Warning Graphic Photo: Possible New Evidence Shows George Zimmerman's Bloodied Head
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A new photograph obtained exclusively by ABC News showing the bloodied back of George Zimmerman's head, which was taken three minutes after he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, gives possible credence to his claim that Martin had bashed his head against the concrete as he fought for his life.
Click here to view the image. Warning: graphic content.
The revelation comes as his attorney and prosecutors prepare for Zimmerman's bail hearing today, which could result in his being released from jail. Zimmerman, 28, is being held on charges of second-degree murder for the Feb. 26 shooting of Martin, which could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.
The exclusive image shows blood trickling down the back of George Zimmerman's head from two small cuts. It also shows a possible contusion forming on the crown of his head. The original police report that night notes that the back of Zimmerman's head was wet, and that he was bleeding from the nose and head.
Zimmerman told police that night that he shot and killed the teenager in self-defense after Martin punched him and pounced on him. Zimmerman told police that Martin then bashed his head into the concrete sidewalk during the altercation that took place in the tidy middle-class development of the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Fla.
Zimmerman was treated at the scene by paramedics, then cuffed and driven in a police cruiser to the Sanford police station. He was questioned for hours and later released. In police surveillance video obtained last month by ABC News Zimmerman's wounds are not apparent, and there were no bandages on his head.
Zimmerman was not admitted to a hospital or given stitches the night of the incident.
The photographer told ABC News exclusively that they did not see the scuffle that night, but did hear it. The source saw Martin's prostrate body on the wet grass and claims the gunpowder burns on Martin's gray hoodie were clearly visible; the gunpowder marks could show that Martin was shot at very close range.
The photographer says that after the shooting Zimmerman asked to call his wife. When the photographer asked what to say, Zimmerman allegedly blurted out "man, just tell her I shot someone."
ABC News has learned that investigators have seen the photo.
"How bad could it have been if they didn't take him to the hospital [and] didn't stitch him up," Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement to ABC News in response to the image. "The special prosecutor has seen all the evidence and still believes George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin."
Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara says his client has spent enough time behind bars.
"He needs to get out. He should not be in jail," O'Mara said. "I want him out because I need him out. He wants to get out. His family wants it out. It should happen."
If Zimmerman is released, his attorney tells ABC News that he has a number of potential safe houses prepared. In the meantime O'Mara says the former altar boy, who has become America's highest profile defendant, has been reading the Bible while in protective custody.
In a bail hearing in Florida, the burden of proof to deny bail, even in a second degree murder trial, is higher than necessary to seek a conviction in a trial.
"They would have to prove that the presumption of guilt is great, and that the proof is evident," said O'Mara.
In the capias -- similar to a warrant -- filed against Zimmerman last week, Special Prosecutor Angela Corey and her team set bail at "none." In order to reduce that to bail at a set monetary sum, Corey's team would have to essentially prove their case -- something experts tell ABC News is unlikely at this point in the legal process.
O'Mara said he doubts the prosecutor will reveal their case before trial, even before discovery.
Quoting romalove:
This is a good question. Let me take a stab here. Maybe this will also help open up dialogue between the "sides".
As a gun owner and former carrier, I know that I am safe. I don't have to brandish my weapon or use it. Just having it on me lets me know that in most cases I have the upper hand. As long as I keep my distance the chances of getting out of a sticky situation is quite good. I need to keep my wits about me(and not follow some kid for no reason) and try to talk first and react later. This is why I believe that Martin may have turned around and attacked and caught Z off guard. No one WANTS to pull their weapon and use it. It is a Last resort. It's why I keep coming back to he must have felt his life was in danger and that is his story. He was attacked and the kid was pounding his head into the ground. He probably tried to fight but the kid might have been quicker and in better shape regardless of size and Z used his last resort and shot him.
Now, this doesn't mean that Z really isn't some racist psycho that didn't specifically to go "looking for a fight" and just hoped for Any excuse to pull his gun and use it. That's why I can't say for certain which side I think was right. A child is dead and that is tragic. It's even more tragic that a grown adult should have made a better choice to not pursue the child. Does that equal murder though? I don't know.
Let's go with your theory then, for a minute. Martin attacked Zimmerman. Was he robbing him? No. Did he hate him? No, he didn't even know him. So why would he have attacked him? There is only one reason, and that would be because he felt Zimmerman was a danger to HIS life.
And, he was correct.
How do you know he didn't hate him or wasn't trying to rob him(yeah I know pretty far fetched but go with it)? The person with a gun poses no danger(if they aren't a loony toon) unless they themselves are attacked. We don't know what Martin was thinking. Maybe he was pissed the guy was following him and decided he was going to beat him up for it. If Z wanted to shoot him so bad why didn't he? Why didn't he shoot him in the back? Why did he wait until after he was attacked and bloodied to shoot him? If Martin was so afraid for his life why did he confront Z? Why did he attack him? Why not keep walking to your house where your family was? He wasn't that far. Why didn't he run? Perhaps, he was the hot headed one that wanted the fight?
Quoting gotnothinonme:
Quoting BoysManDog:
Quoting gotnothinonme:
His injuries could have been avoided, and so could this young mans death if Zimmerman hadn't left his vehicle and chased down someone that wasn't DOING ANYTHING. The young mans death is unequivocably the direct result of Zimmermans actions, if he had done as the police asked and stayed in his car and stopped chasing someone he had no right to be chasing down in the first place, NONE of this would have happened. If someone ran up on me and I didn't know who they were or why, I'd fight for my life too- This needs to go through the judicial process so that a jury can be presented with the evidence and make a decision of his innocence or guilt, but I struggle greatly to understand how they might find him not guilty since his uncalled for actions were the direct cause of the entire incident and the death it ended in.
If person is killed by an oncoming car, his death is "unequivocably [sic] the direct result of" the driver's actions. That does not mean, however, that the driver committed murder.
And if the argument is that Martin was scared, so he turned around, instead of running to his nearby house, and beat the crap out of Zimmerman, this is not murder 2. Not even close.
I am glad it will go through the judicial process so that they details CAN be reviewed and laid out and then with all the evidence available a decision can be made. I don't think 2nd is off the table however- the legal definition of 2nd is"a non premeditated killing, resulting from an assualt in which death of the victim was a distinct possibility"
depending on the specific facts of how the altercation actually began, 2nd may be closer than it appears
killed by an oncoming car could be several things- depending on WHY the car hit them in the first place. Did the driver do it intentionally? lose control of the car due to weather? drive under the influence? all of those factors aid in determining the degree of the potential crime.
In Florida murder 2 has two categories: Accomplice Felony Murder and Murder with a Depraved Mind, which occurs when a person is killed, without any premeditated design, by an act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind showing no regard for human life.
If Martin is beating him into the pavement, they are not going to get murder 2 in Florida.
The car example shows the truth in this case: Martin is dead. Zimmerman did kill him. But we have to wait for the evidence to detail the truth in the matter.
Quoting TruthSeeker.:
Quoting romalove:
This is a good question. Let me take a stab here. Maybe this will also help open up dialogue between the "sides".
As a gun owner and former carrier, I know that I am safe. I don't have to brandish my weapon or use it. Just having it on me lets me know that in most cases I have the upper hand. As long as I keep my distance the chances of getting out of a sticky situation is quite good. I need to keep my wits about me(and not follow some kid for no reason) and try to talk first and react later. This is why I believe that Martin may have turned around and attacked and caught Z off guard. No one WANTS to pull their weapon and use it. It is a Last resort. It's why I keep coming back to he must have felt his life was in danger and that is his story. He was attacked and the kid was pounding his head into the ground. He probably tried to fight but the kid might have been quicker and in better shape regardless of size and Z used his last resort and shot him.
Now, this doesn't mean that Z really isn't some racist psycho that didn't specifically to go "looking for a fight" and just hoped for Any excuse to pull his gun and use it. That's why I can't say for certain which side I think was right. A child is dead and that is tragic. It's even more tragic that a grown adult should have made a better choice to not pursue the child. Does that equal murder though? I don't know.
Let's go with your theory then, for a minute. Martin attacked Zimmerman. Was he robbing him? No. Did he hate him? No, he didn't even know him. So why would he have attacked him? There is only one reason, and that would be because he felt Zimmerman was a danger to HIS life.
And, he was correct.
How do you know he didn't hate him or wasn't trying to rob him(yeah I know pretty far fetched but go with it)? The person with a gun poses no danger(if they aren't a loony toon) unless they themselves are attacked. We don't know what Martin was thinking. Maybe he was pissed the guy was following him and decided he was going to beat him up for it. If Z wanted to shoot him so bad why didn't he? Why didn't he shoot him in the back? Why did he wait until after he was attacked and bloodied to shoot him? If Martin was so afraid for his life why did he confront Z? Why did he attack him? Why not keep walking to your house where your family was? He wasn't that far. Why didn't he run? Perhaps, he was the hot headed one that wanted the fight?
I don't think there's much question that the person who was a "looking" for trouble is Zimmerman. He was told not to follow Trayvon and continued to do so anyway.
I don't think Zimmerman started out with the idea to shoot Trayvon. I think Zimmerman is a nutjob with a gun, a vigilante looking for a villain around every corner. This is a man who called 911 for suspicious looking people more than 40 times. He was armed and that made him dangerous because he was already exhibiting some paranoia.
I think he was following Trayvon, not trusting the police to find him after he called. I think he followed Trayvon to the point of Trayvon getting upset and/or nervous about being followed. I don't know what happened after that, but I think in the end Trayvon got shot because he was afraid of Zimmerman.
Quoting TruthSeeker.:
Quoting romalove:
This is a good question. Let me take a stab here. Maybe this will also help open up dialogue between the "sides".
As a gun owner and former carrier, I know that I am safe. I don't have to brandish my weapon or use it. Just having it on me lets me know that in most cases I have the upper hand. As long as I keep my distance the chances of getting out of a sticky situation is quite good. I need to keep my wits about me(and not follow some kid for no reason) and try to talk first and react later. This is why I believe that Martin may have turned around and attacked and caught Z off guard. No one WANTS to pull their weapon and use it. It is a Last resort. It's why I keep coming back to he must have felt his life was in danger and that is his story. He was attacked and the kid was pounding his head into the ground. He probably tried to fight but the kid might have been quicker and in better shape regardless of size and Z used his last resort and shot him.
Now, this doesn't mean that Z really isn't some racist psycho that didn't specifically to go "looking for a fight" and just hoped for Any excuse to pull his gun and use it. That's why I can't say for certain which side I think was right. A child is dead and that is tragic. It's even more tragic that a grown adult should have made a better choice to not pursue the child. Does that equal murder though? I don't know.
Let's go with your theory then, for a minute. Martin attacked Zimmerman. Was he robbing him? No. Did he hate him? No, he didn't even know him. So why would he have attacked him? There is only one reason, and that would be because he felt Zimmerman was a danger to HIS life.
And, he was correct.
How do you know he didn't hate him or wasn't trying to rob him(yeah I know pretty far fetched but go with it)? The person with a gun poses no danger(if they aren't a loony toon) unless they themselves are attacked. We don't know what Martin was thinking. Maybe he was pissed the guy was following him and decided he was going to beat him up for it. If Z wanted to shoot him so bad why didn't he? Why didn't he shoot him in the back? Why did he wait until after he was attacked and bloodied to shoot him? If Martin was so afraid for his life why did he confront Z? Why did he attack him? Why not keep walking to your house where your family was? He wasn't that far. Why didn't he run? Perhaps, he was the hot headed one that wanted the fight?
I was under the impression he did shoot him in the back - don't remember where I heard that. Has it ever actually been released if M was shot in the front or back?
Quoting romalove:It matters not if the photo shows injury to his head. I won't even look at it.
What matters is, why? How did that come to be?
I know one thing, and that's if Zimmerman did not follow Trayvon, there would have been no altercation. Trayvon very well could have felt threatened by Zimmerman (some unknown guy following him and it turns out he has a gun) and that's why they ended up with Zimmerman getting hurt.
I am glad he will stand trial.
Man! I hope the jurors think like you. You have been adamant from the start. I know it won't matter to you but I have to say I respect certain aspects of your character and your dogged adherence to what you believe and I thought that before this case.
But, go ahead and look; that pic is so bogus.
Quoting beesbad:I try to not jump to conclusions with these type of stories in which the media uses sensationalism and race baiting in order to garner ratings and sales for themselves. I'm sure all the evidence will be presented at his trial.
Remember the Duke Lacrosse case in which a stripper falsely accused members of the team of raping her. Those innocent young men were vilified and threatened, the coach was forced to resign, they couldn't finish their season....
I don't have all the evidence, the media doesn't have all the evidence, so I'll wait.
Changes nothing for me. Had he listened to that 911 operator, he wouldn't have put himself in the position to be hurt.
Quoting Aislinn:Quoting EireLass:I wonder why it's just showing up now. And who took the photo?
I heard about this photo about a week or so ago. This is the first I have seen of it, though.. That, in itself, it interesting... I believe the police took it, but they have suffered serious scrutiny and the Chief was found to be incompetent... So, I am not sure they are a reliable source..
Yea, hubs just told me it came out shortly after the incident, but a news channel had edited out the 'boo boo'.
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