In what many are saying is “explosive evidence” in the George Zimmerman trial, Zimmerman’s defense team put up an on-the-scene interview Zimmerman conducted a day after Trayvon Martin was murdered. In the video, Zimmerman re-enacts the alleged events that led up to the shooting, and some are saying that the information Zimmerman provides may give the prosecution the upper hand in painting Zimmerman as the aggressor.
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Talking with law enforcement, Zimmerman immediately makes his case that Martin was the aggressor in the fatal incident. He says that Martin walked toward him, asking him if he had a problem. According to Zimmerman, as he responds that he doesn’t have a problem, Martin punches him in the face. Zimmerman then claims that as he attempts to push Martin away, he is somehow wrestled to the ground. It is then that Martin allegedly screams, “Shut the f*ck up,” as he puts one hand on his nose and another on his mouth while he allegedly “slams” Zimmerman’s head on the ground repeatedly as he sits on top of him.
Zimmerman’s story allegedly reaches the warranted crescendo once Martin allegedly reaches for his gun, which he supposedly sees on Zimmerman’s right hip. According to Zimmerman, Martin says, “You’re going to die tonight, motherf*cker,” and Zimmerman is forced to shoot Martin in self-defense.
Zimmerman then goes on to claim that the bullet doesn’t stop Martin from sitting up and allegedly saying, “You got me.” At this point, Zimmerman says he is able to get on top of Martin — although he can’t precisely recall how he got on top — and allegedly holds Martin down until police arrived on the scene.
Zimmerman doesn’t mention Martin dying from his wound to the investigator in the clip.
Watch Zimmerman’s account for yourself here:
Obviously, this “testimony,” if you will, can either bolster or sink Zimmerman’s defense.
According to Attorney Chris Cuomo, who appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday morning, the prosecution can now use this evidence to see if Zimmerman’s account matches up with the 911 calls, witness accounts, and ballistics that are on record.
For example, in May, four of Zimmerman’s key witnesses changed their stories, making Zimmerman’s defense precarious. Witness 12 initially said she couldn’t identify who was on top during the struggle. In her latest interview, though, Witness 12 told investigators that after observing both Zimmerman’s and Martin’s sizes, she was certain that Zimmerman was the one who was on top, and therefore, the aggressor in the melee,”I know after seeing the TV of what’s happening, comparing their sizes, I think Zimmerman was definitely on top because of his size.”
Initially, Witness 2 recalled seeing two people running, but by her final interview, she said she was now sure that only one individual was running, “I couldn’t tell you if it was a man, a woman, a kid, Black or White. I couldn’t tell you because it was dark and because I didn’t have my contacts on or glasses. … I just know I saw a person out there.”
Witness 13 also doesn’t help Zimmerman’s defense.
He emphasized Zimmerman’s lack of emotion, after he shot Martin:
Zimmerman’s tone, the witness said, was “not like ‘I can’t believe I just shot someone!’ it was more like, ‘Just tell my wife I shot somebody…’ like it was nothing.”
One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that Zimmerman’s team has a bit of a problem: Zimmerman’s re-enactment and account doesn’t match up to at least three of his witness accounts. Witness 12 saying that Zimmerman was the one who remained on top of Martin throughout the struggle puts Zimmerman’s claim that Martin pushed him down and climbed on top in question. Witness 2 has gone on record saying that someone was definitely running, while Zimmerman argues that Martin walked toward him and started the fight with a sucker punch to the face.
What also hasn’t been addressed is the fact that Zimmerman is the one who exited his vehicle after being told to remain in the car and wait for police. One could easily argue that Zimmerman getting out of the car was an act of aggression in itself.
And obviously, Zimmerman’s account also doesn’t match up with the phone call Trayvon had with his girlfriend. Talking with Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump, she said:
“He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man. I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run, but he said he was not going to run.”
It was after Zimmerman allegedly began running after Martin that Martin reportedly asked him why he was after him:
“Trayvon said, ‘What, are you following me for,’ and the man said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again, and he didn’t answer the phone.”
Interesting. Once again, various accounts paint Zimmerman as the aggressor who exited his car against the dispatcher’s instructions and then accosted Martin.
Zimmerman’s defense obviously thought that by making Zimmerman’s account public, he would bolster his defense, but even a cursory review of witness accounts shows that this may have not been the smartest move. Also, for someone whose head was beat repeatedly on the concrete, it seems as if two band-aids wouldn’t do the job.
Why isn’t his head swollen? Furthermore, shouldn’t he be in the hospital tending to both his alleged broken nose and beaten-against-concrete head?
It is also difficult to imagine anyone speaking as Zimmerman claims. “Shut the f*ck up” and “you’re going to die tonight, motherfucker” sounds like fake thug talk to me, like the stereotype of what a scared “White” person thinks Blacks, in particular, sound like.
Let’s hope the prosecution seizes this opportunity to hit this case out of the park.
What do you think?
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