic conspiracy scandal plays out. What's in GZ's best interest is that she takes the fall for hiding the money and the passport form the court. So, she needs her own lawyer, defense fund, website, etc.

Meanwhile, the father, brother, mother and now SISTER - a new player named in court documents - have to wonder when the other shoe is going to drop - did they say or do anything that was illegal? And each can wonder if they should be the first to approach the state and offer to testify agains the others in exchange for immunity.

None of the other players CURRENTLY is charged with any crime. But what did they say on recorded calls, and what can be proven if the wife Shellie decides to turn on them? What is their own level of guilt in deceiving the court?

Federal money laundering charges are potentially on the table now since the wife moved amounts under $10k in batches, repeatedly, a procedure known as "stacking," I think. That net could be cast over the sister, George and the wife at least.

I wonder what the father knew, and when did he know it about the hidden passport and hidden money? He forfeited ten grand against his house to the bondsman. GZ and wife only put up $5K of money that was given to them. Was that fair? Did he NOT know about the money? How must he feel either way? As a Virginia Magistrate he likey knew better than to hide assets from the court.

Of course they can all plead the fifth if asked about the hidden money, the hidden valid passport and the perjury and conspiracy to hide the money from the court. That ought to do wonders for their combined credibility.

[flamingdem]

10. Don't they know where the money went?

It didn't just disappear..

[Spazito]

11. They know where the money is...

Shellie Zimmerman was transferring money from the George Zimmerman account to her account beginning 4 days before she testified under oath that she had no knowledge of the account. She transferred a total of $74,000.00 over 3 days, April 16 - April 19, 2012.

Adding to that, $47,000.00 was transferred from the George Zimmerman account to his sister's account and Shellie Zimmerman withdrew another $18,000.00 more cash.

After Zimmerman was let out on bail, Shellie transferred more than $84,000.00 back into the George Zimmerman account.

Here is the link to an article that lays it out quite well, it's where I found the above info:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-06-12/news/os-george-zimmerman-wife-arrested-20120612_1_perjury-charge-prosecutors-deputies

[juniorbonner]

12. Which amount? $135K is what the state can prove was hidden, but there was more

$135K is what the state can prove was hidden from the court at the time of the bond hearing. It's their money to do with as they please - and they seem to pleased to pay off their credit card debt - to the tune of some $40-50K, but there was also the 5K they paid to the bondsman (and forfeited) and a 20K slush find that the wife Shellie kept in cash, it seems, and that slush fund also seems to have been kept from the court as well, but it's difficult for the state to prove since it is in cash. They have to assume she spent it, whether or not she actually did.

This issue is not about how much money they gathered on a PayPal donation based personal website - it's about how they then hid these assets from the court. If they had spent every dime on champagne and caviar before the bond hearing, that was their business and they wouldn't be in this mess - they would be indigent as they said they were and that would be the end of it.

But instead they CHOSE to hide the assets from the court by lying about these assets to the judge, in the form of not admitting they controlled them. Shellie did the lying, and George failed to correct the impression that she gave when asked specifically about the pay pal account. Her crime is the more serious one since it can be proven. His "crime" is that he pissed off the judge who allowed him out on bond. The fact that they did this financial subterfuge in conjunction with hiding a valid passport "looks bad" as they say but the two misdeeds are not necessarily connected. In a legal sense one deed is separate from the other, and the judge seems to not care about the passport.

In her defense it could be said that she deferred questions about the pay pal site to her brother-in-law but the judge didn't buy that likely excuse, since she obviously knew plenty about significant sums and amounts and failed to inform the court about them. George didn't lie directly about the money either - he only plotted on the phone to have it moved out of his accounts. But the bottom line is that the judge was not amused, and revoked George's bond.

Now the state is charging her with perjury. Her alleged crime is not having the money, moving the money or refusing to estimate how much money there was. Her crime was lying to the court about not having any significant assets to draw from and claiming to be indigent when she and George were in control of a large sum of cash. That's perjury and is punishable by up to ten years in prison, not that she would be given that much time, but it's possible.

There is also money laundering issues that could be federal.... she moved amounts less than ten grand each time. This also "looks bad"

[dickthegrouch]

21. Seems like the IRS might be interested too :)

especially if they "forget" to declare any of it as income.
Now they are absolutely screwed either way

[left on green only]

13. Yes, you have brought up many good points.

Another point that I was wondering about is who taught the Zimmermans the code, and need for thereof, concerning discussing large sums of money in telephone conversations between he and his wife that they were having when he was in jail? Sure, they knew that their conversations were being recorded, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they were aware of a need to disguise the amounts of money that they were discussing, or even that there is a code that they needed to learn to disguise those amounts.

It sort of smells to me like they were coached in that regard by some "force" during initial conversations with council. If so, then how could said council not have known about the large sums of money that had already been donated to the George before he ever received legal advice?

Even I remember reading in the early hours, just as the case was breaking in the public eye, that the George had already set up a web site to solicit from the NRA types, contributions for his "defense". You would think that the public prosecutor would have also known that information, and would have brought it up in her line of questioning in the hearing where bond was originally set.

[juniorbonner]

16. perhaps they watch too many narco trafficante films.

who knows? Maybe they learned their "code" from the same cheesy films that GZ cribbed the dialog he puts in TM's mouth, like the supposed death threat RZ claims TM said. Funny how the father claims that TM gave the threat BEFORE taking away george's gun, and then after giving the verbal death threat TM supposedly went on using his fists instead of making a play for the weapon. That always struck me as an odd thing to say.

I doubt it was their attorney who told them to hide money in such an inept fashion, although he may have given them some advice on money that they took wildly wrong. None of this helps Marl O'Mara at all....

Now, his first two clown lawyers I'm not so sure about. They seemed as foolish as he seems.

But he is innocent as a lamb until proven guilty, as are we all. It just doesn't look like he's going to stay that way, is all.

[pokerfan]

25. They don't need a criminal lawyer

They need a criminal lawyer:

[MADem]

30. Isn't Breaking Bad about to fire up a new season soon? nt

[pokerfan]

32. July 15

Another satisfied client:

[MADem]

37. That's funny! Can't wait for latest BB season! nt

[left on green only]

43. Isn't that a friend of Squeezy Jibs? LOL nt

[vaberella]

33. I would give credit to many films and crime dramas.

Than attempt to tarnish the reputation of a reputable lawyer. Not to mention. If what people are saying is true. Because that is what you're implying with the 'force' or 'coached' statement. This stuff was going on before he had O'Mara as a lawyer. O'Mara didn't know about the funds and said so. He initially took the case pro-bono because he thought the guy had no money. He found out about this fund after the press got a hold of this news about how much his paypal account made in donations. This also was not sophisticated style of speech to even assume coached. $18 stands for $18,000; really now? Everything is multiplied by a 1000.

[juniorbonner]

38. actually the public found out about the pay pal amounts thru O'Mara

After GZ made bond, and when GZ then spoke to his lawyer O'Mara, in a conversation that O'Mara characterizes as casual, GZ asked him "what do we do with all this pay pal money?" O'Mara claims he immediately found out what the situation was at that moment and informed the court.

This is when the public learned about potential amounts of money that was donated to the personal website controlled by George Zimmerman. Apparently, there were other sites as well that collected monies that may or may not have been passed on to GZ's control. That part is still unclear.

But as far as "the press getting a hold of this news" it was when Mark O'Mara informed them that there was $204K donated and that his client was not being fully forthcoming with the court, having failed to mention this at the bond hearing. MO"M put some spin on it since a large portion of that money had already been spent by his client, and that is where we first geard of the 135K figure, which leaves out the 20K slush fund but may or may not include the $5k given over (and since forfeited) to the bondsman.

Yes, the press knew of the existence of the website, but they had no way of knowing how much money had been donated until Mark O"mara had to do damage control regarding the matter, both to the court and with the press.

If O'Mara is telling the truth, and he seems generally credible (as opposed to his client's wife, and his client, imho) then there is good reason to think that Mark O'Mara never asked his client about the donations to the website directly - only that he probably asked him how much money he might be able to raise for bail. But on these sorts of matters we have only the word of defense lawyer to go on.

Taking the case pro bono by the way is more like just "spiking the job" since in such a high profile case, he had to know that a defense fund could be established and other means of revenue could be sought at a later time - book deals, movie rights, etc could be sold, as well as the prestige his practice and TV career might gain through handling such a high profile case. It's not as though he expected to lose his own money defending the guy. He simply signed a retainer agreement with Zimmerman allowing him to be listed as counsel with no money initially changing hands. Later, he admits he will "need" a million dollars or so to defend his client, and provides a means for donations to be accepted on behalf of a defense fund.

IIRC, he'd raised under 200K up to the time GZ's bond was revoked. As much as the wingnuts cry out for George, they haven't actually opened their pocketbooks that much.

No word on how the donations are going lately other that a rumor that donations increased when GZ's bond was revoked. Post his wife's arrest, I don't know. She now needs a separate lawyer since her best interests are not the same as George's. So I guess she may start her own defense fund, too.


(Someday I'd love to learn the story of why he dumped the first two clown lawyers, and mesh the tale with what was going on regarding moving the money out of his accounts - could he also have been hoping to hide the funds from his own lawyers? What's the timing here? Was it his father who convinced him he needed a better lawyer, the father he was or was not hiding the $205K from? All these questions fascinate me.)

[Stargazer09]

41. Maybe

If I were the prosecutor, I would have been inclined to go along with the "indigent" story, even if I knew about the PayPal fundraising account. Let the idiots lie to the judge, under oath, about the money they supposedly didn't have. Wait a few weeks for the dust to settle, get all of the bank records, then present them to the judge.

This could end up being very helpful to a prosecution's case

[MADem]

23. Won't work. He conspired WITH her on the phone about both, BEFORE the bond hearing. nt

[vaberella]

34. Exactly. n/t

[Iggo]

15. Wasn't that part of their "code"?

Should I move 10 dollars?

No, no, no! Only move 9 dollars, know'm say'n?

[pokerfan]

18. but when wrapped inside the rest of their code, it was indecipherable...

Ouldshay Iway ovemay entay ollarsday?

Onay, onay, onay! Onlyway ovemay inenay ollarsday, owknay atwhay iway amway ayingsay?

[Iggo]

19. Damn, that's clever!

Need a frickin Enigma machine for that shit!

[bullwinkle428]

28. Dude...I SWEAR I didn't read your reply before typing mine!

[Iggo]

36. Ah, that's hilarious!

[bullwinkle428]

27. When I heard the report of this story earlier this evening, my first thought was that

they probably didn't need the Enigma machine to crack the code used by these two rocket scientists!

[vaberella]

7. Talk about credibility death. The entire family is fucked up.

I didn't think they would actually arrest her. I'm surprised this actually happened. I had the vibe they'd let her go on a pass.

[etherealtruth]

8. Willfully lie under oath ...

... what else could she expect

[msongs]

14. evidently she is not a republican, when they lie under oath nothing happens lol nt

[MADem]

24. Well, she is outta jail with the speed of GOP light!! Thousand buck bond!!! nt

[demtenjeep]

20. daymn, those "donations" would pay off most of my entire debt

including student loans and house

[Zax2me]

26. He's married?!!!

God the press has been hiding her.
First I knew of a marriage.

[juniorbonner]

35. His wife also likely moved his vehicle on the night of the killing

The first witness/ resident to speak with George was also the one who took the "bloody head" photo of the back of GZ's head - on this photo, time stamped only a few moments before the first officer arrived, George can be seen holding a cellphone up to his ear. A short time later, when cuffed, George asked the same resident to to "Call my wife" which he seemed to have done, possibly with the same phone George had - and GZ instructed the resident/ witness to "tell her I shot someone" as the resident was trying to give a longer explanation of the situation. So he reached her in some form, it seems before he was transported to the cop shop, the video of which we've all seen on cable tv news, I'd imagine.

We don't know exactly what happened, but the police never found GZ's car that night. It would have been part of the investigation to examine the parking spot, which way the car was facing, if there was any alcohol inside, etc had they known it was part of the incident.

Instead, the vehicle was moved at some point, and probably by someone who had access to a spare key.

I happen to think that GZ's vehicle MOVED during the recorded call to the police operator, based on the timing of the incident as described by GZ himself. If he chased TM down the road in a slow motion "shadowing" move, this helps explain why the youth ran off the road and in between the townhomes where his body (and GZ) were found minutes later.

GZ told the operator he was parked not by an address but at a "cut thru" but he only says this near the END of his call. There is around 34 seconds elapsed between the time GZ describes TM as walking towards him and "these a**holes always get away" which seems to be the time his vehicle gets passed. Then there is another 30 seconds before "ShXt, he's running." If GZ was ALREADY parked by the cut thru, in those 30 seconds TM would have been completely out of sight to GZ. Average walking speed of 3mph is arond 5 feet per second. Go to google maps and use the "path" tool and try it yourself. Common sense tells you he's closer to halfway between the mailboxes and the cut thru, rather than already at the cut thru. If her were that far away TM had better options to avoid him, and could have taken a different route all together. And if he was parked closer at the start of his call, he could have given an address for his location had he stayed there. He didn't stay there, however. Some claim to hear a gearshift around the time he says "these axxhloles always get away" but it doesn't matter if you hear it or not - the timing doesn't work out unless the car is either parked by an address or moved.

He's lying if he claims, as his surrogates have, that he watched TM from a non-moving car. It's just another instance where he chased the youth, and there is no law against it, but it's telling about his credibility if his statements to police are that he did not follow the kid with his car, because the timing of the incident doesn't fit.

We will know soon enough, as his statements to police are not going to be sealed like the prosecutor requested.

[vaberella]

29. I just read the affadavit. Wow...aren't the people who donated money upset?

He was paying off his credit card bills with that money. Those people were using code intentionally so they wouldn't have to give up the money. This whole thing was a set up. He played the court, the judge, and his supporters like a fool.

[JoeyT]

46. Given the nature of his supporters,

that probably wasn't all that hard a trick to pull off. They aren't the brightest bulbs in the box.

But hey, every dollar that goes to him doesn't go to the Republican party.

[snooper2]

40. These two haven't bred yet have they?

[vaberella]

48. Thankfully no. n/t

[DemoTex]

47. Coin of the Realm: The Lie

Unless the spotlight is on these roaches (like Rev. Al Sharpton's 10-million candle-power ability), they usually get away with it (in the South).