Video shows Zimmerman without obvious injuries

A still from a video from inside the Sanford, Florida, police station allegedly showing a handcuffed George Zimmerman being led by police. / Police video obtained by ABC News via YouTube

(CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. - A security video that shows neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman being led in handcuffs from a police car after he fatally shot Trayvon Martin is adding to the debate over whether the shooting was a case of self-defense.

An attorney for the teen's family said it looks to him that Zimmerman doesn't have injuries to his face and head in the video as Zimmerman's supporters have said.

Zimmerman told police he fired in self-defense and he was not arrested, touching off widespread public outrage and protests across the country. Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner, has said in more than one interview that his client's nose was broken during the fight with Martin.

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(At left, watch the surveillance video)

Sanford police Sgt. David Morgenstern on Wednesday confirmed that the video being shown by ABC News is of Zimmerman. The 28-year-old's head and face are visible throughout and he is dressed in a red and black fleece jacket. Police are shown frisking Zimmerman whose hands were handcuffed behind his back. They then lead him into a police station.

"This certainly doesn't look like a man who police said had his nose broken and his head repeatedly smashed into the sidewalk," Ben Crump, an attorney for Martin's family, said in a statement. "George Zimmerman has no apparent injuries in this video, which dramatically contradicts his version of the events of February 26."

Zimmerman said that on Feb. 26, he was pursuing the 17-year-old Martin, who was not armed, because the teen was acting suspiciously. He said he lost sight of the black teenager and Martin attacked him as he headed back to his sport utility vehicle. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

Police did not administer a drug and alcohol test or an immediate background check on Zimmerman, although they did both on Martin.

The next day, detectives re-enacted the shooting with Zimmerman at the scene. They also discovered Zimmerman had two prior arrests: one for assaulting a cop, the other for domestic abuse.

16 Photos

Fla. teen Trayvon Martin killed by neighborhood watch volunteer

For the next two weeks, lead investigator Chris Serino pursued a manslaughter charge against Zimmerman.

Police interviewed at least six witnesses. But none of them saw how the confrontation began or the shooting that ended it. On March 12, police gave the case to State Attorney Norm Wolfinger. He told them they needed more evidence to arrest Zimmerman.

The case now rests with special prosecutor Angela Corey, who with investigators has been quietly re-interviewing witnesses and examining evidence.

In an interview with Orlando station WOFL FOX 35 that aired Wednesday night, Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman, said that despite dispatchers telling his son to stop following Martin, he kept going so he could get an address for police to check. He said his son was suspicious because of several break-ins and thought it was strange for someone to be walking between the town homes on a rainy night.

The Orlando Sentinel, citing anonymous sources, has reported that Zimmerman told police that Martin grabbed his head and banged it several times against the sidewalk. A statement from Sanford police said the newspaper's story was "consistent" with evidence turned over to prosecutors.

Sonner said the gash on the back of Zimmerman's head probably was serious enough for stitches, but he waited too long for treatment so the wound was already healing. Miguel Meza, who identified himself as Zimmerman's cousin, said Zimmerman was in "the fight of his life."

Sonner did not immediately return an after-hours call to his office Wednesday.

Crump called the video "riveting" and "icing on the cake" that Zimmerman should be held accountable for what happened.

Since the shooting, Zimmerman's supporters say he's gone into hiding and that he and his family have gotten death threats.

Martin's supporters, including a host of outspoken celebrities and civil rights leaders who have appeared on television for the past two weeks, don't believe Zimmerman's story. They want him arrested and prosecuted.

[occupy_cbs]

Lindag10: "Is this 'Daily Caller' some sort of propoganda machine for conservatives or something? I have a VERY conservative cousin that sent me an article from it regarding this case and it was SO biased it was ridiculous."




The "Daily Caller," is a conservative tabloid founded by journalist and political pundit Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney?

Do I need to explain further??

[justin3180]

Who has given you the right to stand above us all and to point the finger of prosecution of Mr. Zimmerman. I stand on neither side but I will debunk the noise that seems to create the over zealous lines of seperation on this matter. The fact is that none of us where there and none of us can give factual proof to either account. It is seemingly obvious that no one can do this so how about you sit yourself back on the sidelines and let those who need to figure out the truth figure out the truth without you running the sewer from your mouth. I think all of you who sit on the side of either one and point fingers are ridiculous. I simply pointed out that we don't know if he was seen by an EMT or went to the hospital but it is standard protocol for an ambulance to show up for a shooting and once they have arrived the determination of death or service to wounds is made, well obviously they called it a death and I would imagine moved on to check out Mr. Zimmerman. So to direct a point that there is no way an EMT saw Mr. Zimmerman is out right stupid conclusion. I normally make statments a little more PC but in this case your stubborn and probably need to be spoken to a little more directly. I think they were both in the wrong and yes Mr. Zimmerman needs to face his consequences and unfortunatly Mr. Martin was hit with worse consequences then this situation would call for as far as we can assume but maybe there was something there....hell I don't know I wasn't there!

Stop with you assumptions and let the investigation continue Mr. Prosecutor!

[occupy_cbs]

I seriously believe that georgie's daddy, Robert Zimmerman, a retired Virginia Supreme Court Justice, has been the puppet master behind the scenes, pulling the strings of state attorney Wolfinger and chief Lee, and hope phone records and e-mails are thoroughly checked, especially after hearing that Wolfinger showed up at the scene.

[occupy_cbs]

justin3180: "..the police should ensure that they let the public know they took him to the hospital or clean him up."




Might want to look at the timeline before making more silly remarks!

Considering that only police were called and arrived on the scene at 7:17, and this overly-zealous vigilante was already at the police headquarters at 7:51 in the video, those mysterious EMT's sure arrived very fast, worked even faster, and were magicians that completely wiped-out all traces of gashes on the head and his broken nose. Your contention that they 'might' have stopped by the hospital in super-record time is even more ludicrous!

Really?.....you and the overly-zealous vigilante need a better alibi!


GO FISH!!

[stepgr89]

I'll admit. The media haven't been saints, but even the media couldn't spin a story like this. To those blatantly trying to disprove the facts that are presented in the video, please kindly remind yourself. There was documented evidence that Trayvon was on the phone with his girlfriend at exactly 7:12 p.m. The police arrived onto the scene at approximately 7:17 p.m. (somewhere close in that range).

So between this four-five minute time span an altercation went down. Zimmerman himself proclaimed that his head was beaten repeatedly against the concrete. That Trayvon busted his nose. That Travyon was on TOP of him. These were in police reports, but we all knows Zimmerman's story spins depending on which next idiot comes up to the plate to defend this man's crumbling defense.

We CLEARLY see that in this video tapes the time stamp was 7:52 p.m. Not even trying to understand how logically a man with his arms pinned behind his back manages to grab his gun, shoot off a warning shot, turn himself around then miraculously manage to take a shot into someone's chest at an accurate point blank range all within a four minute time span, if someone is SERIOUSLY injured from taking a bashing REPEATEDLY on the head, they would have blood covered all over them. Head wounds are no joke. They open up and bleed out really fast.

And if it's a gash, gash being a LONG deep cut, into the back of his head there should have been blood, and it should have been enough to seep into his clothing. That's if it's a serious head wound that was stated.

Same with bloody noses. If you broke your nose, it would definitely be bleeding.

I haven't had the pleasure of having a wound to the back of my head, but I've had stitches underneath my eyebrow. Just a few inches. It was a basketball injury, and I butted heads with another girl. When the wound opened, blood poured out profusely all over the floor and some of it got onto my clothing. I went to the hospital for medical attention and it took about 15-20 minutes to fasten up. So I cannot even imagine how long a 'gash' on the back of ones head. Again, I'm not an expert, but I think it would take a reasonable enough time to sew someone up. All of this happened within a 30 minute time span.

And even if his injuries are not clear enough or haven't developed fast enough, shouldn't he at LEAST have bandages for that broken nose of his? Shouldn't he have a huge bandage on the back of his head? If Zimmerman was in the fight of his life, which are the claims that have been made, he would at least have the basic treatments applied to his body, none of which can be seen in this video. 20-30 minutes of medical treatment doesn't magically make a 'gash' disappear. The wound infliction would have definitely been aggravated, or something would have been placed onto the wound spot to protect him from infections.

[occupy_cbs]

Good points, and I have yet to hear of any medical reports from medical professionals on the scene or at a hospital, that would backup the overly-zealous vigilante's story.

[MountainMamaMSB]

I hope you idiots see the pictures released today. The liberal media does NOT report the truth. ABC released the picture of Zimmerman's bloody head today. Why didn't they release it in the beginning of this mess? Because they wanted Sharpton, Jackson, and yes "President" Obama to show the world that the blacks are so mistreated still. Wake up America. 17% of our country's population is telling the remainder what to do. The decent blacks of our country do not buy this crap either that these idiots put out.

[oldmanroger]

The video proves nothing. He was attended to by first aid/EMT at the scene. So blood could have been wiped away. And I guarantee you if he was a bloody mess in the videos there would be an outcry of "he had plenty of time to fake the injuries in the 40 minutes that had elapsed". Way too many people have made up their minds on this one without knowledge of many crucial facts. I've been surprised & knocked to the ground. When your head hits the hard ground you may not bleed a lot but you can easily be stunned

[occupy_cbs]

"He was attended to by first aid/EMT at the scene."


And you have PROOF of that, or was that from fox/rush?

Considering that only police were called and arrived on the scene at 7:17, and this overly-zealous vigilante was already at the police headquarters at 7:51 in the video, those mysterious EMT's sure arrived very fast, worked even faster, and were magicians that completely wiped-out all traces of gashes on the head and broken noses.

Really.....you and the overly-zealous vigilante need a better alibi!

[AnythingButLiberal]

The Left should be embarrassed of their overzealous racebaiting and prostitution of Trayvon Martin's short life for 15 minutes of political gain. Spike Lee and the Black Panther's appeals for lynch mob justice are childish reactions one might expect from a 3rd grade school yard bully, not well respected role models or community leaders. That said, this video suggests to me that George Zimmerman is nothing if not a liar. He does not appear to have suffered any adverse physical effects whatsoever, much less a broken nose. George has no business walking free given the evidence at hand. Charge the man with manslaughter/murder, lock him up and give him his day in court.

[occupy_cbs]

The $64,000 question:

Why wasn't georgie zimmerman arrested for murder/manslaughter like the lead homicide investigator wanted, since he didn't believe his story, and why did the state attorney drive such a distance at night just to make sure the scene was sanitized and georgie freed?

[rockychance]

The bad reporting is rampant in this case. Go by the police report to see if Zimmerman had injuries and go by the eye witnesses to see if Martin did indeed attack Zimmerman. The truth is going to come out and those who have screamed racism all throughout this tragedy are going to look like the opportunists they truly are. Mr. Zimmerman's Father is married to a hispanic which makes George part minority and he had friends of all races. He may have done something horribly wrong in this case but it probably was not racially motivated and those people who think it was only damage race relations even more in this country.

[occupy_cbs]

Typical talking points from a fox/rush parrot! Try again.

[justin3180]

mnpickel......really 17 and hadn't hit puberty yet...you have got to be pretty freakin dense!!!! I don't know if you have paid any attention to the meida either and seen more recent pictures of him but he doesn't have any appearance of someone who was 5' 4" 140 but obviously more towards a bigger stature. The reports I have read said he wasn't 5'4" but he was actually.....Martin stood 6 feet tall and weighed 160 pounds (this was straight from the Chicago Tribunes report....http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2012/03/trayvon.html) second point...He didn't just step out of the car holding the gun that has been clear but instead it was drawn later. Do I have the right to attack someone without provocation....NO! Just cause someone is seemingly following you doesn't mean you get to attack, that is absurd!!

[ghostsouls]

QUIT cherry picking the news, he was TREATED (and that means cleaned up) AT THE SCENE. YOu think they are going to just stick a bandaid on his nose without cleaning it up first? Stir the pot of racism some more, that way you can be morally outraged when riots break out. The media is complicit and responsible for irresponsible news reporting. You are going to get someone killed with your lack of professionalism. Start telling the WHOLE story, not just picking out the excerpts you want to use. At 52 seconds into the video Zimmerman says something to the officer and the officer looks at the back of his head. Just because you don't see blood doesn't mean anything He was already treated, You would not see lumps under the skin. And for god's sake quit showing pictures of a full grown Martin as a 12 year old and an 8 year old boy. He was 6'2" tall and 170 lbs, he was no little kid. Better yet, show his twitter photos and facebook photos, you know the thug ones.

[mnpickle]

Actually Trayvon was 5'4" and 140 lbs. He hadn't exactly hit puberty. More importantly, he was the one standing his ground as he was followed and harassed while doing nothing but walking home. If I were to follow your daughter or sister or mother in my car, and get out and look for her- with a gun I might add- would you say she or I was the one in the wrong? If she attacked me out of fear, would I have the right to shoot her?

[ToneAre]

George Zimmerman :: The New White
http://mybrotherman.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/george-zimmerman-the-new-white/

[justin3180]

That was about the dumbest thing I have ever read.....my wifes family is hispanic and if they were to read this dripple they would find themselves in a histrical laughter while at the sametime feeling a bit offended. The fact that you bring this dribble here tells me that there is some level of ignorance that you adhere too which is sad. The new white is white not hispanic....my wifes family is from Mexico what does that make them. Of course my wife is only half Mexican or half Hispanic the other half is Polish so she is a white hispanic right. What I am then I am mixed with african american, german, irish and native american. This site you brought is ridiculous is only opinion not information. Opinions are not informative they are biased and do nothing but so the side of the line you have stepped into which is sad that you are part of the problem just as many of you are. Stop the ridiculousness!