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George Zimmerman - WJXT - GPS Monitoring Device on Bonded Out Inmates

354 views · Published 16 May 2013 · 2:13 · Indexed 16 October 2026

Channel: John M. Phillips · 2013 · People & Blogs

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Now that George Zimmerman is out of jail on bond, he will have to wear a GPS anklet to monitor his location. Attorney John Phillips of Jacksonville, Florida explains that being convicted in the minds of society will not make this a pleasant experience for Zimmerman.

Zimmerman was released on bail from the Seminole County jail early Monday morning, got into a white BMW and was driven away to a secret location.

While the public will not know where Zimmerman is, court officials will.

Among the conditions Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. set for Zimmerman's release: he must report his location to authorities every three days and wear an electronic GPS device.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office says it has used the Electronic Monitoring Protection and Crime Tracking Program to track offenders on supervised release since 2003. The program provides real-time monitoring of an offender's movements anywhere in the United States.

The device can be worn around either ankle or the user's wrist.

Rusty Park with the Florida Department of Corrections works with the same types of GPS devices.

"There's a number of different alarms. You may have one where they lose GPS if they go into a big, metal building," said Park. "There's a bracelet gone alarm. That's when the alarm and the MTD get too far apart. If you get a new watch or something, after a while, you kind of forget about it, only you can't take it off."

Zimmerman must pay an $8 a day monitoring fee to use the GPS device.

Zimmerman is also under a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, must not use alcohol or any controlled substances, not have any access to weapons and have no contact with Trayvon Martin's family or any witnesses in the case.

Defense attorney John Phillips believes the conditions of Zimmerman's release are for his own safety.

"It's a pretty miserable life to be not yet convicted, but convicted enough in the minds of, if you're even seen people going to be going to the media," said Phillips. "He's not only dealing with some degree of remorse, but he's dealing with fear for his life and fear for his freedom."

Zimmerman is also allowed to leave the state of Florida.

The 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer fatally shot Martin Feb. 26 inside the gated community where Zimmerman lived. Martin was unarmed and was walking back to the home of his father's fiancée when Zimmerman saw him, called 911 and began following him. A fight broke out -- investigators say it is unknown who started it.

Zimmerman was not charged for more than six weeks, sparking national protests led by Martin's parents, civil rights groups, and the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.

Prosecutors had asked for $1 million bail, citing two previous scrapes Zimmerman had with the law, neither of which resulted in charges. 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. In another incident, a girlfriend accused him of attacking her.

Bail is not unheard of in second-degree murder cases, and legal experts had predicted it would be granted for Zimmerman because of his ties to the community, because he turned himself in after he was charged last week, and because he has never been convicted of a serious crime. -

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