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NANCY GRACE

George Zimmerman Makes First Court Appearance

Aired April 12, 2012 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Sanford, Florida. A 17-year-old heads home to his dad`s condo, gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch. Forty-four long days after the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an arrest goes down.

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, staring straight at a murder two charge, George Zimmerman makes a first appearance in court. And tonight, with us live and taking your calls, the parents of the 17-year-old at the heart of the case, Trayvon Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice will be served.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman is now charged in the death of Trayvon Martin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder in the second degree.

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON`S MOTHER: Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All along, they have been demanding his arrest.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will confirm that Mr. Zimmerman is indeed in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Zimmerman`s arrival at the Seminole County jail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is his new mug shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) enter a plea of not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Self-defense, stand your ground, 776.031.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he know that that was a minor, that that was a teenager, and that he did not have a weapon?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other people call it the "license to murder" statute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder in the second degree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it doesn`t require actions to avoid the confrontation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If stand your ground becomes an issue, we fight it.

FULTON: I believe it was an accident. I believe that it just got out of control, and he couldn`t turn the clock back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Zimmerman, you`re appearing here for your first appearances, or first appearance at this time for the charge of murder in the second degree, and you are represented by O`Mara. Is that true?

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH MURDER: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember your right to remain silent, all the other rights that he has told you about. You have to say nothing. And we`ll go forward here on some procedural matters only at this time.

After reviewing the short affidavit for probable cause, I do find that probable cause for the charge as put in the information. Now seeing that there`s an information that was filed as of last -- yesterday at 4:00 PM, all other matters at this point will be handled by the circuit court under the felony case number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, staring straight at a murder two charge, George Zimmerman makes a first appearance in court. Tonight, with us live and taking your calls, the parents of the 17-year-old young man at the heart of this case, Trayvon Martin.

First of all, straight out to David Mattingly, CNN correspondent. In the last hours, Zimmerman in court. Many people were stunned he did not make a request for bond at this time. It`s all being deferred to who is apparently going to be the trial judge, Judge Jessica Recksiedler.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That`s right. It was the big question today as he went in for that first appearance. Was George Zimmerman going to get out of jail today? And the answer is no.

The entire proceedings took less than three minutes. He was notified of the charges against him. He made clear that he had an attorney representing him. And that was pretty much it.

Right now, the way we`re left with this is that there`s going to be a bond hearing somewhere down the road before that arraignment that`s been set for late May. So George Zimmerman is going to be spending some time in the jail here in Seminole County before that bond hearing where they decide if he`s going to get out.

And at that time, there`s still no guarantee because the prosecution will still have the opportunity to prove he might be a flight risk, he might be a danger to the community. So there`s a lot of unknowns here that might keep George Zimmerman in jail.

GRACE: To Steve Helling, writer for "People" magazine. We all saw the hearing. What was set to be a bond hearing today turned out to be a very brief, a very short first appearance.

All of you are seeing what happened this afternoon in the last hours. There is Zimmerman standing there, as you see him in prison blues. I was very surprised to see that he was handcuffed in court. That is very unusual. It`s always a no-no in front of a jury, under the interpretation of our Constitution. But since this is being transmitted over the airwaves, I`m very surprised that he would be portrayed in handcuffs to a potential jury pool.

That said, Steve Helling, I imagine that a bond hearing is going to go down sooner, rather than later. They are not going to wait until May 29.

But as to the hearing today, what did you make of Zimmerman`s appearance, Helling?

STEVE HELLING, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Well, you know, what I think is, like you said, we are looking at a potential jury pool. And this is being -- you know, across the country, people are watching this.

But this isn`t the first time we`ve seen people in handcuffs. I mean, we saw Casey Anthony in handcuffs before -- you know, before she went to trial. So you know, I think that the juries will be able to figure that out when the time comes. And we don`t know when that will be. That will be a long time from now.

GRACE: Well, I can tell you this, Helling. At the rate that justice moves, they will have forgotten all about the first appearance hearing by the time a jury is finally struck in this case. And it looks as if that is exactly where this is headed.

To Ellie Jostad, the chief editorial producer on our show. Ellie, we`ve all studied the Florida statutes intensely. And apparently, in this particular case, as opposed to a manslaughter case, a murder two case can be a no-bond offense. The judge doesn`t have to grant a bond at all.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. That`s correct. And that is because this second-degree murder charge is punishable by up to life in prison. That makes it a non-bondable offense. However, we do expect they will ask for bond eventually.

GRACE: Absolutely. Everybody -- Liz, re-rack what happened in court in the last hours.

For those of you just joining us, finally, step one to justice. We`re not saying Zimmerman`s innocent or guilty. We are saying this is a jury decision, and it all starts right here with a first appearance.

Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight out of the Florida jurisdiction, Mark Lippman, Richard Herman, defense attorney joining us out of Vegas, Renee Rockwell, veteran criminal defense attorney out of the Atlanta jurisdiction.

OK, first to you, Lippman. Explain to us the significance of what happened today. And it sounded like today`s judge, he wasn`t going to touch this with a 10-foot pole.

MARK LIPPMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the judge doesn`t have jurisdiction once the information`s been filed. He`s a county court judge.

GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

LIPPMAN: The information...

GRACE: Back it up. Back it up, Lippman.

LIPPMAN: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: When you throw out legal terms like that -- look, we already know you`re smart. We already know all of you got your lawyer`s degree. You got a J.D. But when you say "information`s been filed," that is a legal term for the actual charge. The murder two charge has been filed. Go ahead.

LIPPMAN: As of 4:00 o`clock yesterday, they filed the official charges, where the prosecutor says she believes that she can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, and she signed it and attested to it and swore to it.

So since that`s happened, it`s now in circuit court, and it`s going to be in front of a circuit court judge to handle the case.

GRACE: Let`s talk about the judge, Judge Jessica Recksiedler. You know her, Lippman. What can you tell me?

LIPPMAN: I can tell you she`s a relatively new judge. I haven`t had the pleasure of being in front of her quite yet. But I have heard good things and...

GRACE: She`s got a reputation.

LIPPMAN: ... I`m sure she`ll be...

GRACE: She`s got a reputation. She has a reputation, Judge Jessica Recksiedler. Let`s see. How does it go? As I recall, she graduated law school in `97 from Florida law school. She has a lot of expertise not only in civil law, but she was also an assistant state`s attorney, was she not, Lippman?

LIPPMAN: I believe she was. And I believe she knows the law very well as far as handling this type of case.

GRACE: And you know, Renee Rockwell, why is it so important for a trial judge to have tried a case before? Have you ever tried a case in front of a judge that hasn`t ever tried a case? I have. It`s not easy.

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, no, Nancy. But in this situation, she was an ex-prosecutor, so she`s going to have command of the law. And I can see her giving him a bond, Nancy. He turned himself in.

GRACE: Well, you know what? I appreciate that. But Richard Herman, let`s talk about whether he`s going to get bond. There`s a shot of Jessica Recksiedler, the judge on this case.

Richard Herman, there are a lot of criteria they`re going to look at to determine whether or not he will get a bond. One is flight risk. Yes, he turned himself in, but for a period of time, many, many days, even his lawyers said they didn`t know where he was and that he went off the grid. Nobody could get in touch with him. That`s a problem. And they commented on it on national TV. That was dumb.

Next, is he a risk to himself? Is he a risk to others? Will he tamper with witnesses? Is he a danger to society? Weigh in, Herman. What`s the chance he`s going to get a bond?

RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If he`s going to get a bond, I think Mr. Lippman will confirm that in the majority, substantially all the second-degree charge cases like this in the state of Florida, they do get bond. And he made a call himself to the prosecutors!

GRACE: Yes, he did.

HERMAN: He`s going to get bond. He deserves to get it. He deserves to get it, Nancy.

GRACE: Well, I think that in this jurisdiction, he may very well get a bond. I don`t know, however, if the practicalities of the case -- out to you, David Mattingly -- are going to allow him to get a bond because typically, you`re told to stay in the jurisdiction. Even his own defense lawyers say if he`s got to stay local, he could be in danger.

MATTINGLY: Well, they`ve always been concerned about his own protection as he`s been at large in the public. And we heard the two (sound drop) a couple of days (sound drop) going to be representing him (sound drop) the state.

But he has been extraordinarily cooperative with police. Every time we`ve talked to police and investigators here, they say that they knew they could reach him, they were not concerned that he was going to be in a position (sound drop) this investigation.

(sound drop) It`s been perceived that he has been extremely cooperative (sound drop) and you heard just (sound drop) office on his own to talk (sound drop) about what needs to go forward.

GRACE: Everybody, we are taking your calls. We`re talking about what went down in the last hours in a Florida courtroom. Now, it may not have looked like any courtroom you`ve ever seen before, and that`s because this was a video appearance.

Explain what happened, Ellie.

JOSTAD: Nancy, the way that this works is there is actually a hearing room there. The judge can either elect to appear there in person or by videoconference. And they actually have the media shoot through a window. And this courtroom is in the jail itself.

So that`s why it looked a little different than normal. The video is actually coming from the other side of a window into that courtroom.

GRACE: Everybody, there is Zimmerman as he appeared in the last hours, his first appearance in court. This is required by the Constitution. According to our system of jurisprudence, you can`t just be arrested and thrown in the jail and sit there and rot.

You have a right to appear in a courtroom in 72 hours or less and be formally told what your charges are, the status of your case, find out if you need a lawyer.

We`re talking about now whether or not Zimmerman is going to post bond. Murder two is a no-bond offense, if the judge wants it to be. There are many people who post bond on big cases.

For example, Robert Blake, murder, posted bond. Michael Peterson, murder, posted bond. Phil Spector, murder, posted bond. Michael Jackson, child molestation, posted bond. Conrad Murray, homicide, posted bond.

Now, a few that did not make bond -- Scott Peterson, triple (sic) murder. O.J. Simpson, double -- triple murder -- excuse me, double murder. Tot mom Casey Anthony, murder. They did not make bond. So we`ll see what`s happening.

Right now, we know it`s going to be transferred to another judge. So long story short, Steve Helling, when will they set the bond hearing?

HELLING: Well, you know, that remains to be seen. And you know, we have a date of May 29th. But as you said before, it`s probably going to happen earlier than that.

GRACE: This was referred to as case 1083-CFA. But it is known as the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Step one to justice, in the last hours, George Zimmerman appears before a judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is truth in those tapes, that he lost sight of Trayvon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There only is one truth. He did not ever follow, confront or catch up to Trayvon, ever.

TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON`S FATHER: My son left Sanford, Florida, in a body bag while George Zimmerman went home to go to sleep in his own bed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman, the Florida watch volunteer, now an accused murderer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a family, we`re devastated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just heard a loud gunshot (INAUDIBLE) and then the screaming stopped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "V" for victim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. O`Mara is the number one quarterback that we have from the draft.

GRACE: I think it`s time for a Hail Mary. That`s what I can tell you right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Welcome back. Joining me right now are two very, very special guests, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton, his mother, Tracy Martin, his father. To both of you, thank you for being with us.

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON`S MOTHER: Thank you.

TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON`S FATHER: Thank you, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, I`ve seen you so many times. I`ve listened to you speak. I`ve imagined you praying, imagined you crying.

You know, as a crime victim myself, when my fiance was murdered, I thought I knew what pain was until I had children. And I cannot imagine what you two have been going through.

And please know that so many prayers have been lifted up for you, to both of you.

FULTON: Thank you.

GRACE: First of all -- yes, ma`am. First of all, to you, Ms. Fulton. So much has happened today. There`s been a first appearance. You know, we thought there was going to be a bond hearing. There wasn`t.

But I want to talk about something different than what happened in court today because we`re going to see a lot of court proceedings from this point on.

I want to talk about that moment when you learned your son had been shot. I remember when it happened to me like it was yesterday. Where were you? What happened at that moment, Ms. Fulton?

FULTON: I was at work. It was Monday morning. It was the day after Trayvon was murdered. His dad gave me a call. He told me that Trayvon was missing, and I told him to make sure that he`s not with his cousin that lives up in that Orlando area. He told me that he would give me a call back. He was going to call around and give me a call back.

At that time, I told my supervisor that I had to leave, I had a family emergency. And I left. Maybe within 30, maybe 45 minutes, I left my job. I got my things together. When I got to my car downstairs of my building, my office building where I work, I had missed two calls from Tracy.

And I called him back while I was in the parking lot of my job, and he told me the absolute worst news that you can tell a mother, and that is that her child is dead. I didn`t believe it then. I still have issues believing it now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FULTON: I still feel that this is just a nightmare and that I`m going to open up my eyes one day and Trayvon is going to come through the door and he`s going to give me a hug and a kiss. That is what I want to believe. But I know reality is starting to set in, and I know that he`s not going to come back. And it still hurts.

GRACE: You know, Ms. Fulton, again, I can`t even compare to losing a child. But I remember -- and this went on for a long time. I`m not sure how long. I would go to my parents and say, Mother, is Keith dead? He`s dead, right? He`s gone. He`s dead. I just could not -- sometimes it just didn`t even seem real to me!

And when you talk about you expect him to come back in through the door -- do you ever wake up sometimes in the morning and you think that you`ve had a bad dream, and then you lay there and you realize it`s real?

FULTON: Yes. All the time. Sometimes I wake up in the morning, I`m thinking, Oh, I have to take Trayvon to school. And then I`m, like -- you know, it`s just almost unreal. It`s almost like a nightmare. But I`m living in reality, and it`s starting to catch up with me that he is really gone.

GRACE: Mr. Martin, I can`t place myself in the position of a father. I can`t as a parent now. Thank God. How hard was it -- describe to me the moment you had to tell Trayvon`s mother that he was dead.

MARTIN: It was most certainly the worst news that I ever had to deliver. It was the most terrifying conversation that I had ever had with Sybrina. I didn`t really know how to explain to her that our son was -- was dead. And she asked me how and why, and I didn`t have an answer for her. I just -- I felt...

GRACE: You didn`t know at that time that he had been shot?

MARTIN: At that -- I knew he had been shot, but I just didn`t know how the altercation went down and why he was -- why he had been shot.

GRACE: Well, I remember, I thought -- in my mind, I thought that my fiance must have died in a car crash. That`s just what I had in my head. I don`t know why I thought that. I didn`t know he`d been murdered. I didn`t know he`d been shot. I found that out later.

Mr. Martin, when did police -- I know that Trayvon was coming home to your place, to your condo, your girlfriend`s condo that evening. And I know it was raining outside. And I`m trying to figure out, when did you realize what had happened?

MARTIN: Once I started making the 911 calls and the -- trying to contact the sheriff`s department to find out had they any information on him, and it -- you know, they kept telling me no.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: When did you realize what had happened? Didn`t you think that he had gone to a movie and then you`d find out many hours later, whoa, he did not go to a movie? What`s going on?

MARTIN: And I`ve decided -- once I`ve decided to file a missing persons report, and the first -- when I described Trayvon to the dispatcher, and it was strange. Five minutes later she called me back and asked me what was he last wearing. And when she asked me that, it didn`t register. But it just seemed strange. And she told me that -- when she told me they were dispatching a unit to the -- to the residence, I just thought it was that they were coming to take the missing persons report. And it was -- when three cars pulled up, I knew something was wrong.

GRACE: Miss Fulton, I know it`s just overwhelming, you`re dealing with Trayvon being gone, and now all of this other. When you learned that a charge had finally happened -- it`s a murder two charge -- what did you feel at that moment? Did you expect it to happen?

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN`S MOTHER: I had faith in God that Miss Corey`s office would take a look at the evidence. And I just have faith that they were going to take a look -- a thorough look at it and then decide to arrest him. So I always believed that he would be arrested. It just took longer than I actually thought.

It`s very difficult for me on a day-to-day basis because, of course, I`ve had family members to pass to pass away, but when a child passes way it just really hits home. And just for the circumstances that it was, I mean, Trayvon did not have an illness, and I was expecting him to die, you know. And it just -- he had a bright future. And it just bothers me. Just in my mind it just bothers me to think about all the things that he could have done with his life.

GRACE: Well, I wonder, at that moment what he was thinking. What went through his mind. And you know what I pray? Not only for peace for you two in your hearts and for justice in this case, whatever that may be, but that he did not suffer, that he did not understand what was happening, and that it was a quick, quick passage on to heaven. That is what I pray for.

That evening, it`s my understanding, he was on his way back to his dad`s and he was on the phone with a girl. I think she`s 13, 14 years old. And he was concerned someone was following along behind him. And I think all of us that have been out in the world have had that thought that someone was behind us, you know, whether you`re walking to your house or the parking deck. And I find it very difficult to believe, Miss Fulton, that him saying on the phone, like, some guy is behind me, that he would double-back if he were afraid at all, that he would go back to that guy.

Does that sound like Trayvon to you? Would he have done that?

FULTON: No. And it really doesn`t make sense because on the 911 tapes Trayvon is running away from him. Trayvon was just trying to get back to the house. He wasn`t looking to do any harm to anyone. He wasn`t looking to commit any crime. He simply went to the store. So it`s just very difficult for me to just listen to all the negative things that they have said about Trayvon. And I know my son. He`s just an average teenager.

GRACE: You know what? I`ve heard it all. It hasn`t been repeated on our show, Miss Fulton. I can guarantee you that.

MARTIN: Thank you.

GRACE: Because I do not tolerate slurring and throwing mud at a crime victim. And regardless of what a jury does or the facts come out in this case at trial, he is a victim. Regardless of what anybody says. So all of that, that doesn`t mean a hill of beans, Miss Fulton and Mr. Martin, what people are saying about Trayvon, except that it is hurtful to you.

FULTON: It is.

MARTIN: It is.

GRACE: Mr. Martin, when you found out that Angela Corey was not taking this case to a grand jury, were you afraid that it was just going to slip through the cracks and there would never be a charge?

MARTIN: Once she made this -- I felt as though once she made the decision not to send it to the grand jury that she was going to charge Zimmerman with something. And the thing that pleased us about her not sending it to the grand jury was in Florida any cases sent to the grand jury is closed to the family. So they could have went in there. We don`t know the evidence that they were going to present, anything. Anything dealing with the case, we as a family should be entitled to be informed while it`s going on, not after the fact.

So if it had -- if a grand jury had been conveyed, we would have just been left in the -- in the dark, not knowing what evidence was presented to the jury.

GRACE: When you heard about the charge, Mr. Martin, what did -- what was your immediate feeling? Did you -- did you know it was going to happen? Did you believe it was going to happen? Were you relieved? What was your feeling when you found there was going to be a charge and somebody was doing something about it, this was headed to a jury. What did you feel?

MARTIN: I felt relieved. And I felt as though all of the protests and all of the long nights that we stayed up talking with our lawyers and talking with the -- everybody who supported us paid off. But again, it`s just a start. He`s only been charged. And we have to continue to fight and fight and fight until we get --

GRACE: Well, you know, that`s not right. That`s not right. You should not have to be fighting for justice.

MARTIN: That`s true. That`s true.

GRACE: All right? That`s why people go overseas and give their lives for this country. That`s why people have fought and died for this country, because of what we stand for. And the mother and the father should not have to lead a protest to get a simple charge. All right? And I`m not saying Zimmerman`s guilty or not guilty. I`m saying it`s just justice for there to be a charge and for this to go to a jury.

I want to go back to you, Miss Fulton. A lot of brouhaha has been made over you saying you thought this was an accident. And I want to give you a chance to explain to people that are stirring the pot about what you meant.

FULTON: I believe what I said was taken out of context. What I actually meant when I made that statement is I was just piggybacking on something that Tracy had mentioned before. He had just said that Zimmerman had gotten out of his vehicle. And what I was -- the point that I was trying to make was that if Zimmerman had never gotten out of his vehicle he would not have met Trayvon. And I said that encounter was accidental. That Trayvon meeting Zimmerman was accidental.

It was in no way, shape, form, or fashion did I imply that this was an accident, that the shooting was an accident. I don`t believe that it was an accident. I believe he got out of his vehicle, he had an intent in his mind, and he carried out the intent. And that`s why my son is no longer with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: I`m not as generous as you are. See, if it were me, I`m sure I would be brokenhearted because I wouldn`t have a lifetime with my child. But you`re concerned about what he could have been. What did he want to be?

FULTON: Trayvon had a lot of goals. He had short-term goals. One of the things that we used to talk about was him going to the prom, was him taking his senior pictures, and he graduating. Those are the things that he was looking forward to. Every summer he likes to go on vacation. So those are the type of things that I`m going to miss short-term.

Long-term, Trayvon was interested in going to college. He wanted -- he wanted to pursue the aviation business. That was just something that he wanted to do. He was very good with his hands. So it`s just -- it`s just certain things like that that I will miss. I will miss just having him near me. Just having him kiss me, just having him smile at me.

I notice a lot of the pictures that they have out there he`s smiling. He was a happy child.

GRACE: You know, Miss Fulton, everything that you`re saying is just hitting home with me. Every single thing. When you say that he wanted a future in aviation, I imagine my little boy loves to run around with a plane, an airplane, and make plane noises like he`s a plane.

They talk about going on vacation. This morning they asked me if they could move to Disney, if they could live in Disney. They look forward to vacations so much.

Tell me something. What vacation did he love? What did he love to do, Miss Fulton?

FULTON: He likes the cold weather. He loved it here in New York. That was just something that he really appreciated. He liked Broadway. He got a chance to go to a Broadway play. He got a chance to see the Statue of Liberty. He did the tour. He`d seen Central Park. The horseback riding. The skiing. He`s just -- he likes to go on vacation.

So a lot of things that he likes abroad, but he also likes the local things. He likes to go to the Heat game, the Miami Heat game. He likes to watch the Miami Dolphin football team. He used to also -- even though he was too old to play Optimist football, he was still going out to the game. He volunteered his time, he worked at the concession stand with his dad.

So those are the type of things that he was still interested in. He still wanted to give back to the community. He worked for absolutely free just to help the kids.

GRACE: Mr. Martin, I want to hear from you. I`ve been focusing on Miss Fulton so much because she`s a mom. But I`m sure a father has such dreams and hopes for their son.

MARTIN: Yes. Me and Trayvon was very close. He spent a lot of time out of town with me, traveling with me. He was actually -- I was looking forward to getting him his first vehicle. He was looking forward to the prom. Trayvon just -- he was -- every time I traveled out of town to play sports he would travel with me ever since nine months old.

The thing I`m going to most about him is just his presence. Trayvon was my hero. Trayvon saved my life when he was 9 years old. He pulled me out of a house fire. And I felt as though I owe him a debt of gratitude. I owed him my life. And not to be able to save him in his time of need is really troublesome. But I did make a vow to him since his passing that I would continue to fight for him with every ounce of energy that I have in me.

GRACE: That leads me to another question, Mr. Martin. And I want to throw this to you, Miss Fulton.

With me is Trayvon martin`s mother and father.

Miss Fulton, have you been surprised that people can be so mean?

FULTON: I always try to look at the good side. And I know that there are bad people out there. I know that there are evil people. But I try to concentrate on the good. My heart is -- my heart is clean, and my heart is pure. And it will not allow me to, you know, just be negative. I`m just a positive person. So I always try to think of the positive side.

GRACE: With me also, in addition to Miss Fulton and Tracy Martin, Daryl Parks, attorney for Martin`s family, and Benjamin Crump, also attorney for Martin`s family.

Gentlemen, thank you for being with us. Mr. Parks and Mr. Crump, it`s nice to see you again.

First of all to you, Mr. Parks, in the last hours Mr. Zimmerman has appeared in court. His first court appearance. There was no bond hearing today. He`s going to be toward the end of May in front of the trial judge. I can guarantee you he`s not waiting that long to seek a bond. What is your position on him walking free on bond?

DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: Well, we`re certainly concerned that Mr. Zimmerman has committed a murder in this situation, and I think that the court should keep that in mind and the court should keep him in jail until this has run its course. Now it`s up to the court to decide what the pretrial release condition but I can tell you we`re against his release at this point until it can be a proper assessment and investigation of the entire manner.

GRACE: And Mr. Crump, I assume that you agree, you are against any bond being set. That is certainly within the -- within the purview of the judge. But Mr. Crump, could you articulate why you are opposed to bond? You can`t just get in front of a judge and go, I object. You`ve got to have a reason. Why?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: No, I think Attorney Parks said it very well, that in this situation -- and this is a very serious charge. He could be facing life in prison. We know that he was out of the state before. And his parents -- Trayvon`s parents` main concern is will he ever be brought to justice. As this evidence unfolds, it really looks like it is second-degree murder. We want him to have his day in court, but we don`t want him to flee or be a flight risk ever.

So we want the judge to really consider these charges very seriously and give him -- we want fairness. We want the judge to treat it fairly, but we want him to take it very seriously -- or she to take it very seriously, whomever the judge will be in this matter.

GRACE: Miss Fulton, I spoke to the director of the funeral home that handled his funeral, and I asked him, and this is for evidentiary reason, were there any cuts or bruises on Trayvon`s hands, his knuckles, his wrists, to show that there really had been some sort of confrontation as Mr. Zimmerman suggests.

He says that with one blow your son knocked him to the ground, quote, "decked him." Of all people, you would have looked at Trayvon`s body. Did you notice any evidence of an altercation?

FULTON: No, I did not.

GRACE: What do you, Miss Fulton, make of these claims that your son tracked back in the rain when he was just a few yards away from his dad`s place and went back to go after Zimmerman? Do you believe that?

FULTON: No, I don`t. I find it hard to believe that Trayvon was so close to the back door that he would turn around and go back to see who this guy was. He seen Zimmerman as a stranger. So I don`t see him approaching a stranger. He doesn`t know who this guy is so he wouldn`t have approached him.

GRACE: To Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, our prayers continue to be with you. As we all seek justice.

MARTIN: Thank you, Nancy.

FULTON: Thank you.

MARTIN: Thank you very much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: A 17-year-old heads home to his dad`s condo, gunned down by the captain of neighborhood watch. Forty-four long days after that shooting death, the death of an unarmed 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, an arrest goes down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE MARK HERR, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Mr. Zimmerman, you`re appearing here for your first appearances or first appearance at this time for charge of murder in the second degree, and you are represented by Mr. O`Mara, is that true?

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, CHARGED WITH TRAYVON MARTIN`S DEATH: Yes, sir.

MARK O`MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S LAWYER: He`s stressed. He`s tired. He`s been through a lot with the way this case has been handled to date. I`m just hoping that his mental health stays well.

FULTON: He told me, the absolute worst news that you can tell a mother and that is that her child is dead.

HERR: Remember your right to remain silent. All the other rights that he has told you about, you have to say nothing. And we`ll go forward here on procedural matters only at this time.

GRACE: Describe to me the moment you had to tell Trayvon`s mother that he was dead.

MARTIN: It was the most certainly the worst news that I ever had to deliver.

O`MARA: He`s facing a second-degree murder charges now. He`s frightened. That would frighten any one of us. But on the other hand, I`m not concerned as some others may have been before me.

GRACE: With my child. But you`re concerned about what he could have been. What did he want to be?

FULTON: Trayvon had a lot of goals. He had short-term goals. One of the things that we used to talk about was him going to the prom. Was him taking his senior pictures and him graduating.

O`MARA: Nobody would deny the fact that if George Zimmerman is walking down the street today, he would be at risk. And that`s just the reality. That`s just the way things are right now. So we need to protect him. And I`m hoping that the judge will understand that. I`m certain the prosecutor understands that.

HERR: Probable cause. I do find that probable cause for the charge as put in the information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Nickolas Mueller, 26, Little Shoe, Wisconsin, killed Afghanistan. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, two Air medals, National Defense Service Medal. Loved motorcycles, going to Hilton Head Beach with girlfriend, Heather. Leaves behind parents Larry and Sharon, brother, John.

Nickolas Mueller, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us.

And tonight, happy birthday to California friend, Randy. Celebrating with children Morgan and Matthew, sister, Dina.

Everyone, for more on Trayvon Martin`s shooting case, stick with Dr. Drew coming up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END