As questions continue to be raised, witnesses are sharing new information about what they saw the night George Zimmerman shot and killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
In an interview airing Sunday on NBC's Dateline, a witness claims she never saw Zimmerman attempt to aid or resuscitate Trayvon as he lay face down on the ground, dying. Mary Cutcher and her roommate were likely the first two people on the scene after the shooting occurred. Cutcher told police that she saw Zimmerman straddling the boy, hands behind his back, offering no help whatsoever.
Cutcher inquired three times whether or not everything was ok before Zimmerman finally turned to her and told her to call police.
Dateline also spoke with George Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner. While he admits he has not yet met with his client, he believes his client's claims of self-defense are strong. According to Sonner, Zimmerman allegedly suffered both a broken nose and a gash to the back of his head as a result of the altercation.
Martin family lawyer Ben Crump dismisses the statement as nothing more than an attempt to "blame the victim."
Underscoring claims that Zimmerman was appropriately asserting his rights under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Law, Crump states that Trayvon Martin was under no obligation at any point to stop or identify himself to a stranger. Additionally, had Zimmerman remained in his vehicle, and stopped following the teen (as he'd been advised by police), the young man would be alive today.
Based on what's known, if anyone had the right to use deadly force under the "Stand Your Ground" Law, it was Martin, not Zimmerman. The teen was in a place he was legally entitled to be, and was being followed by a man he did not know. The man was armed and aggressive—under the law, Trayvon had no legal obligation to retreat, and any reasonable individual would have feared for their safety. Had he defended himself by using deadly force, he would have been well within his legal rights.
Ironically, had he done so, he probably would have been arrested at the scene.
Friends of Zimmerman claim he was inconsolable, and could not stop crying after the incident. They say he is not, contrary to Martin family suggestions, racist. They insist Trayvon seemed to be casing the homes in the neighborhood that night, and that his apparel—specifically the hoodie he was wearing—made him appear dangerous.
Meanwhile, millions of people across the country continue to weigh in, joining protests, marches, and wearing hoodies in a massive show of solidarity with Martin's family. Many carry bags of Skittles candy and bottles of ice tea, as Trayvon did the night he was killed. More than a million supporters have signed an online petition, and the Sanford Sheriff has temporarily resigned after a no-confidence vote. Federal authorities have taken an interest in the case as well, and the Justice Department is investigating whether or not the shooting was a hate crime. Locally, the case will be heard by a Grand Jury next month.







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