Jul 28, 2012 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
MIAMI (Reuters) – The wife of George Zimmerman pleaded not guilty on Friday to a perjury charge after Florida prosecutors alleged she lied about their family’s finances during a bond hearing in the case of her husband’s shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin.
A lawyer for Shellie Zimmerman filed the written plea and waved her right to appear in court at an arraignment hearing scheduled for Tuesday, said Michelle Kennedy, a court spokeswoman.
Shellie Zimmerman was arrested on June 12 and released the same day on $1,000 bond.
George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watchman, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Martin’s shooting.
A judge revoked his $150,000 bond last month and ordered him to return to jail after prosecutors said the Zimmermans misled the court about their financial status.
The judge ruled at the time the Zimmermans failed to disclose more than $135,000 that donors had contributed to a website set up to help pay for George Zimmerman’s legal defense.
George Zimmerman has since been released on a new $1 million bond.
During an April bond hearing, Shellie Zimmerman testified the Zimmermans had no money and that she did not know much had been raised through the website.
But several phone calls recorded while George Zimmerman was in jail showed them using coded language to discuss the money and discussing plans to move it to an account belonging to his sister.
His lawyers have acknowledged that Zimmerman hurt his credibility by claiming not to have any money and misleading the court.
