George Zimmerman's Lawyers Won't Comment on Police Video - East Idaho News
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George Zimmerman’s Lawyers Won’t Comment on Police Video

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abc ht trayvon martin george zimmerman jt 120318 wg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1333066026203ABC News; Orange County Jail(SANFORD, Fla.) — The surveillance tape of George Zimmerman made barely half an hour after the shooting, obtained exclusively by ABC News from the Sanford Police Department, could be used as evidence if Zimmerman is brought up on charges, sources tell ABC News.

Zimmerman’s attorney would not comment on the tapes, which show his client walking into a police station with no visible signs of blood minutes after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin following what Zimmerman claims was a life-or-death struggle with the teen.

“I’m not going to litigate this case in the media,” said attorney Craig Sonner. “It looks like it’s a standard booking video of when they brought him in. I can’t tell anything from this video.”

But the tapes are relatively clear, coming as they do from recently installed state-of-the-art cameras. In the tapes an officer examines the back of Zimmerman’s head. The 28-year-old Zimmerman claims the teen, who was walking back to his father’s fiancé’s home after picking up Skittles and an iced tea on Feb. 26, attacked him. Zimmerman told police that Martin punched him and bashed his head on the concrete. The police report notes there was blood on his head and that he was treated on the scene.

But on the surveillance video you can see Zimmerman walking steadily through the police station and his face appears blood-free. His light gray shirt shows no visible signs of blood.

While Zimmerman’s attorney would not comment on the tape, he also seemed unsure whether his client had actually received medical attention for his wounds.

“The facts will come out in this case. I’m not the source of facts,” responded Sonner. “I’m not the witness. I don’t have access to police files.”

On Tuesday the Sanford Police released a statement saying that journalists who try to contact city employees “when they are in their roles as private citizens,” calling it “stalking,” would be arrested. Thursday, State Attorney Angela Corey’s office released a statement saying that it would not comment any further, and, “If anything needs to be disseminated, you will receive an alert via email.”

In Fort Lauderdale, the funeral home operator who worked on Trayvon Martin’s body following his death called the teen’s body — minus the gunshot wound to the chest — “pristine,” and said he did not find evidence of any particularly serious altercation.

“If he had been in a struggle, we should have seen signs of that,” said Richard Burke, the funeral home operator. “We look for things on the body that we need to cover up and make sure is not viewable for the public. If there were cuts and bruises, we would have covered it up.”

This revelation contradicts the account by Zimmerman’s father to an Orlando Fox affiliate in which he said his son was fighting for his life that night.

“Trayvon Martin said something to the effect of, you’re going to die now or you’re going to die tonight, ” said the elder Zimmerman.

The shooting death and the investigation continues to put a strain on Sanford, particularly in the middle-class Retreat at Twin Lakes subdivision where the shooting occurred. After a bombardment of media attention as reporters scoured the subdivision’s streets, there is now added security aimed at throwing any and every trespasser out.

“Some days I just look out of my blinds and look down at what happened and it’s like I can’t even accept it,” said resident Cheryl Brown. “I almost would feel better if it were an issue of this was a crime-ridden area, and the solution would be to just move away. But it’s not that at all. It’s life.”

Brown’s 13-year-old son was one of the final people to see Martin alive. He watched the initial exchange between Martin and Zimmerman and ran inside his house, telling his sister to call 911 before hearing a gunshot go off.

“We can’t even move away from this,” said Brown. “Anywhere in America it could possible happen…that is the scariest part.”

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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