Judge revokes bond, orders Zimmerman to jail

SANFORD, Fla. -- A judge on Friday revoked the bond of the neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed black 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, and ordered him returned to jail within 48 hours.

George Zimmerman is pleading not guilty to second-degree murder and claims self-defense. Zimmerman shot Martin in February during a confrontation at a gated community of town houses in Sanford, where Zimmerman lived and where Martin was visiting his father's fiancée.

The delay in an arrest for 44 days prompted protests nationwide.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, misled the court about how much money they had available when his bond was set for $150,000 in April. Prosecutors claim Zimmerman had $135,000 that had been raised through a website he set up.

Zimmerman's wife testified at the bond hearing that they had limited funds because she was a nursing student and Zimmerman wasn't working.

"He can't sit back and obtain the benefit of a lower bond based upon those material falsehoods," Lester said.

Defense attorney Mark O'Mara said the fact that Zimmerman and his wife never used the money for anything indicated "there was no deceit."

Prosecutor Bernie De la Rionda described the Zimmermans' testimony as "misleading." "This court was led to believe they didn't have a single penny," said De la Rionda.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, said his clients have always said Zimmerman should remain in jail until trial, which O'Mara said he believed wouldn't be until next year.

Prosecutors also said Zimmerman had failed to surrender a second passport, but the judge dismissed that concern as the equivalent of someone who has lost a driver's license, gets a new one and then finds the old driver's license.