Florida could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands in Zimmerman trial costs

SANFORD, Fla. — The state of Florida could have to pay some big money to George Zimmerman's defense team.

Attorney Mark O'Mara is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover the costs related to defending his client.

In July Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.

It is customary for attorneys of clients to turn around and ask for some of their costs to be covered.

On Tuesday, O'Mara said that money is rightfully theirs.

Florida could be on the hook for $200,000 to $300,000. That doesn't include what O'Mara said he is owed.

"Let's not forget, I would like to get paid. I'm not getting paid from any of this cost money, but I hope there was some money available in the future to take care of all the what? What are we at? Two million dollars this case has cost?" said O'Mara.

O'Mara said the money for costs incurred to defend his client should be paid.

"We're still tallying up the figures, but it's going to be about $200,000 or $300,000 in cost money. A lot of that's for experts. You know we had a lot of experts on the voice issues and of course, other experts in the trial," said O'Mara.

O'Mara said there are case law limits on how much can be reimbursed.

As for a legal fund that was set up to help pay for Zimmerman's defense, "I think it's patently unfair that the state, by overcharging a case that they could not prove in trial, gets to cost either Mr. Zimmerman or me or the donors a whole bunch of money and they're not responsible for it," said O'Mara.

The motion to collect the money has not been filed yet but O'Mara expects that to happen in the next few weeks.

After that, a judge will decide how much, if any, of the costs will be reimbursed.

O'Mara will also go after the state for his fees for what he considered a waste of 200 legal hours. That will be a separate motion.

WFTV