I have to admit, I am staggered by this amount:
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of wrongly killing Trayvon Martin, will not immediately have to turn over donations made to his website, a Florida judge said Friday.
Zimmerman collected about $204,000 in donations through the website, but did not disclose the contributions during his bond hearing last week, according to his attorney, Mark O’Mara. Prosecutors had asked for a bond of $1 million, but Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. made it $150,000 after Zimmerman’s family testified they did not have the resources necessary to meet the higher level.
The story is over whether he deceived the judge by claiming he had no money, thus getting himself really low bail, when he actually had 200k in his paypal account. Talk about that if you want, but what I find shocking is that there are enough sociopaths out there that would donate 200 grand to a killer.
Shoot a black kid, set up a blog, make a quarter million. Our society is sick.
fasteddie9318
Damn, does racism really pay that well?
cathyx
All it takes is one Koch brother.
Chuck Butcher
hmmm… wrongful death suit?
Legalize
Working for a living is for suckers. I need to figure out a way to get hooked into the wingnut welfare without (1) actually harming anyone, and (b) getting myself sued.
Lit3Bolt
Can’t wait for the Zimmerman’s book and reality TV show.
Child killers feel welcome in the Republican party.
Mnemosyne
Don’t worry, jncc will be by any minute now to tell you that Zimmerman deserves to make money from killing Martin because he’s being railroaded.
cathyx
Just wait until Trayvon Martin’s family has to pay George Zimmerman for his pain and suffering he’s going through with this humiliation.
trollhattan
No-one could have predicted.
Also, too, watch for how far this story goes, and how fast. Vernon Davis’ (SF 49ers) brother arrested for murder and multiple assaults with a claw hammer.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/teen-arrested-in-hammer-attack-may-be-linked-to-petworth-attacks/2012/04/27/gIQAjFMNlT_story.html?hpid=z1
Wingers will be asking “where are the protests?” in 3, 2, 1…
Tim O
Hell, I know what I’m doing this weekend!
Birthmarker
@Chuck Butcher: @cathyx: God I hope so.
What it really proves to me is how perverted our media is. It’s just propaganda isn’t it?
This is the ultimate both sides do it scenario.
kindness
Treyvon’s parents should sue him in Civil Court no matter what the Criminal Court says. I mean, it worked against OJ.
@Lit3Bolt: ‘Child killers feel welcome in the Republican party.’ Hey…maybe all abortionists need to do is use a gun.
Teddy's Person
This wingnut welfare looks like a great way to make a living. Where can I sign up? … oh that’s right, I have a soul.
Forum Transmitted Disease
So we have stone-cold evidence he lied to the judge.
What I really want to know is this: Who is he going to kill when he finds out he’s got to pay taxes on this miracle windfall?
Corner Stone
These monies will be forfeited or bonded, one way or another. He’s not going to keep them or be able to use them for the defense.
That’s IMO.
Steve M.
Imagine how much more money he’d have made if he’d questioned Obama’s birth certificate.
Corner Stone
@Tim O: Masturbating to anime violence pron?
Banelm
Finally! The mythical missing piece!
1)Do something outrageous, (kill a black, kid, steal underwear, whatever
2) ? (Set up a website with a paypal account!)
3) Profit!
David Fud
@kindness: This. Just women standing their ground against an invasive organism. 2nd amendment WIN!
butler
Question for tax lawyers or CPAs: does he have to pay taxes on this paypal money?
Forum Transmitted Disease
@kindness: Since the criminal court is going to have to acquit based on the idiotic wording of the law, yeah, I think the only avenue for justice here is going to be civil court.
Which the Martins will have to pay for out of their own pocket.
Beter than nothing, I suppose. Actually, I can’t even say that. Trayvon’s parents get nothing but the pocket change from the couches of some deluded racist sons of bitches, but that hardly replaces a son.
FlipYrWhig
I bet Bernie Goetz wishes he had PayPal.
David Koch
Fixxed News does a great job in ginning up the non-cognitives (you know the “get gubermint outta Medicare” types).
Forum Transmitted Disease
@butler: I’m neither, but this seems straightforward; yes, he will. Income as an independent contractor, which is something I’ve had to do. It’s also going to fuck him up that he got it all at one time, he should have to pay estimateds based on that cash flow for the entire year, but he’d probably be able to skate out of that.
SFAW
Really, John? After living through NN years of the 27-percenters running the show? After continually seeing evidence that Peak Wingnut doesn’t exist?
John, I’ve never – well, rarely – thought you were particularly naive, but this statement of yours is causing me to romney regarding that. (Well, I guess, technically, it’s only a romney if I were worried about getting votes or some such.)
Mike Lamb
@Corner Stone: Why do you think that? The funds are not “ill gotten”. Just fucked up donations.
Marc
And if the average donation was one dime, the number of donors would just about equal the Fox viewership.
Keith
There’s so much money to be made from these rubes if you’re willing to check your shame at the door.
SFAW
Only if he declares it. And since it’s not going to be on a W-2, how’s the IRS going to find out?
It’s not like anyone HERE would rat him out.
Elizabelle
Is there any way the judge could call a fresh bail hearing, since the Zimmerman family did not disclose aka LIED about their ability to pay?
Zimmerman should be in jail until his trial.
Calouste
@trollhattan:
Now I can’t (and don’t want to) follow winger’s logic, but the protests in the Martin case were there because Zimmerman killed someone and didn’t get arrested. In this Davis case, he killed someone and did get arrested. So I fail to see any connection, except of course black, black blackity black.
DonkeyKong
If you put your ear to the ground you can hear the late George Wallace laughing his ass off.
srv
The next Bernhard Goetz is going to be a millionaire.
FlipYrWhig
@srv: I thought I was the only one to remember the Goetz case.
TK-421
Never underestimate the market power of gun nuts. They buy a LOT of stuff, and hoo boy did the Trayvon Martin tragedy hit a little too close to home. They won’t hesitate to spend money to “protect their own.”
AA+ Bonds
Seize and redistribute
Steve
@Forum Transmitted Disease: Since you’re familiar with the wording of the law, you should check out what it says about civil actions as well.
On a separate topic, Zimmerman is clearly not a bright man. Specifically, he’s one of two types of not-bright: (1) stupid enough to lie to the judge and say he has no money, and then go out days later and talk about all the money he’s raised; or (2) stupid enough not to realize those donations in his legal defense fund are something he was supposed to tell the judge about when he was testifying about his resources. Personally, I’m inclined to think (2), but it’s hard to see how it’s not one or the other.
Corner Stone
@Mike Lamb: His attorney was amending the info to the court, last I read. If it turns out the way I believe it will, IMO, the defense attorney will strike some deal to forfeit or put in trust the monies so the court doesn’t revoke bond for his client.
IMO, if they had been gathered after bond was set it wouldn’t be anything more than a fund raiser. And make of that what you will.
But since nominally these funds existed at the time of bond hearing it could be an issue.
Just IMO.
JGabriel
__
__
John Cole @ Top:
Perhaps it’s not that many. Is it possible that the bulk of the donations came from a few large donors instead of a lot of small donors — as it did in the Republican primary?
.
Tony J
What?
So the people running the Zimmerman Operation (clearly, he’s not making any of the decisions here) knew their client had money rushing into his paypal account before the bail hearing, but stayed shtum so that Zimmerman’s parents could plead – relative – poverty and get a lower bail settlement?
A few questions, since IANAL.
Would it be illegal for Zimmerman’s legal team to let the Zimmerman family present themselves to the court as the only available source of bail funds if they knew that their client had a paypal account filling up with donations that – I charitably assume – were given to fund his legal defence?
Would it be illegal for Zimmerman not to tell his legal team he had this money? Meaning, would he have a legal responsibility to – know – how much cash he had on hand through his own paypal account before his representatives go to court?
I have given up being astounded by the bare-faced WTFness of you Colonials, but I am still able to feel a greasy clutch of horror around my nethers when someone inevitably tells me that, no, it’s all perfectly legal because… and that’s what I’m expecting here.
SFAW
Part of me half-expects Martin to be (posthumously) charged with something like DWB. (Dying While Black)
Ash Can
Yeah but an OWS protester spit on the sidewalk, or something, so liberals are just as bad.
Tony J
@Corner Stone:
By “since nominally these funds existed at the time of bond hearing” you mean that the very existance of a paypal account in Zimmerman’s name while the bail was being set is something his lawyers should have told the judge?
If it is, how do courts normally respond to council keeping them in the dark about things like that?
Roger Moore
Just wait until Paypal freezes his account. You know they really, really want to.
Svensker
@FlipYrWhig: Goetz lived in my SIL’s building in NYC and had a big crush on her. He would stare at her in the elevator, wait in the lobby for her to take walks and try to strike up conversations at odd moments. (He ignored the fact that she was married.) A very creepy guy.
Corner Stone
@Tony J: The article indicates the defense attorney was unaware of these funds at the time of the bond hearing. The judge hasn’t made a ruling so that could go in any direction in the short term.
But, again IMO, Zimmerman isn’t very bright. The judge will need to rule what makes most sense legally.
I personally feel the trust the defense attorney has moved the monies into makes the most sense until this issue is resolved.
David Hunt
@SFAW:
Not true. Ever hear of Form 1099-K? It’s a new type of 1099 that payment processors like AMEX and Paypal have to issue to people they process payments for. He will get a a Form 1099-K from Paypal listing the total amount paid to him by them via their service broken down by month. As with all properly filed Forms 1099, a copy is sent to the IRS.
mclaren
You’re finally getting it, Cole. America is a sick twisted society that despises joy and pleasure and loves hate and torment and death. America is a nation of craven servile bully-worshipers, wannabe rapists who don’t have the guts to actually go into a dark alley after a girl themselves but who adore and admire the sociopaths who do. America isn’t a country — it’s a 300-million-strong lynch mob most of whose members are too cowardly to actually string victims up with their own hands, so this entire nation falls to its knees with stars in its eyes when they see a bully thuggish enough to actually murder a defenseless victim.
How much ya wanna bet Zimmerman not only gets acquitted, but scores a top-rated talk show after his trial…?
FlipYrWhig
@Svensker: Gross. And entirely believable.
ruemara
@Chuck Butcher: Nope. Not if he is exonerated in the criminal trial. ALEC thought of everything.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Zimmerman lied to the court to get a low bail? After everything that has transpired so far, I’m not surprised a bit.
Not a bit.
@Tony J:
Hey! We had to get out from under the oppressive thumb of the Brits so we could use our own oppressive thumb on ourselves.
How are we doing?
trollhattan
@Calouste:
I am but a poor student at the school of the master, DougJ, when it comes to parsing, anticipating and mimicing wingnuteze. Here, my spidey senses tell me that if one or more of the victims is white, wingnuts will jump at the chance to misdirect us by pointing at this case and yelling with all their tiny lungs allow.
Actual parallels? Those are for sissies!
Judas Escargot, Your Postmodern Neighbor
@mclaren:
You know as well as I do that if Martin’s family and friends had shown up at the Zimmerman household the next day loaded for bear, every cop within a 20 mile radius would have been there within seconds, guns drawn.
These morons keep chip, chip, chipping away at the perceived legitimacy of the criminal justice system at their peril.
Martin
Maybe you should have Tunch shoot Rosie to bulk up the fundraising/
myiq2xu
I guess you missed the fact that Zimmerman is a Democrat.
Svensker
@myiq2xu:
Did the clock just strike 13?
Tony J
@Corner Stone:
But the fact (assumed fact) that Zimmerman isn’t very bright protects him from not informing his legal defence that he has a (ISSR pretty well advertised) paypal account collecting money for his defence fees – before – the bond hearing?
Wouldn’t he have a responsibility to tell them? Isn’t it their job to know to ask him about it? Even I knew that Zimmerman had a site up, did they really not ask him if there were any financial issues there before they went to court?
Just sequestering those funds from Zimmerman’s defence now – after the bond hearing was held without knowledge of them seems a bit horse > gate. Is that how the system normally works?
IANAL. Did I mention that?
ABL
Doesn’t surprise me at all.
Tony J
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Meh.
But it’s still early.
Mike in NC
American Exceptionalism!
Jamey
Either that, John, or you’re doing it wrong….
Tony J
@myiq2xu:
OGFG! I have – missed – you! Some of my fondest memories of BJ revolve around your trolling exploits being stripped, squeezed and slapped around by the regulars. It was like slash-fiction without the effort.
Tell me you’re on your way to Darrell’s attic room, that would be Awe-to-the-Sum!
Plus, you pretty and so smart! Please stay.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@
myiq2xuGoatBoy!:Hey there GoatBoy, have you been able to score any of that finely wrinkled racist PUMA ass you’ve been chasing?
Steve
TPM has a post up that makes a pretty decent case that the prosecutors dropped the ball when they had a golden opportunity to bring this issue up at the bond hearing. The biggest problem with this case in terms of securing justice is that state-court prosecutors aren’t necessarily all superstars. So far these folks seem pretty weak.
Michael2
Does this make a larger point?
One _could_ say: “Well gee, George, what do you need all that money for to begin with? Aren’t you provided an attorney free of charge by the state in case you have no money?”
The only logical answer is that he fears he can’t get “justice” without fancy lawyers. Which just proves that rich people buy justice through high priced lawyers. And the rest of us people suck on it because we have overworked, underpaid public attorneys representing us. Or we get shot.
So George answers, “Well, a proper legal defense runs about tree-fiddy. Click now to http://www…….”
Argive
@myiq2xu:
OH I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE
That Zimmerman is a Democrat means nothing to me.
LongHairedWeirdo
Actually, I think I’ve figured out what’s going on with the support of Zimmerman.
It’s ugly, but not *as* ugly.
See, Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch guy, right? And he *thought* he was pursuing a criminal, right? Those are okay.
Then – here’s where things get fuzzy. He ends up shooting someone. And he feeds the police a story that would make perfect sense *if* he had been pursuing a criminal. The criminal, noticing he was about to call the police, *attacked him*.
That makes perfect sense. A criminal attacked him, and he defended himself. How *dare* you impugn him by making this a big deal!
Except…
Except we know that Trayvon Martin was not a criminal. We know what he was doing outside. We know that he wasn’t casing houses for later burglary. We know that if he thought Zimmerman was walking away and calling the police, he had nothing to fear. Zimmerman’s story simply doesn’t make any sense at all.
Except, for some, Zimmerman must have done the right thing, because if he didn’t, well, an armed member of the neighborhood watch with past anger management issues could kill someone and be charged with a crime!
Okay, I’m not quite being fair, but I’m not in the mood to be fair. They bought the self-defense thing, and don’t want to pay attention to how ridiculous the story seems once you realize that Trayvon Martin had a perfectly lawful purpose for being where he was, and no reason to attack Zimmerman.
asiangrrlMN
OK, I’m not a lawyer, but why the fuck does the judge have to set bail at a rate that the family can meet? I mean, there’s no legal obligation for that, right?
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN:
some states have things about “onerous” bail with different sorts of ideas about onerous.
asiangrrlMN
@Chuck Butcher: Ah. Gotcha. I guess that makes sense. Kinda. Maybe.
Cole, it doesn’t surprise me at all.
jncc
@LongHairedWeirdo: Spot on indeed. We all know what kind of person Martin was and we all know what kind of person Zimmerman was, just like we all know that Zimmerman set out that night to intentionally murder a black person.
I really do not understand why there is even going to be a trial.
LongHairedWeirdo
@jncc:
I don’t know why *you* assume that Zimmerman set out to intentionally murder a black person.
*I* said that I believed he *thought* he was pursuing a criminal, and that this, on its face, was okay.
When you have to invent lies to be able to whine, maybe you should just, you know, stop whining?
(I’m sure that I’m playing the race card, somehow, by pointing out that you’re bullshitting, and suggesting that you stop whining. So, no need to insist that I’m doing so, it’s already covered. ‘kay?)
jncc
@asiangrrlMN: I guess some backwaters still cling to the idea that you shouldn’t keep people in jail until AFTER they have been convicted of something and the the purpose of bail is just to make sure that the person will appear for their trial.
jncc
@LongHairedWeirdo: If you think that Zimmerman didn’t set out to intentionally murder a black person, you’re just not paying close enough attention.
Why else would a guy who outweighs a child by 100 pounds of muscle get out of his car and run after him even after the police EXPLICITLY told him not to do that? Hmmm, why else?
And haven’t you heard the 911 tape where the woman called the police because she heard shots fired and then you can hear Martin screaming for help for several seconds before you hear a SECOND shot? What, are you saying the second shot was an accident?
You need to get your mind right.
If you doubt any of these facts, just read back through the archives here and you’ll see that each of those facts was laid out by Balloon Juice posters. And, I’m not talking about the nuts in the comment threads either.
jpe
re: tax: gifts aren’t taxable income. gifts over 13k are taxable to the donor, but there’s no tax impact for the recipient.
everyone can give away 5mm during life, so there’d only be tax due if the donor gave more than 13k and also had given away 5mm to others.
The prophet Nostradumbass
@myiq2xu: Why don’t you go crawl back into your sewer, MeatProd.
LongHairedWeirdo
@jncc:
So… have you seen a doctor about these symptoms? Or when you take the mind-control drugs, do you stop hearing the voices that tell you the truths that the doctors don’t want you to know?
jncc
@LongHairedWeirdo: Well, I don’t know what you mean by hearing voices because we all know that nobody ever does anything without a logical reason. I mean that’s why we know that it is impossible that Martin ever raised a hand towards that big bully Zimmerman, he had “no reason to attack “
jncc
Oh, and I missed this little shiny bit of insight “We know that if he [Martin] thought Zimmerman was walking away and calling the police, he had nothing to fear.”
Exactly so. If there is anything that young black men in this country can be sure about, it’s that they have nothing to fear once someone calls the police on them.
amk
Great last lines, cole. Tweeted.
jd
@LongHairedWeirdo:
The only circumstance in which a much slower runner could ever catch up with a much faster runner, is if the faster runner deliberately confronted the slower runner.
Logic is weird like that.
LongHairedWeirdo
@jd:
Your logic is incorrect. Your assumptions are untested. Your reasoning is unclear. Your point is nonexistent.
Other than that, you’re light-years ahead of jncc. I’m sorry, I know that’s damning with faint praise, but you haven’t really given me anything to work with.
tkogrumpy
“our society is sick” I take it your just discovering this 150 y/o problem.
jncc
@LongHairedWeirdo: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a black man man in possession of knowledge that the police have been called on him, has nothing to fear …
Mark Lass
even better
his original lawyers were working pro bono
don’t know about the new one
Odie Hugh Manatee
@jncc:
It’s a universally acknowledged truth here that we all know that you are chock full of shit and you know it and are quite happy with it.
Racists are like that, smugly secure in the knowledge that their shit just smells better.
Elie
@kindness:
Zimmerman will be sued in civil court not matter how these criminal proceedings go — for wrongful death. This 200K plus anything else he has is gone. Count on it. Ditto for the little police department that can’t manage to do an investigation. And he will need plastic surgery and a permanent body guard. The Kochs will not be able to help him.
Peter A
@jncc: You are still lying. A 17 year old football player is not “a child”, and physically there is little doubt that Martin could kick fat Zimmerman’s ass. Zimmerman can be proven guilty without resorting to stupid hyperbole. People like you are encouraging the wingnuts to take up Zimmerman’s cause.
jncc
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
Like you, I once thought that young black men might have some reason to get a bit nervous when someone had called the police on them, but the good Mr. Long Haired Weirdo has got me squared away. I really can’t say it better than him: “We know that if he [Martin] thought Zimmerman was walking away and calling the police, he had nothing to fear.”
You, obviously, haven’t sat down and thought about the facts in a really _analytical_ and logical way like LWH. He’s got that shit figured out cold, yo.
jncc
@Peter A: I was once like you. I once entertained the idea that, perhaps, people shouldn’t make up their minds about events they knew nothing about based on crap they read on the internet posted by people who, also, didn’t know anything about the facts.
But I have seen the light. sages like Odie Hugh Manatee have helped me understand that thinking like that makes you RACIST.
You need to get your mind right.
JR in AZ
@Peter A: Legally everyone below the age of adulthood is a child. This age varies from culture to culture, but in America is usually either 18 or 21.
Either of these ages of majority will make the late 17-y-o victim a child, regardless of the sports he may have played.
Even if he was a Golden Glove boxing champ, a 17-y-o is a child. In this case, a dead, murdered child.