Motion denied in George Zimmerman's wife's perjury case

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Attorneys for George Zimmerman's wife asked a Seminole County judge for her perjury case to be tossed out, but that motion was denied Tuesday.

Shellie Zimmerman is accused of lying during her husband's first bond hearing about how much money they had in a PayPal account.

Her husband, George Zimmerman, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford last year.

In December, a judge gave Shellie Zimmerman and her lawyers more time to work on her defense.

Her lawyer made a complicated argument that the charges should never have been filed in the first place.

Shellie Zimmerman never said a word in court, sitting silent as her lawyer argued perjury charges against her should be dropped. The attorney, Kelly Sims, argued that special prosecutor assigned to prosecute Zimmerman's husband had no authority to file a perjury case against his wife.

"It is our contention that that language, 'all matters pertaining to the death of Trayvon Martin,' would include parties to that death, but would not include anything further," said Sims.

But Judge Marlene Alva disagreed, saying the accusations that Zimmerman lied when she answered questions about how much money the family had during a bond hearing for her husband is directly related to the Martin case.

The perjury charge is based on recorded phone calls between the Zimmermans detailing the movement of $130,000 in donations just days after Shellie Zimmerman testified the couple had no money.

Zimmerman's attorney said, based on the specifics, she did not commit perjury.

The case continues in April.

In the meantime, George Zimmerman's lawyer told Channel 9 on Tuesday they're reaching their monthly goal of raising $30,000 to go toward his defense.

WFTV