Zimmerman bail set at $1M in Trayvon Martin case

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Using words like "false testimony" and "misled," a judge granted $1 million bail today for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, but questioned his honesty and suggested he had plotted to leave the country when he was out of jail the first time.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester referred to Zimmerman with words like "conceal" and "flee" more than a dozen times in an eight-page order that lets him out of jail while he awaits his second-degree murder trial in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The judge's doubts could hurt a Zimmerman attempt to dismiss the case by claiming he shot Martin in self-defense, a possible motion based on Florida's "stand your ground" law, experts said.

"Mr. Zimmerman is not held in any high esteem by this court," said Karin Moore, a law professor at Florida A&M University College of Law. "I think that could matter if there is a `stand your ground' hearing ... It's a matter of credibility. There is no one else to testify to support the self-defense claim."