No doubt with a view to tainting the jury pool and influencing public opinion, George Zimmerman’s attorneys released on Thursday, a series of videos, text messages and photographs of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen who was shot to death by Zimmerman in February, last year.
Through the heavily redacted text messages, and using his own personal slang, not unlike many youths, Martin, a Miami Gardens teen, goes back and forth with friends and discusses street fights, marijuana use and school suspensions. He also talks about his mother sending him to live with his Dad in Sanford, where he would end up getting killed.
Martin: “My mom just told me I gotta mov with my dad.”
Friend: “So what does that mean?”
Martin: “She just kickd me out :(“
Friend: “Stop lying.”
Martin: “I promise my mom just told me i gotta move.”
Just prior to the 17-year-old’s relocation to Sanford in 2012, Martin had been texting friends of a particular street fight incident:
“I was watcn a fight nd a teacher say I hit em.”
In another text, Martin refers to a street fight with an unnamed opponent who appeared to have gotten the better of him and with whom he wants another chance:
“Yea, cause he got mo hits cause in the 1st round he had me on da grn nd I couldnt do ntn.”
In Feb. 2011, it appears that Martin is warned about becoming a “Lil hoodlum.” He responds, “Not at all,” but later adds, perhaps jokingly, “Naw, I’m a gangsta.”
“Boy don’t get one planted in ya chest,” warns an unidentified friend.
See several photos of Trayon Martin released by defense attorneys here.
Zimmerman’s defense team also released a series of 25 photos in which Martin strikes various poses. In one he grins with gold teeth, in another he blows smoke, perhaps suggesting marijuana use and in yet another he is seen extending a middle finger to the camera. Some have suggested that the photographs, don’t amount to much beyond what some teens do when they are goofing off or trying to impress their friends. Other photos show Martin enjoying horseback riding and at family gatherings. A photograph of a gun is displayed with an unidentified hand, but it is unclear if the hand is that of Martin’s.
In other documents released, Zimmerman is portrayed as a good volunteer neighborhood watchman, always vigilant and patrolling the neighborhood. Attorneys for the defense also filed pages of Zimmerman’s medical records of the night in question, emails, and police reports he sent out from his Blackberry after patrolling the area.
“Last night an attempted break-in occurred in our neighborhood. A late teenaged African-American male wearing a dark bomber-style coat, a leather winter hat with ear flaps and printed pajamas was seen prowling between the 1300 and 1400 building at approximately 8:30 p.m. The suspect even attempted to deceive witnesses by standing in the victim’s front yard smoking to give the false perception that he was the resident,” Zimmerman writes in an e-mail.
Prosecutors say these newly presented court papers regarding Martin are not relevant to the case and should be barred.
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Martin family, termed these defense records as totally “irrelevant red herrings.” Both prosecutors and the Martin family agree that documents released are an obvious effort on the defense’s part to assassinate Trayvon’s character.
Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda filed a gag motion after the documents release, a third for them, prohibiting attorneys from sharing case information with the news media. A judge will take up de la Rionda’s request on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Zimmerman’s lawyers also filed a request for a six-week delay of the trial, which was scheduled to commence on June 10. While the start date may now be uncertain, one thing is clear, it is expected to bring renewed nationwide notoriety upon the small community of Sanford.
Sanford Police Chief has vowed to be prepared for the convoy of portable satellite dish trucks from around the world and scores of Civil Rights leaders who are expected to follow the trial closely.
