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State faces up to $300K tab for Zimmerman bills

 
Zimmerman
Zimmerman
Published Aug. 28, 2013

Orlando — George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who killed Trayvon Martin, plans to ask the state of Florida to cover $200,000 to $300,000 of his legal expenses, his attorney says. Mark O'Mara said Tuesday that the defense team is still totaling up its trial expenses. Because Zimmerman, 29, was acquitted, state law requires Florida to pay all his legal costs, minus the biggest one: the fee to his lawyers. That includes the cost of expert witnesses, travel, depositions, photocopies, even an animated 3-D video, shown to jurors during closing argument, that depicts Martin punching Zimmerman. O'Mara normally bills at $400 per hour. He says neither he nor any of his fellow attorneys have been paid anything.