More drama in the George Zimmerman case.

A hearing on Zimmerman's lawyer surprise disclosure on CNN last night that his client's website had raised a little more than $200,000, was addressed at court today. The Judge declined to order a bond increase but wanted more information about when the payments were received. He will make his final decision after receiving the information.

The state asked for a re-examination of the amount of bond and a gag order on O'Mara. The Judge declined the gag order. O'Mara pointed out he hadn't spoken publicly on the facts of the case and "handlers" of the Martin family were still talking to media. I agree with O'Mara, if anyone in this case needs to be restricted in their extra-judicial comments, it's the lawyers for the Martin family. [More...]

Star witness Andrew Young today admitted in cross-examination he co-mingled and used funds received from Bunny Mellon and Fred Baron for his personal benefit -- the construction of his dream home. He even billed Baron for things Mellon had already paid.

Young testified Thursday he had sent Baron an invoice for many of the expenses the aide had already paid for with money from Mellon; he said Baron then wired another $325,000 to the builder constructing the Young's house.

He also got stung on his claim it was Edwards idea for him to claim paternity of Rielle Hunter's baby:

Lowell asked Young to recount his story of how Edwards had asked him to claim paternity of Hunter's child on December 13, 2007. Young had said the phone conversation occurred while he was sitting in his car and had looked over to the passenger seat to see a copy of Newsweek magazine with Edwards on the front.

The defense then flashed a photo of that magazine cover up on the screens visible to the jury. It was dated two weeks later.

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John Edwards has a multiple defenses planned for the Bunny Money -- the funds provided by Bunny Mellon through her decorator Bryan Huffman to Andrew and Cheri Young. Their arguments also apply to the Fred Baron money. It essentially boils down to: If Bunny's Money Went to My Honey, You Must Acquit.

The Government says the donations from Mellon and Baron were for the purpose of influencing the 2008 election – helping Edwards be elected President of the United States – and that Edwards knew it. [More...]

Reuters has a lengthy profile (pun intended) of George Zimmerman's life and the burglary reports in the Twin Lakes community.

The burglary reports were posted on the City of Sanford's website and later removed, but not before they were reposted around the internet. You can read them here.

I've gone over the burglary reports several times, and checked their dates against Zimmerman's prior calls to non-emergency and the audio of the 6 or 7 prior calls published at the Seminole County Sheriffs Office. The last time I examined them was after the Affidavit for Zimmerman's arrest issued, because I was curious why the affidavit was worded so oddly:

....During the recorded call Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood.

Why did the state cast it as a feeling, as if it was a misperception? So I checked. [More...]

John Edwards' lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, will get his chance to rip apart Andrew Young right after lunch.

The question: Will Young be annihilated on cross-examination or will the jurors be left with the impression that while he's an opportunistic Brutus, he is worthy of belief? [More...]

Update: The City of Sanford has rejected the resignation of Police Chief Bill Lee.

Seminole Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester has unsealed documents in the George Zimmerman court file, allowing only for the redaction of witness names. The order is here. This does not unseal police files, just the court file. A hearing on the media's motion for access to police files is set for Friday.

Attorney Mark O'Mara was on CBS this morning. He said that the purpose of George Zimmerman's apology at the bail hearing was not to increase the likelihood of his getting bond, but to address the Martins who had rejected Zimmerman's earlier attempt to apologize. He said had he known that it would upset the Martins, he wouldn't have had his client take the stand as it wasn't necessary to get bond. He basically apologized to the Martins. [More...]

The jury is expected to hear opening arguments today in the federal trial of John Edwards taking place in North Carolina. Here's a primer on what to watch for. An overview is here. The key questions are here.

While in many ways it will be the trial of Andrew Young vs. John Edwards, and whether Team Edwards can effectively impeach Mr. Young’s credibility, it's also going to be a very technical trial about the interpretation of campaign finance laws.

The Indictment is here. There are six charges. [More...]

George Zimmerman has posted bond and been released from jail. The Orlando Sentinel says the jail reports he used a bondsperson to make the $150,000. bond.

Here's a photo from Reuters and the Orlando Sentinel. The Seminole County Sheriff issued this statement [More...]:

For some reason, the media wants people to think that witness John, the one who told a Fox News reporter that he was outside the night of the shooting, observed two men wrestling, that the man on the bottom was wearing a red sweater (Zimmerman had a red jacket), cried out to him for help, and he went inside to call 911, didn't come forward with this information until the end of March. Not true. He gave his account to the media the day after the shooting. From his video interview above with Keith Landry of Fox News Orlando on Feb. 27:

"The guy on the bottom, who had a red sweater on, was yelling to me, 'Help! Help!' and I told him to stop, and I was calling 911," said the witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name, John.

John said he locked his patio door, ran upstairs and heard at least one gun shot. "And then, when I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on the top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point."

[More...]

As Tom Maguire aptly notes, some of us have day jobs and can't spend two hours watching a hearing. So I didn't watch the George Zimmerman bail hearing live. But I just read CNN's transcript (parts 1, 2 and 3) (again thanks to Tom for the links.)

While it cuts out in places for commercial breaks, it appears to be almost a compete transcript. My thoughts, based on the transcript, are below. I also recommend Tom's analysis which I just finished reading after writing this post. I'll probably add some others views later, or in a new post, since this one is so lengthy. [More...]

Bail has been set for George Zimmerman in the amount of $150,000.

CNN has an article on today's bail hearing in the case of George Zimmerman, accused of second degree murder with penalty enhancements in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. CNN reports:

Special prosecutor Angela Corey has the burden of showing why bond should not be set or that it should be high. The burden is referred to as "proof of guilt is evident or presumption of guilt is great." Corey would have to convince [Judge] Lester that a jury would convict Zimmerman.

I think that's an inadequate description. Corey's burden of proof at the bail hearing to establish the "proof of guilt is evident or the presumption great" is not the same burden as applies to a jury. At trial, a jury must find proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman committed the charged crime. Under established Florida case law on bail hearings involving capital and life charges, Corey's burden is higher. [More...]