Judge imposed $1M bond because Zimmerman & his wife were "preparing to flee to avoid prosecution"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

This is from an article by Jonathan Capehart, but due to DU's "4 paragraph" rule, I am using my 4 paragraphs for Judge Lester's remarks as quoted in the article. I encourage you to visit the link and read the whole thing:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/did-george-zimmerman-try-to-get-away-with-murder/2012/07/09/gJQA6E4UYW_blog.html

Contrary to the image presented by the defendant not by evidence but only by argument of counsel, it appears to this court that the defendant is manipulating the system to his own benefit. The evidence is clear the defendant and his wife acted in concert, but primarily at the defendant's direction, to conceal their cash holdings....

The defendant also neglected to disclose that he had a valid second passport in his safe deposit box. Notably, together with the passport, the money only had to be hidden for a short time for him to leave the country if the defendant made a quick decision to flee. It is entirely reasonable for this court to find that, but for the requirement that he be placed on electronic monitoring, the defendant and his wife would have fled the United States with at least $130,000 of other people’s money....

This court finds that circumstances indicate that the defendant was preparing to flee to avoid prosecution, but such plans were thwarted....

The increased bail is not a punishment. It is meant to allay the court’s concern that the defendant intended to flee the jurisdiction, and a lesser amount would not ensure his presence in court.

[TheWraith]

1. Zimmerman knows that he's absolutely fucked.

Fearmongering about "stand your ground" laws notwithstanding, not even the most extreme reading of Florida's law allowed what he did. I've said it before and I'll say it again: even if you believe every single word of his statement, he is still guilty of manslaughter at a minimum, since he provoked the confrontation and failed to retreat. And if he exaggerated pretty much even a single detail of the encounter, he's guilty of murder in the second.

[enough]

2. If Zimmerman's situation is this desperate, would a dollar amount actually keep him

from running?

[slackmaster]

3. The bail bond provider will keep an eye on him. Bounty hunters.

He's not going anywhere.