New pic shows clearly bloodied George Zimmerman
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The February shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old staying at a gated community in Sanford, Fla., was a minor local news story for weeks before exploding into the national media.
A short time after the story divided friends and family across the nation, photos started to appear suggesting that Zimmerman was telling the truth about being attacked when he killed the hapless teenager. Unfortunately those who believed Zimmerman to be guilty of shooting without provocation were not pacified, and the other team, those who believed Zimmerman to be justified, kept insistingthe injuries alleged by Zimmerman are in fact evident. This was most obvious in the picture that showed the back of Zimmerman’s head to be bloodied.
Now, however, the newest picture, just released by defense attorneys, should leave little doubt about Zimmerman’s condition immediately following his arrest. Here’s the Newser summary:
George Zimmerman’s bloodied face and swollen nose can be clearly seen in a photo taken the night of Trayvon Martin’s death and released by his defense team yesterday. The photo is a high-res, color version of the grainy, black-and-white image that was released months ago, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Zimmerman was sitting in the back of a police cruiser after shooting the 17-year-old when a police officer took the image. It is part of the most recent batch of evidence prosecutors turned over to the defense, and the defense plans to release the rest of that evidence soon.
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all this..yet..still…the police operator told him to stay in his vehicle”a unit is 2 mins from there”…he kept walking toward the unarmed juvenile..
I’ve known a lot of wanna be cops, and most of them would never pass the psychological exam, then again most of them already tried….
There are a lot of things about this that may never be known. For example, it could be that Zimmerman started a physical confrontation and was getting the worst of it. Or maybe not. The truth is bnlikely to ever be known and there are not too many political aspects to allow any clear picture to emerge.
@MadMike – You know… here’s another example where I’ve gone years utterly deluded by an urban legend. I’m so gullible. Sheesh. For years I was in terror that I’d be attacked by a giant, blind, mutant rat freed from his underground captivity by the “Big Dig.” I’m going to go away now. Bye. 🙁
LOL David. Poor rats 🙂
I know the article says it was originally a black and white photo, but that makes little sense to me. The idea that police still use B&W film to photograph suspects and crime scenes is not my experience. In the digital age B&W went the way of Kodak. Secondly, photo shopping these pictures renders them useless as evidence. Strange.
I should note, however, that under Massachusetts’ law, since I’m a registered fighter, with U.S.A. Boxing – if I do kick some guy’s ass, I get hit with a ADW charge, anyway. A lot of guys I know who study martial arts, never take their final level tests. In other words, they stay “Brown Belts” so they don’t have to register themselves. No law is perfect.
This is interesting. I hold black belt rank in three different martial arts. I have lived in 8 us states, Holland, Quebec, and now Brazil. Nowhere have I heard of registering Black Belts from any system. The United Fighting Arts Federation, international organization, conducted a survey in the early 1980’s and found no state where this is required. Professional boxers, yes. I think the reason is that the standards for black belt rank vary so widely that it would be difficult to apply.
I know of one organization where people routinely reach 1st Degree black belt in 18 months. With UFAF, one must train for a minimum of 3 years before being permitted to take the test, which few pass on their first attempt.
I hear of another school in New England where, in ten years, only three people had taken the black belt test. The test was so grueling (it took three days and involved being knocked cold at least once) there were probably only the three that volunteered to take the test.
Having said all of that, I do personally know of quite a few people that tested only very rarely and stayed below black belt level for years because it gave them an advantage in tournament competition. I blame their instructors for permitting that.
James, I have nothing to back this up with, other than what I’ve been told by friends. How much is urban legend or self aggrandizing, I don’t know. The boxing thing is true, though. At least so I’m told at my gym. When I joined, they wouldn’t let us fight in the ring, until we registered – for insurance purposes, but they did tell us that if we get into a fight on the street, we are potentially opening ourselves up to charges. I also know that the part about the law – the superior force part – is true, up here. I studied Kung Fu in Boston (Wah Lum Northern Preying Mantis) for a total of about 15 years, and we were told that since we didn’t have “Belts” per se, we never had to worry about registering with the state. Again, it could just be BS, but I’m just telling you what I get from Sifus and Boxing coaches.
That whole “registered as a weapon” thing with those schooled proficient in martial arts is an urban legend David. Regardless, I would be quite happy knowing those skills to the point where I could defend myself against others without having to resort to just shooting them.
I agree about the boxing part. I have known that for many years. While operating a school in Florida, I had an assistant prosecuting attorney for the state come in to address the students on the laws regarding self-defense there. He confirmed that, in Florida, there was no requirement for Black Belts to register anywhere that he knew of. He gave the reasons I stated above. (That wasn’t original with me)
He did state that if you were assaulted and hurt someone badly, a personal injury lawyer might make a point that, as a martial artists, you used “excessive force” that you should be able to just “flip them or something”. As you likely know, that’s total BS, too. For one things performing even a take down, much less a throw, on an untrained person can result in serious injury.
A few years later, in Arizona, I was called as a witness in a case involving a black belt from a different school. He was attacked in his home by someone with a large knife and blew the guy away with a shotgun.
I testified for him that, if attacked with a knife, you were likely to be cut, perhaps fatally. I taught knife defense every week and what I always told my students is, if you go up against a person with a knife, you are probably going to be cut. The trick was to not get cut too badly.
To demonstrate, after a student felt they were proficient in a particular technique, I would go after them with a rubber knife and I could get to them every time. The black rubber left telling marks on a white uniform. Unarmed defense against any weapon is a last-ditch effort.
The other black belt was acquitted. Sometimes, the justice system does work. I hope my testimony helped.
Great! Well, if I ever need witnesses, you guys will be the first two on my list. 🙂
No problem, I work cheap. Well, cheap after you get past the flight from Brazil, the stay in a 5-star hotel, meals, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses. 😀
Call on me, I got your back.
LOL. Hey we can always work something out David, provided you’re on the “active” author’s list 🙂
This is a “Stand Your Ground” issue. Up here in the People’s Republic, we have something called the “Superior Force” law. Essentially, if I attack you with a knife, you can defend yourself with a knife or something of equal lethality. But if I attack you with a knife, you can’t pull an AK47 out of your jacket and riddle me with bullets.
So, it all comes down to whether you believe people should be allowed to respond to any and all threats with lethal force, or if they should only be allowed to defend themselves to the level with which they are attacked.
Myself, I’m a proponent of the latter. As a fighter, and a guy who’s lived a pretty… well… let’s say interesting life, I have no problem with kicking some ass. I do however, have a problem with killing people. Any people. Even those who would do me bodily harm. An ass kicking goes away. The wounds heal. Killing somebody? That’s forever.
Actually, it is a high res color photo of a grainy B & W police photo released by the defense? (Says so in the article). So I think I’ll wait until the trial and reserve judgement.
How some grainy B&W turned into a crystal clear color photo closeup leaves me with more questions than answers still.
It’s pretty easy to turn a hi-res color photo into a grainy b/w shot. Going the other way is not so simple.
You are right, all of this does raise some interesting questions about the integrity of the prosecutors.
My first thought was, why are we seeing this picture only now? Then I read it was released by the prosecution, apparently as part of the discovery process.
Looking at the picture, I can see why prosecutors were reluctant to release it.
If they were more interested in justice instead of building a good conviction record, they would have released this the first day.
Very true James. As times goes on the defense continues to press the state to release everything they have on the case. Traditionally prosecutors take their own sweet time doing this, even when directed by the court.