Trayvon Martin's accused killer has a bail hearing Friday — an unexpected development in a controversial case with many twists and turns.
George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder, was not expected back in court until later this month.
His lawyer, Mark O'Mara, had been pressing for a bail hearing earlier than that.
The surprise announcement came after O'Mara -- a respected lawyer best known for his cable TV commentary on sensational Florida trials like the Casey Anthony case -- said he didn't expect Zimmerman to be tried this year.
"It would be guesswork," O'Mara said. "But, most cases like this, I cannot imagine it going to trial within the year."
O'Mara, in an interview with Michel Martin of National Public Radio, also said he doesn't think Zimmerman could get a fair trial right now — and certainly not in Seminole County, Fla.
"You know, the wounds are still quite raw," he said. "And part of it is, I would like to give the community some time, to begin to build back up its trust in the criminal justice process."
Asked if he would request a change of venue at Zimmerman's arraignment, O'Mara said "I have no idea."
"It's much too early," he said. "That process really should occur only when you're getting close to trial."
O'Mara spoke out a day after the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman made his first court appearance for killing the unarmed black teenager.
Zimmerman spent the night alone in a jail cell — isolated from other prisoners for his own protection and comforted only by a stash of junk food.
O'Mara, who is representing Zimmerman pro bono, said he got involved after he was contacted by friends of the suspect. He said he got his wife's OK before he accepted the job.
"Because obviously, it's a fairly enormous undertaking," he said.
The fact that Zimmerman wasn't immediately arrested for killing 17-year-old Martin — even after evidence emerged that he disregarded a police dispatcher's order to stop tailing the teenager — caused a nationwide uproar.
Asked to explain why Zimmerman did not listen to the dispatcher, O'Mara said he has yet to discuss that with his client.
But O'Mara added that Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground Law, which Zimmerman invoked to claim self-defense in the shooting, will certainly be part of their legal strategy.
Zimmerman was arrested Wednesday — 45 days after Sanford, Fla. police and prosecutors refused to charge him with murdering Martin. That decision sparked nationwide outrage.
Martin was walking home from a 7—Eleven with an iced tea and a bag of Skittles when he was shot.
Prosecutors said Martin, who was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone, told her he was being followed.
Zimmerman told cops Martin attacked him and he shot the teenager in self-defense.
Prosecutors said Zimmerman, who is half white and half Hispanic, profiled the hoodie-wearing teenager and assumed he was up to no good simply because he was walking through the gated development Zimmerman patrolled.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
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