George Zimmerman’s bail has been set at $9,000 after being charged with aggravated assault with a weapon and battery.
He was accused in court of choking girlfriend Samantha Scheibe and threatening suicide.
George Zimmerman, who was arrested a day earlier on a felony assault charge for allegedly threatening his girlfriend with a gun, was released on $9,000 bond with an order to stay away from the woman and firearms.
The former neighborhood watch volunteer, who was acquitted in the shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, was released Tuesday after posting bail.
While being locked up for two days meant his estranged wife Shellie Zimmerman, who had her own domestic dispute with him in September, was able to have him served with a divorce petition, his lawyers confirmed.
Shellie Zimmerman, through her attorney, released a statement saying she was “saddened” to hear of the latest news regarding her husband, “but unfortunately not surprised.”
His lawyers said that while George Zimmerman was stressed, he did not appear suicidal.
“I don’t think he’s going to hurt himself or anyone else,” said Daniel Megaro, one of two public defenders appointed by the court to represent George Zimmerman after he declared he is indigent with $2.5 million debts.
Questions about George Zimmerman’s state of mind arose during his initial court appearance on the charges stemming from Monday’s dustup with girlfriend Samantha Scheibe at her home in Apopka, Florida.
In requesting $50,000 bond, the prosecutor said Samantha Scheibe had told authorities about an incident a week and a half earlier – “a choking that she did not report to the police”.
Samantha Scheibe also claimed that George Zimmerman had “mentioned suicide in the recent past” during a breakup talk, telling her that he had “nothing to lose,” the prosecutor said.
“She is in fear for her safety,” the prosecutor said as George Zimmerman, wearing a jail jumpsuit and handcuffs, listened quietly.
George Zimmerman is not facing any criminal charges from the alleged choking incident. Outside court, Daniel Megaro and the other defense lawyer, Jeff Dowdy, said they only learned of the choking allegation in court and had not spoken to their client about it.
They predicted that George Zimmerman would be cleared of wrongdoing in Monday’s clash. The judge found probable cause for his arrest on charges of felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal mischief.
George Zimmerman was barred him from having weapons, and his lawyers said his guns had been confiscated by the sheriff’s department after Monday’s confrontation.
Meanwhile, police have released the recordings of 911 calls that Samantha Scheibe and George Zimmerman separately made during the argument.
In her call, Samantha Scheibe can be heard shouting at George Zimmerman: “You just broke my glass table, you just broke my sunglasses, and you put your gun in my f——’ face, and told me to get the f— out!”
She can then be heard pleading with George Zimmerman to leave her house, before telling a dispatcher: “He just pushed me out of my house and locked me out!”
When asked what kind of weapon her boyfriend displayed, Samantha Scheibe said it was a “shotgun,” adding that “he has all of his guns inside, both the shotgun and his AR” as well as “two handguns”.
Looking to clarify, the 911 operator asks Samantha Scheibe if George Zimmerman has an “AR-15 ” – an assault rifle – and she replies: “Yeah.”
In the other audio recording, George Zimmerman tells a dispatcher: “My girlfriend has, for lack of a better word, gone crazy on me.”
When asked why he’s calling, George Zimmerman replies: “I just want everyone to know the truth.”
He also denied brandishing any weapon at his girlfriend.
“She’s got a 9 millimeter. I have my firearms. She was throwing my stuff out. And in one of the bags was one of my firearms. I never pulled a firearm. I never displayed it. When I was packing it, I’m sure she saw it. I mean, we keep it next to the bed.”
Later in the call, George Zimmerman can be heard saying: “I just wanted to leave.”
He adds: “She’s pregnant with our child and she told me it was better if we co-parented and she raised the child on her own. That’s fine. I said, <<Are you sure this is what you want to do?>> She said, <<Yes>>. As soon as I started to pack up my stuff and leave, she just completely changed…”
The dispatcher asks: “When you said she changed, what did she do?”
George Zimmerman replies: “At first she was letting me pack my stuff so that I could go – we could go our own ways amicably. When she changed, she just started smashing stuff, taking stuff that belonged to me, throwing it outside, throwing it out of her room, throwing it all over the house.”
He also disputed the allegation that he broke the table: “She broke a glass table because she threw something on it – I don’t even know if it was mine or hers, whatever it was.”
Police later said Samantha Scheibe declared she is not pregnant. No one was hurt during the incident, police said.
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