Court Records: Zimmerman's and Martin's Wounds Show Signs of a Fight

George Zimmerman had been beaten up:

Court records show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a nose fracture and two cuts to the back of his head after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The medical records were part of evidence released Tuesday that prosecutors have in the second-degree murder case against Zimmerman. He has entered a plea of not guilty and claims self-defense in the Feb. 26 shooting. A message left Tuesday evening with Zimmerman’s attorney was not immediately returned.

Trayvon Martin’s autopsy found wounds on his hands consistent with fighting.

WFTV has confirmed that autopsy results show 17-year-old Trayvon Martin had injuries to his knuckles when he died.

The information could support George Zimmerman’s claim that Martin beat him up before Zimmerman shot and killed him.

Indeed. This evidence suggests, as I wrote weeks ago, that the Martin-Zimmerman confrontation was the result of a tragic misunderstanding. Zimmerman was looking out for the neighborhood and spotted someone wandering about on a rainy night who Zimmerman did not know and seemed out of place. He called 911 to report it, and may or may not have briefly followed Martin to keep an eye on him. Martin notices that he is being eyed by a stranger, and reacts as some young men will, with posturing and hostility. Zimmerman tells the 911 dispatcher that he sees Martin reach for his waistband and therefore suspects that he is carrying a weapon, which puts Zimmerman even more on edge. One of the two starts a physical confrontation, and the larger, more athletic Martin gains an advantage that ends up turning fatal. One witness places Martin on top of Zimmerman, who was screaming for help, prior to the shooting. Zimmerman says Martin started the fight, and Martin is not here to say otherwise.

If this is what happened, and that’s a big “if” at this point, it isn’t murder and it certainly isn’t a hate crime. It could be manslaughter or it could be outright self-defense, but it isn’t murder.

The prosecution’s affidavit described none of Zimmerman’s wounds, and accused him of “profiling” Martin without offering any evidence to back that accusation up.