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| George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend. |
SANFORD, Fla.
(AP) -- George Zimmerman's girlfriend said he tried to choke her about a
week ago during an altercation that was not initially reported to
police, a prosecutor told a judge Tuesday during Zimmerman's first court
appearance on domestic violence-related charges.
Samantha
Scheibe feared for her life because Zimmerman mentioned suicide and
said he "had nothing to lose," according to Assistant State Attorney
Lymary Munoz.
After the hearing, Zimmerman's
public defenders said he did not appear to be suicidal and expressed
confidence he would be acquitted of any wrongdoing in Monday's domestic
dispute.
Hours later, Zimmerman was released
from jail after posting $9,000 bond. He was seen walking out of the jail
smiling and getting into a car.
Judge
Frederic Schott ordered him to stay away from Scheibe's house, wear a
monitoring device and refrain from contact with her. He was forbidden
from possessing guns or ammunition or travelling outside Florida.
Zimmerman
has been charged with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony
punishable by up to five years in prison. He also has been charged with
battery and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. An arraignment was set
for Jan. 7.
The judge said Zimmerman's
previous brushes with the law were not a factor in the conditions he
imposed, but he did cite the new allegation of choking as a reason for
the bond amount.
Earlier this year, Zimmerman
was acquitted of all charges in the fatal shooting of teenager Trayvon
Martin in a case that drew worldwide attention. The Justice Department
has been investigating whether to file civil rights charges against
Zimmerman related to Martin's death, and a department spokesman said
Tuesday that it would announce its decision soon.
Zimmerman, 30, wore gray jail garments and handcuffs during the hearing and spoke only when answering yes or no to the judge.
Public defender Jeff Dowdy said Zimmerman's family has been supporting him financially.
"I would think it would be difficult for George Zimmerman to get a job in central Florida," he said.
In
an affidavit filed Tuesday, Zimmerman asked for a public defense,
saying he has liabilities and debts of at least $2 million and no
income. He said he had less than $150 in cash on hand.
Dowdy and another public defender, Daniel Megaro, said Zimmerman was not suicidal.
"He doesn't appear to be a danger to himself or a danger to anybody else," Megaro said.
Zimmerman
has previously used a website to raise money for his legal and living
expenses, including $95,000 spent on bail in the Martin case. The site
also says tens of thousands of dollars were spent on living expenses and
security.
The most recent posting on the
site, weeks before Zimmerman's acquittal, said the fund ran out of money
in late May but raised tens of thousands more after public requests for
help.
A link to donate via PayPal did not appear to be working Tuesday.
In
this latest scuffle, both Zimmerman and his girlfriend called 911 and
provided dueling descriptions to dispatchers about the argument at the
home she rented where Zimmerman was also staying.
Scheibe
accused him in the emergency call of pointing a gun at her, smashing a
coffee table and then pushing her outside. Zimmerman also called
dispatchers, denied pointing a gun at her and blamed her for the broken
table.
The girlfriend told deputies the ordeal
started with a verbal argument and that she asked Zimmerman to leave
the house. Her account in the arrest report says he began packing his
belongings, including a shotgun and an assault rifle. She says she began
putting his things in the living room and outside the house, and he
became upset.
At that point, the report said, he took the shotgun out of its case.
Zimmerman
told his girlfriend to leave and smashed a pair of her sunglasses as
she walked toward the front door, the report said. Scheibe told deputies
he pushed her out of the house when she got close to the door.
"You
point your gun at my fricking face," Scheibe is heard telling Zimmerman
on a 911 call. "Get out of my house. Do not push me out of my house.
Please get out of my house."
Seconds later,
she told the dispatcher, "You kidding me? He pushed me out of my house
and locked me out. ... He knows how to do this. He knows how to play
this game."
Moments later, Zimmerman called 911 from inside the house to tell his side of the story.
"I have a girlfriend who, for lack of a better word, has gone crazy on me," Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman
then said he never pulled a gun on his girlfriend and that it was she
who smashed a table. He also told the dispatcher that Scheibe was
pregnant with their child and that she had decided she would raise the
child on her own. When Zimmerman started to leave, "she got mad," he
said.
Seminole County Chief Deputy Dennis
Lemma said at a news conference that Scheibe was not pregnant. He also
said Zimmerman was compliant and unarmed when deputies came to the
house.
On Tuesday, Dowdy said he could not confirm whether the girlfriend was pregnant.
The
arrest on Monday was the latest legal problem for Zimmerman since he
was acquitted last summer of criminal charges in the fatal shooting of
Martin. Zimmerman has said he shot the 17-year-old to defend himself
during a fight in February 2012 inside a gated community in Sanford,
just outside Orlando.
Relatives of Martin, who
was black and unarmed, accused Zimmerman of racially profiling the teen
and instigating a fight. Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic,
said he shot the teen in self-defense. The case sparked nationwide
debates about race and self-defense laws.
In
September, just months after his acquittal, Zimmerman was accused by his
estranged wife of smashing an iPad during an argument at the home they
had shared. Shellie Zimmerman initially told a dispatcher her husband
had a gun, though she later said he was not armed.
No
charges were ever filed because of a lack of evidence. The dispute
occurred days after Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers.
In
2005, he had to take anger-management courses after he was accused of
attacking an undercover officer who was trying to arrest Zimmerman's
friend.
Later that year, Zimmerman's former
fiancee filed for a restraining order against him, alleging domestic
violence. Zimmerman responded by requesting a restraining order against
her. Both requests were granted, and no criminal charges were filed.
Since his acquittal, Zimmerman has also been pulled over three times for traffic stops.
