Lawyer: Florida Owes Zimmerman $300K

He plans to recoup legal expenses
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 27, 2013 3:33 AM CDT
Lawyer: Florida Owes Zimmerman $300K
George Zimmerman leaves the courtroom for a lunch break during his trial last month.   (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Joe Burbank, Pool)

Looks like George Zimmerman has taken time out from visiting gun factories and speeding in Texas to take care of more legal business: He plans to ask the state of Florida to reimburse him for up to $300,000 in legal expenses, his lawyer tells the Orlando Sentinel. Because he was acquitted, a Florida statute requires the state to pay his costs for things like expert witnesses and travel, and he plans to file a motion soon, lawyer Mark O'Mara says.

"It's a pretty standard motion for a case that the defense won," says a spokesman for Zimmerman's legal team. But Florida doesn't reimburse acquitted defendants for their attorney fees—and O'Mara says he has been paid nothing by Zimmerman. At $400 per hour, fees for the time he spent on the case would add up to more than $1 million. (More George Zimmerman stories.)

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