George Zimmerman's lawyer revealed last night that his client had collected about $200K in donations on his website—a fact he formally admitted during a court hearing today. Attorney Mark O'Mara claims he has now taken control of the money and was not aware of the donations during last week's bail hearing, when the family testified they were financially struggling to pay bond. O'Mara added that none of the donor money was used to pay the bond; Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester, Jr. said he wants more information about donors before deciding whether to release information about them to the media. more ›

Yesterday, George Zimmerman made a surprise appearance on the stand during his bail hearing in order to apologize to the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old who he fatally shot on Feb. 26. Zimmerman's apology (which you can watch below) came after his lawyer Mark O'Mara had grilled an investigator for the special prosecutor, taking apart the probable cause affidavit sentence by sentence. And turning a bail hearing into something more was a smart strategy, many legal experts say. more ›

George Zimmerman apologized to the family of Trayvon Martin today during a bail hearing, speaking for the first time in public since he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon on Feb. 26. "I want to say I am sorry for the loss of your son," he said. "I did not know how old he was...I did not know if he was armed or not." The prosecution asked why he waited 50-plus days to apologize, and Zimmerman said he was told not to reach out to the family; but he also said he was "fairly certain" he had asked police at one point to tell the family he felt sorry, but it was apparently never conveyed. more ›

A new photo of George Zimmerman—the former neighborhood watch captain who has been charged with second degree murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—shows that he was bleeding from the head on the night he fatally shot Trayvon. Zimmerman has long claimed that he was acting in self-defense during a life and death situation in shooting Trayvon on the night of Feb. 26, but thus far, there has been little evidence of any wounds on Zimmerman. more ›

The Florida Circuit Judge presiding over the trial of George Zimmerman—the former neighborhood watch captain charged with second degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—recused herself from the case today as was expected. more ›

The older brother of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old who was fatally shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on Feb. 26, says that Zimmerman's account of the confrontation doesn't ring true with the Trayvon he knew: "Based on what I heard, with the 911 tapes and all the evidence, he tried to get away from the situation," Jahvaris Fulton told CNN. "He wasn't violent. So for him to actually jump on someone he doesn't even know, to me that's not him. He's smarter than that." Watch the interview below. more ›

The legal case against George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain who has been charged with second degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, became a bit clearer with the release of new court documents yesterday. Prosecutors charge that Zimmerman "profiled" Martin on the night of Feb. 26, falsely assumed he was a "criminal," disregarded 911 operators pleas to stay away from him, and instead followed and eventually "confronted" him. “Zimmerman felt Martin did not belong in the gated community...During the recorded call, Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood," the documents read. more ›

The family of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Florida, spoke out today about former neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, who was charged with second-degree murder yesterday. Martin's parents Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton appeared on NBC, CBS and ABC morning programs today—among other things, they said they were "at ease" that Zimmerman could no longer hold a gun permit. Fulton also said at one point that she thought the incident was an "accident." She later clarified those remarks: "We believe that George Zimmerman stalked my son and murdered him in cold blood. The 'accident' I was referring to was the fact that George Zimmerman and my son ever crossed paths. It was an accidental encounter." more ›

According to AP, George Zimmerman will be charged with second degree murder for the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—Zimmerman also reportedly gave himself in willingly, and is in custody. Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey will announce the charged formally at a 6 p.m. press conference. We'll update the post once the "new information" has been released. Watch the live feed below. more ›

[Update Below]According to the Washington Post, Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey will announce this afternoon that former neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman will be charged in the fatal shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The news comes a day after Zimmerman's lawyers held a bizarre press conference to announce they were no longer representing Zimmerman, due to the fact they haven't been able to contact him lately. It's not yet clear exactly what charges Zimmerman will be facing. more ›

Famed comedian Bill Cosby weighed in on the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and he put the blame squarely on the easy accessibility of guns: “We’ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,” Cosby told the Washington Post. “Without a gun, I don’t see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself. The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations. When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody." more ›

The 911 call made by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is at the crux of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into whether they will prosecute Zimmerman. There have been independent analyses of the call trying to discern whether Zimmerman uttered a racial epithet, to determine whether the shooting could be characterized as a hate crime. Now, an NBC producer has been fired for editing the call to make it seem as though Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted. more ›

The former neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin nearly two months ago has a new lawyer who has gone on a media offensive the past few days. George Zimmerman's lawyer Hal Uhrig, a former police officer, cited the "Shaken Baby Syndrome" in defending his client, who has claimed he shot Martin in self-defense: "You shake a baby, the brain shakes around inside the skull. You can die when someone's pounding your head into the ground." As Reuters points out, Uhrig's "use of a recognized sign of child abuse to defend a 28-year-old man who killed a kid" seems more likely to stir up controversy against Zimmerman. more ›

The new-new investigation into the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin continues, and a new witness came forward last night to discuss what he saw the night George Zimmerman fatally shot Martin. The unidentified witness told Anderson Cooper he observed the struggle from a window, heard multiple "pops," and Zimmerman seemed unharmed following the shooting (you can see video of him describing the scene below). Because of this witness, the reveal of the surveillance video of Zimmerman from that night, and other leaks in the investigation, Martin's family is hopeful that Zimmerman will be charged in the near future: "I think Mr Zimmerman will be arrested very, very soon," said Daryl Parks, attorney for Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. "[The new witness] answers a lot of questions for me. It is clear this witness saw what happened and indicated the person that he saw that did the shooting." more ›

As the new-new investigation into the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin continues, the father of shooter George Zimmerman has spoken out about the night of the fatal shooting. And Robert Zimmerman claims that Martin attacked his son first, broke his nose, and threatened his life the night of Feb. 26: “It’s my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him," the 64-year-old told FOX 35 WOFL. “Trayvon Martin said something to the effect of ‘you’re going to die now’ or ‘you’re going to die tonight.’" more ›

Things just keep getting messier and messier with the investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting: according to ABC, the lead homicide detective probing the fatal shooting recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter. Investigator Chris Serino, of the Sanford Police Department, expressed doubts about Zimmerman’s claim he shot Martin in self-defense, but Serino was instructed to not press charges because the state attorney's office said there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction. And now, thanks to that and many other leaks, a new special prosecutor and a team of investigators have been assigned to the case, and have begun to quietly re-interview witnesses and examine evidence—CBS says the investigation "is essentially starting from scratch." more ›

Last month, a black teenager who was walking through a Florida gated townhouse community—to his father's girlfriend's home—was fatally shot by the captain of the neighborhood watch. While George Zimmerman called the police to say, "There's a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he's up to no good or he's on drugs or something," and was told he didn't need to follow the teen, Trayvon Martin ended up dead. And the teen was unarmed and just carrying Skittles and iced tea. Zimmerman was never arrested, claiming self-defense, but after weeks of criticism from Martin's family and their supporters, and the recent release of 911 tapes, the Justice Department has confirmed it will investigate the shooting. more ›

NYC water—the champagne of municipal tap water—definitely isn't pure. But it does taste good. Now the $2 million dollar question is if the techniques needed to "replicate" our water elsewhere are trade secrets—and if they even work. One Florida man is ready to argue in court the answers to those questions are no and no. more ›