Zimmerman to seek bond in Trayvon Martin case





SANFORD, FL (CNN) -- George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, will ask to get out of jail on bond until the charges against him are resolved, his attorney said Friday.

A bond hearing has been tentatively scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on April 20, said Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney.

Thousands of protesters poured into the suburban Orlando community of Sanford to call for Zimmerman's arrest in the weeks following the February 26 shooting death of Martin.

Their calls for "Justice for Trayvon" grew more forceful with each day, with Martin's supporters taking to the Internet and to streets in cities across the nation.

Forty-six days after the shooting, 28-year-old Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder. A Seminole County judge on Thursday found there was sufficient probable cause to move forward with the case and set a May 29 arraignment for Zimmerman.

The next legal step, say Zimmerman's attorney and the special prosecutor, is to allow the case to work its way through Florida's judicial system.

Their next public step, though, may prove more difficult.

O'Mara told CNN's Piers Morgan late Thursday that one of his immediate goals is to "bring down the level of anger, animosity, just frustrations, emotions" that are on the periphery of the case.

O'Mara said there are two sides of the case, a legal one and a human one.

"We have the human tragedy side of it. We are going to try to bridge that if we can," O'Mara said. "There are words that need to be said."

Special prosecutor Angela Corey, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to investigate the case, said she will ensure that the judge or jury deciding the case will get only "the relevant, admissible evidence on which they can then base their decisions."

"Let me emphasize that we do not prosecute by pressure or petition," she said.

Both the defense and prosecution said they had no intention of trying the case in the court of public opinion, though both conceded there is extreme interest.

O'Mara believes it will be at least six months, possibly a year, before the case goes to trial.

"We, of course, have a lot of information to find out. I'm far behind on finding out the information flow," he said.

There have been more questions than answers about what happened the night that Zimmerman shot Martin.

Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, has said he killed Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in self-defense after the teen punched him and slammed his head on the sidewalk; Martin's family said Zimmerman profiled their son.

Immediately after the shooting, Sanford police questioned Zimmerman and released him without charges. They said then that there were no grounds to disprove his account that he'd acted to protect himself.

A prosecution affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday with the court offered few new details about what happened the night Martin was walking home from a convenience store, though it appeared to offer some insight into how the special prosecutor views the case.

The document says Zimmerman, who lived in the same community, was in his vehicle when he saw Martin "and assumed Martin was a criminal."

It says Zimmerman felt Martin did not belong in the gated community and called the police.

"During the recorded call Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated 'these a**holes, they always get away," and also said 'these f****** punks.' "

As the incident was unfolding, Martin was on the phone with a friend, the affidavit says.

"The witness advised that Martin was scared because he was being followed through the complex by an unknown male and didn't know why. Martin attempted to run home but was followed by Zimmerman who didn't want the person he falsely assumed was going to commit a crime to get away before the police arrived," it said.

The affidavit said "when the police dispatcher realized Zimmerman was pursuing Martin, he instructed Zimmerman not to do that and that the responding officer would meet him. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher and continued to follow Martin who was trying to return to his home.

"Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued. Witnesses heard people arguing and what sounded like a struggle."

Calls to 911 captured a voice crying for help; that voice belonged to Martin, according to his mother; the neighborhood watch volunteer's relatives have said the voice was Zimmerman's.

One of the responding officers reported seeing a wound on the back of Zimmerman's head, and surveillance video appeared to show an injury.

"Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest. When police arrived Zimmerman admitted shooting Martin. Officers recovered a gun from a holster inside Zimmerman's waistband."

O'Mara said Zimmerman, who will plead not guilty, is worried about getting a fair trial in Sanford.

While O'Mara said he does not share those concerns, he told CNN the case may need to be moved out of Seminole County to get a fair and impartial jury.

Asked Thursday why his client had followed Martin, O'Mara told CNN sister network HLN, "I know so little about the evidence."

O'Mara, who began representing Zimmerman on Wednesday just hours before he was charged, said they had not yet discussed the facts of the case.

A second-degree murder charge in Florida carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.




CNN's Marylynn Ryan, Chelsea J. Carter, Ashley Hayes, Martin Savidge and Vivian Kuo, and InSession's Beth Karas, Jessica Thill and Aletse Mellado contributed to this report.