Florida authorities released George Zimmerman Sunday evening on
$150,000 bail, as he awaits his second-degree murder trial for the
shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.

The neighborhood watch volunteer was wearing a brown jacket and blue
jeans and carrying a paper bag as he walked out of the jail around
midnight Sunday. He was following another man and didn't look over at
photographers gathered outside. The two then got into a white BMW car
and drove away.

No questions were shouted at Zimmerman from members of the news media at the scene, and he gave no statement.



His ultimate destination is being kept secret for his safety and it could be outside Florida.



As with the July 2011 release of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman
acquitted of murder in the death of her young daughter, Zimmerman was
released around midnight. But the similarities end there. Anthony was
quickly whisked away by deputy sheriffs armed with rifles as angry
protesters jeered her. While news helicopters briefly tracked her SUV
through Orlando before she slipped from public view, there was no such
pursuit of Zimmerman, who will have to return for trial.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said at a hearing Friday that Zimmerman
cannot have any guns and must observe a 7 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew.
Zimmerman also surrendered his passport.

Zimmerman had to put up 10 percent, or $15,000, to make bail. His father had indicated he might take out a second mortgage.



Zimmerman worked at a mortgage risk-management company at the time of the shooting and his wife is in nursing school. A website was set up to collect donations for Zimmerman's defense fund. It is unclear how much has been raised.



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.

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.

Zimmerman, 28, fatally shot Martin, 17, during an altercation on 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 says Martin, who was visiting from Miami, attacked him. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense, [url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/06/tand-your-ground-law-under-fire-in-wake-trayvon-martin-case/]citing Florida's "stand your ground" law[/url], which gives broad legal protection to anyone who says they used deadly force because they feared death or great bodily harm.



Zimmerman was not charged for over six weeks, sparking national
protests led by Martin's parents, civil rights groups and the Revs.
Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is a
white, non-Latino and his mother is from Peru.

Earlier Sunday, Zimmerman's attorney was working to secure the money
for bail and a safe place for Zimmerman to stay. But residents in
Sanford, where Martin was killed, didn't expect a ruckus once Zimmerman
was released.

City commissioners said they hadn't received calls from nervous
residents. Protesters didn't show up outside the jail. And talk at one
local coffee shop seldom focused on the case.

"It's just kind of a non-issue now," said Michele Church, a server at
Mel's Family Diner. "That's pretty much all anybody in Sanford wanted,
was an arrest, so it could be sorted out in the court system."

On Friday, a Florida judge agreed to let Zimmerman out on $150,000
bail. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara has said there are several options
for where Zimmerman should go, but would not disclose any of them.
Lester on Friday indicated Zimmerman would be allowed to leave the state
if arrangements with law enforcement could be made for him to be
monitored.

He was fitted with an electronic device when he was released Sunday,
according to a statement from the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.

About a half-dozen photographers and cameramen camped outside the
Sanford jail Sunday, focused on the door marked "Bonds Rooms," where
other people who had been arrested and released on bail exited.
Zimmerman had entered the jail about a week earlier after more than a
month of nationwide protests calling for his arrest.

"The mood in Sanford has calmed down tremendously," said Sanford
Commissioner Patty Mahany, whose district includes the neighborhood
where Martin was killed. "I think now that people are able to see the
justice system taking place, even though they understand it's going to
be quite slow, people are willing to just remain calm and really we're
all getting back to our daily routines."

A spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff's Office declined to
release any information about whether they were increasing patrols or
security.

Defense attorneys for other high-profile clients who awaited trial on
bail have said Zimmerman should leave Florida and refrain from going
out in public. Sanford residents say they aren't expecting to see him
around the neighborhood anytime soon.

"They've already said they're going to move him to a safe place,"
Church said. "Everyone has calmed down. That's all anyone in Sanford
wanted, an arrest."

Meanwhile, Martin's parents published a "Card of Thanks" in The Miami
Herald obituary page Sunday. The note says Sybrina Fulton and Tracy
Martin express their appreciation for all the public's support since
their son's death. The notice includes a photograph of Trayvon Martin
dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, similar to one he was wearing the
evening he was killed.

"Words will never express how your love, support and prayers lifted
our spirits and continue to give us the strength to march on," the
letter says.
Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/23/george-zimmerman-released-on-150000-bail/#ixzz1srevgSQM