ABC News Film Forensics Reveal Injuries on Zimmerman’s Head

In a case that is under a microscope, more or less literally, because of the profound media attention it has inspired, new wrinkles in the Zimmerman / Martin case have unfolded. The 28-year-old George Zimmerman shot and killed the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in what he calls self-defense. His story that his confrontation of Martin as a neighborhood patrol lead Martin to surprise attack him from behind, punch him in the nose, and repeatedly slam his head into the pavement has been called into question, but new evidence bears some of this out.

Upon re-digitalizing a grainy video of Zimmerman’s head, ABC news was able to reveal “a pair of gashes or welts” on the back of Zimmerman’s head. The damage to his nose seems more slight than it was reported – he said his nose was broken – but the injury to his head confirms his own story and the report the police gave of Zimmerman having a nose and head wound upon their arrival on the scene.

This is point-counter-point back and forth amoidst the motley mess of evidence, ranging from Martin’s funeral director denying finding any brawling injuries on the youth’s corpse – “I didn’t see any evidence he had been fighting anybody” – to the audio analysis of the cries heard on Zimmerman’s phone of the night – “As a result of that [making only a 48 percent match to Zimmerman’s voice, rather than the expected 90 percent], you can say with reasonable scientific certainty that it’s not Zimmerman,” implying, though we have no sample of his voice, that it was Martin calling for help – it is still unclear, despite various strong opinions otherwise, what happened the night Martin was killed.

State prosecutors will go before a Seminole County grand jury on April 10 to determine if any charges will be filed against Zimmerman. The previous investigation that exonerated Zimmerman have been scrutinized, but may be upheld.