ORLANDO, Fla. - Mother of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin shot by Georgre Zimmerman, who is being charged with his murder, has filed a request for financial compensation from a Florida state fund for crime victims.
The news comes after the Associated Press discovered the request in a state public record, which reveals Sybrina Fulton, victim's mother, filed for compensation benefits with the state. Although the specific amount has not been disclosed, if the request is accepted, the Martin family can be reimbursed for lost wages, funeral and medical expenses.The request was filed in March, shortly after her son was killed in February.
In addition, Fulton filed a $75,000 suit against the gated-community in which her son was shot by the watch-guard.
The Zimmerman team did not attend Wednesday's routine court hearing, as they requested more time to prepare for the case. According to Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, the trial is likely to start in a year's time.
Also yesterday, O'Mara tells the Orlando Sentinel that he might appeal the circuit court's decision last month to keep Judge Kenneth Lester on the case. Last month, Zimmerman's team filed a request to remove Judge Lester from the case citing that the judge was evidently biased against his client and therefore "departed from its role as an impartial, objective minister of justice," according to Good Morning America.
His lawyers filed a petition requesting a change of judge specifically after the judge's comments during Zimmerman's bond hearing in April telling the court that Zimmerman "flaunted the system," as reported by the Huffington Post.
In a statement O'Mara said, "Mr. Zimmerman has lost faith in the objectivity of this Court and has a reasonable, well-founded fear that he will not receive a fair trial by this Court," as reported by Huffington Post.
Judge Lester told the Huffington Post that he would not step down from the case and that O'Mara's claims was "legally insufficient,"
Prosecutors Objected "to the defendant trying to disqualify Judge Lester," according to a statement released to ABC News.
In July, the Florida judge set Zimmerman's bail for $1 million, after previously revoking a $150,000 bond, for misleading the court about his finances.
Zimmerman has always maintained that the shooting occurred as an act of self-defense. Zimmerman was on duty as volunteer watchman when he shot 17 year old Travyon Martin. He is being charged with the second degree murder in February of this year.
He has been released from jail on bond, but under strict conditions including a round the clock GPS monitoring system.
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