Video released on George Zimmerman’s defense team website shows the accused, on video, recounting the moment he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
This video is among the detailed evidence released by Zimmerman’s defense attorney Mark O’Mara and his team. The evidence included voice stress tests, a handwritten statement and audio interviews held during the days after the shooting.
In the video Zimmerman claims Martin punched him to the ground and slammed his head against the concrete before he reached for the accused firearm. The accused, a 28-year-old self-appointed neighborhood watch volunteer, re-enacts the scuffle in the video.
He continues saying that Martin covered his mouth so he could not cry out for help. Zimmerman said “He told me to shut the f*** up, and I was suffocating....I didn't want him to keep slamming my head on the concrete so I kind of shifted. But when I shifted my jacket came up…and it exposed my firearm.
'That's when he said, "you are going to die tonight". He took one hand off my mouth, and slid it down my chest. I took my gun aimed it at him and fired.”
The 17-year-old Martin was shot fatally in the chest. Zimmerman told the officers Martins said “You got me” and fell to the ground.
Prior to the shooting Zimmerman had phoned the police telling them he had seen a black male acting suspiciously in the gated Florida community. The police told him not to intervene.
Despite the previous public controversy regarding the possible racial profiling and media frenzy surround Martin’s shooting. This newly available evidence is being received well.
Orlando-based attorney, David Hill, who is not connection to the case, reviewed the new evidence and said Zimmerman comes across as a “reasonable guy”.
He told the Associate Press “He came across as being straight-forward…It doesn't hurt him."
Zimmerman’s second bond hearing is set for 29th June. His previous $150,000 bond was revoked due to the fact that he and his wife mislead the court about the money they had available for bail.
Here’s Zimmerman’s statement about the shooting in his own words:
“I just felt like something was off about him, and there's been a history of break-ins. So I said you know just better to call [911]. I kept driving and I passed him, and he kept staring at me and staring around...'
“[After looking for Martin] I was walking back [to my truck]. I didn't see anything again, came back to my truck and when I got to right about here, he yelled from behind to me.
“He said, "Yo, you got a problem?" and I turned around and said, "No I don't have a problem". I went to grab my cell phone, but I left it in a different pocket. I looked down at my pants pocket, he said, "You got a problem now" and... he punched me in the face.
“I think I stumbled and I fell down, he pushed me down, somehow he got on top of me... I was trying to push him away from me. He got on top of me, and that's when I started screaming for help. I started screaming "help" as loud as I could. I tried to sit up. That's when he grabbed me by the head and he tried to slam my head down...'
“He took my head and slammed it against the concrete several times, and each time I thought my head was going to explode and I thought I was going to lose consciousness...'
“I started screaming for help. He told me to shut the f*** up...'
“I didn't want him to keep slamming my head on the concrete so I kind of shifted. But when I shifted my jacket came up... and it exposed my firearm. That's when he said, "you are going to die tonight".
“He took one hand off my mouth, and slid it down my chest. I took my gun aimed it at him and fired.”
Here’s the video:
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