A bond hearing Friday morning will, for the first time, place Trayvon Martin’s parents in the same room as the man who killed their teenage son.
George Zimmerman, 28, is scheduled to appear before Circuit Court judge Kenneth Lester in the Seminole County courthouse at 9 a.m., where his attorney, Mark O’Mara, is expected to ask for bond.
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton will be there.
“The special prosecutor has requested their presence, and it’s customary to have the family of the victim there in these kinds of cases,” Ben Crump, the Martins’ attorney, told theGrio.
“They feel like it’s a necessary thing for them to do to make sure that he is held accountable,” Crump said.
The chance encounter between Martin, 17, and the neighborhood watchman, inside a Sanford gated community, has brought the two families into the national — and international — spotlight. Tensions could be high on Friday, as Zimmerman requests bail to potentially be released back into a community badly shaken by the death, and due to the failure of police to arrest Zimmerman on the night of the shooting.
Both families could have a presence at the hearing. O’Mara filed a motion Thursday, seeking to allow family members, presumably Zimmerman’s, to testify by telephone. State Attorney Angela Corey, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, did not object.
Zimmerman is claiming self defense in the February 26th shooting, and Friday’s hearing could result in yet another court appearance, the same day or at a later date, if prosecutors object to Zimmerman being released on bond.
Regardless of what happens Friday, Zimmerman’s lawyer could request a hearing to try and get the case dismissed under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law — a hearing at which legal experts believe he would have to testify.
Trayvon’s parents: Zimmerman’s request for private meeting denied
As for news that Zimmerman would like to meet privately with the family, which O’Mara told news outlets this week, Crump said the parents question the timing.
“Sybrina is a Christian lady, and Tracy is a good person,” Crump said, pausing for a long stretch. “But at this time it’s not appropriate for them to meet, and we think that Zimmerman’s request is very self serving, fifty days later [after the killing] — the day before his bond hearing.”
“And the conclusion is simply this: he never apologized on his website, or on the voicemail that he left for his friend [Frank Taaffe.] He never apologized when the police talked to him. So the public will have to evaluate his motives.”
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