Trayvon Martin News: Zimmerman Attorneys Ignore Court Order Release Martin Photos
In defiance of a court order and an upcoming hearing to be held on the matter, attorneys for George Zimmerman have released photos and text messages from 17-year-old murder victim Trayvon Martin’s phone that a judge has yet to deem admissible at trial.
Zimmerman, 29, is slated to go trial next month in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Martin, who was gunned while walking back to his father’s home in a gated Sanford, Conn. neighborhood.
Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, later told police he thought the teen looked suspicious and deciding to follow and ultimately confront him. He has since pleaded not guilty claiming self-defense.
According to the Yahoo!, the photos in show Martin blowing smoke and extending his middle finger to the camera. In the text messages, according to Yahoo!, Martin informs a friend his mother had ordered him to move in with his father after he was caught skipping school.
A hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday, where Circuit Judge Debra Nelson is expected to rule on prosecutor’s request to prevent the photos, texts and other personal information from being used at the second-degree murder trial.
"If the state puts at issue Trayvon, who he was. If the state makes that an issue, we get to respond to that," Mark O'Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney, told said Yahoo!
Attorneys for Martin's parents countered in a statement: "Is the defense trying to prove Trayvon deserved to be killed by George Zimmerman because of the way he looked? If so, this stereotypical and closed-minded thinking is the same mindset that caused George Zimmerman to get out of his car and pursue Trayvon, an unarmed kid who he didn't know."
On the night he was shot, Martin family members have claimed the teen was home with his younger brother watching the NBA All-Star Game and only stepped away to walk to a nearby convenience store.
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