George Zimmerman In Bond Court Friday
SANFORD (CBSMiami) – The replacement of a judge to preside over the trial of George Zimmerman, the Sanford neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year old Trayvon Martin, will not delay Friday's bond hearing.
Zimmerman will face the judge at 9 a.m. Sanford's City Manager won't say if Sanford Police will protect Zimmerman if he's released on bond.
"We recognize that that's a possibility and I'm prepared for that," said City Manager Norton Bonaparte.
Zimmerman will appear before Seminole County Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester.
The original judge assigned to the case, Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, disqualified herself on Wednesday citing a conflict of interest. Recksiedler's husband, who is an attorney, is a partner in the firm of Mark Nejame which has contracted by CNN to do analysis of the Zimmerman trial.
In her order, Judge Reckseidler said, "even though this Court finds that neither of these, standing alone, is legally sufficient for disqualification, the cumulative effect of the events and the totality of the circumstances provides a legally sufficient basis for this Court to grant the Motion to Disqualify."
NeJame was originally approached by Zimmerman to be his attorney. Zimmerman eventually chose Mark O'Mara as his attorney.
Judge John D. Galluzzo who would have been next in line to preside over the case after Recksiedler was also disqualified after informed Chief Judge Dickey that he would have a conflict due to his prior business and personal relationship with O'Mara.
That opened the door for Judge Lester.
Judge Lester was elected in September 1996 and re-elected in 2008, which will keep him on the bench through 2014.
Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second degree murder. Zimmerman has said that he shot the teen in self defense, according to Sanford police. Initially they did not charge him citing the state's 'Stand Your Ground'. This sparked out and protests across the country. Last week special prosecutor Angela Courey had Zimmerman arrested and charged after a review of the police investigation.
